Dark Paladin
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Posts posted by Dark Paladin
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I am trying to make a decision very last minute between my two top programs - Penn and Yale. I am an early Americanist who, very broadly speaking, is interested in studying the American Revolution from the perspective of the backcountry, Indian affairs, and the development of 18th and early 19th-century Indian policy. I'm extremely conflicted and think there are a lot of pros and cons to each program both academically and lifestyle wise. I had settled on going to Yale until I was recently offered a spot in Penn's JD/PhD (American legal history program) off the waitlist.
I was able to visit Yale and had very productive talks with my advisors and other students. I feel very comfortable with the support I would get there and quite liked New Haven even if my quality of life would probably be a fair bit better in a big city like Philadelphia. In contrast, I haven't been able to visit Penn itself and have only been able to speak with my potential advisors over the phone.
That said, in theory, my prospective advisor at Penn is probably the best fit and is among the very biggest names in my area of interest with a proven track record of advising students who do well on the job market. He is, however, transitioning towards retirement and will be living permanently on the other side of the country starting in what would be my third year. He has committed to advising me throughout my Ph.D. career (and I have heard nothing but praise when I ask about him as an advisor) but after my second year, most of this would have to be done over Skype and phone. I am trying to figure out how big of a red flag that is.
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2 minutes ago, urbanhistorynerd said:
Just received word from Harvard that the application committees list has been approved! I am *GSAS* officially admitted to Harvard's history PhD!
Congrats!
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1 hour ago, historygeek said:
Wow-- thank you for all the advice, everyone!
Just to address some points: I've always loved European history, and it's consistently been the field I'm most interested in. All of my upper-level history classes have been in European history (ranging from classical Greece to Rome in late antiquity to British imperial history to 20th century Italy). I chose to do a thesis on American history because of an internship I did at a museum in the Italian neighborhood of St. Louis, and felt that it would be easiest to do a thesis on American history (though I heavily considered doing my thesis on modern Italian history). I worried, though probably erroneously, that I would only get accepted to American history programs, so I applied mainly to American history programs (and some global).
As for my language training, I'm double majoring in history and Italian, so I have one language under my belt-- another reason I felt that applying to PhD programs in American history was the best course of action. I'm trying now to learn Latin, and will try to be learning German and/or French in the near future!
At risk of being overly blunt, if you chose a thesis topic primarily because you thought it would be "easier," it's probably not the sub-field you should get a Ph.D. in. It does sound like you are truly more passionate about European history and already have Italian under your belt so it shouldn't be too painful of a switch.
That said, I really think you should still keep in mind what @gsc put so well.
If you got a Ph.D. offer tomorrow for an American history program at, say, NYU or Michigan would you take it? Just make sure you are not emotionally rationalizing changing paths because of the way this admissions cycle has gone. I'm guilty of thinking like this all the time.
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2 hours ago, historygeek said:
Hi everyone.
For a while now, I've been noticing that my research interests have been changing. Though I applied to grad school in American history, and am writing a thesis in modern American history, I've realized that I've grown a bit disinterested. ? A majority of the history courses I've taken are in European history, and I've found that I've been much more interested in European history. More dramatically, I've found that I've been the most excited about medieval and early modern history. My fear, though, is that my experience as an undergrad would make it hard to get into European history at all.
So far, I haven't had any PhD acceptances and I'm honestly not expecting any, but I do have an MA acceptance. Would it be best to accept and attend this MA program to get my foot in the door with non-American history, or just continue in the field that I wrote my undergrad thesis?
Obviously only you can answer this but I would give yourself some breathing room from the thesis before you definitely change focus.
I remember feeling the same way sometimes when I was in the later stages of my undergrad thesis (although my thinking never went to such a dramatic shift), only to reaffirm my research interests after a couple months break.
What's new and exciting today might not always feel that way. Just make sure you are making the shift for the right reasons and not running away from your research for something you'll be just as bored with in the long run.
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12 minutes ago, Tigla said:
Well...my stress and anxiety skyrocketed today. How are Harvard and Yale contacting accepted candidates? If it is an official email, then I did not receive anything. Looks like its time to put the backup plan into action since this cycle isn't my turn either.
