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You'd think they could have standardized some other stuff while they were at it!

1. Go to the best school possible, considering both prestige and your interests. Small liberal arts colleges don't only look to lower level schools for hiring purposes. They would prefer the Harvard grad or rockstar advisor's choice, too. 2. Is all you want to do teach at a LAC or go into the policy world? The former is heavy on teaching and the latter on research. You won't be able to transition to a thinktank as easily with the heavy teaching load a LAC requires, because you won't be completing as many books or papers. I think this is an important question you need to think about and answer for yourself first. 3. Personally, I wouldn't mention you have an interest in employment outside academia unless you're going for an MA program in public history or something like that. There still seems to be a lot of bias against this, even if departments pay lip service to alternative careers. If you find a professor with a lot of policy world connections, you may want to mention to him/her privately that you are interested in this...but best to leave it for after you're admitted. 4. I would maybe wait to reach out. You want these people to remember you during the process. You'll also encounter varying responses when you reach out to people. Be prepared for some people to be very receptive and others to be hostile. As far as fit, research online and, if you can, talk to an advisor you've had in your field, or ask to speak with a professor you may have had in undergrad. POIs you contact may point you to other people as well.

Hm, no Harvard rejection in my mailbox yet. As much as I appreciate their taking the expense to reject us in hard copy, the postal service makes this process that much less certain...the Harvard massacre is going to have to be a slow-motion one I guess. More Siege of Leningrad than Battle of the Somme.

Hi reed. First, I wouldn't necessarily interpret the lack of greetings/sign off as a bad thing. Some people, especially older or busy administrators, don't adhere to email conventions that require these. It may just be her style, or the time of day you were emailing. Second, I would politely bring up the fact that the DGS told you there was funding. If she keeps putting you off, attach the DGS' email, and maybe even cc the DGS, noting (again, politely) that your question hadn't yet been answered. Remember, they admitted you and want to get you to come to bring up their yield. At this point, they should have a "customer is always right" attitude toward a basic, promised service like this. Wow, the Canadian gowns look so much better. If I'd have known, I'd have applied to a whole different slate of schools.

Fascinating. Was it an official department/"decision" email, or something from a POI? Were you interviewed or did you receive any contact before?

I think I may postpone checking the mail for awhile... I did get an email from Chicago. It didn't come directly from anyone in the department but from the "Dean of Students" (I think of social sciences, since the attached letter was on social sciences letterhead), saying they couldn't offer admission to the department. I didn't see that anyone else did on the results board, so maybe I'm a special case? Maybe I was MAPSS referred but they decided I probably wouldn't go for it based on my background and/or didn't have the space in MAPSS and just gave me a late breaking rejection -- meaning everyone else at this stage will get the MAPSS. Who knows. From the letter I received from UVA, it sounded as if they'd be really happy to take anyone's name off the waitlist ASAP so others could move up. I've heard from people who are admitted and/or know the department that chances are grim at NYU if you haven't heard anything by now. EDIT: although someone just posted an NYU waitlist notice. NYU waitlist person - please emerge from the shadows and tell us more. Were you at the prospective weekend?

The department I was admitted to is providing limited funds. It wouldn't hurt to ask, especially if you don't phrase it in an entitled way. Something like "is there any chance the department has funds to assist those who live away from Washington with travel to campus?"

I'm not ruling out any of my waitlist places, but I'm pretty much already picturing myself at Cornell, since at this point, it makes no sense to get used to the idea of being somewhere that may still reject me. I can't say how this would affect my decision-making process if I were to be admitted somewhere else on April 14...but it would definitely be crazy to have all the preconceptions about where I'd inevitably be that had been percolating for weeks switched up in an instant. It would definitely be nice if there were some buffer period for waitlisted students to be able to go on visiting days after their formal admission, in order to make a choice based on the same amount of information available to initial admits and to give them time to process an informed decision. I wish I could tell you. My letter said I was near the top of their list, and that may have implied it was somewhat personalized and that they're issuing more letters as the day/week goes on. Or it could just be what they tell everyone to make them feel better and ensure their waitlistees stick around to contribute to their yield when spots do open up. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

...and because what goes up must come down, Chicago just rejected me. I guess don't presume you're getting a MAPSS referral until they actually come; they're rejecting in waves.

