slawkenbergius

I've just gotten through Kant's First and Third Critiques, but the last history book I read was The History of the Franks by Gregory, bishop of Tours (ca. 600 AD). It's actually quite refreshingly chaotic, and Gregory injects himself into the narrative whenever he can, which is hilarious.

All I can say is, it helps to have academic parents willing to hold your hand through the whole process... But yeah, the Republicans in your state senate are kamikaze, it's scary. Still, there are hardly any schools which haven't been hit--my undergrad lost 30% of its endowment or something. Definitely enough woe to go around.

And Kakirsten, was that you who got into BC?

It was--thanks! Although after Harvard, everything seems kind of anticlimactic... I think Princeton will notify admits this week and rejects the next, based on last year's results. That should be interesting.

"Where all the men look like Woody Allen, and all the women do too." A funny story I heard. The economics building at Chicago (not sure if it's still in use--but yes, of free-market Chicago School fame) was designed by a Marxist architect who put one of those abstract chunk-of-metal statues in front of it. Or at least that's what everyone thought. In reality, it was designed so that on May Day, the shadow cast by the statue would be shaped like a hammer and sickle!

Yeah, congrats to both of them! I love that school, I really wanted to apply but there weren't enough faculty in my field.

Also: Really? No wonder his poetry sucks.

Bukowski would have done well to heed his own advice. Along with everyone else who thinks that true art is being a live-fast-die-young bohemian poet.

riss, I wouldn't worry about it. They generally don't need the app to be online once they've printed it out and sent it for review. Just call and make sure, but it's really no big deal. Also, congrats to whoever got into UCLA for Chinese history!

Awesome! At least the UCs didn't shut you out completely. Oh, and sorry about UIUC, misterpat, that sucks.

I'll still visit, maybe I'll even go... I don't know if I can handle Ivy League snobbery for five years.

Awesome, congrats! Northwestern is a great school.

Congratulations, that's fantastic news! I'm applying to the History of Science program at Princeton (part of the history department)--are you, by any chance, applying there too?

No, it's Princeton. But we'll see. Thank you all for the kind words! I hope you'll hear good news from your remaining programs very soon.

I just got into Harvard! Emailed by an advisor this morning. Full funding for five years, four years of guaranteed summer funding, the whole bit. My field is Russian history.

Do you think they might have been mailed out? I just think it's weird that no one's posted any results from Stanford yet, especially since we had so many people from Yale post. Thanks! I'd wish you the same, but I guess you're all set!

Thanks. I'm not really worried about UCLA--it isn't a priority for me, I just felt like I needed to apply because it's the best 18th century program in the country. Something did feel kind of messy and annoying about the application process for that school, but I can't put my finger on it. As for the rest, meh. I'm perfectly happy going to Indiana (even if I'm a bit unsure about their placement record); Princeton is my dream school, but it won't notify until late February anyway. EDIT: Oops, I thought you were synthla.

Also, what the hell is it with people who post "other via other" and ask questions? Are you stupid, or just allergic to simple directions? No one's going to reply. You're just pissing into the wind. Just ask it on the damn forums like everyone else, and stop cluttering up the results page. Sorry. carry on.

I applied to UCLA, but their decision website hasn't been updated yet. I didn't get anything from Stanford or Harvard either, nor JHU. This is such a frustrating process, it's not even funny.

Congratulations to you all, that's really fantastic news. I wanted to apply, but was put off by the early deadline...now I'm jealous.

Condolences to all the people rejected from Yale. I hope your other applications go better.

I'm not saying they were wrong. I'm not saying they were bad or ill-informed people. My family's all academics, I know how it is. And the posters were, of course, well within their rights to say whatever they wanted. But the question that was asked was a simple, concrete one. If I ask someone at the supermarket where the cereal is, I don't expect them to lecture me on my food choices. It's condescending and patronizing to give someone advice they never asked for, no matter how much you believe your hard-won battlefield experience gives you the right to do so. I'm sure the poster already knows, and has been told again and again, how hard the job market is and all the rest of that stuff. There's a point at which such well-intentioned advice becomes more irritating than useful.

Incidentally, OP, I saw the thread you started at the Chronicle forums. I sympathize; not only were they fairly unhelpful, they also took the opportunity to organize a vicariously-reliving-wasted-youth party. Reading that thread is like being surrounded by a dozen senile uncles in rocking chairs wagging their fingers in unison. Ugh.

When I was a wee lad, oh, two or three years ago, I asked this same question at AskMetafilter, and got a lot of fantastic advice: http://ask.metafilter.com/52162/God-save-historyGod-save-your-mad-parade. Since then, I've followed through on my research plans--I have one article published and another one forthcoming, and I've presented at several conferences. (I bumped up my GPA and got more or less what I had planned to get on the GRE). Although I can't say yet whether this was successful, my professors seem to think my application was pretty competitive, and I've gotten one acceptance already. Basically, follow the three Rs: research, research, research. A summer's worth of work was more than enough to do an in-depth study, both historiographic reading and primary source research. Another summer gave me an even deeper grounding. I can honestly say that this summer research changed my life, and I'd recommend you get cracking on something like this--there's no better way to learn how to be a historian than to actually be a historian. Keep in mind that it will take at least a year for an article to be published after you submit it. The forthcoming piece I have, which will be published this summer, was written in August 2007--and subsequently needed a lot of reworking and revision. So, sorry about tooting my own horn here, but this is the kind of thing that will really help. You have a leg up on me, since your university is a lot more highly ranked than mine. [EDIT]: On reread, this looks like I'm saying the stuff I did is the only way to go. It's not, it's just what seemed to work for me. I'm by no means unique or exceptional, and I'm not any more likely to get into my programs than any of the people on this board.

I grew up in Milwaukee, but the closest I've been to Indiana is Chicago. I'm looking forward to visiting--I imagine it'll be a huge culture shock after having lived in New York City for the last four years. Probably going the first or second week of March too. What's your field, if you don't mind me asking? I'm studying the Enlightenment in eighteenth-century Russia, so I'm excited about the Center for 18th Century Studies that they have there. Also, congrats to the new JHU admit! I'm just gonna write it off, I think.