Chaplin

Seems like it's been a really slow week for news - anyone hear anything?

"Soon" is the woooorst. Yes I did apply to Brown, haven't heard anything yet! But fingers crossed for both of us!

I actually interviewed with AAMW too! (maybe we'll be classmates one day!) Did they give you any idea when they would make decisions? I should have asked but it slipped my mind.

I'm a Mediterranean archaeologist too!

I had my first interview today! I was surprised how casual it felt - though I'm sure this varies from school to school. They just asked me some general questions about my interests and experiences and why I was interested in their program. Unfortunately they didn't give me much of a time line for when I might hear about results so I'm not sure if it will be days or months before I hear back. It seems from the results page that things usually pick up in the last week of January - fingers crossed for good news for us all!

It's a nerve-wracking time, but if you look at previous years on the results page of gradcafe, there's a big increase in interviews/results around the last week of January, so there's still time!

Man this is stressful! Hope everyone is holding up okay.

Thanks all for your insights!

Hi friends! Hope everyone is making good progress on their applications this year. I have a curiosity I'm wondering if anyone can answer. In several of the apps I'm filling out they ask you to list other grad programs you're applying to. It seems that this is an optional question on all applications that ask for it, but I'm wondering what this question is about. I cannot really see why its relevant unless they are using it to see gauge how likely you are to get into other programs(?). I'm considering leaving it blank just because I don't see how it can benefit my application. Any thoughts or advice? Is there a good reason not to leave this blank?

blerp. I also interviewed with them a few weeks ago, but haven't heard anything. Their website does say that they're admitting a smaller cohort this year.

Brandeis is taking MA apps until Feb. 15th, and they offer competitive funding

Congratulations and good luck on the interview! It is shitty that JHU didn't announce that they weren't taking applicants in your subfield before you applied! That's such a waste of time and effort. I was planning to apply to Stanford, but they announced they weren't taking applicants in archaeology. Sucks but at least they announced it.

It's certainly a rough year and I have been telling myself that if I don't get in this year, it's just not my fault (maybe it's not 100% true, but makes me feel better). I think many qualified candidates might be rejected this year just because departments are not taking their usual cohorts. Good to remember the shittiness of this application season is not on us and is beyond our control.

Also would recommend asking how the department/university has handled Covid-19 and how it has affected grad students. It's a good signal for quality of life for grad students.

I also had one of the interviews listed above (I won't say where if that's okay, just to keep it anonymous). The experience wasn't too unpleasant, the interviewers were very friendly and showed genuine interest in me and my research experience. It kind of felt like a more informal chit-chat than anything else. I left feeling like it went well, but I have yet to hear back about decisions.

a very sensible plan

soooooo how's everyone doing? I think the worst part of this stage is not knowing when we'll hear back. Wishing everyone good news!

that clears things up a bit - thanks so much!

Can anyone clarify some university politics to me? I spoke with a PI at a university I applied to and they told me they make decisions after they have a meeting with the department and a meeting with the field. What does this mean? Is this an peculiarity for this one university or a common division? Any clarity would be helpful!

This year might be different but last time I applied there was a huge variety in the times I heard back from schools. I got an interview in January, and started getting rejections in February, but didn't receive my final rejection until late March. All that to say, I don't think that not having heard anything at this point is a sign of anything. Many schools take their time.

I also had one interview last time I went through the application process. For me this included my PI (an archaeologist) and the graduate program chair (a philologist). The PI asked me primarily about my research interests, the limitations of different methodologies, the theorists I have read, and questions along that line. The other professors asked exclusively about my language experience and how I planned to compensate for my lack of experiences in the languages. If there are any obvious lacunae in your CV (like there were in mine) I think it's important for you to be able to speak to how you will work to amend them. They also asked me if I had questions about their program, so I would be prepared with questions. After my interview (which happened in January), I didn't hear anything from the department until I got a rejection in mid-March. I know that others got rejections in January and February, so presumably I was on a wait-list of some kind, though I was never notified. There are definitely schools that accept applicants without interviews.

Hi all! No news here, but thought I would join in the conversation! Several of my top choice schools were not taking applications this year. I considered not sending out applications at all and waiting until next year, as I didn't want to feel like I might have missed the opportunity to go to my top choice institutions because of COVID. Ultimately, I ended up applying to one school as it was the only one of my top choices that was accepting applications, and I decided I would rather wait another year then compromise on where I end up. In a normal year I would never only send out one application, because I understand the pure statistical improbability. I don't know if I can extrapolate from my own decision-making process, but I imagine there are others who decided to wait this year out and try next year. As for the one application, I'm vacillating between hope and despair, as I'm sure are the rest of you. I think it's important to remember that this is a year unlike any other, and we might all get rejections purely for reasons totally beyond our control. Wishing you all good news!

Hey all, Congratulations to all those accepted! Archaeologist here. I've gotten only rejections thus far - UNC, Michigan IPCAA, Stanford. I've yet to hear back from Brown, Penn, Cornell or Berkeley but do not expect good news. I had two interviews with Cornell, and then never heard back - but I know they've already sent on their acceptances so I'm not hopeful. When do you think is an appropriate time to send an inquiry about the status of my application? My POI at Stanford was actually very kind and sent an email saying that while they liked my application and thought I would be a good fit, they couldn't admit me with my limited language experience. My Plan B was to go for a second MA in order to get a lot more language experience and it's looking like that's the direction I'm headed. Sigh.

Congrats to all those getting interviews and admits!! I interviewed with cornell early in january. They told me their committee would meet on 1/22 and would send out their decisions by the end of this week, but I haven't heard anything from them. Anyone else waiting on cornell?? (I'm an archaeologist)

I've applied to the Joukowsky Institute as well, but no word yet. So far, Cornell is the only school I've heard from for an interview.