Nytusse

LOL. Well, I started at a complete no-name, now I'm getting my Master's at an Ivy, so I have nowhere to go but down in everyone's estimation. I think I passed my peak already!

Yeah, I am NOT looking forward to this explanation.

I was just wondering about the general state of history right now. This isn't meant to be another doom-and-gloom post, because we all know what a rough road lies ahead. Does this massive economic downturn and the corresponding cut in liberal arts admissions, coupled with a difficult job market for historians, result in a fundamental change in the profession? For example, School X has always been very highly ranked, but this year begins cutting history admissions and minimally funding those admissions. Some promising students choose to go to School Y, a lower-ranked institution but one which has managed to maintain funds for the history program. The next year, things only get worse, and fewer students apply to School X because of the funding issues. After a couple of years, do we see some schools emerge as more highly regarded, and some decline? Or, to view it from another perspective, is this rotten economy ultimately good for history? By artificially constricting admissions, will it help the job market to improve later on? I would like to think that this could be a benefit, except that the students who will be excluded will likely be those who have less money and fewer connections, i.e., in a bad economy, top programs will revert to selecting among the "knowns" or those who have had elite educations all along. I'm curious what you all think.

Ugh. I'd much rather get an email rejection than wait for a mailbox full of bad news on Monday. Out of curiosity, have you heard from UNH? I wonder how their funding situation is this year.

What part of the country are you in? I'm assuming New England, based on the schools you applied to.

In terms of what you just described, and given that I'm also interested in textual analysis of Nazi documents (from a less theoretically-based perspective than your own), I would recommend you take a look at Peter Gordon over at Harvard, who is an intellectual historian of Modern Europe, mostly Germany and France. Foucault and Bourdieu seem to be pretty big in the Harvard history department in general, and Professor Gordon is heavily interested in theory. The Harvard German department also tends in that direction, which would give you an excellent opportunity to take some cross-registered classes and really get deep into the textual analysis in the original German.

I'm so very sorry to hear that. This is just the worst year to be trying to get into grad school. You know what this thread reminds me of lately? The band that played together during the sinking of the Titanic. "It has been a pleasure playing with you all."

YES. I also fear that I have lost sight of what I want. My undergrad was tiny and not known for much of anything, and I went there after dropping out of high school. Well, the little no-name university changed my life and gave me professors who I can go and hug and really talk to. They gave me the confidence to pursue bigger things. My Master's degree is with some of the most accomplished people I've ever met, but I have not felt the "love" nearly in the same way as my other school. Yet, I now find myself worrying about how I look to my peers, professors, and my family who has absolutely no idea how competitive academia is. It was my dream to become a professor because I love to learn and my own professors were such wonderful, happy people. It took going to a uber-competitive school to realize how much of an aberration my undergrad institution was. But now, I've turned into a bit of a snob about the "names," and I worry that my judgment isn't even sound due to all this confusion.

How could you not go? I'm pretty sure there is a law requiring you to go to such a great program if you get accepted...!

That is a seriously wonderful accomplishment, especially since they are one of the programs which cut the most this year. You must be thrilled!

Again, just my own personal opinion, but don't listen to everyone else. Opportunities to get into a top-15 program might only get worse, and yes, you might be more qualified after a Master's, but then you just move up a couple of slots in the rankings. Places like Wisconsin and Michigan seem to have just as much prestige as some of the Ivies in terms of history programs.

Whoops, is my face red! But, if I recall correctly, you got into a program you really wanted, right?

That man is lucky he's still alive. How could he risk his own life to enrage a women already mired in the insanity of waiting for grad school application answers? I know that I almost murder about two people a day right now, and that's with minimal provocation. All joking aside, you're going on to better things anyways. You can write a nasty dedication to him in your first book.

It's just my own opinion, but top 15 is pretty darn high up there. I would not really hold my breath (and maybe pay for an MA) for something higher than that. Since one is funded, that is even better. I'm assuming there must be some reason the funded program isn't really capturing your heart?

