OnceAndFutureGrad

Hi everyone, I'm a little late to the party but I thought I'd join the fun. This is my third go-round. I've gotten thirteen rejections in two years and I've lived to tell the tale. So for obvious reasons I'm fairly self-deprecatory and excruciatingly critical of my chances. But to paraphrase an aphorism that got me through last time, it's not the falling down but the staying down. Anyway, I'm applying to Tyler and UDel this winter, as well as the Met internship (specifically medieval horticulture). If neither of the schools accept me I'll also attempt Seton Hall in the spring. I look forward to going through this process with you and wish everyone the best of luck with the long dark winter ahead of us.

I don't have anything to offer, but as a Medieval Studies MA-holder looking for an MA and/or PhD in Art History, and in the same area of the country, I just wanted to let you know that you're not the only medievalist also thinking of museum studies. Personally, I've become more interested in medievalism and I hope that it's the edge I'll need in museum studies, but clearly we are looking at similar futures in scholarship. (None of our schools overlap, though, as I am more focused on the Delaware Valley region.) Best of luck on the GREs and with this year's application season.

Oi, I dunno about you guys, but I'm exhausted! The single Penn admit disappeared from the results board and now there's a wait list notification on there...there have been sporadic UDel acceptances and some people have found a rejection on the application website, though I can't locate a decision myself...someone got an interview at IFA but no other news otherwise...Columbia has almost certainly rejected those of us who haven't heard anything, but they're not notifying anyone.... I would just like to know where I stand and get ready for either a PhD program or my plan B.

Congrats guys! No email for me I wish you the best of luck.

We are in the same boat then! I find medieval historiography so interesting, why don't others? I also suspect that I just suck

Just got rejected from Princeton. My POI was on leave last semester so I was unable to meet with her, though I did explain in my SoP why and how I wanted to work with her. Three down, four to go. Good luck to the rest of you.

Says the member who describes him/herself as a "history-ish PhD" I did history as an undergrad, including my thesis, so I am pretty well aware of how the discipline operates. Like you said, early medieval history "dives" toward material culture, and literature as well. I didn't even realize how much scholarship on, say, early England was out there until I got into medieval studies and was able to look at literature and art as well as the more traditional primary sources. ("You mean there's more to English history than the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles and Bede?!") Because of that, I've had difficulty finding local programs with POIs explicitly interested in medieval history before, say, 1200. The reason I've decided to stake my claim in art history rather than history or literature is because I love material culture - I actually participate in experimental archaeology - and also because I am interested in museum work. I want to work in the museo-scholarly hotpot of the NYC-Philly area (yes I just made that phrase up) and I feel that an art history PhD will allow me the most inter-institutional and -disciplinary grace, whether I end up at a museum or a university, or both. The more I think about it, though, the more I acknowledge that academic walls are tearing me apart: my culture-periodic interests span literature, linguistics, history, art history, and archaeology! It feels like I'll never feel comfortable in one discipline. Oh well.

I would like to think that one of the five or more of us on here waiting it out would have gotten to the interview stage. There are forty people who will earn an interview, meaning that the number of finalists has to be over forty, and the internet's too small for there not to be at least one of the finalists here...right? If there are any lurkers on this thread you should speak up It seems like there are two contradictions between emails and the website. The website says that not all departments will need interviews from grad students, while the email makes it sound as if interviews are a requisite. Also, the website says that all interviews will happen in-house, whereas the email mentions telephone interviews for people out of the Metropolitan NYC area. (I'm particularly interested in the latter, being a bit far away from NYC - close enough to make a day trip down with a bit of planning, but screwed if they want me to interview during the week or on short notice.) I get that it's probably a mess to have to intake applications, whittle them down to an interviewing pool, and set up paid internships in the space of a few months every single year, but I wish that there was more consistency and better communication.

Brilliant! Just seeing the title of your post made me want to continue "...Mrs. Brown, and things seem hard or tough, and people are stupid, obnoxious, and daft, and you feel like you've had quite eno-o-o-o-ough!"

Thank you very much. I needed that. I now have seven rejections total in two years, and the rest of the schools are, I fear, just taking their time in getting back to me for numbers 8-12. If it weren't for GradCafe I would have gone mad. But everyone here says that I am so passionate and encourages me, so I will prevail whatever happens!

Thank you for doing this. I want to shake my tiny fist in indignation. I think 50 bucks merits a "thanks but no thanks" as soon as they've decided.

I tend towards wanting to know if I can book airfare to see my family in Minnesota, get hired as a Zumba instructor, and sign up for an archaeological field school!

No reply here either. That's a bit rude that they won't contact us if we are not selected! I would like to make summer plans and not wait until April 1 if they have already eliminated me.

I'm wondering about the UDel admit myself. Congrats - what field?

We are siblings in waiting

Hi everyone, I wanted to ask a number of archaeology people some questions. I know you're all jumpy and anxious dealing with graduate school results at the moment, so I understand if you find me impertinent or presumptuous. If you could spare a few moments, though, I would really appreciate your input. I'm 23 years old and about to finish an MA in Medieval Studies with a focus in art history. Just before this I got my BA in History and Medieval Studies, including a year abroad at UCC in Ireland and a 28,000-word senior thesis on early Icelandic history. My true passion is the early medieval north Atlantic, c. 400-1100. As you can see from my signature I applied to art history and Medieval Studies PhDs and I have five art history programs to hear from yet. But the more I think about early medieval art, the more I realize that I actually care about material culture itself. I am seriously considering taking a year off to regroup and reconsider my future, and it is possible that that future is in historical archaeology. Now, don't worry, I've only seen Indiana Jones once and not even the whole way through. I know that archaeology involves painstakingly careful excavation and cataloging and it is not at all glamorous. I also know that I have to start over somewhat - I'm just hoping that I don't have to return to undergrad. Fortunately I am young, and have no debt from my current or previous programs, so I am willing to spend the time and money to get into the field properly. It seems like the next step would be to attend a field school to see if I can really withstand the challenges of excavation. Unfortunately searches on Shovel Bums and Google are not turning up anything near me so it may be a while before I can afford to travel to one. Does the period and location of the dig matter, or is it more important just to have experience? Are some field schools better than others, and/or should certain ones be avoided altogether? If I decided to continue, I would like to get an MA or other post-graduate degree in archaeology. Could I do this with an undergraduate degree in history? Because of my particular interest, it seems like getting a degree in northern Europe would be ideal. The UK distance learning programs, such as those offered by U of Leicester and U of Exeter, seem absolutely perfect for me. Are these too good to be true? Do you have any experience either with these programs, or their graduates? I really appreciate your help. Thank you very much.

I went to my state school because I knew I was indecisive and thought that it would be the best place for me to violently change my major several times. Actually I was very prudent. I took all my gen ed courses in the first two years so I could get them out of the way and also so I would have the opportunity to suddenly like geography or psychology (which didn't happen). I initially declared my major as history and wanted to minor in medieval studies, but kept that in my back pocket because I spent my junior year abroad and didn't want a lack of credit transfers to leave me hanging. My credits transfered beautifully - only my Irish Language seminar didn't have an equivalent - and I was actually able to DOUBLE-major in history AND medieval studies. My early prudence payed off big time in the last year, where my only courses were the senior thesis project, two medieval lit seminars, and courses I took for fun in Japanese history, German, and French. It also gave me enough free time (or at least, non-stressed-out-time) to apply to grads schools the first time 'round and that's how I got into my current MA program.

Welp, it's February 28 at 8pm, and unless there's some late night admissions committee activity, I do believe we will not hear about our application status until it is March! Here's hoping that tomorrow brings good news!