thedig13

*drop mic

"boom"

Here's why you shouldn't read Beloved: there are three different characters with the first name Paul. Three! 
 
I'm not really into the whole obfuscation thing.

I did a two-year MA (funded) and it would have been next to impossible for me to ask for LORs in October of my first year. I hadn't even produced any writing yet. I don't think any professor worth his salt would have written me a letter at that point. Perhaps professors who work at one-year programs are equipped to handle this, however.
 
But most people I know who did a one-year MA took a year "off" after completing the MA in order to work on applications. I think this is wise. You probably won't be producing your best work until the end of that year, and that's the work you should be submitting for a PhD application. 

Sorry if I'm about to ask a stupid question, but what does your undergraduate program's prestige have to do with anything?

Basically, this. The annual income of a graduate student or an adjunct is a lot of money to a lot of people. Most income-earning individuals in the U.S. make less than 25K a year. No matter how you cut it, the lifestyle of an academic is relatively cushy and the salary is enough to survive on; anybody who argues otherwise is, frankly, a little out-of-touch with reality.

Sorry if I'm about to ask a stupid question, but what does your undergraduate program's prestige have to do with anything?

Entirely false.

Basically, this. The annual income of a graduate student or an adjunct is a lot of money to a lot of people. Most income-earning individuals in the U.S. make less than 25K a year. No matter how you cut it, the lifestyle of an academic is relatively cushy and the salary is enough to survive on; anybody who argues otherwise is, frankly, a little out-of-touch with reality.

Sure, in an overcrowded field you need to reduce the number of competitors. That's standard game theory. If you use well-founded arguments, you reduce the number of intelligent competitors, which is even better.

Wherever I go this fall, I promise to remain a committed informant on the 2015 thread.

I agree with the others who've urged you to stick it out for another cycle or two if you really would prefer to become a historian rather than a programmer. Last year, I was in a very similar situation as you and was even rejected by most of the same schools. The difference? I applied to more schools and was accepted by one. Your Princeton waitlist result is impressive (there were only five people on it last year) and probably means you have the right stuff for an acceptance somewhere (it was indicative for me), but just weren't a perfect fit due to various contingencies at any of the limited, highly-selective schools you applied to this year. If you weren't in touch with POIs this year, maybe do so next time and apply to either a wider pool or one where you have some confirmation not just that your interests are a lock, but that logistical circumstances would permit your admission that cycle. 

Well, four, and two rejections (one accept is art history). But I'm thinking so too. Three to five seems to be the standard GradCafe Cornell cohort from previous years.
 
If so, pending a last-second twist from UVA (where I survived both the acceptance and rejection waves), I'm settling at 0 for 6 this cycle, up from 0 for 3 last time around. At least this time I can say I put my best foot forward. I plan to reach out to some POIs (many of whom I met this fall, most of whom were warm and all of whom were helpful) for their comments, but most likely -- against some of your recommendations -- I'm looking at law, a field that is blessedly more numbers-driven. When a person is 0 for 9 at one thing and 6 for 6 at another (including two funding offers so far, and with luck, two more on the way) at some point it's hard not to read the writing on the wall. That said, two of the three schools I'm seriously considering (and two of the two I've been admitted to thus far) are at or near the schools I applied for history at, so I may yet take one more crack next year!
 
If not, there's always the late-in-life vanity degree. I'm going to write my damn dissertation come hell or high water - ha!

First, congrats those who have received acceptances today and throughout this season! Second, how are most people dealing with rejections?  I felt as though I could see mine coming, so when I got the email wasn't too surpised, but I still feel sort of icky and keep wondering what it was about my application that made me sink among that particular pool of applicants and what to expect from similar pools. 

I agree with catsandscarves. Penn were very specific, to the point of being intimidating, regarding us not contacting them with ANY issues pertaining to admissions.

I would absolutely second that, thedig13. Everything I thought I knew has been kind of turned on its head. But as far as your results go, I've been told that pattern is not as unusual as you might think by some students of those very selective programs. Or maybe that is just the type of student who tends to under-rate themselves going in to the season!

Ha I loved that one.
 
My POI at the University of Pheonix was very encouraging but I still haven't heard anything from them

I hope all of your schools sent you the Valentine's Day card you really wanted today!

Don't give up yet if history is what you really want. Both statistically and in terms of motivating admissions committees (law schools know you will pay them, while many PhD programs have to justify paying you; law school admissions are more based on grades and standardized tests than subjective PhD admissions) it's easier to get into law school, so this result doesn't mean your life path has been chosen by divine revelation or anything like that.

I respectfully disagree. On three separate cases, I was able to schedule appointments for telephone conversations (each one lasted about 20-30 minutes). On several other cases, POIs notified me that they were retiring and therefore unable to take on graduate students, which helped me refine my SOP (i.e.: which POI names to suggest as viable mentors). I've also been told by professors that, even if all I get in response is "I look forward to reading your application," at least I get my name in the back of their heads, and, when they're reading applications, that pays off more often than one might expect.
 
Long story short, I'm glad I contacted POIs in October/November. It took minimal effort and, at times, paid off substantially.

I wonder where the Princeton admits are. Did they just reject everyone this year?

Sorry to hear that. But there's always other universities to make new memories, right? Hope everything else pans out for you.

I respectfully disagree. On three separate cases, I was able to schedule appointments for telephone conversations (each one lasted about 20-30 minutes). On several other cases, POIs notified me that they were retiring and therefore unable to take on graduate students, which helped me refine my SOP (i.e.: which POI names to suggest as viable mentors). I've also been told by professors that, even if all I get in response is "I look forward to reading your application," at least I get my name in the back of their heads, and, when they're reading applications, that pays off more often than one might expect.
 
Long story short, I'm glad I contacted POIs in October/November. It took minimal effort and, at times, paid off substantially.

I respectfully disagree. On three separate cases, I was able to schedule appointments for telephone conversations (each one lasted about 20-30 minutes). On several other cases, POIs notified me that they were retiring and therefore unable to take on graduate students, which helped me refine my SOP (i.e.: which POI names to suggest as viable mentors). I've also been told by professors that, even if all I get in response is "I look forward to reading your application," at least I get my name in the back of their heads, and, when they're reading applications, that pays off more often than one might expect.
 
Long story short, I'm glad I contacted POIs in October/November. It took minimal effort and, at times, paid off substantially.

I got it too.  Sad, but predictable.
 
 
Well, this doesn't bode well for me.  Thanks for sharing.  Looks like I will likely be headed to Madison.  

At this point, I wish my rejections would just become official, rather than me sitting here with an empty inbox. Blah. 
 
Congrats to everyone getting acceptances!