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L13

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Everything posted by L13

  1. Thank you all for your responses, especially scirefaciat! I will take you up on your offer and message you privately to talk about the program, if you don't mind! (I'll do it at some point in the next couple of days.) Thank you very much! And telkanuru, my interests lie in the cultural and intellectual history of Europe in the 12th-13th centuries, with emphases on historical reasoning, Christian eschatology & cultural encounter. Sorry, my interests are more thematic than geographical or chronological, so it's a bit hard to describe them concisely without coming across as vague. I'm interested in the crusading movement, though, among other things. Anyway. Thanks again, everyone! I think I'll be applying to Madison for sure, but I appreciate telkanuru's specific warning about grant money. It's good to know what things I should be looking out for, should I find myself in a position to choose between Madison and another school. (A distant possibility at this point )
  2. Hey, guys! You may have discussed this already, but what is everyone's position on applying to UW-Madison in light of the political attacks the university is weathering? It's a great place for my interests on paper, but I'm afraid that if I apply, get in, and end up there, the people I'm interested in working with might leave halfway through my degree. Apart from UW-Madison, I'll be applying to Harvard (again), Princeton, Johns Hopkins, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, St. Louis University, several master's programs in Europe, and possibly Monash in Australia. Medieval history everywhere. I may yet add one or two PhD programs to my list. Good luck everyone!
  3. I agree with all of this, including the remark about the responses to this thread. I find it weird that people are trying to 1) avoid a discussion of this perfectly mundane topic, and 2) imbue the pursuit/avoidance of information about in-demand subfields with some sort of moral value. In any case, I'd add ~sonic history~ to your list, and specify medical history as a subfield of history of science that is getting traction. I'd say there's a push to make ~big history~/deep history/various long-view historical narratives popular, but it's coming out of a few specific (and very prestigious) universities rather than the profession as a whole.
  4. I got a 5.5 on the AW section. I suspect I got a 6 on the Analyse an Argument portion and a 5 on the other one. I did not prepare for this section in any way other than by looking at the ETS website guidelines and reading the sample scored essays. I did not try to think of appropriate examples beforehand. I don't even remember what my AI essay was about, but I remember that the topic touched on dreams and personal motivation and I briefly discussed aspiring sportsmen, saying that if the best athletes in the world hadn't pursued their dreams seriously to the detriment of more "realistic" career options, they would have never achieved success. I think I may have mentioned a couple of sports I am familiar with (figure skating, rhythmic gymnastics, chess) where an early start is almost obligatory for success. It was not a high-brow example and I did not develop it fully. I don't think I talked about it at length. It was enough for a 5. Don't worry about coming up with an example drawn from politics or history. Just make sure your example is clear, coherent, and relevant. The AI topics tend to be pretty broad, I think. I imagine that most of them lend themselves to a wide range of associations. My advice would be to grasp the first specific idea that coalesces in your mind after reading the prompt and go with it.
  5. Tanking a section of the GRE that's irrelevant to your application because you don't want to have a 152 on your file is absolutely ridiculous. Grad schools do NOT care that much. You also do not need a perfect V score to get into a top grad school in the humanities, or at least not in history, which I'm familiar with. The only field I know of where V 165+ is a firm expectation for top-10 programs is philosophy, but even there a perfect score (170) is not a requirement.
  6. L13

    Fall 2015 Applicants

    I'm not sure why people are taking the weak cohort comments so personally... I'm sure that, although the average quality of applicants stays the same over time, or changes very slowly, fluctuations between years happen and some cohorts are less competitive than others. I understand that some people are interpreting these comments as an indirect slight on their own academic profiles, but, honestly... there are extremely few people whose applications are stellar all around. For the vast majority of us, grad school admission is a matter of balancing out the negatives, attractive packaging, and fulfilling a departmental need. I suppose I'm kind of surprised that, in light of that fact, people are so sensitive to the suggestion their applications may have had weaknesses. Personally, I selfishly hope next year's cohort is even weaker.
  7. While 'networking' should be one of your concerns, I feel this thread has placed undue emphasis on it. Harvard and Chicago both have great placement records; your chances of finding a job will be good coming out of either school, regardless of how many scholars you know. How important is it for you to have an adviser whose research interests align perfectly with yours? I wouldn't consider that a crucial advantage, personally, but everyone is different...
  8. L13

    Decisions 2015

    Heh, I think I may have caused some confusion. I'd be taking introductory courses in Koine and medieval Greek and classical Arabic, which aren't spoken languages. It doesn't really matter where in the world you are when you learn them. Sorry for being unclear! And again, these aren't languages I need to learn at this point, just ones I'd like to start learning now.
  9. L13

    Decisions 2015

    Thanks, that's good to know! To clarify, I don't actually need Greek or Arabic for the project I'm proposing, at least not immediately. I just think it would be cool to start learning them soon. My project requires Latin, French and German, which I already have. I'm pretty sure I'll re-apply this year, not the next. I'm just wondering if going to CEU for a year would make a difference to my applications.
  10. L13

    Decisions 2015

    Picking up Greek and Arabic is actually the main reason I'm considering CEU's one-year MA in Medieval Studies at the moment. (Fully funded, thankfully!) However, I wonder whether it will actually increase my chances for next year in any meaningful way. I would be applying to PhD programs a couple of months into the program, so I wouldn't have much to show for my time there. And my application will be more competitive next year regardless of whether I'm enrolled in a master's program or not; I'll have a higher GPA, a much more polished writing sample, and a more finely tuned statement of purpose. (In fact, I plan to submit completely different SOPs to all my programs, which I didn't have the time to do this time around.) And, most importantly, I already have a much better list of schools in mind. Going to CEU would only make a difference to my European/UK applications. If I don't take their offer, I will probably re-apply to Cambridge/King's College/Oxford's master's programs, and if I do, I will be applying directly to the DPhil/PhD. Does anyone, especially someone familiar with medieval history, have any thoughts on this?
  11. L13

    Fall 2015 Applicants

    Just got into CEU with a partial fellowship, which is nice. Still waiting on Oxford. I sent them an email over a week ago asking when I might expect my result and they still haven't responded. I know they've already rejected a bunch of people and I know they've responded to other people's questions, so I have no idea why they're ignoring me.
  12. L13

    Ertegun 2015?

