bakeseal

congrats to all the Berkeley acceptances! I'm a current student & wanted to make myself available to chat & answer any questions anyone has about the department or school, especially since I didn't have the chance to talk to many current grad students before making my decision last year. For those who are waitlisted, especially after interviewing, or are still waiting to hear back-- I was waitlisted last year, and ended up being offered a spot at the last possible minute, so don't give up hope!

I had already communicated the info about Oxford-- after which they offered me a spot in the program, but I can't defer the spot for a year. The offer they gave was for 26,000/year + 4,000 in summer funding each year. Which seems to be par for the course in their department, after talking with other grad students in the history department. They've only given me 24 hours to decide, but I think I'm going to accept the offer. Berkeley's a great program, and I've gotten much better vibes from faculty and students at Berkeley than from those I've spoken with at Oxford.

So, this is still an open question. I haven't received the formal offer (I think I'll be getting it in the morning), so I think my decision will come down to whether or not they actually offer me a livable amount.

I *just* received an offer from Berkeley from their waitlist. I am absolutely thrilled, but also extremely stressed. I don't have the funding details yet, just word from my POI that I'd be receiving the official offer either tonight or tomorrow. I had really gotten ready to take the Oxford offer and vibe in England for a year. But now I have a real decision to make! It's very stressful but I feel extremely lucky to have these choices, after everything that's happened this year. If anyone has any advice, I'd welcome it.

I'm still technically on Berkeley's waitlist, but I received word that they don't expect to be taking anyone off this year (one more spot til they hit their target cohort size with several offers still out). Definitely disappointed as I really enjoyed all of the conversations I had in the department, but I unexpectedly received full funding to go to Oxford for my masters (after applying mostly as a joke, because I know masters funding is so rare). I'm waiting to see whether some outside funding I received makes any difference for Berkeley (though I don't expect it will). Hopefully having a masters and not applying in the middle of a global pandemic will make for a better application cycle next year?

Did anyone applying to any of the history MSt programs at Oxford? They said decisions would be released in 8-10 weeks, and I'm being interviewed for a fellowship that would fund my graduate study there, but I haven't even heard a decision on my application yet. I haven't seen anything on the results page either, but I wasn't sure if anyone else knows anything about when to expect those results.

How often do faculty members at schools that rejected you reach out to compliment your application? I've gotten emails from multiple people in the same department telling me that I had a great application and they were sorry they couldn't offer me a place. I hadn't been in touch with any of them before, so I really never expected to hear anything after I was rejected because I had absolutely no relationship to the department or to any faculty member. Has anyone else had any similar interactions with faculty members this year? I kinda don't know what to say because obviously I'm grateful that some academics out there think I have a cool project but I'm also not sure how to respond or what kind of conversation is worth having, though I'd like to keep up the conversation a bit to at least make connections with historians in my field. They've offered to meet with me to discuss further, but what kinds of questions should I be asking?

Okay so, some news I'm trying to make sense of. I'm up for a fellowship through my school worth 35,000, which would cover a year of a hypothetical PhD program. However, I can only accept the money if I am enrolled next year in a graduate program-- I can't defer it for a year if I end up having to reapply. So now I'm in a scenario where I could win the fellowship but not actually get the money without an offer, and right now I'm stuck in waitlist limbo. Would a year of outside funding be a compelling reason to help get a spot off of a waitlist? I know the cohort size was cut because of funding restrictions related to COVID, I'm not sure if that means that entering with a single year of funding would help solve that dilemma at all. I'm also hesitant to bring this up with the faculty I've been in touch with, because I haven't actually won yet, so this is purely hypothetical. But I also need an update on applications to give to the fellowship people to convince them I still need the money-- or to suggest this is all the more reason to award me the money.

