brownrose95

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? 

FWIW, the sensibility has been addressed by @TMP a couple of times in this thread.

The ongoing COVID-19 crisis theoretically makes completing the requirements for a doctorate more difficult to complete within the accelerated timelines departments may be using because of the financial uncertainties.
If you're an Americanist, you need one or two languages, one of which may be swapped for a skill. If you're  not an Americanist, one has to know the languages one needs to know. If you're an Americanist, you likely find enough archival sources nearby or even on line to do a great deal of research. If you're not an Americanist, the ebb and flow of the pandemic may make necessary travel impossible. If you're an Americanist, you can work as a teaching assistant in courses that may be more popular among undergraduates without needing to sacrifice time to get up to speed on a subject. If you're not an Americanist, and a department trims back on offering courses not centered around the United States, you are going to be behind the eight ball of a learning curve. A comment. I understand that this is a period of extraordinary uncertainty for applicants and that there may be a strong sense of frustration, even disappointment, because events are not unfolding as one would like. This being said, I urge all to understand that posts at the Gradcafe don't go away, and that there are faculty and staff among this BB's members.
Now is as good as a time as any to work on one's personal professional comportment. It's not what one says or what one asks that can lead to issues down the line, it's how one says something or how one asks a question that can prove to be an issue. FWIW, I have learned the hard way that professional academic historians pay very careful attention to tone and temperament. Or, as one professor with whom I subsequently became close asked himself "Who is this asshole?" The question came after I said something that was meant to be an ironic / humorous statement of respect.

Both after, last cycle and this cycle.
Have to agree that doing the applications after fully completing the degree, with grades in place and connections built and established, and more refined thoughts on my research interests, was very helpful. I think it would have been too overwhelming applying during my MA, don't know how you all do it!  
it has been an extremely competitive year, I hope you apply again next year when it will (hopefully) be a bit better.

Hi friends. I've been lurking a while and resisting making an account, lest it becomes pointless after my full slate of rejections. But here I am. I thought I'd let everyone know that I discovered *some* information re: Harvard & Yale admissions by reaching out as politely as possible to the department coordinators:
Yale - "Admissions decisions will be sent by late February."
Harvard - "All results will be posted by the end of the day next Tuesday, 2/16."
So at least Harvard gave a hard deadline. I am very certainly rejected from both. At this point I'd like to 1) move on and 2) make contact with POIs who I had positive engagement with in the fall to thank them and perhaps fish for some feedback. 
I've applied to 10 PhD programs - 4 rejections, 4 more surely coming (Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Chicago) and 2 pending that I'm not feeling so confident about either. I am a history/poli sci BA, no MA. 5 years out of school with great work experience and relevant to the field. I am, like many of you, the kind of student that my advisors thought was a very strong candidate for top tier programs. I think that's still true but it's also not enough, even in a good year. And COVID has really made this brutal. This is my first application cycle and I know that the pandemic has made it extra competitive. It remains to be seen whether I'll get after it again. I'd like to, but as I approach 30 I will need to be realistic about my time and resources in the long term. I can't afford to pay for an MA in history. So, not sure what my next steps will be. Wishing you all the best. At least we're in this rough cycle with good company!

I think something we all need to remember is something that was said much, much earlier in this thread:  part of this IS random chance.  It’s not about fit or qualifications in some cases, it’s about who’s able to take who in a given year and what the landscape looks like.  It’s not personal.
I definitely agree that lack of feedback is difficult, as is the spotty nature of information coming out - the mystery of who’s rejected and who’s not, how many applications came in vs how many slots are available and departments not letting us know at the outset that information so we could all make more informed decisions about where to apply and how.
But it’s okay.  We’ll all get through and on the other side, we’ll be able to look back and decide whether or not it was worth it and then decide, after that reflection, whether or not to pick up and do it again—or decide what the next step is.
But either way, eventually, we’ll be okay.

Kind of glad, but mostly sad, that many of us are in the same boat. It is definitely exhausting and as someone mentioned, for so much preparation to go into these things (let alone the financial costs), the randomness of it all + no feedback is not a great motivator. 
Wishing everyone the best of luck and positive vibes for this year.

Second cycle applications definitely aid in refining research questions and polishing everything. At the same time though, the waiting, the rejections and mustering up the energy again and again to apply take their toll.
I have 2 master's degrees, one of them being a distinction in MSc International History from LSE where I won the prize for best dissertation in all MSc courses and I still have been rejected from all US universities I applied to. It is really tough out there at the moment and the lack of feedback is infuriating (yet understandable). Herein I realise, I need to look after my  mental health first and foremost, which most likely means not going through a third application cycle and resigning to the fact a PhD just isn't for me. It's tough to accept, but at some point one needs to cut their losses and move forward rather than being stuck in a loop of reaching out to POIs, applying, waiting and getting rejected.

Not pointed at me, but as someone with 2 MSc's I may be able to offer insight. 
I enrolled into my MSc at LSE (History) with the idea that a strong BA, an MSc (Political Science) from a top Dutch university, and greatt projected grades would be enough to bag at least one PhD spot. I ended up applying to 4 US colleges while undertaking my MSc. I was naive. When I did not get in, I was disappointed but not too surprised and focused on finishing my Msc degree in History (which I thought was the missing piece).
This application cycle, I was much more prepared: two Masters under my belt, reached out to all relevant POIs, a distinction (gpa 4.0), and a prize while having worked closely with one of my LSE professors in polishing my research project ,and getting great letters of recommendation (don't want to namedrop but a top Economic Historian wrote a fantastic letter for me).
Still no chance. I will chalk this one up to COVID messing a lot of funding up, and it thus becoming a very competitive year. Nonetheless, in my experience, though unsuccessful, applying when I was done with my MSc degree, having all my grades, connections, and having the time to properly think about proposed research, felt much better. 
Disclaimer: I was lucky enough to do parttime work which allowed me to pay my bills and basically work fulltime on my application for a couple of months.

