Applications 2019

[andnothing]

I want to thank everyone for their suggestions on my dilemma. The professor who I had in 2013 said she would provide a letter of recommendation for me. We talked on the phone and went over what I have been up to these past few years. She ended the conversation by saying that she felt she could write a strong letter based on the information I gave her. I am sure this letter will be stronger than the letter my other professor would submit. It has worked out a lot better than I expected.

I was also given positive feedback on my statement of purpose from a former professor who has advised me through this process. He said it was a massive improvement from last years statement of purpose and that he would be really surprised if I am not accepted to the graduate programs. It was definitely a nice boost of confidence!

 

 

[historygeek]

I decided to write about a superstition that my great-grandmother had for me (don't sit on the corner of the table; you'll never get married!) and applied to that to the way I retained my own cultural presuppositions when I studied abroad, then explained how this led to me developing my research interests. 

[fortsibut]

Man, the struggle is real with my SOP and last minute writing sample changes.  Still need to write a few emails to profs for schools where apps aren't due until January, and thinking about adding another school to the list.  Can't wait til a few weeks from now when everything is turned in and I can finally relax and wait for my rejections to roll in! 

[historygeek]

11 minutes ago, fortsibut said:

 Can't wait til...I can finally relax and wait for my rejections to roll in! 

I feel this! I hope I can get into literally one school at least. That's all I need!

Edited November 28, 2018 by historygeek

[urbanhistorynerd]

22 minutes ago, historygeek said:

I feel this! I hope I can get into literally one school at least. That's all I need!

Me too! Let's hope sometime in February we'll be back on this forum talking about the schools we got in! 

[dr. t]

1 hour ago, fortsibut said:

 I can finally relax and wait for my rejections to roll in! 

Personally, I found that the drunker you could make your January, the better.

[fortsibut]

5 minutes ago, telkanuru said:

Personally, I found that the drunker you could make your January, the better.

I declare January to be "Make and try every kind of sangria" month!

[WhaleshipEssex]

16 minutes ago, fortsibut said:

I declare January to be "Make and try every kind of sangria" month!

My wintery vice of choice was mead but I think when PhD app season rolls around next year I might follow your lead.

[historygeek]

Christmas break is going to be KILLER. At least in the latter half of January, I'll have my classes and Phi Alpha Theta to keep me busy...

[urbanhistorynerd]

Just submitted my first application. Let's go Northwestern? Will be submitting my UM one soon!

Reflecting on the process...I'm optimistic that I put every ounce of energy I had into this, and even if I don't get in, it isn't so much a poor reflection of me but an understanding this is a tough process and rejection is part and parcel of being an academic.

Good luck everybody!

Edited November 28, 2018 by urbanhistorynerd

[fortsibut]

Anyone from the UW-Madison or Michigan State programs around and willing to answer some PMs about their programs?  I have, uh....virtual sangria to share?

[psstein]

8 hours ago, fortsibut said:

Anyone from the UW-Madison or Michigan State programs around and willing to answer some PMs about their programs?  I have, uh....virtual sangria to share?

Sure, send me a PM. I'm from the UW-Madison side.

[Balleu]

Well, two out of five applications are in! Hitting that submit button was absolutely terrifying. Good luck to everyone in the last mad dash before December 1st! I'm rooting for us all. 

[fortsibut]

8 hours ago, psstein said:

Sure, send me a PM. I'm from the UW-Madison side.

Thanks, PM sent!  Had a Q&A session with a helpful Cornell student last year as well, so now I just need to hunt down Michigan State and Boston U students.

[fortsibut]

Quick question that I didn't think really warranted its own thread.  I'm reworking my CV and adding a "relevant courses" section based on a few other grad student CVs I've seen.  The problem is that since those CVs are all current PhD students, all the coursework they list is graduate level.  I got my bachelor's and M.A. from the same school, and I'm not sure whether it's acceptable to list upper-division undergrad classes as well as grad classes on a CV when applying to a doctoral program if you have an M.A.  My school was somewhat limited in terms of graduate courses in my area/field (Africa and gender/religion) so I'd like to show that I have a foundation of that kind of coursework, at least.  (I have all the theory/methodological coursework covered in my grad classes)

Any thoughts?  I'm sure I'm overthinking this, but considering how stiff the competition is in getting in I'd rather not risk anything that might make me look bad.

EDIT: Also I'm assuming the page limit for writing samples is just the primary content and it doesn't matter if footnotes/work cited/appendices go over?

Edited November 30, 2018 by fortsibut

[TsarandProphet]

30 minutes ago, fortsibut said:

Quick question that I didn't think really warranted its own thread.  I'm reworking my CV and adding a "relevant courses" section based on a few other grad student CVs I've seen.  The problem is that since those CVs are all current PhD students, all the coursework they list is graduate level.  I got my bachelor's and M.A. from the same school, and I'm not sure whether it's acceptable to list upper-division undergrad classes as well as grad classes on a CV when applying to a doctoral program if you have an M.A.  My school was somewhat limited in terms of graduate courses in my area/field (Africa and gender/religion) so I'd like to show that I have a foundation of that kind of coursework, at least.  (I have all the theory/methodological coursework covered in my grad classes)

Any thoughts?  I'm sure I'm overthinking this, but considering how stiff the competition is in getting in I'd rather not risk anything that might make me look bad.

