daradara

Yes, I agree it it much better to wait until you are an established student before you begin bending anything. I have a professor who said, as you did, that it is best to wait until after your exams before one begins to act more freely within one's department and toward one's seniors. Until then, you are to maintain a certain decorum, so he thinks. Overall, great advice as usual, TMP. I am with fortsibut in being curious about the details of the story in the last line. ?

Most of the areas around UPenn are very safe. The graduate housing is right in the middle of the campus and would be a great choice. My recommendation is to look at the google map below to see which places are safe (green), less safe (yellow), getting a bit dicey (orange), and "not safe" (red). This is a bit outdated, so even a lot of the red would be orange, yellow, or green today. For instance, Mantua, Brewery Town, and Point Breeze are much nicer today than they were, but are not recommended as a living place for a first time city person. Even most of the red areas are certainly not "no go" areas, though you will have little need to wander into neighborhoods such as Kingsessing. As you can see, you can easily avoid red neighborhoods anyhow. I lived in Philadelphia for many years, and I was never a victim of crime, nor did I know anyone who was a victim of crime. The city really is quite safe, and has only been getting safer over the last decade. There are occasional robberies in some of the more southwesterly yellow parts near the UPenn campus. A lot of students cluster hereto live, and the fraternity/sorority housing is here too, so it occasionally attracts attention. I suggest you look at Penn Alerts and get in touch with the public safety division if you have any questions about housing safety. In any case, the majority of the campus is swamped with police presence, and it is an incredibly safe environment. https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?oe=UTF8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=h&msa=0&start=60&num=200&ll=39.95285039883474%2C-75.21377128424047&spn=0.076884%2C0.181103&z=15&mid=1HzxpniA-9y5MpbLwK1n_FyNNP90 https://www.publicsafety.upenn.edu/pennready/upennalert/

? This is exactly what one of my professors said about becoming an academic.

As a personal anecdote, I managed to get into BA, MA, and my soon-to-be PhD program with my significant other. It was clear in each case that we were serious about going somewhere together and would little consider something apart. If one of us had been rejected, we were hoping to be incorporated into the university somehow, and from my understanding, it would not have been an issue. As for the academic workplace, when I was at UPenn, it was very common for new workers to ask for a position for a spouse, or for PhD students to have a spouse or family member working in the university. However, be aware that this was much easier if you were an established student. If it is really what you want, you should pursue it, and not be afraid of shadows. Overall though, I think requesting for both of you to be in a PhD program is much more difficult than any other scenario, but a lot of PhD politics has to do with funding, and that could be potentially worked around. Again, if it means so much to you, it may be worth at least a discussion.

Could we not say that our job as underrepresented Historians is to challenge those rules "situated in a different constellation of social and cultural assumptions and values" rather than acquiesce in them? Especially when those values emanate from a locus of power that has sought to exclude rather than include us? Do we become the enemy of people like us for our own self-benefit? To be frank, to get where I have, I underwent certain transformations to be more accepted by the academic audience and mainstream America (for instance, the alternation of my speech), but I have maintained my working-class values and, though I have shocked and confused at times, it has not hindered my academic achievement whatsoever. I recognize the utility of Sigaba's advice, and I sense a trend in his general advice not to rock the boat out of one's own self-interest. However, and perhaps this is my working-class background speaking, it does not sit comfortably with me. This is something that we must struggle with individually and ask ourselves exactly what we truly value and what we find reasonable to dispense with. There certainly is no hard one-fits-all rule.

Yes, I realize that. It is what it is, and much bad blood boils in academia--perhaps more than you even know. I appreciate that you have no doubt dispensed a great amount of useful advice here on this forum, and I also understand the concept of taking the onus on oneself to prevent issues, but I do think that people who claim to be intellectuals should comport themselves in a manner befitting of their title in cases of potential misunderstandings. Call me an idealist perhaps.

Not to mention, it has the real likelihood of shaking the nearly sleeping cat and continuing the chain of responses rather than what would have probably been if it were left alone.

Nice to know, Ternwild! Thank you for the information.

Give it a few years until the rejection letters move into "inferior," "unqualified," or "unworthy" territory.

Yes, I think I will when I have a little more time. The only thing I can hope though, is that there is continual community renewal, as the dates periodically change. I would hate for the project to be undermined for future use--its primary intent after all--due to lack of upkeep. In that case, it could actually be very unhelpful to applicants! I would be okay with coming here at least once a year and seeing to it that the dates for my school/field are correct. Best of luck with the project.

Well If I ever wanted to apply to the Colorado School of Mines I know where to turn to. Surely the internet's most comprehensive source on the school.

Decline.pdf.... this is exactly why I had no problem believing @fortsibut's Wisconsin post. ?

The History candidates seem like the most gentle people in the world compared to some of these other disciplines! ?

(a) I understand this attitude, and I was hesitant myself about applying. However, applications for me were free, and for personal reasons I had to limit myself to a certain geographical area, making Harvard one of the better schools in that range. Therefore, it really cost me nothing to just apply with the materials I had prepared. To be fair, as mentioned, I do like (really like!) the scholars in the department, but it really would not be where I would have liked to end up given my current project and the current focus of the department. However, one can certainly do worse than Harvard, especially given the fact that the large majority of universities I would actually consider poor fits. I know some people in my sub-field who did get in to Harvard this year over me, and I feel that their projects really do fit the department, so I think these things work themselves out very well in the end. (b) Yes, I agree with this. In fact, when I left, I received advice from a professor there I was very close to. He said that he thinks it would be a poor decision to return to UPenn in the future, as I probably had experienced all that the university could give me already. I appreciate your sound advice as well as a reminder of that.

