meo03

We'll see if it works out in a few months time!

I completely agree with @ashiepoo72. Her approach is really the best and most thorough way to go. I struck out in my applications last year. After my rejections came in, I immediately began a project very similar to what she described. I made a spreadsheet, starting with some of the scholars I already knew from my research, and then by painstakingly working my way through history department websites far and wide. I did limit myself geographically, which helped make this project less daunting, but was also an acknowledgement of my strong desire to remain on the eastern third of the continent (both because my research will take me to France, but also because my family and friends are all on the eastern side of the Mississippi). I encourage others to think seriously about geography as well. Doing this research has, I hope, not only made me a better candidate, but it has given me a much better understanding of the scholarly landscape in which I hope to situate my work. I think that it is an absolute necessity for anyone that takes the application process seriously.

A ton of applications come due today. Best of luck to those sending in their submissions!

You may want to look at the University of South Carolina. They have a museum studies and a historic preservation track (though their museum studies faculty might be a bit in flux at the moment). They also have a number of interesting university initiatives in digital humanities and a good track record of placing their MAs in good jobs. :end advertisement for my MA program:

I look at it this way: Turner, Adams, and their ilk had the advantage of being the first generation of professional historians employing German-imported empirical methods. Their work was certainly brilliant on its own merits, but it also holds the place that it does for being at the foundation of the intellectual world in which we still live. Later, historians from the mid-twentieth century, whether of the progressive or consensus schools had the advantage of being both the first great critics of the first generation of American historians, but also all the advantages of America as an ascendant world power. What we share with these first revisionists is that in the effort to say something new, we, like them, aren't likely to uncover an incredible amount of new evidence (at least from archives in the United States). Nevertheless, contemporary events, ideas, worldviews, economic opportunities, and morality will always contribute to the creative energy of the historian seeking to write "history as it actually happened" (or whatever revision on that old line you prefer...). That, combined with the jet-age opportunities for research that could not be imagined in the late nineteenth century leaves me unconcerned that we are running out of things to say.

Re: all the recent comments about page lengths. There are several places that I am applying to that have page limits shorter than my 33 page writing sample (15 pages CUNY? sheesh). As I've spent the better part of the year turning my MA thesis into an article that is currently under review for a pretty good journal, I felt compelled to submit this work, as it is by far my most well-written and well-researched piece. What I have done--and let the chips fall where they may--is submit the complete article, complete with an abstract, and a one-page "table of contents" with where I give a short description, with page numbers, of each of my four main sections. We'll see if that's a terrible idea...

Got my last rejection in the mail today, so it seems that I will be in Columbia next year! Anyone else going to be joining me at USC?

Good info, thanks. It seems quite likely that I'll end up there too. What is your area of emphasis?

anyone here make it to SC's accepted students day yesterday? If so, how was it?

Emory rejection has finally and mercifully arrived. ... And then there were two.

has anyone received a rejection from Emory? I'm basically assuming one, but am still waiting for the official word.

right. I feel fairly certain that my rejection is on its way as well.

I'm not great with statistics, which might be why I keep getting rejected by PhD programs to whom I market myself as a political historian, but the results page doesn't really lead me to any sort of generalized conclusion about when UGa notifies. What I do know is that my mail is delivered-- without fail-- around 2-2:30 every afternoon.

hilarious. I just wrote the same exact thing-- with you in mind!

looks like the first news from UGa has reached the results page. Congrats to the lucky Americanist! This of course means I will be all the more vigilant about checking the mail tomorrow.

Well, at the very least there is that April 15th absolute deadline, which isn't that far away. I am doing what I can to put my mind off of the last couple schools out there, filling my days with work, and trying to enjoy what will be my last few months in this city. That however doesn't explain why I am here posting. How are things coming along at Central Michigan, if you don't mind sharing?

No, I can see that not working out well for you and Timmy. I see you're in South FL, where'd you do undergrad? I grew up in Jacksonville, where Tebow "went to high school", and was thus privy to his ascent from the beginning. We never did beat the guy... Sorry that UF didn't pan out, but glad to see you've got some options already, and here's to many more. Very SEC heavy collection of schools as well.

Didn't apply, but have to throw in an obligatory go FSU!, since it's my alma mater. Good luck though, UF does have a strong department.