[Fall 2015 Applicants]

Yeah, and as I said, I think you're entitled to that! (And my rambling digression above is not meant to be a criticism of your feelings or anything, just my own way of thinking about this kind of situation.)

 

That being said, I'm sure some departments do actually skim over applications and misplace files and stuff, which is why I spelled out the refund scenario. It makes me angry to think about because processing fees are exorbitant and to suspect they didn't even buy you a cursory look must be soul-destroying.

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

I'll admit that my initial reaction was pretty heated. I think I forwarded the letter to my current adviser with the addendum "bull shit." Be nice if the council of doom could make these decisions before soliciting applications though. Or at least give a refund to people.

I'm sure that decisions of this nature depend, at least partly, on the perceived quality of the applicant pool in each subfield, so it would be impossible to make them without considering all the shortlisted applications first, or at least getting feedback and recommendations from faculty members in each subfield.

 

And I'd only consider asking for a fee refund if I suspected my application hadn't been processed or reviewed in full despite meeting the submission deadline. That is to say, if you had reason to suspect UPenn simply decided to throw out all the Russian history applications without reading them this year, sure, I think you'd have a good case. But, as I said, I imagine it was more complex than that.

 

Which is not to say that I don't understand your frustration! It does feel unfair to fall prey to the caprice of departmental intake decisions and I fully sympathize with you.

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

So I was just googling aimlessly and found this. Hitler, that perky little scamp.

 

 

lol can we please try to come up with blurbs of similar vacuity for other subfields of history?

 

Transnational History

 

Stateless human innovations like commerce, slavery, and the Internet have changed the course of world history. Special interests like gender or race can complement their study. Click to learn more about the best places to study transnational history.

[Has history as a dscipline been diluted?]

I knew I shouldn't venture into this thread...

 

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

One of the schools I applied to has contacted me to arrange a Latin proficiency exam for me... I can't help but feel this is a little excessive, given that I have a bazillion Latin courses on my transcript, but hey, at least it's something!

[Decisions 2015]

Actually you should let them know where you're planning to accept.  They need to get a sense of benchmarks for funding and program strength purposes.  It's discussed all the time and you would be doing them a favor.

Well, yes, I know it's useful information for departments to have, which is why I noted that it's normal for them to want to know it, but my point was that if for some reason you don't want to disclose it, that's your prerogative.

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

I was told by my faculty contact at UPenn that the grad com (not adcom) needed to okay the final decisions before she could tell me anything, and that I'd be notified by the DGS in due time. That was sent on Thursday, so I assumed that the grad com would sit either on Friday, or sometime early this week, and once they finalize the decisions, that the DGS will send out info on decisions.

That sounds pretty promising for you, mvlchicago! Good luck

[Dealing with Rejection]

All the stories here are very inspirational and you all have my admiration! Thanks for sharing them and good luck in all your future endeavors!

 

To contribute my own circumstances to this thread, I took a year off between high school and college upon realizing in the eleventh hour that I wanted to study something academic rather than go to art school, but in all other respects I've had a very conventional, sheltered academic career. I'm currently a senior in college and applying mostly to master's programs. I also applied to two PhD programs, but my December applications were rushed and less polished than they should have been, so I never seriously expected an acceptance to come out of them. I did get an interview at Harvard, though, which was flattering and confirmed my belief that it's a great fit for my interests. I'll most likely reapply there next year, but not to UChicago. Hilariously, I rushed through my statement of purpose for UChicago on the day the application was due and realized as I was writing it that I didn't actually have much to do with the department there. No doubt they thought the same thing.

 

My realistic plan was always to get a master's degree next year and then get a PhD, or, in case no master's program offered me funding, simply to wait and apply to a broader range of PhD programs next fall. I'm quite happy with this course of action because I believe finishing my senior thesis, getting good grades this year, completing my first year of German, and having more time to focus on my school selection and statements of purpose would place me in a much stronger position when I reapply.

 

My only hope/worry is related to money as funding for master's programs is really difficult to obtain and it would seriously bum me out if I had to turn down Cambridge (or Oxford/Fordham/CEU, if I get into those) because I couldn't afford to go. But for now, I have enough to worry about at school, with my thesis, classes, and last months in college consuming my attention.

