Fall 2011

[♀HealthMatters]

Is that aimed at me, ModUSGirl? My focus is on the political culture and intellectual history of the late-colonial through early republic periods. Though, my honors thesis dealt heavily with economic issues. I haven't had the opportunity to take a class with Stein, though everyone in the department speaks very highly of her.

I have to admit my guess was because I say she was at CUNY. That sounds like a very interesting focus. I enjoy all of American history, but in the end I think that my focus will be US cultural, political, women/gender since 1945. Though, I will state that much more elegantly in my statement!

[KScrooge]

With the start of fall officially around the corner, I was wondering where everybody stands? Things have been all too quiet on this thread. I for one am trying to get my short list of programs together, emailing potential advisors and other contacts, and possibly setting up a few interviews/meetings. How are the rest of you faring in the calm before the storm?

[TMP]

How are the rest of you faring in the calm before the storm?

It's more of a hurricane.

The calm before the storm is sometimes the first few weeks of January.

The hurricane comes when Wisconsin sends out their first round of acceptances (about 25%+ of its total pool), followed by Yale's rejections in late January/early February. Then that's the eye of the storm until late February. That's the most tense time! Then you have the rest of the hurricane through the end of March...

[KScrooge]

It's more of a hurricane.

The calm before the storm is sometimes the first few weeks of January.

The hurricane comes when Wisconsin sends out their first round of acceptances (about 25%+ of its total pool), followed by Yale's rejections in late January/early February. Then that's the eye of the storm until late February. That's the most tense time! Then you have the rest of the hurricane through the end of March...

Thanks for the clarification. In that case I'll assume the hurricane has silenced this thread...

[TMP]

Thanks for the clarification. In that case I'll assume the hurricane has silenced this thread...

Nah. Things are rosy at the moment, really, for everyone because we're all doing our best to make the best applications possible! Don't worry, things will pick up in a month or so when people start freaking out over the smallest details. I know I am already!

[not your indie girlfriend]

With the start of fall officially around the corner, I was wondering where everybody stands? Things have been all too quiet on this thread. I for one am trying to get my short list of programs together, emailing potential advisors and other contacts, and possibly setting up a few interviews/meetings. How are the rest of you faring in the calm before the storm?

ugh, i feel so behind! i just took the GRE last week, and i'm in the process of trying to convince myself my scores are good enough, pick which programs to apply to, pick how many to apply to, and THEN try and craft something interesting to say in my letters to potential advisors.

it's a strange process -- i remember being in high school, and it felt like everyone i knew was going through the same steps and sharing the same angst. now, i'm the only person i know applying to school, and it's hard to know where i'm supposed to be at in the process, and what i should have done by now. i guess that's why a place like this exists!

[♀HealthMatters]

ugh, i feel so behind! i just took the GRE last week, and i'm in the process of trying to convince myself my scores are good enough, pick which programs to apply to, pick how many to apply to, and THEN try and craft something interesting to say in my letters to potential advisors.

it's a strange process -- i remember being in high school, and it felt like everyone i knew was going through the same steps and sharing the same angst. now, i'm the only person i know applying to school, and it's hard to know where i'm supposed to be at in the process, and what i should have done by now. i guess that's why a place like this exists!

I STILL haven't taken my GREs. Well, I did last year. Ha. I'm taking it again Oct 28. My first deadline is Dec. 15. I was just up in Philly for interviews at Temple. What a great experience. I hope they take me. I think the boards will start to blow up in the next few weeks with questions, fears, etc as deadlines get closer. Good luck to you all!

[KScrooge]

I'm taking my GREs again next week! It's been 2 years and I'm just hoping I can bump the score by a bit. But I've been torn about the whole thing. When I signed up to take them again I was focused only on the numeric score I received the first time. Then I dug up my old score report and saw the percentage was actually better than I thought. It's pretty aggravating, but I guess I'm just going to suck it up.

I did finally narrow down a list of programs I'm applying to, so that's one more thing I can cross off the to do list!

[♀HealthMatters]

How many is too many? Programs, that is. I can't decide. Last year I applied to 6 and got waitlisted or rejected. So, here I am in a graduate certificate program for Women's Studies (women, gender, and sexuality will be a subfield). I have 16, but I won't apply to all. I am thinking maybe 12, 14 tops.

[StrangeLight]

14 is a lot. so is 12. a lot of people wind up with something between 7 and 9 schools.

the thing is... you really, really want to personalize and tailor your SOP for each school. that means more than inserting one paragraph that mentions your potential advisor. look into their library's holdings. do they have sources you'll need? mention it. do they have an area studies center for your region? mention it. are there other professors that work on thematically similar concepts for different regions? mention them too. that level of personalization can be exhausting when you're doing it for 14 schools. so i'd cut back.

looking back on my old apps from two years ago, out of the 9 places i applied, only 3 were really appropriate for the project i'm working on now. get picky. i'd recommend not applying to any school where you aren't already familiar with your potential advisor's work. i'm a big advocate of looking at the books on your bookshelf and building your school list that way. using that approach, i found that two schools in particular each had 3 historians in my field whose work i loved. i feel like that's a more organic approach to picking schools and if you're true to it, it'll narrow your list down a bit.