EDIT: Also I'm assuming the page limit for writing samples is just the primary content and it doesn't matter if footnotes/work cited/appendices go over?

I didn't list any classes on my CV. Harvard's application asks you to list relevant classes, so I did. I imagine I'd put only graduate-level classes since I come straight from undergraduate education and it might be impressive (I took 3 MA seminars during my final year of undegrad).

[historygeek]

34 minutes ago, fortsibut said:

Quick question that I didn't think really warranted its own thread.  I'm reworking my CV and adding a "relevant courses" section based on a few other grad student CVs I've seen.  The problem is that since those CVs are all current PhD students, all the coursework they list is graduate level.  I got my bachelor's and M.A. from the same school, and I'm not sure whether it's acceptable to list upper-division undergrad classes as well as grad classes on a CV when applying to a doctoral program if you have an M.A.  My school was somewhat limited in terms of graduate courses in my area/field (Africa and gender/religion) so I'd like to show that I have a foundation of that kind of coursework, at least.  (I have all the theory/methodological coursework covered in my grad classes)

Any thoughts?  I'm sure I'm overthinking this, but considering how stiff the competition is in getting in I'd rather not risk anything that might make me look bad.

EDIT: Also I'm assuming the page limit for writing samples is just the primary content and it doesn't matter if footnotes/work cited/appendices go over?

I didn't include any classes on my CV. I totally get where you're coming from about overthinking because of the stiff competition (my overall GPA is only a 3.45 and my verbal GRE was only 160), but I feel like grad schools will mainly want to see awards, internships, languages, etc. on a CV. As for the page limit, yes, the page limit refers to the primary content. Works cited pages aren't counted in the page count. 

[slp!!!!]

For those who got into SLP grad school programs in the Boston area... what were your GPAs & GREs like? Any volunteer or working experience you highlighted in your application?

Any advice to applying to these school?!

[AfricanusCrowther]

1 hour ago, fortsibut said:

Quick question that I didn't think really warranted its own thread.  I'm reworking my CV and adding a "relevant courses" section based on a few other grad student CVs I've seen.  The problem is that since those CVs are all current PhD students, all the coursework they list is graduate level.  I got my bachelor's and M.A. from the same school, and I'm not sure whether it's acceptable to list upper-division undergrad classes as well as grad classes on a CV when applying to a doctoral program if you have an M.A.  My school was somewhat limited in terms of graduate courses in my area/field (Africa and gender/religion) so I'd like to show that I have a foundation of that kind of coursework, at least.  (I have all the theory/methodological coursework covered in my grad classes)

Any thoughts?  I'm sure I'm overthinking this, but considering how stiff the competition is in getting in I'd rather not risk anything that might make me look bad.

EDIT: Also I'm assuming the page limit for writing samples is just the primary content and it doesn't matter if footnotes/work cited/appendices go over?

I think it makes sense to list courses if you’re applying as an Africanist, unless you have some other kind of African Studies certificate. They’ll want to make sure that you know the lingo for this very exacting and particular field, given that many history department offer little Africanist coursework. I did this on my applications, in part because I felt insecure about not having experience on the continent.

[historygeek]

1 hour ago, slp!!!! said:

For those who got into SLP grad school programs in the Boston area... what were your GPAs & GREs like? Any volunteer or working experience you highlighted in your application?

Any advice to applying to these school?!

This is actually the history forum!

[Balleu]

All three of my letter writers have submitted LORs across the board. And without needing increasingly frantic reminders!  One of them said "I am actually at the ASA right now (funny because I am literally seeing folks who might be reviewing your app, while I am submitting it)." I'll cross my fingers that'll mean something good in the mysterious realm of applications under review. 

How long after submitting an application does it usually take for schools to match your GRE scores with your app? Wondering when I can cross that worry off my list.

Edited November 30, 2018 by Balleu

[historygeek]

1 hour ago, Balleu said:

How long after submitting an application does it usually take for schools to match your GRE scores with your app? Wondering when I can cross that worry off my list.

From what I saw, they match them as soon as they get them. Screenshot to show what that looks like on my Columbia status page. 

 

Edited December 1, 2018 by historygeek
replaced - identifiable info

[Sigaba]

47 minutes ago, historygeek said:

Screenshot ...

 

I recommend not including identifiable information in screenshots. 

[psstein]

1 hour ago, Balleu said:

All three of my letter writers have submitted LORs across the board. And without needing increasingly frantic reminders!  One of them said "I am actually at the ASA right now (funny because I am literally seeing folks who might be reviewing your app, while I am submitting it)." I'll cross my fingers that'll mean something good in the mysterious realm of applications under review. 

How long after submitting an application does it usually take for schools to match your GRE scores with your app? Wondering when I can cross that worry off my list.

It can take up to a week.

Edited December 1, 2018 by psstein

[historygeek]

Okay, I'm not gonna lie, I'm already freaking out and it's not even December. I'm only applying to schools where my POIs have said I would be a good fit, but I'm terrified my stats (3.45 gpa, 160v and 5.5aw) will be the kiss of death. I know my LORs will be great, my SOP is strong (if I do say so myself), and I'm incredibly proud of my writing sample. But I'm still terrified I won't get in anywhere.