That's kind of where I'm at now. The real problem is that we have a condo, and I can't imagine now would be a good time to try to sell it. My only viable acceptance thus far is one of the most distant programs I applied to, so it's a bit daunting to figure out how to handle this, and with so little time too.

Congratulations! I can feel your excitement through the internet!

So, I'm just curious how others are dealing with the general bleakness of the history situation and the funding issues this year. Do we take what we can get? Do we try to make it work on no funding for the first year? Do we go get adjunct work or something else and try to "ride out" the economy until we can apply again in more favorable circumstances? Should we bother trying next year? I cannot imagine doing anything else than studying what I love, but this whole process has shattered my (already pessimistic) expectations.

I have heard for sure after emailing my potential advisor a couple of times, and I was told for sure. I have also gotten the impression that those who are getting funding would have already known about it, but I don't want to bring anyone down...it's entirely possible that Wisconsin is just being slow to release that information. However, I know that either in this thread or on the results search, there was one history person who received a fellowship offer, and that's when I began to suspect that it was bad news for me. You may have to actively harass departments to find out if you really are getting no funding, because I think schools are not being quite as forthcoming with that information as they might be. It makes the situation awkward for all of us: the departments, the poor grad student hopefuls, and even the potential advisors who are left with the choice of telling us to come, but knowing it is bad advice, or advising us to look elsewhere, while losing a student he or she might like to work with.

Same way that I feel. Started out feeling positive, and now it has just gone terribly wrong. I thought that if I was lucky enough to get ACCEPTED to a place like Wisconsin, at that point maybe my test scores would help me get fellowships (since those university-wide funds seem to be based on scores a lot). I'm kind of at a loss to explain the way things have gone. I wonder if this history forum has gotten progressively more silent because everyone is just suffering so much with this stupid economy and its effects on admissions.

What worries me is that I honestly do not think there is much I could do to improve my application at this point. People are always worried about their GREs and maybe retake them, or they decide to get a Master's first before applying again. I graduate with my Master's this Spring, my grades are good, GREs are great, languages are where they should be. I think it is my actual ideas that are not very interesting, and what the heck am I supposed to do about that? I think the worst pain was being accepted two places I would love to go without funding. I would have rather been rejected, I think, especially since I took the early Wisconsin admit as such a good omen.

These last two days have just been awful...who was the wise person who said f&#% the economy? I have admissions to programs with two potential advisors I would love to work with, and neither one is going to give me a dime. People usually say to try again next year, but sheesh, it's only going to get worse.

I felt that I had a really good fit over there, and my potential advisor seemed really interested in my topic (which not everyone is). That delay in rejecting me was all I needed to get a glimmer of hope about the whole thing. I'm waiting on 4 answers, but one is a no who doesn't bother to notify until later (Chicago) and the other three are probably my most difficult in terms of possibly getting an acceptance. At least those three should dispense with me in one way or another by the end of the week, I would think.

What was the real kick in the teeth is that while everyone was posting their rejections from Penn this morning, I hadn't heard anything. I started to dream that this might mean good news...nope, I just got my rejection way the heck later in the afternoon. This week has been unbelievably miserable.

I see that aspect, I just don't know if it would really work from an admissions standpoint. I am currently an MTS at Harvard, and the MDiv is one year longer (some MTSs actually transfer to the MDiv...not always for God-inspired reasons!) So, possessing the MDiv degree would seem to make the MTS superfluous here.

Another thing to consider is that MTS programs are often fairly well-funded (compared to other master's degrees), but because you would already have an MDiv, that funding might not be provided for you. It's just my own opinion, but I think applying for an MTS after already having an MDiv might look strange at some schools, and I worry that it would look even stranger if you did complete the MTS and then applied for doctoral studies. MDivs and MTSs at my school both apply for doctoral programs; the MDivs are usually in a better position to apply for a ThD, but we do have a fair amount of ThMs as well. Religion is particularly demanding in that a master's is pretty much mandatory, but getting a second Master's in religion could not really help very much, I think.