butthoughtfullywhose

Has anyone interviewed w/t Berkeley heard anything (informal and formal)? It has been almost two weeks since my interview...

Received Columbia‘s rejection a few days ago. I’d assume if you don’t hear back by now, it’s a good sign at least.

For Stanford, also curious in terms of do they do interview for all fields or it depends on individual field/faculty?

To whoever posting the UC Irvine interview on the results page: I know someone who went through the same process last year and has information re the interview to share. Please DM me if you're interested.

Also my two cents based on my interview w/t Berkeley a few days ago. It was a quite formal one (a combination of general questions like "why Berkeley" and "your research's contribution and intervention" and difficult technical questions like "reading strategies of specific sources"). I would say even if you were told it'd be an informal meeting, you could still prepare as if it were a formal interview because you never know. They could still ask you tough questions in an informal chat. One of the benefits of this approach in my opinion is that once you're done with this interview prep, you're essentially well-prepared for other interviews going forward (just need to prepare a bit re specific why X school questions).

I tend to believe that's 70-80% a troll. Past gradcafe results show Princeton only did three interviews in 2008, 2012, and 2015 respectively; not a single interview was conducted during the past three cycles. Of course, the data is self-selected, but based on this, I have no reason at all to believe Princeton History does interview on a regularly basis.

Does anyone know if UChicago does interviews? Based on past years' results, it seems there's conflicting information.

I applied to Harvard as well but hasn't heard anything yet! Based on what I read from past year's results, it seems Harvard will directly give decision and won't do interview (at least no formal interviews). I zoomed with my POI in November and he encouraged to email and talk with other professors in my field if possible as one students has to gain at least 2-3 faculty support in order to be nominated for the admissions committee to consider.

Actually just received an interview invite from Berkeley for the coming week. Based on below and my chat with my POIs, it seems the process works like each individual field will interview and nominate candidates and then AdComm will review and decide? Berkeley website: "Applications are read by faculty in the applicant’s selected first field during the first round of application review."

Thank you! I assume this is at least partly due to the ongoing strike?

Thank you!

Thanks for your insight! I understand the GRE is probably the least important element in an application and I do know some public schools use GRE to determine funding for PhD (not just MA). But as this is an ivy/private school, I'm assuming GRE won't playing into funding for PhD (for MA, as the GRE is required, there's nothing I can do about it if I apply to this school's MA)? So to clarify, if we're only talking about the PhD, it seems you're recommending the first approach (submit both MA and PhD applications and ask faculty of interest to ignore my GRE score for History PhD)? My concern is that it'll look weird to faculty as the GRE is in my application file (I can't remove it as I'm applying to the MA at the same time and the MA requires GRE) and the Department will ask faculty to ignore it when they review my file after the application deadline.

GRE score: V 161 Q 163 AW 4 I'm applying to a History PhD program (GRE-Optional) and an area studies MA program (GRE Required) at the same school (one of Ivy League schools) both for Fall 2023 admission (this school's policy allows applying to MA and PhD at the same time and I'm applying for the MA just in case I didn't get into PhD). But after I submitted my GRE score via ETS to fulfill the MA program's GRE requirement, it turns out the score was also automatically added to my History PhD application. As I don't want to submit my score for History PhD (I don't think it's competitive enough), I contacted both this university's graduate school admissions office and History Department. Both said they could do nothing about it, even if the History PhD is GRE-optional. But the History Department offered to ask my faculty of interest to ignore my GRE scores when they review it (though it's still in my application files). So my question is which approach is better: submit both MA and PhD applications and ask faculty of interest to ignore my GRE score for History PhD; submit both MA and PhD applications and do nothing about the GRE score in History PhD application; drop the MA application completely and apply only to History PhD (the graduate school told me this is the only way in which my GRE score will be removed from my History PhD application). Thanks for your input in advance!

Thanks! Yes, that's what I've been thinking about. But from a strategic point of view, how would the POI think of me as a prospective student if I let him/her know that I'm applying to both MA and PhD at the same school at the same time, like will he/she have the impression that I haven't really made my decision?

Background: BA in History and Political Science (top US liberal arts college) with 4.0 GPA Currently working in the legal industry in the US Award-winning history and political science thesis based on primary sources in Chinese Language: Chinese - Native; English - Fluent No publication Mediocre GRE score (though I know a lot of history MA/PhD programs have already removed the GRE requirement as of the Fall 2022 cycle) Goal: Top History PhD program in the US Prospective Fields/Research Interests: Modern China and East Asia; Intellectual and Cultural History; Legal History; And TBD Options: Apply for History/Area Studies (East Asian Studies) MA programs in Fall 2022 Funding: I know a lot of these MA programs are just cash cows, so I'll only apply to those that are able to provide fully funding. Program Length: One-year program doesn't seem to make sense to me since basically you need to start PhD application right after you enter the MA program if you don't prepare to take a gap year afterwards. So I'll only apply to two-year programs if I decide to go with the MA route. Directly apply for History/Area Studies (East Asian Studies) PhD programs in Fall 2022 Question: Should I do a MA first or directly apply to PhD? I'm considering doing a MA before PhD in order to 1) further explore and narrow down my research interests, and gain more substantive research experience; 2) build up language skills. Though I understand the consensus on this form seems to be that doing a MA is only necessary if I need to shore up some aspect of my application (weak language, little research experience, etc.) and one should never do a MA without funding, I'm wondering will getting a MA help the PhD application given how competitive each cycle is after COVID? It seems it's really hard to get into a good PhD program without an MA nowadays? Would really appreciate any thoughts/suggestions! Thanks!