sickeagle
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Posts posted by sickeagle
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General comment here for anyone feeling down about this cycle. It will be OK!! When I was finishing undergrad in 2010, I applied to 5 prestigious PhD programs with what I thought was a great research topic. It was not a great research topic at all. I was rejected by all 5 schools and then had to tell my letter-writers about my failing in person, and see them on a weekly basis. It was disheartening to say the least. I went home, took a year to think about my future and then ended up applying to an MA program at my state school, which is a great research university, but not a high-prestige school. I got in, and during the program my real interests became much clearer to me. When I finished, I entered the nonprofit sector to work for 4 years, but kept developing my research interests. When I felt I had a new, solid, and more informed topic, I decided to apply to PhD programs. Fast forward to the present moment and I have 3 well-funded offers from departments eager to support a project that I feel extremely passionate about. This is not to brag, but to say that what feels disappointing now may be part of a much larger journey you are on without realizing it. If I had been accepted somewhere right out of college, I know for a fact that I would not have ended up going down a research path that is as rewarding as my current one promises to be. So, chin up! It will be OK! Thanks to everyone for all the insights and support this cycle.
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4 hours ago, psstein said:
Of the three offers you've discussed, I'd rank them as A, B, and C as a very distant 3rd. 4 years TAship and lectureship thereafter is a pretty heavy teaching load.
First off, many thanks to everyone who offered insights and advice! ( @TMP @OHSP @ashiepoo72 ). I am leaning toward School A (then C, then B), but will take you all up on your suggestions that I take post-fellowship assurances with a grain of salt. I appreciate the info on realistic time-to-degree expectations, too. School C (where I got MA) does state that it will accept all 30 MA credits toward 45 credit PhD, so in terms of coursework it might go more quickly, though teaching duties could bog it all down... School B is the lowest stipend, and all teaching-based... anyway I am still coming off the high of receiving offers and having initial contact with depts., now I need get into all the details with POIs now and see how much I can get on paper. And visit, to do good by my gut.
Thanks again!
ps. Sorry for any A,B,C confusion... started with that, then stuck with it, then got in the weeds.
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On 2/24/2019 at 2:19 PM, gsc said:
Having said that I do find it a bit odd that you're not getting years 4 through 6 guaranteed at school A? You would have better funding at school A, but also less of it. At the visit day I would make sure to understand the process of allocating funding for those three years, as well as whether/how fourth through sixth year students are being funded.
Thanks for the input to you and @psstein. To clarify, School A offered me its best fellowship package, which actually requires 2 years of TAship, and then a third year free of teaching responsibilities. Not trying to sound self-important, but I think they wanted to give me strong incentive to attend up front -- it just so happens that their best award has a 3-year cap. In speaking with POI (who is also the DGS) he stated that he can guarantee a tuition waiver for year 4 and *most likely* a TAship or dissertation fellowship for years 4-6. As I already have an MA, I am hoping to finish PhD in 4 years, 5 at the most.
All of that said, since my original post a School C has entered the equation with 4 years of decent TAship stipend, a pot-sweetening scholarship for the first year, and assurance of lectureship for additional years. School C is the place where I got my MA, and accepts all MA coursework toward PhD, meaning I could finish there even more quickly... but cost-of-living is very high.
I wonder if anyone currently in a program can comment on how common such "assurances" are? Do most schools make such claims? Do they tend to come through on them, or is it just an attempt to get you in the door?
A LOT RIDING ON THESE CAMPUS VISITS!!
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1 hour ago, princeleo said:
Do you know if its through email or via phone?
Email. Looks like historically the process can be somewhat drawn out. Good luck!
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If anyone is waiting to hear from University of Hawaiʻi for American Studies, they have started to send out decisions.
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20 hours ago, hermione123 said:
Has anyone heard from UCSB for phd history? Just saw two offers on the dashboard?
I'm also waiting on them, but haven't heard anything. After I saw those offers posted in late Jan./early Feb. I sent an email to the coordinator, who replied saying that admission decisions would be ongoing through April. No word about wait lists or anything. At this point I just want to hear anything (or so I tell myself).
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6 hours ago, HardyBoy said:
This is my first time going through this, too, but I can give you advice based on how I feel. To me, not only are the visit days a crucial chance to get a feel for the personality of the program and to try to get a sense of whether you'll be happy there, but they seem like good opportunities to put some "what ifs" to rest. If, for example, you choose school A without going to school B, and then later (probably inevitably) learn that School A is not perfect, you might always wonder if you would have chosen School B if you'd visited. But if you visit both, it might 1) affirm your decision to choose School A; 2) give School B a chance to surprise you, and 3) allow you to know that you made your decision with all the possible information at your disposal.
One of my visits is at the end of March, so I get the frustration with the decision-making process stretching out so long. But IMO, increasing the confidence in your decision is worth it.
