Balleu

Oh yes. I'm trying to keep focused on my work today. But my mind is consumed by the image of an adcom meeting to decide my fate right this very minute!

Seriously. At least next weekend I have a trip to the coast planned for my birthday, so that should provide some distraction. But this weekend is going to be nerve-wracking. And that newsletter timing is just cruel!

Yes. Thank you emails are a good professional courtesy.

Yes, looking forward to good news over the next few weeks. And knowing that all of us are in the midst of the same waiting game does make it easier! Got a follow up email this morning from another Northwestern POI with additional context. There was some concern on the committee that I might not have sufficient faculty support because of faculty who will be/might be on leave. It's a good reminder that there are more factors in play than just who else accepts their offer.

This is my version of staying calm for sure. Congrats on your big day yesterday, @urbanhistorynerd! Congrats on your first acceptance, @historygeek! May it be the first of many.

I just got an email from a POI at Northwestern that I've been placed on their waitlist! I'm proud to have made it to this point. At many points, I've had to contend with doubts about being a "nontraditional" student. And this is that department saying that I am qualified and prepared enough to be offered a spot there. Many thanks to everyone here and I'm wishing the best for all you.

Thank you!! So helpful to know.

Oh, I'm so happy for all of you getting decisions these last few days! Congrats on the Northwestern acceptances, I'm crossing my fingers that I'll hear from them one way or another. Of course, looking at Chicago and Madison these last few days has me (and my husband, perhaps especially so) wondering what on earth I might have signed myself up for. ? It's hard to believe it's February already. I wish I just fast forward through the next few weeks. We're almost there!

