modern

Great advice from Rustin there, these three things are key IMO. I would add that it is important to act nice, as in expressing how thankful you are to be there, even saying that it is your first time and that you are indeed nervous, explaining where does the research come from (honors thesis or whatever). Just create empathy, everyone has their own way to do so, but speaking loudly and clearly is essential.

Congrats to everyone who got in and best luck to those still waiting. I applied to six schools, for PhD Programs in History. Waitlisted at three: NYU, Columbia, Georgetown Accepted at three: Yale, Princeton, Northwestern Going to Yale. I have already declined all other offers and waitlists.

And in Princeton it's the regular History Program? That's an important factor: Do you want to be trained as a historian or do you want to be a social scientist specialized in Science and Technology? They have great people for environmental history at both places anyway. I would not withdraw the Cornell application in any case, unless you have really made up your mind already and want to free the potential spot for other candidates (I know, mixed feelings there).

Bottom line is that this is absolutely not a reason to turn down Princeton, but rather an advantage. I'm sure the faculty are well aware of how important teaching is for your CV and will act accordingly.

Actually, in most top programs you'll have no more than two semesters as TA (even if you are supposed to do more than that according to the priginal offer) as usually the 4th year you research abroad with external funding. That's the case at Yale, for instance, and the placement has hardly been a problem for ther alumni recently.

Ridiculous policy. I got 27% on the Q part of GRE and got into great, great schools. Their loss if they don't take you for this, really.

Seriously. Congrats Paura, they are all great schools.

People that can write fast and that are able to do the research near where they study probably can make it in five years, but I don't think history programs really expect it in most cases. The other I saw some stats on the matter and a little more than six years seems to be the average in many well ranked programs.

Michigan definitely is a strong option too, specially if you're going to work with Rebecca Scott, they have indeed more historians dedicated to Latin America, and the History Program is very prestigious too. And there is the improvement in the funding this year. I liked what I saw in Columbia honestly, and the historians of Latin America are very good. NYU is a great temptation too, the Latin American History faculty line-up is stellar. And living in NYC... But it appears that you would have advisors that fit your interests in all places. Intelectual history is exactly what Jeremy Adelman is doing now, with two pretty exciting projects (on the history of the idea of inequality in Latin American social sciences & on a biography of Albert O. Hirschman). In Michigan, Jesse H-G. is a former student of Adelman so he probably knows his stuff on intellectual history too. And in Columbia you have an amazing history faculty overall, and you could probably also take courses with faculty from other social science departments, which are all great. I'd go for Princeton, but that's just me. I was really impressed by the campus, it sort of makes you want to sit and enjoy your reading.

I've heard great things and got the best impression of all the universities I visited when I was there last year (including Yale, Columbia, Harvard and the likes). I met professor Adelman and he seemed great. His scholarship is outstanding and versatile both thematically, geographically and temporally: IMO he is the best Latin Americanist in History right now. He said the he'd let students work on their topics and at the same time seemed very ambitious about what it meant to write a Princeton dissertation and why they'd give you all you need for it to be pathbreaking. Rob Karl seems really nice and extremely promising as a historian, and Vera Candiani's interests seem interesting too. They have a lot of money for your fellowship and you won't have to teach if you don't want to, although it might be a good idea to do so eventually. They'll give you summer travel grants, prizes, etc, so economically it is usually the best offer for any historian. The campus is magnificent, the libraries are superb. It is sort isolated (I've already been critized for saying this) but quite near to NYC and Phillie. The department as a whole seem very good too. Some very, very big names for different fields (Anthony Grafton, Gyan Prakash, Peter Brown, Emmanuel Kreike among many others) would make sure that, besides the minor, you'd be able to take amazing courses and meet interesting professors. And people from other departments is very good too (like Miguel Angel Centeno for political sociology). As someone working in Latin America, I'd say that, bare Yale, and unless you want to 1) work with a particular historian, or 2) live in a particular city, it is definitely the best option all things considered. Please PM if you want more information. PS. I'm not going there nor work for them or anything like that

I applied to the regular history PhD track and was notified that I was waitlisted a couple of weeks ago. First -officially- by the professor in charge of this year's Graduaate affairs, then by a couple of professors in my field that wanted to know if I'd actually give priority to the Columbia waitlist over an eventual offer by other institutions.

I too have received very good feedback from NYU (not a certain acceptance but an official mail - "letter of interest" - from the department's chair, urging me to contact the professors that I would like to work with), and never received an invitation for the visiting day. It would have been cool, though, in the heart of NYC. I did not apply to French Studies or any other mixed program though. It probably has to do with the fact that I live far from the US.