 

Overall, even though I assume I've been rejected by the two PhD programs I applied to, I'm not really that upset. I think it's because I was a colossal slacker in high school, which made it difficult to get into a good college. I am actually attending an excellent college, but to this day I have no idea why they accepted me; I collected more than my fair share of rejections during my long and depressing gap year in addition to that acceptance. Moreover, my college grades, while solid, are far from perfect, and I've applied for a lot of distinctions and awards that I haven't gotten. In short, I'm an old hand at reconciling myself with rejection, and usually prepare for it well in advance. I've found that going through, and seriously considering, the worst-case scenario in your head when you send off a bunch of applications is really helpful because 1) then you'll know what to do if the worst possible outcome comes to pass, and won't waste emotional energy wondering where your life is going while also processing your sadness, and 2) the worst-case scenario doesn't actually become reality all that often, so you're very likely to be pleasantly surprised by whatever happens to you, or at least able to appreciate the fact things could have been worse. Basically, the habit of pondering your worst fears for the future can train you to be more adaptable when disappointing things happen to you for real, at least in my experience.

[Medievalists Untie!]

Not going to any conferences, but good luck and thanks for creating this thread!

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

I think it varies, and there may be more borderline cases this year, but I believe the incoming class this year is reduced somewhat to compensate for the fact that all 20 initial offers last year accepted. I was told in my own case it was not a totally done deal, but almost certainly a no.

 

Professors here do usually go full-court press once they've selected their candidates.

Thanks again, telkanuru!

 

To pump you for info just a bit more, do you have an idea if they're taking on any medievalists at all? If the cohort is below 20, I can easily imagine them not taking any. That would be sad.

 

TMP, now that's a pompous rejection!

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

Thanks for the inside info on Harvard, telkanuru!

 

I have to say, I'm surprised that almost all admits have already been notified. Normally, in the case of such a popular program, between 1/3 and 1/2 of all admitted students would report their results on Grad Cafe, judging by the cohort sizes and number of self-reported admissions for Princeton, Berkeley, Stanford, Yale, etc. Admittedly, traditionally there have been less Harvard acceptances on the site, but there usually are at least 6-7. Yet so far we've only seen 3 acceptances. I find it unlikely that Harvard only accepted 6-9 people. Are the vast majority of Harvard admits not reporting their results? That is pretty weird since it's not a general trend.

[Decisions 2015]

I realize schools like to know who you're turning them down for, but you don't actually have to tell them. "I have received an offer from a department where I believe I would fit in better" is a sufficient explanation unless you actually want to tell them where you're going, in my opinion. Also, could giving them the name of a higher-ranked program and mentioning your professional goals be construed as implying they're not good enough for you or something...? I mean, that would be the worry going through my head if I were trying to write such an email, but I'm more anxious about hitting the right tone in emails than most people.

 

Basically, Professor Plum's suggested email is totally fine and I'm sure Emory won't actually care at all, but if I were sending it, I would probably take out the bit about professional goals.

 

Good on you for letting them know so early, Jezzlin! That way it's easier for them and for whoever they're going to accept from the waitlist (if they do that).

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

I've never gotten the whole nice-rejection-vs-cold-rejection distinction. How is it supposed to sound? It's a rejection.

 

The Indiana letter is cordial and to the point. As long as it's not calling the addressee stupid or unqualified, or bragging about the profile of the admitted class, or something like that, it's fine in my book.

 

Speaking of rejections, a wild UChicago rejection appears on the results page! I wonder if it was solicited or an automatic thing. I hope the latter; I'd like to get my result soon, even if it's a rejection.

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

If no one can help you, maybe you can email someone at Cambridge with your question?

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

Hi, accepted for a History PhD at Cambridge, and have applied for AHRC/CHESS funding as a home student.

 

The other day, i noticed that the 'scholarship application' section has disappeared from CAMSIS/graduate self service account. Anyone have any idea why this might be?

I'm also applying to Cambridge but for an MPhil and different scholarships, so I can't help you. Have you tried asking here? The Student Room is far more knowledgeable about UK admissions and there's a very active Cambridge thread whose members may be able to give you an answer.

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

I'm torn between smugness at predicting the timing of UChicago's acceptance emails and sadness at not getting one.