I appreciate this, and I hope you are right! I was accepted to two very comparable R1 schools in states with similar cost-of-living. School A guarantees 3 years of great fellowship funding, and strong assurances that I will be able to secure funding for years 4-6. School B offers a guarantee of a slightly lower stipend for 4 years of TA funding, and assurance of funding opportunities for years 5-6. I like faculty and POIs at both schools. SO, I am really looking to visiting both in late March with the hope that the experience will give me that gut feeling. All of that said, I am still waiting to hear from two other schools, which could throw the whole A/B dynamic out of wack. Looking at your many acceptances, I can't imagine how difficult the choice is for you!
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In case anyone else is waiting to hear back from UC Santa Barbara, I just sent the grad coordinator an email asking about the status of decisions and received this groan-inducing reply:
"The decision making process is on-going and applicants will get a decision through April. You will be notified through an email that asks you to check your status in the eApp portal."
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1 hour ago, andnothing said:
I am trying to set up a campus visit at University of Oregon, my top choice. Unfortunately, my faculty advisor will be out of the country when I am able to visit. This might be a dumb question, but will I still be able to get a good idea about the program if I am not able to meet my advisor? Should I reach out to my advisor through e-mail?
Congrats on the admits! I got admitted to UO as well, and will be at the campus visit in March, even though I am still waiting to hear back from other programs before I commit. My experience with the department so far has been very warm, so I would say feel free to send them an email with any questions you have.
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6 minutes ago, villageelliot said:
It seems like people are misunderstanding me. I did 100% reach out to every POI I had and all but 1 responded to me.
My worry is it seems people on here had persistent contact throughout the application process with their POI's, which I did not.Ah, I see. Yeah, I don't even understand how persistent contact is possible in some cases. Some POIs gave me initial encouragement and cheerily suggested that I send over any other questions, and when I did, never got back to me. That said, my sole acceptance so far (Oregon) came through a POI with whom I had a few back/forth emails.
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38 minutes ago, fordlandia said:
Similar to yourself, I thought that reaching out to POIs without a specific reason may be pointless. As such, the only POIs I reached out to were professors who I heard might not be taking graduate students, might be retiring, or transferring to another university. In my experience, this didn't seem to hurt as I secured an interview invitation at my top choice, without frequent communication with my POI.
In short, I don't think that failing to reach out to your POI is a deciding factor in the admissions decisions, so I wouldn't worry about it! ?
@villageelliot I found it is important to read each program's instructions carefully! For example, UC Santa Barbara offers this guideline on preparing your statement of purpose:
"BEFORE submitting your application, we strongly encourage you to contact one or more faculty members with whom you would like to work. Discuss your research interests with faculty members. Please include the names of faculty who might serve as a mentor in your statement of purpose. No student will be admitted unless the appropriate professor consents to mentor that student through his/her course of study at UCSB."
Fortunately, I did find a receptive POI... though I still haven't heard anything since submitting my app. ?
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Anyone happen know what's going on with UC Santa Barbara? Or how they release decisions? It looks like two people were admitted about a week ago, but that's it.
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34 minutes ago, halcyonday said:
Mine came just now too. Congrats to those who landed those spots!
Anyone else hear from Brown? Feels like that's coming today/this week too...Rejected as well! @IBrakeForVanJohnson
Echoing congrats to The Lucky Six!
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19 hours ago, halcyonday said:
Same, also just checked my application portal and no change.
19 hours ago, IBrakeForVanJohnson said:Still waiting, and didn’t hear anything. Also didn’t see any update on my application portal
Looks like someone else got accepted to UMich American Culture, via phone call. If those two posts are indeed the only two admits so far, then there would only be about 4 or 5 spots left, based on last year's 6 total admits. So.... good luck! Keeping my phone charged up so that at the very least I will definitely not have a dead phone this weekend, which is always nice.
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Anyone else hear from Michigan besides that (somewhat puzzling) Spring 2019 acceptance posted by @ExileFromAFutureTime ?
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40 minutes ago, IBrakeForVanJohnson said:
Is anyone else here waiting on UNC and UMich?
I also have my name in at BU, but from what I've heard, we shouldn't expect anything from them until early/mid-March.
Also waiting on UMich decisions, which historically seem to have gone out this week. Maybe the vortex set them back? Anxiety vortex is def in full spin. I've successfully (so far) sworn off checking this year's results page, and I keep telling myself to stop checking the forum...but here I am. Good luck!
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Others may already be aware of this site, but http://www.phdstipends.com/results has a good searchable database of past stipends... but it could benefit from more entries!
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Newbie here. Waiting to hear back from UCSB, U of Oregon, and U of Utah. Good luck out there, y'all.
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Applied to UMich American Culture and U of Hawaiʻi American Studies. Also applied to a three history programs. Eagerly awaiting replies from all.
Applications 2019
in History
Posted
I finally cracked and emailed my POI at UCSB on March 18, who replied:
"I expect the department will be communicating with you shortly... There may be some chance of your being admitted still, depending on what others choose to do, but it's not likely at this point. So if you have other options, I would strongly consider taking them."
Not sure if that advice only applies to my case, but maybe it is helpful to give you a general idea of things. Good luck!