Thinking a lot of thoughts and feeling a lot of feelings right now. I did not receive any offers this year— I was waitlisted at Berkeley, and rejected everywhere else. I technically haven’t heard from Princeton yet, though I assume rejection at this point. I did however just receive an extremely thoughtful and affirming email from a POI at another school. She wrote to tell me that I had one of the strongest applications she had ever read, but my area of interest was outside of the department’s target for the year. She is now the second POI to reject me personally who said they hoped I was not too disappointed because they assumed I was accepted somewhere else. I’d like to very gently recommend to any faculty in contact with potential graduate students that they not assume the applicants they’re in contact with were accepted at other schools, because while I’m sure it was meant to be a compliment, it was upsetting and frustrating to hear after the string of rejections. Also, ??????? Really not sure what to make of that after getting this outcome. Anyway. I may not have come out of this cycle with any actual acceptances (still keeping my fingers crossed for Berkeley), but a historian whose research I admire a great deal wrote to tell me I would make a great historian. It was a much needed reminder that these setbacks, as upsetting as they are right now, don’t need to stop me from producing work that matters and that I (and hopefully other people) care about. So while I wait to see if Berkeley can offer me a spot this year, I’m going to be shifting my attention away from stressing about applications and acceptances and prestige and towards my research (before I have to worry about looking for a job next year. Yikes!) Sending lots of good vibes and gratitude to other applicants and to the many helpful current grad students on this board! If/when I reapply, I will definitely have a lot more insight than I did this time around.

Just got waitlisted at Berkelely. Having very mixed feelings about this. Berkelely was my top choice, and I'm certainly glad they didn't reject me outright, but It's still upsetting news to receive, especially since I am currently stuck in mandatory quarantine and away from all of my friends and family. I am still waiting to hear back from four other schools, but I was wondering when it's appropriate to reach out to the faculty members I spoke with at Berkeley for more info on the waitlist (ranked? by field? # of people? can I even ask these question?) and on the program (funding info, etc in case I do get off the waitlist and have to make a decision?). Advice is always appreciated, and I hope everyone else is staying safe and sane!

My POI at Berkeley said they were hoping for 2-4 Americanists in their 8/9 person cohort this year, so that seems fairly consistent at most schools this year. What has been somewhat unclear to me about the news I've seen out of Harvard (I heard they were aiming for 2 or maybe 3 Americanists from their cohort) is whether they are admitting 6 people, or are aiming for a cohort of 6 people. Are schools assuming, due to the competitiveness of apps this year, that almost no one-- or fewer students-- will turn them down? A related question to these small cohort sizes: do any current grad (or former) students here feel that a covid cohort of 6-8 students (which seems to be the norm, at least where I applied) would've impacted their experience in their departments in any way, for better or worse? This is probably a matter of personal preference, but I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts.

FWIW, I'm a late nineteenth century americanist and I was interviewed over a week ago. But my interviewer made it sound as though an interview wasn't an essential part of the admissions process, just a process they're formalizing a bit more this year. I wouldn't try to predict the future based on what other people have experienced, just wait until they send out decisions. Graduate admissions in the humanities is far from an exact science, and this year has thrown everything off, so I would not stress about this or make assumptions based on historical patterns. Also, no matter what happens for any of us with Berkeley or any other school, we will be fine! PhD admissions are really not the be-all-end-all, so I wouldn't worry about something that is completely out of our hands.

I'm another one of the Berkeley posters. The person I spoke with didn't really ask me any questions about my research. It was really just an opportunity to clarify questions about the department, and we spent a while talking about the state of the field and some research interests that didn't take center stage in my application. SO it was more of a conversation than an interview. I think it's up to the POI how they chose to guide the conversation, but It might be worth thinking less about your own research and more about smart questions you can ask them about Berkeley. There's lots of good advice in past threads, if you search for it!

Some good news to come from the start of 2021: I just heard from my POI at Berkelely, asking to schedule an interview. He said that the department asked faculty to interview the "most promising candidates," and he had some nice things to say about my application, so this feels like an encouraging sign! I get the sense that this is more casual than some of the high-stakes fellowship interviews I've done before, so if anyone has suggestions or advice I would love to hear it. Also, I know that most schools don't interview, but does anyone have an idea of other schools that normally do?