Thanks, vt! A couple more details for anyone curious about UVA: they also said this year's process was "more selective than anyone can remember" and that part of the reason for trimming the cohort was to offer full funding for everyone (presumably they didn't before?)

Just got waitlisted by UVA. Very nice letter noting that they were admitting fewer students this year (15/300+) and that I was near the very top of the list, implying that they might have a place for me after they hear back about who's accepting their offers.

Person says the decision happened on Feb. 25th, around the same time as others, so maybe not a late breaking admit.

From the sounds of it from others on this board, medieval has been a very difficult field this year. It may have had nothing to do with your application at all.

I'm sort of conflicted over when to email the DGS vs. a department admin. I know the DGS must be an extraordinarily busy person who also has academic responsibilities, while an admin works full time on this stuff. At the same time, an admin might not be privy to the same knowledge and might have to ask a DGS anyway, and either way it might look ridiculous for an applicant not to go straight to the DGS.

vtstevie, that's such awesome news. I've been rooting for you this whole time.

I agree with the above. It would probably help to engage in interdisciplinary work to some degree to seem exciting on the job market, but coming from a whole program known for being geared toward that might be too much, especially if it also involved "publicly-oriented scholarship" and other "unconventional approaches". A lot of jobs will also (or exclusively) be looking for a more traditional background. Especially given the second choice doesn't support your chosen fields as much, the choice seems clear.

Congrats! Proof that no news (or at least weird status update issues) can be good news.

Major props to the 72 year old on the results board who just got accepted to Stony Brook!

I've seen it on CVs solely as "Master of Arts in (the) Social Sciences".

The number at Cornell seems somewhat lower than previous years: 10 admits this year, vs. somewhere in the teens previously, according to http://gradschool.cornell.edu/academics/field-metrics It's unclear to what extent those applicants were just for the History Department though (Cornell makes a sometimes-confusing distinction between "field" and "discipline") and the number of admits might actually be more consistent. I think I remember NewEnglandNat saying the number admitted at Princeton was higher this year.

Maybe it's effectively a silent waitlisting?

Hmm...a number of people on the results board claiming they see a rejection on the UVA website...but my status doesn't seem to have changed?

I talked to several people who have good reason to know the deal with NYU and it seems that, unless you were invited to the interview weekend or are maybe a very far-away international student, no news is most likely very bad news -- sounds like there probably won't even be a waitlist to hope for. Sorry...was not what I wanted to hear, either.

Cook, since eating out is expensive. Invest in appliances that will let you make things like coffee more cheaply at home. Buy food from farmers' markets, since it's fresh but relatively inexpensive. Although it's tempting, try to avoid going out a lot and go to parties in apartments with free drinks/food when you can. Never take cabs, always take the subway. You've better off in a cheap apartment near an express subway stop with good access to school than with a more expensive one that's physically closer. Learn to love the outer neighborhoods of outer boroughs in general and their abundant expanses of cheap food (Flushing and Jackson Heights are among my favorites). Never pay full admission at museums where there's only a "suggested donation" - give them a dime or something. Use student discounts -- like student rush tickets at theatres -- religiously. And don't worry too much about coming to the US for the first time; New York will probably ease the transition since it's way more cosmopolitan than most parts of the country. There will probably even be some neighborhood here filled with people from your country that you can retreat to from time to time if that would make you more comfortable.

Thanks for all the tips! I know Ithaca has an airport - it's also incredibly expensive to fly out of / into. The reimbursement amount Cornell offered for prospective weekend wouldn't even cover the cost of flying from NYC! The delays seem to be endemic due to weather and the low priority of the airport for flight routing. And the worst part is that almost all the planes are props. A few years ago, a plane similar to the ones that fly to Ithaca crashed near my aunt's house outside Buffalo -- these tiny commuter flights can't always handle the weather in upstate NY. So no plans to use Ithaca's airport, except maybe to take the one Delta jet that flies to Detroit for connections west. As for Rochester/Syracuse -- given the time it'd take to drive to them and then still connect before reaching my destination, it probably makes just as much sense to bus it to NYC and fly from JFK. It'd be nice if at least one Ithaca bus company went directly to an NYC airport, though... Screen Name - I can't tell how much of your post is in jest, but I'm seriously considering one of those traffic noise machines now.