DanaJ

Desperately trying to wrap up this final chapter of my MA thesis, but it's just so easy to leave all these other windows open and hit refresh every time I finish working through another section!

I'm refreshing my e-mail every 5 minutes at my desk in the Grad Assistant office, plus keeping my phone by my side at all times! It's painful!

10 page limit?! I was whining about programs who had a 15 page limit (Notre Dame). My POI told me not to cut something artificially to fit a page limit, at the same time I selected a chapter from my MA thesis (it flows best in chapter form) that was 24 pages for the sample I sent to most programs. I managed to cut that to 17 for ND and hoped they wouldn't be too upset. Some of these ranges are entirely too short to allow an applicant to feel comfortable with both a strong sample and being sure that it demonstrates their interests!! Good luck to you on your remaining applications! I've only heard back from 1 of 5, and it wasn't good news... granted they were not my top choice program and beyond my POI, I would really have struggled to find committee members, which is likely why they didn't take the chance on me! I think the next 2 weeks will be big, but 2 of my applications had rather late deadlines (Jan 15 and Feb 1), which might mean I have to wait until March to hear from them, and one is my top choice program!

Has anyone heard anything from Notre Dame? I see on the results page that there has been one interview and one rejection reported, no one accepted yet. I didn't get an interview so I don't expect to get in, but it would still be nice to hear something! I did have a 45 minute phone call with a potential POI in November but I'm sure that does not count for an interview.

UK didn't even have an application deadline until Jan 15, the results page looks like March. USF seems to be early Feb. I'm pulling for you too!!!

We are in exactly the same boat. I applied to 4 schools (Notre Dame, Alabama, Kentucky, and South Florida). I tried to keep them practical for the University that I'm coming from, Notre Dame was my reacher school. I didn't get an interview there, so I assume I'm rejected. Alabama rejected me on Friday, but it was the same thing. One POI that would've been a great fit but not really anyone else to even put on the committee. USF has one POI but multiple other people who could be on the committee for my intended topic, and Kentucky has 2 good potential POIs with LOTS who could be good for a committee. I'm just crossing my fingers, as they are my best fits and practical options for me. I feel like academia was different 12-13 years ago, which is concerning, but we are all in this together and just have to hope for the best. I'll second that congrats to all who got into MSU. I'm a Michigan native, it's a great school and East Lansing is a great little city.

I asked schools if I could come visit (with the exception of one that was less than an hour away, they invited me), so fully-paid campus visit sounds like a good indication that they are interested in you, even without a formal interview. I would prepare some basic questions about the program and have a small research pitch. My department chair advised me to have both an "elevator pitch" and a longer, 2-3 minute statement prepared so that I could respond in whichever manner seemed appropriate in a meeting. I have met with a couple POI and DGS individuals and everyone seemed to have different questions. I think they best responses to questions I've asked have been those regarding job placement of previous students and timelines within the program. Websites are often vague but faculty can give you more specifics on what they are looking for. Just my personal thoughts, I obviously am awaiting admissions decisions as well!

VERY TRUE! Domestic national politics but the early Cold War could be argued as far back as the Manhattan Project, while my MA thesis is focused on the 1950s.

I did not. I knew about the National Security Archives, not the IIRC! Some schools worried me with funding, and the number of applications I sent out was fairly limited due to the cost of applying. That's another concern, I worry that I didn't apply to ENOUGH schools. Dr. Tracy Campbell at the University of Kentucky is who I would most like to work with, he has looked at midterm elections in the 1940s. I went up there and met with him and the DGS the week before the application deadline so hopefully I made a good impression.

Thank you! That makes me feel better. I got my first rejection on Friday and am trying to figure out what went wrong. My department assures me it is more about having someone who is excited about my content and not to be discouraged by one rejection, but once it's in your head it's hard to shake! Maybe domestic politics during the early Cold War just isn't something a lot of schools want to touch. Hopefully someone things that examining how the Civil Rights movement, Korea, and issues like McCarthyism all impacted U.S. elections is as interesting as I do, that's half the battle!

This is going to sound like a ridiculous question, but I have been creeping on this thread for about a week and am curious. Did everyone applying to graduate programs attend top tier universities? Personally I attend a smaller regional school, but graduated summa cum laude in undergrad and am on track to for the same with my MA. I have also worked as a graduate assistant for my entire MA career. I applied to a range of doctoral programs, from top tier programs all the way to regional universities like the one I currently attend. I am really just asking to know if my anxiety in this waiting period before admissions decisions are released is justified, I know we are all feeling it!

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I wish I weren't refreshing grad cafe! I would be doing the same, but I would expect someone to post if they had gotten an interview, I'm sure they interview enough to students that SOMEONE would have posted. They were my "long shot school" anyway, but I would still like to hear something! I didn't expect to get in, but you never quite know what they could be looking for.

No, I've been checking the application portal. I assumed I just hadn't gotten in, but I would think they would at least update an application status if they had made interview decisions.