I got an official email (Yale).
Some schools won't send out offers until late February (e.g. Penn and Berkeley) so you still have time.
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3 minutes ago, TMP said:
For those if you who have received personal e-mails from professors/students, do reply as soon as you have your nerves together to type without "OMG!!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED TO HEAR FROM YOU!!! THIS IS MY DREAM SCHOOL!!!" Rather, just respond polite in this way
"Thank you so much for your warm note. I am delighted to have this offer in hand and I look forward to staying in touch about the upcoming visitation weekend."
As always, keep an open mind to the various options if you are so fortunate to have them to choose from. I also will say this, if you end up with just one program and it's a funding offer, your other option is always to decline and do something else or try again next year. I've seen it happen here although very heart-breaking on the applicant's part.
Finally, ALL it takes is one funded acceptance for this cycle to end.
3Should we respond to the email informing us of acceptance if it is sent by office staff? Not sure whether confirming receipt is the polite thing to do in this case or just bothersome.
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5 minutes ago, potsupotsu said:
I was - It was such a nice touch!
Are any of you Yale admittees planning on going to the visit day on the 3rd and 4th?
I didn't get anything from current Yale graduate students ?
I'll definitely see you guys on the 3rd and 4th.
Kind of an odd question, but are we supposed to respond to the offer email in any way? I'm scared they are going to take it away LOL.
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5 minutes ago, awemorethansome said:
Congrats to you two. Were you invited to interview earlier?
Yeah, I interviewed in late January.
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I WAS JUST ACCEPTED AT YALE!!!!
Crying with happiness.
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20 hours ago, e_randolph said:
That's very kind! Yes, I suspect I'll have to to narrow my interests down quite a bit in advance of my dissertation. If you don't mind me asking, what're your primary interests?
Affairs of Honor is WONDERFUL -- My first major project in undergraduate was roughly modeled after the way Freeman marries violence and politics in the book. She is such a skilled historian and I was lucky enough to meet her in the fall when she was giving book talks
Broadly speaking, my interest is in how the "ideology(s)" of the American Revolution informed the logic and infrastructure of American expansion from the perspective of "frontier" actors in the early national period.
Joanne Freeman is amazing indeed!
If you haven't already read it, I strongly suggest Robert Parkinson's recent book The Common Cause.
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1 hour ago, e_randolph said:
Your research sounds fascinating! Both spotlighting understudied experiences and focusing on understudied areas are such valuable tendencies. I'm trying to do something similar -- studying early American borderlands and urban centers through a political lens, especially focusing on the slaves, women, freedmen, farmers, and Indigenous people who bore the brunt of American expansion, both physically and ideologically.
Right now, I'm reading Joanne Freeman's The Field of Blood, which I got my hands on this fall but am only tearing into now. As expected, it's amazing.
We have similar interests, although your focus is a fair bit broader than my own. I look forward to reading your work one day ?
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2 minutes ago, villageelliot said:
Your research sounds fascinating as well! Border regions are such a hot topic right now and there are so many questions just begging to be answered. Especially when you focus on people left out of the traditional narrative as you are.
I haven't heard of The Field of Blood but I'll have to check it out. Next on my list is either The Days of the French Revolution or The Expanding Blaze. I also just finished 1789 which was an incredible read.
You would enjoy Freeman's earlier book: Affairs of Honor.
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What does everyone think about post-interview etiquette? I have an interview coming up, should I send thank you emails afterward?
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7 hours ago, villageelliot said:
Are there any other early Americanists out there applying this cycle? I was thinking if there's interest it might be nice to get a thread going to commiserate over waiting, and once the time comes--decisions!
Hi, fellow early Americanist! Hopefully we will start hearing back soon.
Applications 2019
in History
Posted
It was the hardest decision I've ever made but I have declined Penn's offer and will be heading to Yale next year.
I honestly still feel very conflicted, but I am incredibly excited for what is to come.
Best of luck to everyone else!