American History R_Escobar (20th century, American Indian), crazedandinfused (antebellum, intellectual), hopin'-n-prayin' (southern, religious), stevemcn (transnational), Simple Twist of Fate (early American), zb642 (20th century, labor/working-class culture), BCEmory08 (19th-20th century Catholicism, labor), irvinchiva10 (20th century, immigration/immigration reform) natsteel (early American political culture and intellectual history) unforth (19th century US political and military history, US Civil War) hbeels (colonial, early national, 19th century, transappalachain west, historical memory of these eras/areas) thedig13 (20th century U.S.; built environment, modern consumer culture, race, and immigration) Weepsie (North American Mapping, Exploration and Trade, Anti-Communism/Socialism in Interwar period, bit of a mixed bag) lafayette (19th c. [with a dash of 20th], urban, intellectual) vtstevie (Revolutionary/Early Republic New England, infrastructure/economic) macmc (Feminist, gender, and LGBT history) HistThrift (early America, indigenous history) junotwest (19/20th century African-American, Cultural/Intellectual, Gender & Sexuality) calhoun&caffeine (19th cen. Southern [political]) tampopo ramen (19th-20th century capitalism/business) BookishVixen (late 18th-early 20th ce maritime communities, cultural, gender & sexuality) hardtack&coffee (19th Century American Social & Military History, American Civil War) spellbanisher (economic and cultural history of the gilded age, progressive era, and the 1920s) ThisGreatFolly (intellectual, religious, political violence, rhetoric) lily9 (Indigenous history, social history, public history) ashiepoo72 (Cold War foreign policy and intelligence agencies, decolonization, transnational history) e_randolph (citizenship, politics, culture, early republic, borderlands) Karou (Indigenous history, French and Spanish settler-colonialism, US South, sexual violence and colonization, decolonization/decolonial methods) European History Kelkel (Modern Germany, political), goldielocks (Britain), SapperDaddy (Eastern and Central Europe), kotov (Modern Romania, Holocaust, labor), RevolutionBlues (Modern Western Europe/France labor and leftist politics), theregalrenegade (18th/19th cent British Empire/environment), jrah822 (19th century Britain; emphasis on colonial relationship to India), grlu0701 (Intellectual & cultural history,fin de siecle Germany and Italy), naturalog (modern European [mostly German] intellectual and cultural/sexuality and gender/political radicalism), runaway (Eastern/Central, memorialization & visual culture), Sequi001 (Modern France, gender and sexuality, colonialism/imperialism) Abetheh (19th/early 20th century Germany and France, religious politics vs secularization) NeutralKate (Modern Russia, modern European economic history) Crackerjacktiming (Modern Germany, gender and sexuality) GloFish (USSR, Stalinism, Soviet-American Relations) jamc8383 (19th/20th century France, interwar culture, relationship between body, mind & place) Heimat Historian (19th/20th century Germany, migration, settler colonialism) AshleyJuneBug (Early Modern France and Britain, gender and sexuality) maelia8 (19th/early 20th century Germany, imperialism and colonialism, travel, exploration) BookishVixen (Victorian and Edwardian English imperialism/gender & sexiality) episkey (19th/20th century France, gender and sexuality, Holocaust) AngesRadieux (18th/early 19th century France, cultural history, music) ManifestMidwest (modern France, colonialism & imperialism, Pacific worlds) DGrayson (early modern Western Europe [focusing mostly on England right now], economic and religious history) Ziggysunshine (19th/20th century Belgium, architecture and urban planning, intellectual history) TsarandProphet (Balkans, Ottoman/Russian/Habsburg History, history of knowledge, modern) African History Oseirus (precolonial/early colonial West Africa), Singwaya18 (20th century East Africa), Safferz (20th century Horn/Northeast Africa), The People's Scholar (Spanish colonialim in Africa- i.e. middle/West Africa) Jogatoronto (Psychiatry in early colonial West Africa) ronwill06 (Social and political radical movements) Heimat Historian (German settlements in Southern Africa) thekatieladybird (Post-independence conflict and social histories in Central Africa) fortsibut (Gender and religious issues in 20th century sub-Saharan Africa) Latin American History CageFree RIP (20th century, Southern Cone) BH-history, The People's Scholar (18th-19th century Colombia) StrangeLight (20th century Central America) Heimat Historian (German settlements in Southern cone and Mexico) Mujereslibres (German informal colonization of Peru, Brazil, and Chile) AP East Asian History alleykat (Modern China) getitlow (Modern China: Republican, Women, Gender and Sexuality) kyjin (Pre-Modern Japan) aec09g (Modern Japan) pudewen (Late Imperial China) kdavid (Modern China; focus on the Republican period) Minion.banana (late imperial China, Islam, intellectual networks) qkhitai (Medieval China and Central Asia, literature and ethnicity) lordtiandao (Imperial China: political and fiscal) Near/Middle Eastern History uhohlemonster, (modern Israel, Iran, Palestine) oswic (modern Egypt, gender) Conmel (modern pan-Islamic thought/networks) Baloch (Oman) Atlantic World sandyvanb crazedandinfused Global/World History cooperstreet (Cold War) melissarose8585 Heimat Historian (German settlements throughout world) ashiepoo72 (Cold War foreign policy and intelligence agencies, decolonization, transnational history) Jewish History uhohlemonster, (modern Israel) hopin'-n-'prayin, kotov (Holocaust), naturalog (sometimes modern European/Holocaust), runaway (memorialization & visual culture), ticklemepink (20th c. Germany/U.S) awells27 (Late Antiquity: Roman Empire/Palestine/Byzantine) Science/Technology/Environment shaxmaty1848 (Cold War) StrangeLight (environmental history, ecological distribution conflicts) sukipower (20th c. forensic science & anthropology, 19th c. science and medicine) Neist (19th/20th c. biological sciences) seh0517 (scientific illustration, ancient egyptian science & medicine, astronomy, mortuary science) lily9 (Indigenous science and how it fit into architecture and urban planning (especially astronomy) WhaleshipEssex (18/19th c. horology, timekeeping, and temporality) Balleu (18th/19th c. environmental history of slave trade and African Diaspora) Social annieca (Cold War and Post-Cold War East and Central Europe) BookishVixen (Spheres of influence, Progressive Era reforms affecting immigration) Classical and Medieval Hogs of War (Monastic Studies and Conflicts in Authority) telkanuru (high Medieval intellectual and social history, Cistercian studies) AbbeyRoad (Monastic History, Gender, Cistercians) Kirialax ("Dark Age" Byzantium; the Komnenoi) Cultural StrangeLight (gender, race, ethnicity, and religion) hbeels (race/ethnicity, religious, masculinity/feminimity, print/literature) crazedandinfused (race, nationalism, performance, rhetoric) alleykat (religion, race/ethnicity, cultural relativism) Heimat Historian (German culture in transnational context) nhhistorynut (20th century US, African American, race/racism, Black nationalism) Canadian History truthfinder (New France, religious) lily9 (Indigenous history) South Asia pakhistorian (Pakistan/Bangladesh,cultural, social, political, women, public history, digital history) Southeast Asia kxlx (early modern, colonialism, port cities, Islam)

