schlesinger1

Can finally update my signature!!
 

 
Edit: Noticed another UCI History acceptance on the results board. Care to PM me so we can chat?

Be very wary of Madison's "apply for funding every year" structure.  I know it's really tempting as a school but that's a nightmare.

If Princeton hasn't dropped today, than I'd say either tomorrow or Thursday/Friday next week.  I have no insider knowledge about this cycle other than the culture of the department.  There is some variability because these things will be sent out by the graduate assistant who is new to the department.

Also, in response to OP, I will re-iterate things that have already been said, mostly for the sake of helping the poster understand how uncompelling most of his/her reasoning is. There is a TLDR at the end.
 
1a. As far as I know, every graduate school in the United States charges an application fee of $80+. While applying to programs, I looked up 50-65 programs, eventually narrowing it down to 12 based on a combination of placement record, fit, and geography. All of them required an application fee. In fact, while applying for undergraduate programs (which, for me, was only 4 years ago), I didn't find a single four-year college without an application fee of at least $50. Does it reek of elitism a little? Yes, it does. Do I hope to someday see a world in which education is affordable and people of all social classes can earn a quality degree? Yes, I do. But if you're offended by a $100 application fee, then, between its history of elitism and the trend towards corporate thinking, American academia is not the place for you.
 
1b. If you think that a $100 application fee is unfair, think about the funding packages UC Berkeley has to offer. UC Berkeley's History Department openly says that it receives 400 applications a year. This means that, in an average application season, they make $40K ($100 x 400 candidates) off application fees. If the program accepts just ONE funded student with a $16K stipend over 5 years ($80K total), they've already burned twice as much money as they've made. Except they don't accept just ONE funded student. They accept TWENTY-FIVE, meaning that, for every $1 they get during application season, they give away $50. I understand that graduate schools don't have one big pot of money where application fees go in and funding goes out, but my point remains the same: when you weigh the cost of the application against the kind of funding you could be offered, it is a very, very reasonable risk.
 
2a. Again, UC Berkeley receives 400 applicants a year and rejects 90% of them. When I wrote the first draft of my SOP, I literally created a fully-written SOP with blank spaces labeled as follows:
- "School I'm applying to" (i.e.: UC Berkeley)
- "POI 1 name" (i.e.: Professor Xavier)
- "POI 1 interest overlap" (i.e.: mutant superpowers)
- "POI 1 influential publication" (i.e.: "In fact, Activation of the Mutant Gene played a major role in my growth as a student.")
- "POI 2 name"
- "POI 2 interest overlap"
- "POI 3 name"
- "POI 3 interest overlap"
When it came time to write actual SOPs, I copy-pasted this and filled in the blanks before trimming based on each individual program's requirements. I did this for 12 schools, and, as far as I know, everybody who applies to multiple PhD programs uses a similar process. The people who wrote me letters of recommendation? None of them wrote me twelve different letters of recommendation. They each wrote me ONE LOR, copy-pasted it 11 times, changed the name of the school for each one, then sent them off. The entire application process is built on boilerplating. When I had to write 12 SOPs, I boilerplated. If somebody has to write twenty-five times that many rejection letters, then it would be hypocritical of me to criticize him for boilerplating. If you write a completely different SOP for each school you applied to, then I commend you.
 
2b. There's only so many ways you can say "We regret to inform you that you didn't make it into UC Berkeley. We receive a lot of qualified applicants for a limited number of slots, and we end up having to reject a lot of students that we would love to have." It's especially tricky because you have to sound sympathetic and professional at the same time. I consider myself a fantastic writer; a professor of creative writing recently told me that I consistently pull off some of the most elegant and complex sentences he's ever read (briefly tooting my own horn here; forgive me). But if you asked me to write 350 personalized rejection letters, I'd laugh at you.
 
