groundball

Yep, sending out rejections first probably weeded out by GRE/GPA I am guessing. Anyone have any insight into Cornell's program? I applied there and had some decent contact with professors but it sounds like a lot of people didn't apply there?

Cornell, Same here. Try being a business/economic historian...hardly any places study or want to study this subfield anymore.

I believe the whole "weeding-out" aspect of graduate admissions is ridiculous. At this level, everyone's application deserves a thorough look because, I would hope, that most applicants are going into this field with the intention of staying in it for life. I think it's a shame that some top-schools simply disregard applicants because of a single performance on a single day to satisfy statistics and perhaps inflate their own egos. Not to mention that some of admissions committees are oftentimes looking for applicants expressing interests in "hot" areas of historical scholarship. It's a tough road to hoe in some of the more traditional sub-fields and I think most applicants would be less frustrated if they knew they had a fighting chance.

I didn't have high hopes for Yale anyway they are notorious for weeding people out with mid-low scores and I am sure my 620 v score didn't get me to first base.

totallyfreaking out...thank you for expressing some of the same sentiments that I have had regarding these boards. I am re-applying to grad programs after a family issue forced me to withdraw from a great program. It's not all roses for some of us going through the process for either the first or second time. Between shady contact with professors, difficulty in gauging whether or not a professor will support you during the admissions process, lost GRE scores, LOR's, transcripts, etc. some of us will end up attending choices that we aren't satisfied with. It's especially frustrating when you try to contact either a program or a professor and cannot receive an answer. It's tough, the competition is cutthroat, and after awhile it gets everyone upset, angry, and frustrated.

Does anyone know whether or not Ivy League doctoral programs in History pre-screen applicants by GRE scores? I am assuming they do, but wanted to see whether anyone had heard anything different. I've been admitted to several top 10 programs who didn't seem to mind about my average scores, but my "best" fits are with two Ivy League schools. Any input at all in this regard would be helpful. Good luck to everyone else going through this process!