dmh26

Hey there, I applied to five history phd programs, and was not expecting to have an interview, but one school emailed me to set up a very casual phone interview. I stated that I thought it was unusual, and she said that not many history programs do these. However, they recently restructured their department and they wanted to get to know their more promising applicants. I was super excited! I think it just depends on your program and school.

I know for a fact one of my schools will decide this saturday, and next week they will admit or reject. I found when I called about applying for a language fellowship. They instructed me that, contrary to what the website says, they don't want the paper work for the fellowship because they ultimately decide from the admitted applicants who they feel is adequate for the fellowship..lol This is a very different process compared to the other two schools that I applied to who are offering the same language fellowship. Now I am super nervous for next week! lol I would have rather not received that information :|

We totally could have! Where else besides Indiana did you apply? I was going to apply there because they have a great Russian history program, but for some reason, I didn't..lol

This is a bit late, but I am applying to Russian history programs at Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Kansas, and Toronto. Good luck to everyone! I know for a fact that within two weeks I will hear from one of my schools. The suspense in killing me

I applied there also! It's one of my top choices! Maybe I will see you there

Actually, it wasn't a secretary. It was a noted professor and editor of the top journal in my field. So I felt quite happy. It was for the phd program at the University of Kansas.

Ok, Just my two cents: My GRE scores were not great, 590 V, 540 math, and a 5.5 writing. I have a very high gpa, and 3.97 gpa in my major. I have completed research and received many grants, scholarships, etc to fund research and study abroad opps. I applied to a top 20 history phd program, and received an email that notified me as being one of their top candidates, and received an interview. The lady I spoke to was very nice, encouraging, and very enthusiastic about my application. She even told me that she would hand deliver my documents to another department for a fellowship offered by the state department, because she felt I had a very good chance of receiving it. She told me everything in my file was excellent; however, she didn't understand why my verbal score was low. We talked about it, and she even told me that she doesn't feel the GRE is an accurate test, and that her brother who is not smart, scores high...and that her sister, who is super smart, scored low on it! She asked me about my sat scores, act scores, etc...and told me that she would write in my file that my scores don't reflect my success as a student. She even told me that her department could care less about the math score..lol So maybe that helps some of you. I would have to disagree with Minnesotan on this , but I could be wrong. I think it depends on your department, and their specific programs.