virmundi

Thanks for the information, Nat! This is less than promising for most of us on the wait list, obviously, but it is better to know than be in the dark!

This is wonderful news! Congratulations Crater!

For what it's worth -- this is highly individual. I spent four weeks in an intensive language school in the French hinterland and I went from knowing almost no French whatsoever (a few weeks of Pimsleur tapes) to High Intermediate (as measured by the European Union CEF examinations). Obviously three months is preferable to six weeks (or four), but a lot depends on the motivation and aptitude of the learner.

Good on you, Goldie! Some student out there is going to be very happy and you are the reason why. Cheers!

Well, one question is: How is this going to impact *your* schedule? If it is a quick in-and-out, then maybe not such a big deal... if you are in a place with your workload where a longer visit won't make much of a dent in your ability to achieve what you must, then also probably not a big deal. However, as Veilside pointed out, you'll definitely have opportunities to network with these folks later on, and under circumstances where it won't feel awkward about visiting when you know that you aren't attending. Your mileage may vary on this -- but I wasn't comfortable with the idea of visiting the school that I knew I was going to decline -- For one thing, the visit was a fairly long one -- four days(!) -- and it felt like I'd be going under false pretenses as well as keeping people who are on the wait-list waiting around longer when they could take advantage of that visiting window. On the other hand, you've been accepted and those who are wait-listed are wait-listed -- you're in the catbird seat and you get to decide what's best for you because the school chose you and would like you to attend, so if you decide to go and visit the school, that's certainly your prerogative! You certainly don't owe it to a stranger whose application wasn't as well received as yours to decline an offer precipitously. Lots of factors in play -- only you can make this decision. My advisor told me to go and visit all of the schools too, but I have a master's thesis to finish and I also need to visit the schools that actually *are* seriously in contention... so I declined an offer from the one school that I knew I wasn't attending and they were cool about it and it wasn't a big deal. Just make sure that you do what makes sense for you. Don't visit and jeopardize your productivity because your advisor told you to do so. Don't NOT visit because someone on the wait-list (such as myself, for instance) tells you to decline in a hurry. Why not sleep on it, or flip a coin, if it is really up in the air?

If you can, learn another language. It doesn't really matter how many you already know -- if you have a bit of extra space in there, squeeze in another language or continue to improve one that you already know. Even for programs where a second (or third, fourth, etc.) language isn't a necessity, the ability to utilize another language can only be useful and helpful when applying to Ph.D. programs and, quite possibly, for your future research.

There is actually a new box on my page that links to a decision letter... Sorry that you haven't heard anything yet -- again, I don't know what their process is, so it is very possible that they are still putting acceptances onto the site!

Jrah, I received my official notification from UCSB earlier in the week... I don't know what their timeframe is however. You may want to see if they have a decision up for you on the application page...?

At this point, it doesn't really matter what school you choose, you'll still sound kind of crazy -- through no fault of your own -- by saying out loud (or writing): "Well, I turned down X, Y, and Z world-renowned, famous universities to go to world-renowned university A." No matter which university fits into which variable, it'll still sound kind of incredible (in the literal, Latin-esque sense of the word )... ) EDIT to add: Which is simply to say, what a wonderful place to be and what a wonderful decision to have to make.

I declined my acceptance at USC today -- I loved the POIs there, but the fit wasn't as good as some of the other schools. Hopefully some other student will have an opportunity to get off the wait-list now and get into their program! I also received an official notification from Yale today, so I imagine that those of you who haven't heard anything yet will hear something (anything) soon... Cheers and best to all.

I only saw him the one time, but that was a heck of an enjoyable performance! I was fairly amazed when he more or less told Professor Naquin (albeit in reference to Thompson) that he doesn't really believe in the viability of the kind of history that she does. Ouch!

I don't know if they have either, Crater! I think that what many historians have become very good at is creating a sort of straw-man of postmodernism and then explaining why they can knock it down (or at least avoid its problems) with their particular argument... I feel like I am joining in that very fine tradition with my methodological/theoretical section in my M.A. -- but it is sort of what is expected of me, so . . .

Were you the student sitting next to (or at least very proximate to) Barnett on his left?