You clearly seem competitive enough to compete for admission at many schools. Just some pieces of advice: 1) Apply to several schools, including some lower ones (if you like), many similar and some of the top programs that have faculty that you would like to work with. It is expense and a pain, but it definitely increases your chances and you might end up at aceepted at many places, including your original first choice. I am sure that you could develop your interests at many institutions, including some top programs. 2) Contacting faculty and potential advisors with anticipation might be important. You can try to get to them by yourself by just writing an email, but it is better if someone that you know and they know presents you through a previous email. It has worked well for me. Discussing your application with potential professors is extremely helpful as that way you can get a sense of if they are interested, or not that interested (sometimes they don't answer mails but it does not mean they are not interested), and all that. I have heard that in some cases they might even help you with parts of the application. In my case, in a couple of schools I have been told that they would not accept students for my field for next year, or that professor X is the one I should convince. 3) Along with the recommendation letters, the writing sample is key, as it usually is the first filter. Do not mention that "you see yourself more as an historian than as cultural critic", or that you don't like your current program. I would not, unless you write a very personal and original piece. I think statements should be almost purely positive: what you have accomplished, where, how, and what would like to do and why there and with that faculty. Mention what you have klearnt in your previous program and what you would like to learn in the one that you are applying to. Your previous program is part of your CV, use it in your favor. Mention what sort of sources you have used, find a pathbreaking theme (you can change later) that has not been yet explored in your field (without stating that as areason to do it) or one that might seem very interesting to explore for some reason. Keep in mind that while it is important that you convince the specialist(s) in your field, others will certainly read you application, so you need to get all sort of historians interested in your proposal. And in terms of departmental politics, it is good to make it seem as if your are a good candidate for professors acroos many fields - ie, in your case, early modern europe, german, history of religion, economic history. Hope this helps.

I was actually told that UC Berkeley weren't accepting anyone from Latin American History by the professor that I contacted around october-november. He was extremely nice and made me save time and money.

Indeed, I received an official notification from Columbia some days ago. Waitlisted but invited to NYC for visiting weekend with some of the costs covered.

From what I heard from a very, very reliable source, most subcomitees at Yale, usually corresponding to subfields, have already made their choices and now it's up to the Department's comitee (who's there I don't know) to confirm their picks and make it official. Most of the email contacting is about professors telling these news to prospective students whose dossiers have impressed them, and asking if they are really interested in going to Yale - read if it is their top choice. So expect news in the next few days. It's destroying me too.

You'd be very unlucky if you do not get a funded offer

Just saw a Yale History interview on the Results page. Anyone want to claim it? Yale official decisions are likely coming out this week. YaleHistory, PhD (F11)Interview via E-mail on 2 Feb 2011A2 Feb 2011

Sorry about that, I didn't mean it in a bad way.

The Princeton Professor that I've been in contact with for the past months told me that they do invite people to the campus, but he painted it more as being part of the recruitment process than as part of the selection: from what he told me, it was more about securing their favourites candidates with a fully paid trip to their magnificent campus, libraries, and resources of all sorts than anything else. And I bet it works given what they have: the campus is the most impressive of the big Ivies IMO. It is in the middle of nowhere (though not far from NY of Philly), but it is just too beautiful and calm. Of course, it might be a final sanity check too, as someone mentioned. If you arrive there dressed like a medieval soldier (and mind, the campus is castle-like), there's a chance they'll put you back in the Princeton Shuttle.

I actually said I'm thankful for the information as I didn't know what the term implies either. I was just trying to say that the person who used the term didn't mean bad and to make a point that the meaning of words come from their contexts of usage - which in this case did not intend anything derogatory at all clearly. I'm at peace with my "inner ID" honestly (except for the neverending waiting of these weeks) and do understand that it might be a sensible topic. You are right to point the lexic precisions. I come from a minority group too, at least in part, although really try not to pick up on expressions unless I really believe that the intentions behind them are offensive. I don't see why a third party should consider what I thought was a polite reply on the matter "unnecessary". Anyways, good luck to you both with the applications and sorry if I offended anyone.

Thanks for the info about "Jap". That said, and although I did not use it, the person that did clearly did not mean it in any sort of insulting way at all, and was refering to a historic subfield and not to people, so it was evidently just a way to save words. Words should not be considered slur without taking in consideration the context of usage IMO.

Although it could be worst indeed, don't forget that they had an early deadline (dec. 1 - the earliest of all for me) so they really should not be taking so long.

Damn, this and the announcement about NYU already inviting people... I hope it's just for the fields mentioned (Japanese History in Columbia and American History at NYU).