benedicite

Hey guys,
I finished my undergrad about a year ago and I'm hoping to apply to Masters and PhD programs this coming season. I have a Bachelors in History and Classical Languages from a state university (8 semesters Latin, 5 semesters Greek, 4 French, learning to read German). 3.89 (Summa cum laude). GRE: v167/q150.
I have a honors thesis that I think needs a lot of work to turn into a writing sample. I'm having a hard time knowing what I should expect from myself for the writing sample.
I'm interested in Late Antique history, particularly patristic literature and early Christian studies. I'm also interested in economic and social history and interdisciplinary work with scientific research, a la Michael McCormick, Walter Scheidel, etc in the same period.
Looking into these programs: Classics at University of Chicago, Princeton, Stanford, Washington University in St. Louis, Penn. I'm also looking at History programs at Harvard, UVA, Notre Dame, Michigan, and UW. And Early Christian Studies at Notre Dame and CUA. Obviously I need to narrow this list down and work on some second tier, third tier schools.
That's all for now. I'm going to try to stick around and stay in touch as things progress.
Cheers.

Hey I should have said SUNY Buffalo. Sorry for being unclear because I assume that I put it down there in my signature. 
 
By the way, I think I ask this too much but I wonder if anybody hear back from Penn State? Got my Harvard rejection in the mail today but still no news from Penn State. Please PM me if you have got any information from them. I appreciate it!  

Is it actually possible to live in NYC on a grad student stipend?

I'm excited about daily access to ridiculous op-eds written by undergraduates in the student paper.

I'm excited about daily access to ridiculous op-eds written by undergraduates in the student paper.

I'm excited about daily access to ridiculous op-eds written by undergraduates in the student paper.

I'm excited about daily access to ridiculous op-eds written by undergraduates in the student paper.

At a place with all the funding for their admits, the dean or the graduate school usually is just checking that the admits meet basic requirements.  You have to remember that they are basically issuing an employment contract for 3-5 years.  If for example, you look at my yearly tuition, my stipend, my health insurance... it's an expenditure of my institution over the course of my funding of around $500,000.
 
At places where funding is less secure the department is likely to do something like send a ranked list and the gradschool or dean has to determine how many applicants a department gets.  Where Number 13 on the history list is compared to Number 13 on the sociology list to determine which department gets the 13th admit.

Accepted at Georgetown! So excited. With funding and a very generous stipend. I'm looking forward to the campus visit.

Accepted at Georgetown! So excited. With funding and a very generous stipend. I'm looking forward to the campus visit.

Saw your post and checked. Me too! Congrats. A good program. I feel more at ease, too.

Saw your post and checked. Me too! Congrats. A good program. I feel more at ease, too.

Saw your post and checked. Me too! Congrats. A good program. I feel more at ease, too.

The person who posted said they applied for joint Middle Eastern Studies with either history or art history, and his or her art history POI said that history was the department he or she was admitted to.

Czesc, you've forced me to come out of the shadows and provide you with a few points to consider:
 
 
1. You were waitlisted at Princeton. The last time I checked it was still an Ivy League institution and considered one of the best universities of higher education in the world. The fact that you were waitlisted, and not flat out denied, means you possess the qualities necessary to be successful in the program. You should be proud of that.
 
 
2. Someone (I’m thinking at least 3 someones), other than your mother, believed in your abilities as a historian and decided to stand behind you by providing a letter of recommendation. This, too, is a sign you're on the right path. I've known professors to refuse to write recommendation letters, if they thought an applicant couldn't handle the rigor of the program. Your recommenders felt you had a shot, otherwise they probably wouldn't have written on your behalf.
 
 
3. If you were talented enough to be waitlisted at Princeton, I'm sure one of the 10 schools will have a spot for you.
 
 
REMEMBER, ALL YOU NEED IS ONE.

I work in financial aid. As a grad student you are always independent on the FAFSA. If you're an undergrad, there are a number of things that will make you independent (age 24+, veteran, married, etc), but if you are a grad student you are automatically independent.

For those of you waiting on Princeton, I just wanted to give you a heads up that the final meeting takes place today. The central bureaucracy confirmed the list. Accepted students should be hearing very soon! Good luck! 

Congrats ot all of you with acceptances, you should be proud that your hard work on  your applications has paid off.  For those without something, this is very early.  Just breathe.
 
A few notes:
 
1) Remember, all you need is just ONE funded acceptance.  Do NOT take an unfunded offer- you're good but not that good enough to be considered for funding.  Don't let that down and just re-apply in ANY case if the PhD is what you want. So, no, no, one rejection doesn't mean you'll be rejected everywhere.  I received 1 unfunded offer, 2 waitlists, and 10 rejections over the course of two cycles before I finally got 2 funded offers (in one day!) and they were the first schools I heard from for my third cycle (and then I got rejected everywhere else and withdrew one app).  Maybe I just have a skin of steel to be able to say this.  But you do need to develop that if you're going to survive academia.
 
2)  Interviews- approach them as conversations.  Professors are just interested in your ideas.  Just tell them exactly what you think and how you see things in history.  They will respect you all more for being honest.  They are better judges than you are of your own ability and potential to become a scholar.  If they don't like your ideas, don't take those personally, you won't want to work with them anyway.  I have had that happen and frankly, I'm happy about that.  PhD is hard enough as it is if you can't be comfortable sharing ideas with your (potential) adviser and committee members.
 
3) Even if you just get ONE funded offer, treat it as a choice between going for your PhD and committing yourself to 5-8 years of intense research, writing, reading, talking, and writing (did I say that again?) and constant balancing of your time and financial budgets, and having a "normal" life where weekends and vacations exist.  Ask tons, tons, tons of questions about expectations from  your adviser, the DGS, other professors, graduate students, and graduate coordinator.  Even though I had gotten into my top choice and would go in a heartbeat, I realized that it was good to have this other funded offer (initially much more attractive package) in hand to force me to scrutinize these two programs.  I learned more about each program than if I had not done that.  Every since coming here, I haven't had too many awful surprises though my first and second year peers are still encountering them.  As a result, I think my time here has been quite smoother with less drama than if I hadn't asked questions.

I wouldn't gather too much about it other than that your applicatiion is still alive.

Yes, if you live like a student should, just fulfilling necessities and nothing else. But you just have to know the nitty-gritty of your neighborhood to get the best deals as noted above. 

Is this a legitimate forum post? Is NYC cool?

Can't say for sure, but I gather that the graduate coordinator is working through a long list.