Balleu

It reminds me of "You can't fire me, I quit!" ?

This is useful feedback. It's crucial feedback. Your SOP needs to demonstrate that you understand the kinds of questions your field is asking, and that you are prepared to join that conversation. Similarly, you need to understand the direction of the discipline as a whole. You joke about "popular themes" and trying to make your project transnational. But do you understand why so many historians are taking comparative and transnational approaches? Are you prepared to engage with those approaches in conferences, journal themes, the eventual job market, etc.? Even if you decide that approach is not what you want to do with your own work, you still need to show that you're aware of it, you've considered it, and you've decided to take XYZ approach because of ABC reasons. The information you've given us about your proposal (nationalist history, your prior research language reflects an "outdated" approach) makes me wonder: were you proposing to study an anti-colonial nationalist movement with only the language of the colonizers? Proposing to study Algeria while only speaking French, for example?

Thank you for the update! Have you made your final decision, or are you still weighing options?

I see you saying here and in your other thread that you've struggled to get useful feedback. What kind of feedback have you sought or received from your professors in your current MA program? When you do get feedback ("language I was previously using in my SOPs was outdated and made it apparent I wasn't current on scholarship trends"), how and where do you incorporate it?

Thanks @daradara! I'm holding onto hope about Cornell and about the Northwestern wait list.

Looks like Yale HSHM results are coming out today. I was rejected, which wasn't a surprise; Yale was the most tenuous fit for my research interests and was the application I decided to do at the "last minute" (September). I know a handful of folks here are waiting on those results. I have my hopes up for you!

I live in a state that has legalized recreational cannabis and where discussion thereof is widespread and very normal. I also work within the state's largest academic institution, where I have never once heard open discussion of people's recreational use and where I had to pass a drug test before I was hired. I have had many conversations about drug policy with coworkers, but in none of those have people connected their feelings on policy to their own personal consumption. I'm sure part of the reason for that is that it's an academic health center, and healthcare has its own very specific culture. But I've seen firsthand how large institutions can be significantly more conservative than the surrounding culture, especially in education where there's Federal funding at stake.

Thanks for the encouragement! @fortsibut, I know you've been trying for Cornell! I'm hopeful for you. And that's a good choice, I'd trust martial arts learned from Donnie Yen. Congrats to folks who've received good news on the weekend!

I said it and it became true: got my rejection from Wisconsin today. I can't lie, this one is disappointing. I was really hopeful about my fit with the department and the rapport with my POI during our phone conversations. But nothing is guaranteed, and at least it's one step closer to the final outcome for my application cycle, whatever that turns out to be.

I'm strangely looking forward to my presumed rejections becoming actual rejections. It will be a relief to be able to mentally move on.

It sounds like your approach was fairly similar to my own. After my initial round of program research, I emailed professors at each school with research interests complementary to my own. I asked if they were taking new grad students, briefly explained why I think my research interests are relevant to theirs, and said that I would be glad to speak further if they were so inclined. Some of those emails never got responses, some led to me crossing programs off my list, some turned into substantive email conversations, and a few professors asked to speak to me over the phone. Most of those conversations took place during July-October, so I didn't have contact during the actual preparation of my application. I viewed this process mostly as part of my research on where to apply, rather than having any significant bearing on those application outcomes.

Haha, I love the sound of using my nonexistent Oprah money on MA after MA! ? I have an etiquette question for you all: Following a rejection, is it a good idea to email POIs with whom I'd been in contact during the application process? Does it matter how recently you were in touch with them? Should I wait until I have an offer finalized elsewhere before writing to POIs at schools that rejected me? I was thinking along the lines of "Dear Professor X, I wanted to reach out and thank you again for your helpful correspondence as I prepared my application. Although ABC University did not recommend me for admission, [I have accepted an offer from XYZ University and] I hope we will have the opportunity to work together in the future." Thoughts?

Thanks! I applied to Yale's History of Science and Medicine track, which does its own admissions. So my application is still floating in the ether. Just got an email from Princeton: the rejection is official. I knew it was a long shot, but it was worth trying for.

Yes, it's certainly the case that top applicants will get multiple offers. But I wonder about all the other moving pieces that go into a second-round offer? For example, when someone turns down an offer, I assume the school would move to fill that slot with another applicant from roughly the same field? I'm sure there are even more factors other than field that I'm not thinking of at the moment. I'm keeping up my hopes about a second round offer at Wisconsin/Northwestern, or an acceptance at Cornell. I'm assuming rejection at Yale and Princeton, but I knew the outcomes of those programs would be impossible to predict.

Ooof, I can relate. Mine was this past Sunday, it was a "milestone" birthday, and although I did my best to keep focused on the moment.... it's not easy. I hope Friday is a great day for you and that all news comes before then.

Yes! This cycle was your time! Congratulations, I'm so happy for you.

Congrats to any and all accepted at Wisconsin! It is (was?) one of my top choices, so I hope if I'm rejected I get an official notification soon.

Thanks everyone! Good to hear that I'm not overlooking anything. Congratulations!!

Has anyone received application status changes through an ApplyWeb portal? Three of my schools--Northwestern, Princeton, Cornell--use that platform. I received emails from Northwestern about being placed in their wait list, but don't see anything about that reflected in the portal. Does that mean that results don't show up in ApplyWeb? Or does that just vary from school to school?

Many congrats to the Yale folks! Yes, I also applied to Yale HSHM, so I'm with you @HardyBoy on hoping this means a result soon.

Congrats @DanaJ! That's awesome news and I'm sure it feels especially good coming on the heels of a rejection.

Seeing some Princeton HOS results start to pop up on the spreadsheet. Hopefully that means History results aren't too far behind.

Thank you!

I have a big work meeting this afternoon that's three hours long, which seems like excellent timing to me. Something to keep my attention elsewhere and to keep me away from my computer and its temptation of constant refreshing.

I also ended up lucky in this way. Two of my five programs had an max page limit of 25 pages, and that was the the lowest page limit of those on my list. I appreciated having that consistent page range to work with; trying to do a 10 page sample would have driven me up the walls!