[Working with "Big Names"]

I contacted a "big name" academic I was interested in working with over the summer, and he responded to my email immediately and attentively, and kept up an exchange with me for a while. We've corresponded a couple of times since then and he's always been a very conscientious correspondent, giving me advice on how to navigate the application process and what to look out for when picking a school and an advisor. He also told me he advises a range of dissertations that don't align with his own interests perfectly because he wants the process to be driven by the needs of the student, not by his.

 

Overall, I guess it really depends on the person! I did not get the impression this professor would be an inaccessible advisor at all.

[History and Memory]

Tessa Morris-Suzuki is an amazing historian of modern Japan and Korea who works on memory. She recently wrote an article called "Heroes, Collaborators and Survivors: Korean Kamikaze Pilots and the Ghosts of War in Japan and Korea," which can be found in the book East Asia Beyond the History Wars. I would recommend it as a brief read that is very much worth the time.

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

If last year's results are to be believed, Harvard should be making decisions today, presumably in the late afternoon since that seems to be the witching hour for most university committees, and UChicago might be doing the same thing and should start notifying accepted students on Monday.

 

Do people with first-hand knowledge of these departments have any thoughts?

 

ETA: Yes, the GRE is a total ripoff and ETS is even more unscrupulous than College Board, which at least gives you four free score reports that you can send at any time!

 

And welcome to the thread, scirefaciat! The more medievalists the merrier!

[Got invited to an indisciplinary conference at Fordham; what to make of this email?]

Hey, I'm a history applicant and I got that email too. I also got an invitation to apply for an FLAS scholarship from UChicago even though I'm not even American. I honestly don't think this kind of email means anything and would advise you not to read too much into it.

 

The result will come when it does. There's only a little while left

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

I don't think convergence of research interests is fully necessary for a good student-advisor partnership. I think mutual understanding and complementary communication styles and work methods are probably more critical, and unfortunately those are almost impossible to predict. One prospective advisor I've been in touch with during the application process, however, seems to have the ideal personality/ethos to be a good supervisor for me and I hope I get into their program. I'd rather not say their name, though! (I'm pretty sure actual academics read this site.)

 

That being said, one person whose research inspires and interests me and whom I couldn't possibly work with is Alexander Murray, the author of Reason and Society in the Middle Ages. All of his projects--on numbers and quantitative reasoning, the cultural significance of money, suicide, social class and piety--are fascinating. He spent his academic career at Oxford, but unfortunately he has retired from teaching.

 

Edit: ashiepoo72, Bill Cronon came to my college for a lecture and a series of seminars a couple of years ago! He's a very impressive fellow in person.

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

Particularly suspicious since Harvard usually sends rejections by post.

I don't think it's 'suspicious' that some applicants will get decisions on days you don't expect or by means you don't expect. Or rather, I'm sure some entries in the homepage survey are fabricated, but the vast majority of them are probably perfectly honest. Therefore, I think discounting every report that seems slightly unusual based on past years' trends would lead to a more imperfect understanding of the admissions process than taking all self-reported results at face value.

 

Moreover, a look at the survey tells me that a lot of people were actually rejected by Harvard via the application portal last year, so I'm not even sure how much of an outlier the result in question is.

 

In any case, congratulations to today's acceptees!

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

It's great to see more medievalists here! I also applied to Fordham's MA, by the way. I considered Notre Dame as well, but in the end decided against it for some dumb reason. (I don't think my school selection was very well thought-out.)

 

nom, Cambridge is a monstrous bureaucracy and there are so many places along the chain of delegating administrative tasks where your request might have fallen through! I suggest you email your prospective advisor again, but maybe someone else as well. A secretary, program director, graduate admissions official, or someone else who might have handled your request. (I'm still waiting for them to send me my official acceptance so that I can edit my signature, by the way!)

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

Congratulations, ashiepoo72! And to everyone else who got good news today.

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

My Cambridge application has been recommended for admission, subject to approval by the Board of Graduate Studies! That's pretty exciting because from what I understand BoGS approval is all but a formality in Cambridge's case and I've basically been admitted already. And after only one week of review!

 

My chances for funding at Cambridge are somewhat small because I missed the general deadline for scholarship applications and am only in the running for one specific source of funding, but that's still heartening news. I can't wait for the official offer of admission, though.