Second cycle applications definitely aid in refining research questions and polishing everything. At the same time though, the waiting, the rejections and mustering up the energy again and again to apply take their toll.
I have 2 master's degrees, one of them being a distinction in MSc International History from LSE where I won the prize for best dissertation in all MSc courses and I still have been rejected from all US universities I applied to. It is really tough out there at the moment and the lack of feedback is infuriating (yet understandable). Herein I realise, I need to look after my  mental health first and foremost, which most likely means not going through a third application cycle and resigning to the fact a PhD just isn't for me. It's tough to accept, but at some point one needs to cut their losses and move forward rather than being stuck in a loop of reaching out to POIs, applying, waiting and getting rejected.

Kind of glad, but mostly sad, that many of us are in the same boat. It is definitely exhausting and as someone mentioned, for so much preparation to go into these things (let alone the financial costs), the randomness of it all + no feedback is not a great motivator. 
Wishing everyone the best of luck and positive vibes for this year.

Kind of glad, but mostly sad, that many of us are in the same boat. It is definitely exhausting and as someone mentioned, for so much preparation to go into these things (let alone the financial costs), the randomness of it all + no feedback is not a great motivator. 
Wishing everyone the best of luck and positive vibes for this year.

Second cycle applications definitely aid in refining research questions and polishing everything. At the same time though, the waiting, the rejections and mustering up the energy again and again to apply take their toll.
I have 2 master's degrees, one of them being a distinction in MSc International History from LSE where I won the prize for best dissertation in all MSc courses and I still have been rejected from all US universities I applied to. It is really tough out there at the moment and the lack of feedback is infuriating (yet understandable). Herein I realise, I need to look after my  mental health first and foremost, which most likely means not going through a third application cycle and resigning to the fact a PhD just isn't for me. It's tough to accept, but at some point one needs to cut their losses and move forward rather than being stuck in a loop of reaching out to POIs, applying, waiting and getting rejected.

Second cycle applications definitely aid in refining research questions and polishing everything. At the same time though, the waiting, the rejections and mustering up the energy again and again to apply take their toll.
I have 2 master's degrees, one of them being a distinction in MSc International History from LSE where I won the prize for best dissertation in all MSc courses and I still have been rejected from all US universities I applied to. It is really tough out there at the moment and the lack of feedback is infuriating (yet understandable). Herein I realise, I need to look after my  mental health first and foremost, which most likely means not going through a third application cycle and resigning to the fact a PhD just isn't for me. It's tough to accept, but at some point one needs to cut their losses and move forward rather than being stuck in a loop of reaching out to POIs, applying, waiting and getting rejected.

Second cycle applications definitely aid in refining research questions and polishing everything. At the same time though, the waiting, the rejections and mustering up the energy again and again to apply take their toll.
I have 2 master's degrees, one of them being a distinction in MSc International History from LSE where I won the prize for best dissertation in all MSc courses and I still have been rejected from all US universities I applied to. It is really tough out there at the moment and the lack of feedback is infuriating (yet understandable). Herein I realise, I need to look after my  mental health first and foremost, which most likely means not going through a third application cycle and resigning to the fact a PhD just isn't for me. It's tough to accept, but at some point one needs to cut their losses and move forward rather than being stuck in a loop of reaching out to POIs, applying, waiting and getting rejected.

Second cycle applications definitely aid in refining research questions and polishing everything. At the same time though, the waiting, the rejections and mustering up the energy again and again to apply take their toll.
I have 2 master's degrees, one of them being a distinction in MSc International History from LSE where I won the prize for best dissertation in all MSc courses and I still have been rejected from all US universities I applied to. It is really tough out there at the moment and the lack of feedback is infuriating (yet understandable). Herein I realise, I need to look after my  mental health first and foremost, which most likely means not going through a third application cycle and resigning to the fact a PhD just isn't for me. It's tough to accept, but at some point one needs to cut their losses and move forward rather than being stuck in a loop of reaching out to POIs, applying, waiting and getting rejected.

Second cycle applications definitely aid in refining research questions and polishing everything. At the same time though, the waiting, the rejections and mustering up the energy again and again to apply take their toll.
I have 2 master's degrees, one of them being a distinction in MSc International History from LSE where I won the prize for best dissertation in all MSc courses and I still have been rejected from all US universities I applied to. It is really tough out there at the moment and the lack of feedback is infuriating (yet understandable). Herein I realise, I need to look after my  mental health first and foremost, which most likely means not going through a third application cycle and resigning to the fact a PhD just isn't for me. It's tough to accept, but at some point one needs to cut their losses and move forward rather than being stuck in a loop of reaching out to POIs, applying, waiting and getting rejected.

It could of course be someone messing around with rejection/waitlist, but if the waitlist notification were true, it would make no sense for Harvard to not have notified those admitted. Moreover, with such a small class of admitted History PhDs, it would make sense none of them would be on here. I think someone delved deeper into this earlier in the thread.

So with Harvard being done (it makes sense that the 6 students accepted are not on GradCafe) and Yale and Wisconsin-Madison (most likely) releasing their decisions next week, there isn't much to else to do than anxiously wait over the weekend..

So with Harvard being done (it makes sense that the 6 students accepted are not on GradCafe) and Yale and Wisconsin-Madison (most likely) releasing their decisions next week, there isn't much to else to do than anxiously wait over the weekend..

That's me! Just heard back! Roughly, I am history of science/ medicine and dealing with reception of classical medical ideas in the early modern period.