daradara

I have been so busy that I haven't been on here in over a month! It is nice to come back and read where everybody ended up, with many surprises along the way. After having the opportunity to visit both Yale and Harvard, I actually decided to decline Yale and go with Harvard. As many here probably know, I was decidedly Yale, but Harvard really chipped away over the final month, and they stole my heart during the visit day. Overall, they offered many things that Yale just could not, and the worries that I had about Yale seemed not to be present at Harvard. Therefore, I felt most comfortable going with Harvard, and I feel fairly confident in my decision.

@TsarandProphet @Dark Paladin @potsupotsu @HardyBoy Thoughts on the Yale visit? (If you made it)

Congrats, Ternwild on the acceptance from Oregon! Hopefully more to come.

Chicago told me this: "Your application is currently in final review. We expect to begin sending out official decisions late February to early March. This process can take several days to complete; there is no way to know when in the process your decision will be sent. No further changes or additions to your application may be made." If you wait another week you should hear back, I would hope. I am almost certain they will send decisions before their visit day, which is the 7th and 8th. However, judging from the results page, all the decisions sent out in March have always been nothing but rejections.

No, he went to WHARTON. ?When I was an undergraduate at UPenn, all the people who were in the Wharton business school would never say they went to UPenn, rather it was always "I go to Wharton". You can even see it on the gradforum results page from time to time.

Waitlisted at Harvard (ranked number one) and also at UPenn (theirs is unranked by sub-field). Patiently waiting...hoping that someone will decline so I can go to the visit day at Harvard!

Personally, I am not nervous at all. New Haven looks fine (even most of the "bad neighborhoods"), crime has been trending down, and it is not that difficult to stay out of trouble. As someone who has lived in places that are far worse than New Haven, I can tell you that crime statistics are very misleading and that it will probably never impact you personally.

Sorry to hear about the rejection. I totally agree with your assessment of that line, by the way. I am stunned by what some of these schools choose to go with. I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt and think they meant "qualified" in the sense that enrollment is limited to the small number who have been chosen for admissions, but that seems a bit too redundant to be true... either way not a good look!

Yes, I recommend you write to request your ranking (if there is one). This will give you a better idea of whether you actually have a chance of being accepted. You could even ask (or find on the website) the total number typically matriculated, which put in relation to the number of offers typically given would also give you a good idea of your chances. Many History departments will do waitlist by sub-field rather than ranking, but in the case it probably means that you are either the A or B alternate for your field. Good luck!

I had heard that Villanova has nice funding. Congratulations! I am assuming it is the top pick for now.

Just to clarify, did you apply to the History program, or is American History part of a separate program, like American Studies? In either case, you may want to e-mail them and ask them!

Nothing appears on your portal either? Usually they send waitlists out before the rejections, so I am wondering what is going on in your case.

Have you seen the newest thread, 2019 Visit Days/Decisions? People have given lists of questions they asked/think people should generally ask. It is a very useful thread and I suggest reading it if you have not!

Sorry to hear about your rejection. The process of reviewing seems to be over for most schools, so hopefully you hear good news from your remaining three soon!

Yes, best of luck spacea! An additional thing that I read on this forum is that a History applicant from a previous year was told by Chicago that they would have taken them if they would have expressed more clearly that Chicago was a top 3 choice. Chicago felt that this person would have definitely turned them down, and so did not admit them, even though they would have liked to. Something to perhaps keep in mind for future applicants. I know on my application for Yale I made is clear they were at the top of my list, and while I do not know if it made any difference, it certainly did not hurt. I do know that Chicago History's number of accepted applicants has been trending down yearly, and this probably fuels some of that mentality.