I had the same exact plan of moving somewhere and hopefully getting a job in the university system somehow while continuing to research and apply again the next year. I am in a very long-term relationship and my choices of where to apply revolved around that fact, honestly. I did not apply to some of the places that I would have if I were single, and I applied to some places that I did not feel were great fits. Therefore, I realized there was a very real possibility of not making the cut this year due to intentionally limiting myself, but I figured I would want to stay within the academic sphere. I think if one plans to re-submit, looking for something like museum job or substitute teaching--something that signals your devotion to your field-- is really a great thing to do!

I'm well aware of this. I went to an Ivy school, I am currently surrounded by Ivy-bred faculty very intimate with the scholars at the Ivy departments, and I have actually met all the faculty in my field at Harvard, worked with them on projects, etc. It is not contempt for them as people or their scholarship, but I am just not personally attracted to the department or what they are doing at moment. Clearly, they felt the same about me (and they had discussed this with me prior), and I do not take it as them having contempt for me or my project.

Well, I am 100% sure I have been rejected from Harvard HEAL. The Harvard rejections are not something I much care about, as aside from the potential funding, there is essentially nothing about the school that excites me. However, it appears that I may also be rejected from University of Pennsylvania. This one I am unsure about, but they did start releasing acceptances, so it is possible. I am not sure if it is because it is my last decision (assuming Chicago has been decided long ago), , but I feel slightly more moved by the possibility of rejection from UPenn. Perhaps it is also influenced by nostalgia, as UPenn was my BA. Perhaps it is also because it is the only application I had to pay for! The department is actually very limited for my field (only one person), and for that reason it probably would be a poor place to do my degree relative to other places I applied, but nevertheless I felt sad for a moment. In the end, it appears I will only get into one university, but that university also happened to be my first choice by an innumerable margin. I suppose I cannot complain.

That is a relief. I was on my way to questioning the integrity of Wisconsin as an institution. ?

@Balleu @fortsibut Best of luck both of you with the Cornell decision. Hopefully there are enough spots in African History for the both of you!

Congratulations! It certainly has been an eventful day for you! It might not even be over just yet.

Same... Yale is the only place I have gotten in so far (number one choice, though), and I also had an interview with UPenn, but since they come out so late after the Yale decision (one week ago today!) I have gotten a head start on planning for Yale to the point where it starts to feel like things have been finalized, despite the fact that I have not even accepted the offer yet and am still waiting to hear back from other schools.

I did not ask during my interview with UPenn, but from the results history, "mid-February" seems to be around the 23rd. There was a year they were sent a week earlier, but it remains to be seen. Rejections typically come out in March, I believe.

I think the first question you might want to ask yourself is how long of a commute are you okay with. If you decide to get a place in Philadelphia, be sure that it has easy access to one of the stations serving the SEPTA regional rail. You may have some weather delays during the winter, but overall the trains are reliable and it would take you around 30-40 minutes to get to Villanova. The problem may be that housing near the Philadelphia-located regional rail stations that go out to Villanova may be in more expensive areas, but you can actually get fairly reasonable housing in Philadelphia relative to other cities. For instance, I lived in a very nice building right next to Rittenhouse Square in Center City for 1,100 with all utilities included. Your other option if you wish to stick with public transport is to just live anywhere near a station along either the Norris High-speed Line or the Paoli/Thorndale Regional Rail line. There are plenty of nice places like Narberth, Wynnewood, Ardmore, Bryn Mawr, and Haverford (the last three also having great universities) that may have housing available for student renting. All of them would put you closer to Villanova as well. P.S. This stretch is called the "Main line" and is home to a lot of wealthy families, but there is cheaper housing to be found even there, so do not be put off immediately by sticker shock if you look in these areas.

Yes, I just received my rejection from Princeton as well. I was expecting as much, as I sent in a still quite rough version of my writing sample that I polished up only in time for my final applications! The early deadlines were basically trial runs, so I am thankful for them anyhow. This was my first real rejection, and I am happy to receive it actually. I think Princeton is nice for sending our rejections the day after acceptances, unlike some other schools which have apparently decided weeks ago but still are taking their sweet time. Sorry to hear you were also rejected Balleu, and I hope you get in somewhere soon. I know several people on this board are planning on turning down their Northwestern acceptances, so hopefully you are considered.

The Villanova offer was for an MA, right? When I graduated from my BA, I decided not to apply to PhD and went to an MA first because I felt like I did not have the skills to be comfortable doing research at a high level. In fact, I did not feel like I even had a clear idea of what I really wanted to research. It really was the best decision I could make for my development and I felt quite confident applying for PhD this year because I was able to get extensive language training, settle on a robust and innovative topic, and get a deep understanding of the scholarship in my field. Personally, I recommend an MA to anyone, and hopefully the funding goes well for you. I did my BA at University of Pennsylvania and I visited Villanova when I was taking a language certification exam and it really is a beautiful campus! The whole Philadelphia metro is a great place very rich in education and culture, and the city proper is one of my favorite places in the world, up there with places likes NYC and Tokyo for me.