Mile6

Has anyone not heard back from Georgetown yet?

American history; both 19th and 20th C interests mentioned in statement.

I was trying to decide between HoS and History for several months last year. The truth is, every program is different, and what people study in history of science covers an incredibly wide range of topics. There are fewer jobs in HOS, but it is also significantly easier to get into programs (at least in terms of raw numbers of applicants and spots available). Historians of science also have a different range of jobs available after graduating, many of which are in the private sector and pay much better than history proper. The difference in graduate experience between HOS programs is significant too, and requires a lot of research. At Harvard, HOS and history are totally different departments; a friend there is totally miserable because she has to work quite hard to get attention from the history department and has run into some prejudices. At Yale, it’s a more integrated experience because HOS and History are the same department. HASTS is totally unique too. At some schools like Hopkins, history of medicine, history of technology, and history are three separate departments. Peers in HOS will come from non humanities backgrounds much more than in history. I recommend speaking to several historians of science and being totally honest about your research interests to help sort through what is right for you. It is a wonderful fit and experience for some people. In my case, history ended up being the right fit for me. Googling HOS fields/orals lists were also helpful in making these decisions. Looking at which scholarship resembled what I hope to write was helpful in figuring out which path was the best fit.

Sounds pretty promising to me!

Thanks! Honestly I’m not rushing them, just glad to know I’m not alone. I know UVa made last minute increases to their funding packages (a family friend is a prof in a different dept), so I’m hoping Berkeley might be considering something similar. Inflation/rent increases are way outpacing stipend raises :(

Sorry. I didn’t have an interview.

(Sorry to be a downer, just seems unlikely we’d still be interviewed. I guess anything is possible though! ???)

I haven’t (I’m an Americanist). Because of the smaller pool of admits, I feel like it’s most likely we didn’t make the cut and the people who did just aren’t on gradcafe. I’m assuming the same is also true for Columbia.

For anyone accepted at Berkeley, have you gotten your formal funding details yet? Starting to get nervous I haven’t received anything

People posting in history have heard from HASTS. Hard to tell if any more interview requests will go out, but here’s hoping.

Anyone able to give more info about that MIT interview listing on the results page? (Was it a generic email or individualized from POI, etc.). I’m guessing they interview everyone they accept?

Americanist. Not sure how I was categorized by Berkeley beyond that, I’m sorry. All I know for sure is that I wouldn’t be considered an early American historian. My SOP pointed to a range of both nineteenth and twentieth century interests. Wish I could be more helpful

No, I didn’t, either at Penn or at Berkeley (I am one of the lucky admits there). I think talking to POIs/FOIs can help if it’s down to you vs a few other similar candidates, and if you made a very strong impression in those convos. According to my advisors, more important is a significant subset of the faculty reading your application and thinking you’d be a good match for the department’s strengths (that they both have the expertise to guide you, and that you could add value to their intellectual community as well).

I was told by a prof that Penn interviews a short list of candidates to figure out who to admit. I don’t know how large that short list is, but I have to imagine less than half (or even 1/4) of those interviewed get in.