This is totally understandable and relatable. We've all seen how much thought and effort you've put into your application process, and now it's out of your hands. That's a terrifying feeling. Other posters have offered thoughts on your worries about GPA and GRE; I haven't made it to the other side, so I can't speak to the experience of actually getting through admissions. But I would like to humbly offer my thoughts on anxiety. This cycle is not the end. It's not the end of your academic life, it's not the end of your professional life, it's simply not the end. You are young, hard-working, and motivated. You have a multitude of options ahead of you, and that is true regardless of the outcome of this application cycle. Waiting out the anxiety will be uncomfortable, but it will not last forever. Alcohol is certainly a popular coping strategy for anxiety. I have also had great success with learning a new physical activity. Ever wanted to try rock climbing, curling, hip hop dance, etc.? Now is the time. Anything to get out of your head. It's not for everyone, but meditation has been a great help to me. I practice observing my thoughts from a distance and then letting them float away, like a falling leaf carried off by a stream. If I'm overstepping, I apologize. But I hope you can take what works, and leave the rest. I believe in you, and I'm rooting for you. Sincerely, An internet stranger with many years of fighting this battle.

All three of my letter writers have submitted LORs across the board. And without needing increasingly frantic reminders! One of them said "I am actually at the ASA right now (funny because I am literally seeing folks who might be reviewing your app, while I am submitting it)." I'll cross my fingers that'll mean something good in the mysterious realm of applications under review. How long after submitting an application does it usually take for schools to match your GRE scores with your app? Wondering when I can cross that worry off my list.

Well, two out of five applications are in! Hitting that submit button was absolutely terrifying. Good luck to everyone in the last mad dash before December 1st! I'm rooting for us all.

Congrats! I'm sure it feels great to be at that point. Now the waiting begins! I've condensed my thesis by about half at this point to get it to an appropriate writing sample length, which was a pretty smooth process. Now I only have to shave off five more pages, which feels impossible. Time to be ruthless with my own work.

The fear that I keep coming back to is that my writing sample isn't connected at all to my proposed graduate research area. I chose this sample because it uses sources in one of my research languages, and I'm sure it's a common enough experience for one's research interests to evolve over the course of several years post-undergrad. But the worry still nags at me.

Of course, I almost tossed out my own advice this morning in a fit of pique. Note to self: scrapping the work you've done on one writing sample in favor of trying to wrangle your entire thesis into a manageable sample is not a good idea. Especially not on November 3rd. ?

@historygeek, I'm having such a similar experience right now. Reading through my own writing sample is so uncomfortable. I focused on addressing the comments from my faculty mentor, and then setting it aside and trying not to worry about it. If you've done that, you're well on your way. The "not worrying" is of course easier said than done!

Thanks for your input, everyone. Congrats on the positive feedback and starting the semester on a good note, @historygeek! It's been a good week for me too. I had a very helpful phone call with the chair of Yale HSHM, and have follow up phone calls scheduled with two of her colleagues. Also, I'd been waiting to get confirmation from LOR writer #3, and just received it. Each of my reviewers has worked with me in a minimum of two upper-division seminars, and all three were very enthusiastic about supporting my applications.