I like Iggers okay... I have the his "A Global History of Modern Historiography" (co-written with Q. Edward Wang and Supriya Mukherjee) on my shelf here... basically, roughly 1/3 of it reads precisely like a precis of his "Historiography in the Twentieth Century" while the other portions deal with historiography in other parts of the world (ie. non-Euro-American) -- both in relation to how history is written about other places and also how it has developed in those places. It is a pretty decent text and it does a valiant effort to tie it all together, but it suffers from Igger's inability to really grapple with postmodernism and also the inability to really tie all of the diverse parts of the book together. Oh well -- at least they tried. It really is a pretty decent stab at it.

I agree with you on Metahistory -- 800 pages of pain. I don't entirely agree regarding Novick, however. I am as far afield as one can be from being an Americanist, but I still found it to be a useful guide to the trends in historical study. I, too, preferred Bloch, however, simply because of his brevity. Frankly, there are a host of texts that are somewhat painful to have to read in the "Methodology and Historiography" (or whatever your institution may call it) course... I sat in on your HIST 500 session last October when you guys were discussing E.P. Thompson, and while I was very impressed by the caliber of the discussion and the think-pieces, I couldn't help but be secretly pleased that I hadn't had to read his book again. I'm sure that I'll be forced to revisit it once again though, wherever I happen to end up!

Personally, I think that "That Noble Dream" is a pretty good introduction to the last century of the field. It was (and has continued to be) a useful orientation to the historiography of work in my field. Of course, I had to lead a class discussion on the book, so there was no getting away from it for me and I read it fairly deeply (and I also have a comprehensive summary and set of notes on the book -- so it if comes up again, I'll be ready!)...

Two thumbs up -- this is wonderful news. Congratulations to you!

LOL -- wow! What wonderful news! Congratulations.

I suspect it's because: "The revolution will not go better with Coke./The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath./The revolution will put you in the driver's seat." Doesn't seem to be much room in the mainstream corporate media for freedom these days.

Errk - this is almost the situation in which I find myself now. I do not know yet exactly where I am going yet, but I'm getting there... meanwhile, the master's thesis is still looming, a half-finished beast waiting to devour me should I fail to palliate it by adding words to it daily!

Stop gloating about feeling better STF! (joking, of course!) Happy week to all!

Dear C&I -- I wonder if this POI is an Assistant Professor or Associate Professor? Typically, at least in my experience, Assistant Professors are in the process of getting tenure while Associate Professor is the rank that one acquires post-tenure.

This seems like a great idea.

I myself have had very good fortune this year, but I like to emphasize the patient support of my wife and son, the stellar support of my advisor and committee members, and the luck that I happened to apply at a time when, and to schools where, I have been well-received. I've worked incredibly hard to get this point, but I couldn't have done it alone and I, personally, will save all of my self-promotion for grant proposals and the like. I'm personally not comfortable with the "self-made man" narrative that is so prevalent in our society. If I were to subscribe to it, I would be ignoring the importance of those who helped me to get to where I am now.

Hi! I'm a Denver native -- and we can get days in the 50s-60s in December and January one week, then down into the teens the next week. Winter weather in Colorado is consistently unpredictable. One thing that is true, however, is that by March -- except for in the most exceptional years -- you start to have more and more days that are in the mid-to-uppers 60s. In short, winter in Denver is almost always tolerable because it doesn't come in one long-lasting three month wave, but rather comes and goes throughout the season. For instance, March is either our snowiest or second snowiest month -- and I can recall some rather substantial (36"+) snow storms over the course of my years here that have happened in March... but then within three or four days, it will be sunny and in the upper 40s, with swift snowmelt, and then up into the 50s, 60s, etc., once again! In short -- in my personal opinion, moving to Denver after living anywhere else in the country is very easy, weather-wise. It is the opposite that tends to be the biggest problem! One issue that is frequently cited by people from more humid climes is that living in Denver can cause more sinus-related issues due to the frequent dryness -- but it is certainly manageable and not a deal breaker! I love living here. EDIT: Oh yeah -- and the microbrews are -- literally -- world-class! Colorado beer has experienced a veritable renaissance. We have some of the best beer in the entire world, now.