Safferz

oseirus, where are you waitlisted?

I hear you! I don't think I've gotten much work done at all in February, and before the acceptances I was feeling paralyzed by the wait. I'm hoping the realization that I'm travelling on Sunday and have no choice but to be productive this week will kick in soon

Goooo goldie and crater!!

Are you in the GSAS halls? I'm aware of Harvard's apartments but it looks like you rent the entire apartment and look for roommates on your own, unless I misunderstood. I know at Columbia (unless you're looking for a 1br or studio), you're assigned to and paying for a room inside a 2br or 3br apartment of your choice. I don't live in the US and will probably be on a different continent for the summer, so I'm going to have to go with the simplest process possible that won't involve me having to visit before the big move, so it looks like the residence halls are it. I don't think it'll be awful and it seems like a great way to get to know people in other grad programs and professional schools, but I don't think it's ideal either.

Deciding is difficult! But I've narrowed it down to Harvard and Yale at this point, with Columbia as a distant third. I'm visiting all three over the next 2-3 weeks. I know that Harvard is my favourite on paper - and I'm waiting for their official offer letter to confirm that - but I don't want to make a final decision before getting a sense of each city/school/department. I'm a bit sad that Harvard has dormitory-style housing for its grad students though

I would go with the money.

My first choice right now, visiting March 7-9 before I accept the offer. I've never been to Boston/Cambridge and I'm really looking forward to it. Anyone else visiting?

Thanks virmundi and veilside, that's what I needed to hear. Just declined Princeton's offer!

What's the consensus on visiting a school that you probably won't attend? Waste of their time and resources, or an opportunity to network with others in your field at a different school? Under some pressure by my profs to visit a certain school before declining the offer, they seem to believe that you should *always* go to visits so you know what you're turning down. I defer to the Grad Cafe...

I agree with everything that's been said, but I'd also add that it's a good idea to do independent research early -- I know a lot of American schools have an honours thesis during your final year, but I really think it's best to try and work on an independent studies project or something similar during your third year under the direction of a professor so you can produce a paper based on primary sources (and ideally related to what you'd like to do in grad school). You'll have something to polish and use as your writing sample when you apply for grad school in the fall of fourth year, and you can even try and get it published or present your research at a conference. It's also a great way of exploring your research interests, getting familiar with the historiography and debates, and refining your research questions so you have a sophisticated statement of purpose by the time you apply. Also get to know your professors and perform well in their classes, so you can have three strong letters of reference.

Congrats teachgrad!!!

Thanks so much, but I actually declined UPenn's offer last week! I think I'd like Philly a lot though

Congrats WendyDarling!! I'd vote this up but apparently I've reached my positive votes quota

I don't think it's a red flag -- you got in, so of course your POI wants you there! Some schools are more aggressive in their recruitment (and I think that often has more to do with competing with other schools than actually wanting the student, but I digress...), but a more withdrawn POI that gives you space to decide for yourself is not a problem. You'll know whether there's a weird vibe when you meet in person... I wouldn't take her email communication style as an indication of that. It's still so strange and surreal to me! I'm really looking forward to the visits, if only to see a few campuses I didn't think I'd ever actually see outside of movies

Thanks I've only narrowed it down to the three schools I'd like to visit at this stage, but I do know which school is my favourite and I hope the visits confirm that before I make a decision.

It wouldn't be the first school with grad students that know about my application -- I think it's easy to involve grad students in the process when there's only a handful of them and most of my departments seem to accept 1-2 African history students a year. Princeton hasn't done this, but a few of the others have had their grad students reach out to me to say hello and make themselves available for any questions I may have about the program. It's nice to know they're so interested in me though, but I feel a little bad about letting them down lol. I'll take my prof's thoughts into consideration and give it some more thought, but I feel pretty confident in my decision and should be declining later this week.

You guys are fabulous!! Remember it's not always about the quality of your application, but about a department's particular needs during a particular cycle and hoping what you have to offer is what they're looking for. Never allow yourself to feel defeated by a rejection or think that it's a measure of your ability or worth as a candidate. I wish I could say there's a science to this, and you can certainly ask for feedback on your application to tighten up any weak areas for next time, but there isn't. Just keep in mind that next cycle will have an entirely different field of applicants and can (and WILL) yield an entirely different set of results. I have a friend doing his PhD in a social sciences department at Columbia, and he told me that almost everyone in the department got in on their second try.

Wow! UPenn is a great guess, since it's an obvious fit for my research focus. I haven't declined Princeton yet... one of my African history profs (his spouse is an Africanist political scientist that went there) convinced me to give it a bit more thought and wait until I have more details about their offer. I'm quite certain at this point though, and I can't afford to miss any more time away from my classes than I have to for campus visits. I have to graduate

My grandma is the most excited -- she lives in northern Somalia, a brilliant woman with no formal schooling so she doesn't recognize the names of any of the schools I've gotten into. But she was ecstatic to hear Obama went to two of them Warms my heart.

Congrats!!!!!

Just updating the Africanists to include regional and temporal focus! American History R_Escobar (20th century, American Indian), crazedandinfused (antebellum, intellectual), hopin'-n-prayin' (southern, religious), stevemcn (transnational), Simple Twist of Fate (early American), zb642 (20th century, labor/working-class culture) European History Kelkel (Modern Germany, political), goldielocks (Britain), SapperDaddy (Eastern and Central Europe), kotov (Modern Romania, Holocaust, labor), RevolutionBlues (Modern Western Europe/France labor and leftist politics), theregalrenegade (18th/19th cent British Empire/environment) African History Oseirus (precolonial/early colonial West Africa), Singwaya18 (20th century East Africa), Safferz (20th century Horn/Northeast Africa) Latin American History teachgrad (20th century, Southern Cone), BH-history East Asian History alleykat Near/Middle Eastern History uhohlemonster Atlantic World sandyvanb Global/World History cooperstreet (Cold War) Jewish History uhohlemonster, hopin'-n-'prayin, kotov (Holocaust)

Congrats irvinchiva!! And thanks everyone! My attempt at an early afternoon nap was full of fail, I'm just too excited Bah! After I got the Berkeley rejection to add to Northwestern, my brother said it must be because your application repels non-Ivies

Not to mention that 'fit' can also be thematic, and not necessarily corresponding to time period or region, which was the case for some of the schools I got into. So you really just have to put together the best application you can, with the view of what you and a department/subfield have to offer, and just hope that their needs this cycle happen to be what you bring to the table! So I'm totally taking the day off and going back to bed now. Best of luck everyone, I'm rooting for all of you!!

Indeed! I should go buy myself chocolate (not that I ever need an occasion for that...) All fantastic schools and departments, but I have a good idea of what they're strong and weak at for Africa/African studies, so it hasn't been too difficult for me to know where I'd prefer to go. Turning down UPenn was the hardest though because of their strength and tradition of the Horn -- I really admire the work of two historians there and I know I'd grow immensely under their direction given my research interests, but that doesn't mean I can't get to know them as colleagues in this tiny field of ours or even take a class at UPenn in the future. And one of them sent me a really kind and thoughtful note after I explained why I was turning down their offer, with lots of advice and to say he was hoping Harvard would come through for me

But hopefully will cheer up someone on the waiting list soon! I'll decline their offer tonight, and I've already made my travel arrangements to the NYC area so I'll be visiting the two remaining schools before Harvard's visiting day. I'm certain it's my first choice, but you never know until you visit and carefully weigh your options.