mvlchicago

^^^^ TBH the definition of "peer" is extraordinarily odd when you get to this point. I feel like I have more peers in other cohorts/departments than I do in my year.

God I do not miss one bit this part of the process. Hang tough friends!

Well done! Welcome to the ranks of the underpaid humanities nerds .

Also I think the OP confuses the supply and demand of 20th century historians and jobs with whether or not research can be done. The answer to the latter is "yes, obviously there are questions to ask that Beard/Bailyn/Turner never consider." The answer to the former is a little more complicated, but unless you'd be happy building software programs or working in the finance industry, I don't think letting the market dictate your career interests is a wise decision.

^^^^ No one is a slam dunk fit off the basis of a transcript and writing sample. You're hiring someone to work with you for five years, you want all the information you can get before committing those resources.

Brown was actually the only school from which I was 100% sure I was rejected because I heard not a thing until February 10. The email I received said "Decision Made," and linked me to a portal on their site. I was quite pleased to find out I was completely wrong. So, y'know, try very hard not to stress about it.

Granted, that I am someone who had the advantage of a good undergrad name brand, I can confirm that my B+ GPA did not keep me out of PhD programs. If you flunk the GRE, I would be concerned. If you had a reasonable score of the material that reflects competence (90s in the writing/verbal, 70s-80s in the math) you'll be fine. Move on to the stuff you actually can control (Writing Sample and Statement of Purpose.)

You jest, but I would totally do a panel with y'all called something like "The Digital Network Generation: A Selection of type-A grad student research who've been chatting about their projects semi-anonymously for a year."

Interviews generally indicate some level of interest: it's difficult to generalize beyond "they like the idea of you enough to spend a couple hours chatting with you." You definitely got past some level of applications, so hang in there .

*takes notes*

"am wondering whether to send an application." There's a thread on CHE that basically amounts to three or four posters telling everyone feeling concerned to "apply for the damn job." It may be entirely the case that they decide to take someone with two postdocs. Or they might take you. But that feels like a separate question from whether you should "send an application." The answer to that question will always be "yes."

Update: In my program, the rough median age is somewhere between 29-31, so I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were y'all.

Apply and find out?

If you know people at Brown, the Graduate Center Bar has an amazing selection of beers and wines. It's pay to get in without a membership, but grad students can bring in three guests per night! Beyond that one of my fave coffee spots in the Arcade (New Harvest) also serves quality whiskey. Harry's Burgers and Bar has one of the top sliders in New England if you're into them. There's also a pretty good Korean place on Benefit, although I'd have to imagine Boston has better ones.

That's fast! Good luck, I bet you did really well. Maria Portuondo seemed very kind when I was thinking about HoS @ Johns Hopkins last year

Don't underestimate the power of a good coloring book. Basically starting any sort of months-long project right now is a perfect distraction from the email checking. I had push notifications set up on my phone so if/when emails showed up I saw almost immediately. Hang in there though!!!

I'll likely be going next year, I had no plans nor reasons for 2016 unfortunately

^^ No matter what, you know that if you apply next year, you'll have a higher level writing sample, which isn't a bad thing

yo that looks like delicious falafel in their profile pic tho.

iirc, my first acceptances came in mid-February, but I got off the waitlist for one program literally the week decisions were due. Good luck all of you waiting! Here's a story for the grammar mistakes you find immediately after submission: a week ago, I decided to look at the writing sample I used for apps last year (I needed to cite something I used there and that was so much easier than Googling the citation) and found a footnote that read "cite that book that definitely exists on this topic" verbatim. So... if you start freaking out about typos, just remember sometimes it won't matter?

^^^ That also just sounds useful for knowing where your field is developing and how people have been moving, so it's not like it'll be a one-time investment?

They definitely do. Think about it this way: they're trying to figure out if you're someone they want to have around for the next 5-6 years. The least they'll do is Google you.

I work primarily in the 16th century Atlantic World, looking backwards to late 14th century Castile. I also have been publishing/researching in digital culture at the 21st century. Other grad students can get salty, but if you can handle the work, don't worry about them.

I get to spend winter break in my primary archive. I have a chapter (somewhat divergent from my history research) coming out in an edited volume early 2016. I am full of Turkey dinner 2.0. Life is good, basically.

SOPs generally benefit from as much specificity as possible, while leaving allowance for the fact that research can change: Why will your dissertation be ~perfect~ at this school compared to that one? Which faculty have written articles that lately have helped you formulate questions for your research? What archives does your program have connections with that make doing your research easier? You're presumably applying to each of these schools for a reason beyond "the name would look good on my PhD," so bring those reasons to the front.