Congrats, @urbanhistorynerd! What an excellent opportunity for networking, regardless of what comes of it in the application process. This is excellent advice for all of us. I've seen the benefits of a "journey is the destination" mindset, and I can't agree enough that it builds both your own self-confidence and others' respect for your professionalism. On the topic of professional etiquette: how should one adress the topic of funding in an SOP? I'd like to specifically highlight how their funding would benefit the research I plan to do (funded language study the summer before the first year would help as I learn a less-commonly-taught language, for example). To me, that's a part of the program's fit. But is it too obvious a point? Or uncouth to bring up funding at all?

Thank you! I of course don't want to come across as obsequious, while still wanting to balance that against the reputation that department has for being particularly... insular.

For those who have applied/will apply to Yale: did you write your book review on a book written by a Yale professor?

Absolutely. Which brings us back to the points raised in Is getting a PhD worth it?. Looking only at numbers, the odds are not in anyone's favor. Hence the (entirely warranted) insistence on taking prestige and placement record seriously.

One of my faculty mentors said that 8-10 schools should be my minimum, because of the competitiveness of the admissions process. My other faculty mentor said to try to narrow it down to ~5, because applying just to get accepted somewhere is the wrong tactic. My anxiety initially pushed me toward the former approach, but the more I've done my research (and read through this forum), the more comfortable I've become with narrowing down the list. It feels a little strange to cut schools from my list where I got an enthusiastic response from a variety of faculty/grad students, but I'm framing it to myself as part of the research. I'd be doing myself a disservice (and wasting $150ish dollars) applying somewhere that's a bad fit or blindly throwing out applications for the hell of it. I know that I'll be applying to Wisconsin, Princeton, and NYU. Yale, Cornell, and Northwestern are maybes.

@urbanhistorynerd, I empathize. Getting a strong grasp of the historiography and major debates of one's field is an intimidating process. I'm in the midst of it and always feel like there's something else I should be reading, or some crucial piece of the puzzle I should already have. And yet, of course, this is only the tip of the iceberg. However well we do our homework during the application process, we're in for a constant process of challenging and refining that knowledge once the actual graduate work begins. There will always be hundreds of articles, but we needn't start from scratch when it comes to how to synthesize them. I've found the following threads from the History section to be extremely helpful. They're full of the wisdom of established grad students, including @Sigaba answering some of the questions you posed above: Reading tips for graduate students in history programs On Reading Effectively In Graduate School How do you organize? (For when you need a system to organize all the notes you're taking) I agree with the suggestion to start with AHR, not only because of the quality of the scholarship but because they're publishing to the widest audience of historians. Thus, the author can't assume the reader is going to be intimately familiar with the major debates in the field of African public health/gender in the British Caribbean/medieval Iberian convivencia/etc. etc. AHR is a great place to practice close reading for "state of the field" summaries, and the bibliographical goldmines that accompany them.

I've had several POIs generously offer to chat via phone/Skype in the fall as I prepare my application. I've seen some older threads with great advice on preparing for interviews. However, a phone call in the fall seems to me more designed for me to ask questions of them, rather than vice versa. Has anyone gone through similar pre-application phone calls? Do you have any advice for those calls in addition to the advice I've found on interviews?

Thank you. I have some sense of who I want to be as a historian (The Storyteller, as described in Bill Cronon's 2013 AHA Presidential Address), but it can certainly be refined. Thinking about what kind of historian I want to become is also a useful exercise in examining fit with a particular institution. Do they like to produce the sorts of historians I want to become? So far, I've written one SOP (for Wisconsin, unsurprisingly), and I think I'll stop there for the moment. I need to let the experience of writing that one settle in my mind before I start another. If anyone is interested, I'm happy to share a link. @historygeek and @TsarandProphet, I'll PM you.