I second this, and I'll add that all but one (?) school I applied to I think had a deadline of 5pm EST. So that might be a safer bet that 11:59pm.

Yes, this is what I was worried about. Thanks for the heads up!

Okay, one more question. I submitted apps to all of my US schools, but one of my professors has recently encouraged me to apply to UToronto, since they have several food historians, a food studies research center, along with some great North American cultural historians more broadly. Also, two of my letter writers have close connections to the department and my POI, which certainly doesn't hurt. My main issue: I don't have a master's degree, which the PhD program prefers, and while they say they accept some students with only a Bachelor's, I'm not sure if that's a regular occurrence. I have no intention of applying to their Masters, since they say they do not give MA funding, and I refuse to go into debt for a graduate degree in history. Does anyone have a sense of UToronto's admissions process? Is it worth applying without a masters? (also @jennalhardin I recently deactivated my twitter but you can always PM me if you have any questions about my research?)

Not unsolicited! And very helpful. I think it is always good to remember that there are things I have control over, even if the current circumstances are less than ideal. I've been trying to speak with historians who have taken non-traditional paths after their PhDs, many have given similar advice. Also, it's probably not worth stressing over before I've ever submitted. My advisors wouldn't have suggested I apply to these programs if they truly thought I had no real chance, so there's always that. If anyone had time for a last minute read of my SOP, I would be very grateful, but It's not a big deal one way or another.

Some eleventh hour application anxieties: I ended up cutting back on the number of schools I'm applying to, largely because many schools near the top of my list (NYU, Penn, and Minnesota) aren't accepting applications this year (my interest, FWIW is in late nineteenth century US history of food and nutritional advice, esp during disease outbreaks. My recent focus is on Irish immigrant communities, but I'm not applying as an Irish historian). I felt like it wasn't worth applying to respectable but lower ranked schools I was less interested in if I felt I even had a chance at acceptance into one of those programs next year. So, right now I'm planning to submit applications for four top programs (Harvard, Yale, UC Berkeley, and JHU), figuring that I could live with rejections from those programs because they're so competitive, but have as good a shot as any dedicated student with a decent CV. I'm also applying for some long-shot funding for a masters in Irish History abroad, though I was already rejected this year from the Marshall and Mitchell so I'm trying to keep my expectations in check. I have spent the past several months trying to stick to my plan and not get bogged down by depressing stats. Now that I'm really staring down these deadlines and looking towards next year, I am increasingly freaked out at the prospect of potential unemployment+a slate of PhD rejections. Have I made a terrible mistake? Is it worth throwing another application or two out there, or should I focus on another batch of revisions to my existing SOPs and writing sample? Would love to hear any last minute advice/commiserations/etc, if anyone has any thoughts.

Yeah, this sounds about right. I have no desire the actually combine them, because they're totally different periods with completely different context (and I don't think the link is particularly strong). It's just a similar set of questions about diet and nutrition applied to two different moments (I basically just study hunting and wild boars in Imperial Rome. There is absolutely no link between that and 19th/20th century US. None. Though I appreciate the creativity of other commenters) because at some point I got talked into learning greek and latin and it really seemed like a shame to put the years of language skills to waste. Especially since it seems like learning both of them was, to a certain point, a complete waste of time. I was just hoping there was some angle to justify that research and make it seem relevant or topical and justify my choices!

Is there a point to bringing up a second major in a statement of purpose? I study history and classics, and I'm applying to study 19th/20th century US history. I study the same broad theme (diet and nutrition, foodways) in both 19th century US history and Imperial Rome, and am writing a thesis in both. I'm not sure if talking about this thematic overlap is compelling and shows my dedication to my set of questions across time, or if it just makes me look confused and not totally dedicated to my time period and field. Is it worth talking about? What would be the best way to bring it up? Also, I know a lot of programs like to see that you already have some language skills, and while I have a lot of advanced coursework in latin and greek, those are the two languages that will do me absolutely no good in my research. I know a lot of US history PhDs only need you to have one language (and the requirement is kind of a joke), but would knowing Greek and Latin be seen as a positive, the way knowing something like French or Spanish might?

