feisty

I agree, Aretha's hat was pretty painful.

humanities. pretty far left when i actually articulate my views, but not that politically active.

honestly this is probably how my life will pan out even with a phd

I got into my reach school, and that's all I've heard from. I actually predict I don't get into any of the others (all lower ranked, technically), or only get into 1 other. Just a hunch.

Berkeley had 380 applicants. Not sure how many accepted though. All notified already, I think. Not history, but Chicago's Committee on Social Thought had over 120 applicants, and is only taking 3 instead of the usual 7-8. According to the results page, at least one of them has already been contacted. I heard somewhere (here) that Cornell and Princeton (history) have made their decisions.

I think only individual professors are emailing students, based on the results page. Not the departments. They're doing snail mail, right? (oh how uncommon lol) so it'll take some time.

This is true, I've seen it. I didn't know it was only on May Day though--how clever. Maybe that is when it happens perfectly, but when I saw it on a July day you could still make it out. I'm from the area, a lot of people in my town went there or work there. I also did a lot of my thesis research at their library when I was living at home the summer before my senior year of college (easily the ugliest university library on the planet, but James Nye-the South Asia bibliographer, is wonderful x10. They also have a lot of the India Office Papers of the British Raj, though not entirely organized yet). UChicago is magnificent, but now I'm not so sure I want to go there as badly as I once did. Can't say anything bad about it though.

Does this mean Chicago has made decisions? Yikes.

erratic

No, I won't have a car, at least not for the first few years. It's a good email, but definitely catered to a 22 year old transplant with no wheels (me).

No problem, I'll try to edit out some of the more precious personal touches. [in my first email, I called Oakland "The Brooklyn of the West!" so that's what he's referring to early on. We're both from Chicago, so when he says "Metra" and "CTA" he's referring to the Chicago commuter rail and El trains, respectively]

By this, do you also mean visiting days? If so I'm curious as well. IIRC historians can be an inert and adorably awkward bunch.

My friend/possible future roommate in Oakland just sent me an epic email about the city, if anyone is interested I'll post an edited version of it

Graduated with a 3.60, but was steadily around 3.50 until my very last semester senior year. Might have been higher had Russian not been my language, but probably not. I worried about it when I was considering law school a few years ago, but I really don't think it's too important now.

The resources to hire a great lawyer, no, but would grad student unions deal with this sort of thing?

I hadn't heard that, but not surprised. My friend is applying to their English program, and actually received an email saying something similar (don't know the numbers though)

I thought about that. My other top choice, Chicago, is also having trouble though. I have a friend who works at UC Press in Berkeley, and one of his supervisors is the history editor, who insists so far they have been good about not cutting student funding. But yes, I'm very concerned. Especially, if things are still the way they are, about finding funding for the final 1-2 years. I plan on getting a lot of information about this when I visit.

Without a car, this is probably the best solution. Porter Square is kind of boring, but Cambridge at large is wonderful (and walkable, bike-able, busable--you wouldn't be far from the action). Also, if I recall my days in Boston correctly, Porter Square is on the border of Somerville, one of my favorite towns in the area.

Stupid question: how many people on average get accepted per year to top history programs? I know it varies, but a ballpark?

Most of my friends have graduated, but a few who stuck around as alums (who work for the University) are happy living in Urbana. A little further from campus, but a little further from raging undergrads as well. As far as I know they don't have cars, and bike to campus. I don't know the neighborhoods very well, so you might want to defer to someone else.

I live near Columbia now--it's a wonderful area. Good luck.

congrats--my undergraduate advisor did Russian/Soviet history at Harvard; that's where I'd want to be for that field.

Yes. I'm from Illinois, with a lot of friends at UIUC, and a few unforgettable forgotten nights spent there. You can find studios and one-bedrooms for 300-600 a month. I have friends with roommates in apts or shared houses paying as little as 250. Everything else--food, booze--is cheap. It's a great town.

Berkeley was the one school on my list I was positive I wasn't going to get into, and was wrong. I am from a small town in the midwest, went to school in New England, and currently live in Manhattan. The last place on the planet I ever thought I would live was California. Yesterday it was unseasonably warm and beautifully sunny in New York, and the weather was what I imagine the late winters/early spring in the East Bay to be like. During my lunch break, I walked outside and had a short fantastical moment imagining that this was what going to school next year could feel like.

So far I've only been accepted to one, and I would--and probably will--go there. I only applied to "reach" schools, and would be beyond honored to attend any of them. Being only a year out of college, with no plans or responsibilities other than my rent, I figured I could afford to be picky.