3a. If you're planning to try applying again, be careful what you send to anybody in academia anywhere. Even if this incident has turned you off to UC Berkeley, there's no telling how many other schools might hear of this. If you decide to apply to University X instead, there's a solid chance that somebody there knows somebody from UC Berkeley, and it wouldn't take much to have you automatically rejected from University X. This advice is doubly valid because you're writing to somebody at Berkeley, one of the most respected institutions in the world; pretty much any university you could name has faculty members who've either collaborated with or studied under a professor at Berkeley.
 
3b. If you're planning to try applying again (even if this incident has turned you off to UC Berkeley), be careful what you post online. By the very nature of TheGradCafe, it can be tricky to post anything without revealing information about yourself, your academic qualifications, or your background. Academia can be a surprisingly small world. If a professor somewhere stumbles onto this thread, he/she wouldn't have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out who a lot of TheGradCafe's posters are. If that professor happens to be faculty at a university you're applying to, it wouldn't take much to have you automatically rejected.
 
4a. I got rejected from UC Berkeley too, and yes, it's difficult news. But seriously. A cursory glance at the webpage openly says that only a small fraction of applicants get in and that "fit" is an important factor. You openly admitted that Berkeley was a bad fit. You should've know that it was a long shot and expected this rejection.
 
4b. If this is your first rejection, I hope you don't take every rejection this personally. Because they're almost always done in this manner, and if more rejections are on the way (hopefully not, but still), then this won't be a fun period for you.
  5. It sucks that they mixed up your GRE scores. You paid good money to have your application considered properly, except it wasn't considered properly. If only for this reason, you deserve a refund. This is the only valid complaint I saw in your entire post.
 
TL;DR:
1a. The application fee is fine. Everybody charges application fees of $80+.
1b. The application fee is fine. The kind of funding you're offered if admitted MORE THAN offsets the application fees, even if you scale down the funding numbers based on the mathematical probability of admission.
2a. The boilerplating isn't a big deal. Everything in the admissions process (i.e.: SOPs, LORs) has been boilerplated up until now.
2b. The boilerplating isn't a big deal. Do you really expect somebody to write 350 personalized rejection letters?
3a. Be careful what you write in correspondence. UC Berkeley is a big school, and a lot of people there have the influence to ruin your academic future.
3b. Be careful what you write online. The internet isn't completely anonymous, and the academic community is small. Somebody could stumble onto this, discern your identity, and ruin your academic future.
4a. Don't take this rejection personally. UC Berkeley openly says that the overwhelming majority of applicants are rejected, and even you admit the fit wasn't great. It was a long shot and you knew it.
4b. Don't take this rejection personally. As long as they notify you in a professional manner and timely fashion, you shouldn't be offended. If you take every rejection this personally, this admissions cycle might be hard for you.
5. It sucks that they mixed up your GRE scores. Assuming that it was an error on their part and not your own, you deserve a refund.

I apologise already, I was wrong to say it like as just an American thing. But there it is very different and 100$x5 applications is yea 500$ Many poor people on here have applied for more than this by three.
 
The people who are so dismissive remember this is a lot of money for some. Probably not the ones who go to Berkely which mostly will be for the weatlthy class. Some exceptions but mostly merit from wealth. I wanted to go there too, I want to do phd, I have no money, i will be part of that perhaps somehwere tho I feel so insecure about it.
 
Still I think it's suck if you accept it blindly and don't try to sound like them. And yes they are a THEM. they have money and most of us dont and wont.
 
And i really find a lot of people who are probably men are ganging up and wading in behind to say shut up you annoying foreing person just as when i elsewhere criticized anti-woman stereotype.
 
But it's fine I expected you to be here.

Berkeley was a bad fit and I may discover that my application for other institutions wasn't so great.
 
But I'm completely astonished that people will accept their treatment at the hands of Berkeley. As a foreign student, I had to pay $100 to apply to Berkeley. In my home country, it is free to apply for graduate school. Where is my money?
 