I've seen a rumor that some PhD programs (NYU History rumored, Princeton Sociology confirmed) won't be admitting a cohort of students for 2021 at all, and will instead be using those funds to support current students. Has anyone heard about this at other schools? I've heard of plenty of schools reducing cohort size, but not admitting any students at all? Looks like 2020/2021 might be a an even worse year to apply...

I know that's the right path, and I've been looking between cultural historians v medical historians, but I think my biggest issue is that I am just less familiar with the historiography of those fields, so I feel less certain of how to market myself or show that I know their research and can position my work within it. Is it just a matter of finding the gilded age cultural historian (or similar) on the faculty? I think I'm worried because I had a professor-- a 2018 Harvard PhD-- suggest that finding people with only tangentially related interests might not get me very far, mostly because he attributes his admission to Harvard almost solely due to his knowledge of his advisor's research. I've also had professors say that reaching out to potential advisors isn't even that important, so there's a lot of mixed messages coming from my department.

I think if you are very committed to pursuing graduate study in history instead of an adjacent field, your best option would be to look into summer language intensive courses, and to see whether your department would be able to fund them while you're still an undergrad. My classics profs always made it clear to all of us that we'd have to know Greek, Latin, and ideally French, German, or Italian to be competitive for graduate study in classics or ancient history. If you had aspirations to go onto a PhD, I think language program+post-bacc program or language-geared MA would help you round out those skills. If this is the thing you are really driven to do, it's technically possible, it just takes more time and a good bit more money than the traditional route. I think it really depends how important this is to you, and how willing you are to make it work, especially since it might not make sense to take out a ton of loans to study ancient history. I'm sorry you're in this situation, it sucks to find something you're passionate about and not have access to the resources to get you to the starting gate.

I'm looking to see if anyone has thoughts on how to apply to programs for a niche and still kind of new speciality. I'm planning on applying to History PhD programs in the fall, where I hope to study late 19th/early 20th US history of diet and nutrition-- I'm interested in how rhetoric surrounding food, cookery, and domestic economy interacts with medical knowledge and scientific discourses. My undergraduate thesis is (and I really did not expect how topical this would become!) on the construction of "ethic" food during outbreaks of infectious diseases, looking at the SF plague outbreak and NYC typhoid outbreaks in Irish-American communities. I'm a history (and classics major, so I know Greek and Latin, not that that helps me in any way) at a well known SLAC and I know my stats are good enough to get my foot in the door. I'm confident I'll have a good writing sample-- it's based on research I did with the papers of an early 20th century food columnist (I also processed the collection while working as an assistant in my college's archives, so I am quite literally the first person to use it). My ongoing worry is over the specificity of my interest-- since it is a newer field, I'm having trouble finding professors at well-resected PhD programs who intersect with my area of interest in any meaningful way, and there aren't many 'superstars' in the field yet. There's definitely a lot of great scholarship being produced on US food history in this temporal period, but most of it is coming from professors at middling state schools without funded PhD programs or other liberal arts colleges, so following the scholarship has been something of a dead end. I am very committed to the study of food history-- food is the lens with which I approach everything I study, and all of my undergraduate work that's any good has been about food. I think I have some viable options for places to apply (Harvard, Yale, UToronto, Penn, Wisconsin, for starters) but even at the places with the best fit there's often a pretty significant gap between what I want to do and what any potential advisor studies, because very few of them study or teach anything related to food. Only Toronto has a dedicated food history track. I've seen a lot of people say admissions comes down to having people willing to work with you, and I'm worried my scholarly interests will make it difficult to find an advisor (especially one at a top tier school like Harvard) who would work with me over someone who did something more relevant to their work. How should I sell myself while still emphasizing my interest in food history? Any advice on applying to study a less common subfield, or even anyone else interested in studying food history out there?