charmsprof

I am really sorry, because this is bad news for Pittsburgh people, but they've already sent out acceptances.

edit -- just found out that you can ignore people after trying to find it all today. Don't worry about replying.

I mean, I guess I'm mistaken, but I thought that this was the thread that people wanted to post about admissions stuff? At least that's what various people have expressed that's what they're wanting/thought they were getting/what they had prior to yesterday from the thread? I'm genuinely not trying to police people or force them to communicate be a certain way. However, if someone is saying that their intent is x, yet their impact is y, then we'd be pretty crappy historians/teachers/educators if we let them continue on x path, oui? If someone is saying that they want to help, guide, teach, and multiple people are saying it's coming off as bullying, condescending, cynicism, arrogance, then... In a course, if a professor isn't teaching to meet their students, and a couple of students say something, the professor would be in the wrong to berate the class, right? Like I'm not getting what the issue here is. It's not about "being to my liking." Some people are saying they're trying to help, others are saying its not helpful (and are asking them to redirect the energy). There are people on here saying they feel like they are being bullied when all they want is to know if they got into a program, and have the continued support of others in this space if they didn't. I'm not getting why we're not trying to fix that.

It's this. Why are you being underhanded and snide? That's my issue. I don't care if y'all are coddling, nice, whatever. I had a great conversation today in DMs (with someone you tagged) where they genuinely challenged and forced me to think through my commitment to getting a PhD, and have multiple plans if things go south. That is what being a resource is. That's what is useful and productive. These statements interspersed through these posts are what I have a problem with. If you care, why are you being condescending, belittling and making it seem like people's concerns aren't valid? People are saying that they just want a space to talk to each other about notifications/acceptances/etc. I don't think that's asking people to be "cuddling." There are two other pages on here where people have had these convos in depth, one starting in 2015 that has had recent activity, and one in 2020. Someone even suggested, to which a few people agreed that there should be two topics on this. At this point, some of y'all are just being assholes and masking it as "helpful advice." You want to be helpful? Stop making blanket statements, and actually provide help. There have been multiple requests from one person asking how do we make it if the job market is shitty, and only a handful of people provided useful solutions (paralegals, real estate, etc). You nor your friend worried about finances have offered any solution, but you are claiming to be the authority. Stop making blanket statements about how bad shit is, and not actually help people when they are begging for it. If you want people to take the advice, make it constructive. Tell us how bad it is, tell us what YOU are doing in this hellscape, tell us what your friends are doing. Guide people to resources. People don't get to be mad when they are giving unsolicited, hateful advice and pretending that It's "help." You're being a bully.

Not to gaslight or invalidate your interpretation, or to put words in @TMP's mouth, but I think that the gist they were getting at is that if you're a cishet white male, do some soul searching before applying for a PhD. Not saying that they shouldn't apply, but to check privilege at the door and make space for others. -- "As a PhD applicant, I saw sexism and ableism firsthand and I am telling you, these behaviors -- committed by older cishet while men -- were so gross and offensive, and I want to see less of such people in the future. I was intentional in finding professors who would accept my background and be advocates (I did a lot of informational interviews. The only men who made the cut were Gen X!). Bottom line, in my POV, if you are upper class white cishet male applicant, you need to think very hard how you will contribute to making academia a better place and support students from a wide range of backgrounds. Use your privilege, not abuse." (TMP quote, pg 28, it wouldn't let me quote directly)

No ? I keep checking the app portal edit -- also is the Michigan person here? If yes, would you be willing to elaborate on what you posted?

To out myself, I am one of the people that is impacted by the race/diversity comment. I literally had a professor get a tap on the hand and quietly sat out for allowing a bunch of racist shit to happen in a grad seminar for AA history... and he's a professor/scholar of AA history... as a cishet white male. I literally heard that someone said a slur in a grad seminar last night for no reason. Too many institutions have not enough diversity as part of their faculty, and if they do, it's at the expense of people lost in the intersections. As a black femme, I want to see faculty representation reflect the students that they are serving. Especially in light of everything going on right now in the academy. However, to be quite frank, I think everyone just needs to take a break from this thread for a day... unless you're asking about notifications/application stuff. Message people if you have questions about anything specific that was posted, but it just feels like there's a lot of hostility, and I ... don't come on here for that. I come on here to be surrounded by other anxious people that just want answers about what their trajectory looks like for the future. This isn't to negate advice, demean anyone, however, it is to acknowledge that I think we all just need a break right now. However, I will also echo sentiments that there is a post here that felt really demeaning and reeked of privilege. You can't expect for others to give you grace if you are being a butt and giving snarky advice to people who didn't even ask for it.

The sweet, sweet relief of health insurance. I honestly keep forgetting about this because every program I applied to has it, but... yeah... I haven't had insurance for a hot second. PhDs can be a hot mess and unsustainable after you're done, but I've worked for the past 4-ish years without any sort of health insurance. Hell, my program does partial tuition waivers, and the only reason that grad school was affordable for me is because I was offered a lot of fellowship money with my initial offer. A stable income (that is around or surpasses cost of living) with insurance feels worth it. In addition to the other stuff. Yeah, I think the thread should be broken into two.

I didn't see this! I definitely wanted to post something similar, but didn't feel it was my place. Expanding on this though -- I definitely get that the future after a PhD is not that bright. I still want a PhD in spite of that. I'm a first gen low ses college kid, where neither of my parents earned degrees after HS. Yes, I want to have a PhD to be a producer and disseminator of knowledge, to learn and read old documents and spark conversations. I want it for the reasons that most of us want it. However, at the end of the day -- I want it for me. We're all too stressed over notifications to deal with the doomsday stuff as well. If someone applied for a PhD without accepting that a TT job/academic job may not be their reality in the future, that's an individual thing. I spent the first semester... year... all of my MA hearing about how bad the job market is and all that. Just let people be happy.

While I did receive a rejection from Wisconsin-Madison... that can't bring me down because I got into the University of Oregon!!!!! I got the official letter today, and honestly, I am beyond excited.

I'll PM you!!

Is anyone that posted the UOregon stuff on here? I just have questions for you

Wait, does that actually happen? Would a school/pois send out notifications for one subfield if they're still deciding on another subfield? Also, no I haven't heard anything from Rutgers as well.

Northwestern is kind of stressing me out. I know that the dean approves all admits, so if English has theirs then History probably should as well... right?

No, I decided against it. I was open to it back in 2020, but after some stuff happened I decided against it.