Berkeley mismatched my GRE scores and didn't even bother to tell me. Then they said out a totally dehumanizing email telling me to check my account and then just read some form rubbish.
 
I'm going to write a letter to Ethan Shagan, who is responsible for this degrading treatment. YES RESPONSIBLE. He is department chair and under his watch this has happened.
 
Please can others join me. His email address is: shagan@berkeley.edu
 
Here is the website of this gentleman: http://history.berkeley.edu/people/ethan-h-shagan
 
And really, please don't post nonsense about this being the process and me being p'd off. Obviously I'm upset not to be admitted but I'm ANGRY that this is the way people are treated. And please understand, if this is how they treat you now at this august institution, this is how they will treat you when you finally get your PhD from wherever.
 
Just don't take this from them. Please

Three years ago, Yale and Brown both came down essentially at the same time as Princeton.  So this week or next is my guess.

Dear History Grad Cafe-ers,

Okay, I'm officially rejected-across-the-board. I got my Stanford reject just a few minutes ago. Now, I'm going to get off here for awhile and finish my last semester of my MA program (plan b exam in may). To those of you who were accepted: congratulations from the bottom of my heart!! For those of us with no acceptances: I'll see you on here again. I am going to be reapplying in the Fall of 2013. I am going to take next year to write some articles, work on getting published, learn more languages and such.

I will be back.

I will get into a doctoral program.

I have reached my goal of applying before I turned 30. Now, I need to reach my goal and finish up this Master's semester. I think I will pick up German next year-- any other recommendations? I have Romanian, Spanish, and a working knowledge (reading) of French. I think German and Hebrew would be good ones next. Or Hungarian...or Russian...hmmm.

For those of you that have been so gracious to PM me- I WILL be returning your letters. Just give me a bit. I am reading 5 books a week and working on two 25 page papers for May. Also- anyone else want to keep in contact? I would love to know real names and emails and even facebooks (or linked ins). Just PM me for details. So, you all have been amazingly supportive and I look forward to lurking this fall and then getting back into the thick of things in Fall 2013.

Again, congratufuckinglations (in a good way!!) to those who got in! You are all-stars, know that for sure.

Love,

A_Finicky_Bean

PS- If you are in the SF Bay area, let me know...I got the tips on getting to Stanford (and I'm in the east bay) and nice residences. Also, I'm presenting a paper at Berkeley in May if any of you are around (oh, awkward going there when I've got rejected...but so is applying to Indiana's language program this summer and working in the Hoover archives at Stanford).

PPS- I am so happy to have been around such a great group of people and I sincerely hope to become "real life" friends with many/most/all of you.

+1
 
Email decorum makes no sense. It's what happens when old people have to adopt a new technology. I don't see any point in manually writing a signature when the receiver can clearly see who sent the email before even opening the email. An auto-signature with name/title/information works well to abide by decorum without conforming to awkward email protocol. I hope these inane conventions change when a more tech-savvy generation comes to power.
 
 
 
Generalize more plz. 
 
You're a TA, yet you act like you've won a nobel prize. Try removing the stick up your ass.
 
For all things: USA > Canada
 

Whatever, Chomsky. I basically agree. I myself more or less follow the basic format you've provided here. The point I was trying to make is that failing to follow that format isn't really grounds for calling the "perpetrator" out. In general, I think it's a good idea to disrupt the power imbalance between professors and students in order to make students feel more comfortable speaking their minds, thinking for themselves, etc. Censuring students for not saying "please" and "thank you," as if they were one's own children, is precisely not the way to to that.
 
 
I suggest that perhaps the students who write the allegedly disrespectful e-mails may well not deserve outright condemnation and you call me an "arrogant asshole." This is sad. Am I not permitted to disagree strongly with what someone says on GradCafe? Also, thanks for the tip regarding the philosophy job market. Until that post, I was utterly ignorant of how cutthroat it can be.

