John_E

Do wait a year and reapply if: - You are completely gung-ho about academia and your field. - You are okay with applying to more "safety" schools next time. - You don't mind waiting an additional year on top of the many you will be in grad school. Don't reapply if: - You're not ready to face the prospect of receiving a PhD after many years of labor only to find you can't land a job. - You presume that you will receive no funding offers, even if you are accepted to a program next time (funding varies by field). If you go for it, try to cultivate relationships during the interim year with profs at your target schools with whom you would like to work. Read their books, email them questions, etc. Good luck!

It would be better to wait until you're a junior or senior before you check the pulse of the job market(s). They are all pretty bad right now, but that might change in two or three years.

Theory: I second Novick's That Noble Dream. It's for both Americanists and non-Americanists, I think. Writing will be your ticket not only to good grades/impressing your professors, but also to publishing and getting a job. Very crucial. Style: Strunk & White, Elements of Style Williams, Style Content: Weston, A Rulebook for Arguments Good luck!

Thanks Nicolay, good to know.

Just got an email from a school. Back story: I've been accepted with funding, and a TAship. Then the school sent me a letter to the effect that they needed to know if I wanted the TA job, and they needed to know by March 16. They sent me another email today, asking the same thing. I thought we'd gone over this already, but I said it again: I wrote them a very nice email stating that, yes, I did want a TAship. They wrote me back immediately and said, no, they needed to know "whether you accepted our offer of a TAship for fall (as this would also accept our admittance). We would then count on your enrolling in our program for the fall. Please clarify!" I mentioned it to a buddy of mine who's also applying to doctoral in History, and he said Indiana U. wrote him the following: "I realize that you may be considering admission and aid offers from other universities. You should be aware that American universities are party to an agreement that prohibits any of us from forcing applicants to make a decision before April 15." So I'm a little confused. I wrote back to the school asking THEM to "clarify" if they are putting me on the spot. Anybody know about this stuff? Is this alleged agreement true?

William and Mary is known for Colonial History. They are in Virginia, in the "colonial" capital of Williamsburg--lots of re-enactors, etc. It's a nice atmosphere if that's what you study. W&M is also near DC and the Library of Congress/National Archives. Small program but that's sometimes a nice thing.

I called a top choice. Someone who sounded like a student worker answered the phone. This was Hist Dept, not grad admissions. She was very nice, said decisions had indeed been made, notifications would go out "in the next two weeks." I asked, rogueishly, if she could tell me over the phone what my app decision was. She said no. Fair enough--I'm guessing that if it's a no, dept phone-answerers don't want the awkwardness of having to listen to applicants whine. I figure I might do it anyway next time, even if they tell me nothing, just to bypass their pre-emptive system and make their worst nightmare come true: "WHY didn't you let me in? I had good grades... People like me... My mom... Oh, God... Why are you DOING THIS TO ME???!!!! BWAH HAH HAH HOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" Cue hysterical sobbing.

I applied there too. Haven't heard anything. Contextually, this year is out of the ordinary for them. Bernie Madoff stole a lot of their money. They are selling their art museum. The economy isn't helping. So funding has some challenges.

Re: Ohio State, a buddy told me 2 days ago that he'd gotten his rejection. Don't know if it was snail mail or email.

The departmental secretary told me, two years ago. My understanding was stipend. May have changed since then though.

In Princeton's defense (and why I'm defending them, I don't know), they give their History PhD students a $40,000-a-year stipend. Not sure if there is service (TA) requirement or not. But it's more money than any other school I've heard of. So they have a lot of hungry people knocking on their door. If I was a Princeton prof, I'd be suspicious of every applicant. "Do you want to come here for the program, or for the money?" They get a little jaded.

Depends what a "top" history program is. According to US News? According to specialists in your field? If you want a general number, I dunno, ballpark maybe between 1 in 10 and 1 in 20, depending.

Congratulations slawkenbergius! Is that your first choice?

You'd think with a $105 application fee, Stanford would be more customer-friendly. I didn't apply, but I almost did.

A buddy of mine got acceptance emails from U. Wisconsin-Madison and UCLA last night. Funding decisions to come later. I'm happy for him. I don't know if he was contacted by "the system," or by profs.