    No, no, it seems they contact people for interview in mid-March and already have a good idea of who's going to get it and who's not, meaning that it's a short shortlist. Last year they interviewed in the week before March 23. Obviously the process might have changed or I may be misinterpreting the fragmentary info available on the internet, but I'm pretty sure it's impossible to get the Ertegun out of the blue in April, without being contacted by them first.
  13. L13

    Oxford Bound?

    I'm also still waiting on Oxford! It's a great relief to see another candidate for the MSt in Medieval History who hasn't heard anything.
  14. L13

    Ertegun 2015?

    They certainly interview. If you google around, you'll find posts by winners and shortlisted candidates from previous years, on this forum and elsewhere on the internet, talking about their interviews. Apparently the awarding body is required by the university/the terms of the scholarship to interview all winners before officially giving them the scholarship.
  15. L13

    Ertegun 2015?

    I also applied for the Ertegun and have not heard anything. I suspect they've already extended invitations for interview to all the shortlisted applicants.
  16. L13

    Fall 2015 Applicants

    It seems like someone actually told you the exact basis on which your admission decision was made, which is probably against policy. I would appreciate knowing that's what the committee thought of my application, though.
  17. Not a philosophy student, so sorry for barging in, but that's somewhat misleading. Oxford does, in fact, offer funding to domestic and international students alike, both for doctorates (DPhil, not PhD) and master's degrees. However, it's distributed on a competitive basis and is particularly difficult to get for master's students. The average accepted student is very unlikely to receive funding, but it's not impossible. News for different scholarships go out at different times, but I think it's safe to say everyone who gets funding should hear by mid-April...
  18. L13

    Decisions 2015

    This has been my experience too, though not with every professor I know. But there are certainly a few who seem to know everyone in the profession and/or read very widely outside of their subfield.
  19. L13

    Decisions 2015

    FTofHistory, I also got a full tuition discount at Chicago and I don't intend to take up their offer for financial reasons. I'm sure it's a great program, but I don't want to take on debt for an MA. I'm pretty confident that next year I'll fare better in the admission cycle, MAPSS or no MAPSS, which is why I'm not too broken up about it. But what I wanted to say is something one of my professors told me when I said I wasn't sure if I wanted to go to grad school in the US at all: You can always switch! She reminded me that PhD students transfer out of/between programs all the time for a variety of reasons, and starting at a certain program is not the same as signing away your soul forever. If you start a funded doctorate and find out your advisor/committee is not the best fit for you personally or academically, it would be reasonable and relatively easy to apply to other programs as a transfer student. That way you would end up spending less of your own money than if you did the MAPSS, and would most likely save yourself a year or two. Now, I confess, that doesn't sound entirely convincing (ethical?) to me, but that's what a young (and pretty successful) historian told me, so it may well be a widely held view. Something to think about, perhaps. On the other hand, if you have the financial means to do the MAPSS program and aren't too worried about the money, I don't know. To be honest, if your aim is, like, the "top ten," the MAPSS would set you up nicely. Only you know enough about your situation to make this decision, basically. Good luck! For what it's worth, I'd accept one of my PhD offers if I were you, unless I was very unhappy with my choices.
  20. L13

    Fall 2015 Applicants

    Thanks for the advice and information about the MAPSS program, guys. I realize only having to worry about living expenses is a privilege in the world of academic master's degrees, but I'm honestly not comfortable asking my parents for close to $20k to take graduate courses in the social sciences for a year. (And they don't really have that kind of money lying around.) And as a college senior, I have no savings on my own. I think that, barring a funded offer from CEU, which is not entirely unlikely, or Oxford, which is exceedingly unlikely, I'll try to find a job in the short term and start putting together a more serious set of applications for next year. First, though, I need to finish my damn senior thesis.
  21. L13

    Fall 2015 Applicants

    I was rejected from UChicago today but offered admission to the MAPSS program with full tuition remission. Unfortunately, that's still too expensive for me as I wouldn't be able to support myself in Chicago. I also heard back from Cambridge and my application for funding has been rejected. Money makes me sad.
  22. L13

    Fall 2015 Applicants

    Ah yes, I forgot about that! Thanks for the tip. We'll see what ends up happening soon enough, I'm sure.
  23. L13

    Fall 2015 Applicants

    Is anyone else still waiting on UChicago? I checked my email and my online application for my rejection but found nothing. Maybe tomorrow...
  24. L13

    Fall 2015 Applicants

    Just got accepted to Fordham's MA in medieval history. That's flattering, but I can't (and don't want to) go without funding. Oh well.
  25. L13

    Fall 2015 Applicants

    I logged in after seeing this post, and my rejection is up on the site too. It seems they've released the official results.
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