Massively? Is that how you got such a high GRE score? I think having "professional e-mail etiquette" should be common sense in the education and business world and in any situation where you're e-mailing anyone you don't know personally. Nothing over the top. Just the basic: 
 
Mr./Mrs.//Dr. So-and-so,
Bla bla bla bla bla. 
Thank you, 
**Insert your name here**

I think you're overreacting massively. "Professional e-mail etiquette"? Give me a break.

You can email high school teachers? Shit I haven't been in high school in ten years. Nobody even had cell phones when I went. 

I don't think it is generally true that the student population in Canada and the US are this different. Although I have not gotten any rude emails from any of my students, Canadian or American, I've seen the emails that my Canadian and American TA colleagues get and I do not see any significant difference! Your experience obviously has been different, but let's not generalize too much here

Look, the reference to office "ladies" as far as I'm concerned, harks back to a different era and I found it offensive. Perhaps the other bit was not intended to make the point I suggested. That's ok. But referring to administrative staff as office "ladies" is pretty clearly not ok.

I disagree with you on this one, although I think you've got some valuable stuff in your other points. Digital history actually facilitates interdisciplinary work in a lot of ways. One of my first independent research projects was a digital reconstruction of a ruined Irish cathedral as it might have looked 800 years ago, and then using that model to track how it changed, and what those architectural changes reflected about shifting perceptions of ethnicity. So there you've got history, art history, graphic design, anthropology, and maybe a few more social sciences to boot.
 
I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of the digital revolution. I'm mostly a paper person, myself. But the tools these developments give us are actually extremely valuable in breaking in some new ground, not just teaching the old, worn-out stuff.

Just got a surprise call from UMichigan- got in off the waitlist. But I'm sticking with USC. Hope there's good news coming for the next person on the waitlist!

There's a quote I love that might help you decide.
 
"Flip a coin. Not because it decides anything. But because for that moment the coin is in the air, you know exactly which one you're wishing for." 
 
I am not saying by any means that this is a decision to do by a flip of a coin, but the logic still holds.

Decision made.  I considered the possibility of funding, my comfort level with the POI (who has been nothing but supportive and kind to me), the cost of living, and yes, the prestige factor. York is absolutely nothing to sneeze at, and what's not to say I won't have a fair chance at a post doc at Oxford down the road?   I am so relieved this is all over.
 
Defended my thesis Tuesday, submitted to the grad school Friday, paid grad fees Friday afternoon.  It's over.  It's all over. 
 
And now I play video games to make up for lost time since last summer XD

I am in a closely parallel field, and my UG background was in art history and comparative religion.

What is your concentration if you are willing to say it? If you study canon law or church history (for example..) I could see how the MTS would be the better choice. If you have more of a "secular" interest the MAPSS might be more appropriate.

Honestly though, both of those programs scream "cash cow" to me. Yes they have big names, but you are essentially paying to put their name on your cv. It's really not all that prestigious or financially realistic to shell out that kind of money for a graduate degree. Even with your non-traditional background your languages put you far ahead of most MA applicants. The odds are probably pretty good that you could find full (or at least some) funding at a less prestigious school.

Yale has Timothy Snyder and Marci Shore for eastern europe so yeah I'd say they're alright on that front.

All the more reason to celebrate your acceptance into Cornell.

Not sure about that. The UK newspapers go all-out ranking in their "leagues tables". Germany is increasingly concerned with this kind of thing. There are plenty of Asian rankings systems, too. Call it another unfortunate American cultural export or symptom of runamok globalization, but it's slowly making headway in the rest of the world, for sure.

Hmm, I think digital humanities is, as you say, inevitable. But I don't think it's only useful for the teaching aspect. I can think of plenty of applications of digital humanities towards CRM, for instance, and I think it will encourage more scholarship on difficult-to-access primary sources.

I'm literally incoherent.  I can barely hold a conversation right now.  I'm in a very happy state of shock over my email from Oxford.