TagRendar

I can't say that my MA helped me get a job, but it did make me a stronger person and a better scholar--and helped me realize how much I can accomplish on very tight timelines. This last portion, while it probably didn't help me get a corporate job that I kept for four years (finally leaving to return to school for an additional undergraduate degree in another social science field), probably gave me the skills I needed to do that job, which involved a lot of client-deliverable writing, deadline-setting and keeping, and organization. If you're in a MA program that requires a thesis project, you will pick up these kinds of skills that will look good on a resume and are something you can speak to in cover letters in the future.

Good to know for sure.

Why not, out of curiosity? Mostly as subfields they were interesting to me, though some of the coursework attached to the human rights cert at Nebraska is much more interdisciplinary than I expected and the history course offerings inside of it are admittedly a bit disappointing overall--though it's definitely demonstrating a bit of a scholarship (or at least a course offering) gap there.

I was looking at one particular cluster at Northwestern that might fit the bill for you - it might not be a history Ph.D, though, but a sociology or political science one (though I'm a bit unclear regarding that since it's listed on the history department's prospective students page as well, so it's all a bit confusing): https://www.tgs.northwestern.edu/admission/academic-programs/clusters-and-certificates/comparative-and-historical-social-science/index.html

I'm glad that I'm not the only one a) back again and b) looking at revamping the list of schools I'll be applying to come fall. I'm still in the exploratory phase of my planning for my second season, though I do have two writing samples (one on ethnic immigrant neighborhoods in late 19th and early to mid 20th century Grand Rapids and the other on the history of mostly passenger rail service in Michigan) that are in various stages of revision to use and much more time on my hands to write much better SOPs for my upcoming applications, since I'm in an unintentional gap year. I'm curious if anyone has any experience with interdisciplinary clusters at Northwestern or with U Nebraska-Lincoln's certificates. Is it unusual for someone to potentially pick up two certificates rather than just one? Is it possible? I only ask because I'm interested in both the digital humanities cert and the human rights and humanitarian affairs cert at Nebraska. In digging through Northwestern's information on their interdisciplinary clusters, I can't quite parse if they're open to all PhD programs or just specific ones, but that could be something that I'm either missing or is just unclear on their website. For background, I have undergraduate degrees in history and anthropology (my first undergrad degree) and in political science (my second undergrad degree) as well as a masters in history (specialization in medieval and early modern Europe - which is a specialization that I'm moving away from in my PhD programs). As a side note, @sonnybunny I'm so sorry to hear that you didn't get off the waitlist, but from what you've been indicating here, maybe it'll end up working out better for you in the longer term.

That’s awesome! Congratulations and best of luck in SoCal.

So are you taking a year off, then? I don't remember if you said you'd gotten any offers.

Well, my season is officially over. On my way back from classes today, I received my (very nice) rejection from UIC. I'll be taking some time to decompress and rest, focus on my own writing and research, and survive the last weeks of my second undergraduate degree before I start looking very hard at anything for fall 2022--but I will most likely be applying to programs again for fall 2022.

My fingers are definitely crossed and I'm still hopeful for both of us. I've been in touch with my advisor at my current institution (I'm finishing up a second bachelor's degree but in a different discipline right now but have contacts in the history department) about future plans if this cycle doesn't pan out for me. He reaffirmed the exceptionally brutal nature of this year's cycle overall and does have suggestions for additional programs for me if this year doesn't pan out (there were some in our initial conversations that we knocked off my list at the outset because we already knew they weren't/probably weren't going to be accepting candidates).

That's odd. It sounds a lot more like something pre-application to me. Sounds like that's your read on it, too, unless I'm mistaken.

So they’re having a visiting day this coming Friday or April 19? I’m confused now.

I mean, when I emailed back in February, they said that the wait-list is SUPER ACTIVE, so there's still a chance to be admitted. I was told they routinely admit into April. On the advice of my advisor (also one of my recommendation writers), I'm going to wait until the 22nd to reach out to them--going to kind of chill until then and see what happens.

Thank you both @historyofslothsand @TMP -- these insights are super helpful. I'm still waiting to hear back from one school (University of Illinois at Chicago) and my previous communication with the grad director for the department there indicated that their waitlist was extremely active and that they anticipated admitting students as late as mid-April. I haven't heard anything from them one way or another, though I did spy an acceptance last week there. Just holding tight, waiting and hoping. I'd rather not go through another application cycle, but I will if I have to.

Out of curiosity, what has been people's experience with waitlists? Do you always receive word that you're waitlisted, or sometimes is there just nothing (I would imagine in some ways this is institution-dependent, but I could be mistaken)?

Just for clarification purposes, which states, exactly, are you referring to when you say "southeast"?

I'm still waiting for UIC. I saw one notice on the board the other day, but given how their admissions have gone in past years, gaps would not surprise me. I haven't heard any word from the department since my email exchange with the director at the beginning of February. No updates to portal, no emails, nothing. Debating whether or not to reach out if I don't hear anything by next week.

Just a note, it might not be that your research interest is too specific, it might be that they just don't have anyone that would be able to guide you with regard to that particular interest (or anyone that feels qualified enough to guide you in that particular research interest).

Judging from a quick survey of last year's results, it looks like a lot of folks referred to MAPSS from the Ph.D cycle do end up with more funding than just the usual MAPSS applicants, but that could just be a side effect of whose results we can see. Good luck to all the MAPSS folks regardless! May your admission be imminent and your funding be ample.

Before you look at taking the GRE again, I'd check and see if the schools that you'd want to be applying to require it at all. A lot of programs seem to be phasing it out (beyond just waiving it due to the pandemic). I would also reach out to other professors that would hopefully remember your work--those are the letters of rec you'll want, not something from your work life. You'd be surprised who remembers you years later.

Don't know if it's the same for anyone else, but I am so, so anxiously awaiting UIC's admissions right now. They are my last (and admittedly, my best) shot at a Ph.D program this year. I see that Champagne-Urbana's admissions are popping right now -- congrats to all of those folks who got in or at least made the waitlist. UIC's admissions decisions are expected toward the end of the month, based on department contact. Anyone else having anxiety over University of Illinois at Chicago right now?

Same on my end - not unexpected, but it was very gentle and I appreciate that after such a rough season. I did not get referral to MAPSS, probably because I already have a master's degree.

Grapevine says that the department contacted admits and waitlists via email. Official information hasn't come from the grad office yet (and judging from past years I wouldn't expect the portal to be updated with all of the above plus rejections for another week and a half at least).

In addition to much of the advice here, I'd dig around and see if anyone's written about the history of the town or the company that once ran the place--mine their bibliographies for additional avenues for your research beyond the Huntington Library's collections. I'd also see what sort of resources are available on the library's website, since many libraries with research archives and collections like that will have some digitized indices and notes that can help you narrow your search when and if you're able to access the archival collection.

From what I'm understanding, it varies from season to season and institution to institution. Some schools have a larger waitlist than others, some have more active waitlists than others. It seems like it's pretty subjective.

Congrats! Based on my communication with UIC, their decisions will be coming out toward the end of the month.