[Comet7777]

I'm with the OP on this one. I'm currently doing US Southwest History MA at SMU and it's a great place for this, but my PhD goal is a Latin American History program or US program that really focuses on transnational history between the US and Latin America. I've already met with some key people in US Borderlands History at UCLA and Berkeley. So I'm looking at those two schools, as well as Stanford, Yale, Arizona, and UT Austin. As the thread title suggests, I won't be applying until Fall 2011, but I'm already doing my homework and beginning to work on my GRE for the odyssey that is to come...

I've been lurking these boards over the weekend, there's a ton of valuable information here. I'll be excited to implement this in my Application season for 2011, God knows I wasn't nearly as prepared as I should have been for my MA applications (1 PhD) last year.

Edited October 17, 2010 by Comet7777

[StrangeLight]

I'm currently doing US Southwest History MA at SMU and it's a great place for this, but my PhD goal is a Latin American History program or US program that really focuses on transnational history between the US and Latin America.

did you ever get the chance to work with david weber? i loved his book.

[Comet7777]

did you ever get the chance to work with david weber? i loved his book.

Unfortunately not, which is a shame because his legacy played a large part in me going to SMU.

[RDX]

It's more of a hurricane.

The calm before the storm is sometimes the first few weeks of January.

The hurricane comes when Wisconsin sends out their first round of acceptances (about 25%+ of its total pool), followed by Yale's rejections in late January/early February. Then that's the eye of the storm until late February. That's the most tense time! Then you have the rest of the hurricane through the end of March...

Ha. thanks for the info. It seems to be coming sooner than I thought.

Hi to everyone, a newbie to the forum.

[natsteel]

I have to admit my guess was because I say she was at CUNY. That sounds like a very interesting focus. I enjoy all of American history, but in the end I think that my focus will be US cultural, political, women/gender since 1945. Though, I will state that much more elegantly in my statement!

It may not be post-1945, but one of my mentors here is Carol Berkin, who has done mostly 18th and now 19th-century women's history.

[a piece of bread]

This year I am taking a course named "Readings in German" but want to withdraw it since it takes all my time. This course will be seen in my transcript as "W" written with "red color" but not affect my GPA if I do so. Do you think it hurts much? My current cumulative GPA in my MA program is 4.

[BadgerHopeful]

This is my attempt to resuscitate this thread. How is everyone holding up? Are your applications in? I sent the last of mine in yesterday, now I'm just waiting for my letters to come in. Hope all is well with everyone else!

[Bukharan]

I am all pro-resuscitating this thread. I submitted my applications a week ago. Now waiting for two references to be uploaded (sent the reminder today). I am so glad the 'applying' is over. Now have to wait.

Good luck to all those who finish up their History applications!

[BadgerHopeful]

Waiting for the letters to come in is nerve-wracking. I'm tempted to send a reminder email, but I don't wan to seem like a nag.

Anyone else apply to Wisconsin?

[qbtacoma]

I am taking a break from my application to Wisconsin right now.

[Emerson]

I think I am finally finished with my personal statements, though I'm sure I'll continue tinkering with them until they are turned in.

Now I just need to cut down all my writings samples to 20 pages...

[TMP]

It never gets easier. You'd think after one cycle, it would be easier. No. Drama still happens.

Anyhow, 1 app down... a bunch more to go. But everything's pretty much done... just need to learn to let go. One by one. No more communication with my LORs now that I am abroad and they're assuming that I've turned in at least 4 as I told them that I'd get them done before I left... Wrong. All PhD stuff just flew out of my mind while getting myself together!

[natsteel]

I'm all done except for my top 2 schools, mostly because the professor at one gave me different instructions for the SOP than were on the website and the second has a small, extra piece of writing required, which I am procrastinating writing it up. Otherwise, I have 8 out of 10 completely submitted with all LORs received. Thankfully, I haven't had to deal with any LOR drama like some on here.

Now, I just have to figure out how to stop thinking about it for the next couple of months, which will likely be impossible since I've been thinking about for 2 years before now. I expect that mentally I'll be a walking train wreck come January. Anyway, best of luck to all of you...

[BadgerHopeful]

I'm all done except for my top 2 schools, mostly because the professor at one gave me different instructions for the SOP than were on the website and the second has a small, extra piece of writing required, which I am procrastinating writing it up. Otherwise, I have 8 out of 10 completely submitted with all LORs received. Thankfully, I haven't had to deal with any LOR drama like some on here.

Now, I just have to figure out how to stop thinking about it for the next couple of months, which will likely be impossible since I've been thinking about for 2 years before now. I expect that mentally I'll be a walking train wreck come January. Anyway, best of luck to all of you...

I know EXACTLY what "small, extra piece of writing" you're talking about. I avoided doing that for like three weeks. I finally bit the bullet this last week and did it. It was the hardest part of the application I think.

[Jeppe]

I know EXACTLY what "small, extra piece of writing" you're talking about. I avoided doing that for like three weeks. I finally bit the bullet this last week and did it. It was the hardest part of the application I think.

Yes, that part of the application is such an annoying extra, especially because no other schools seem to demand a similar piece of writing.