Applications 2019

[urbanhistorynerd]

25 minutes ago, historygeek said:

Just got an email that I was selected to interview with City Year Providence. I'm excited that they want to interview me, but I hate giving legitimacy to the idea that I need a contingency plan.

Anyways, here's hoping that the next two weeks bring us some good news!

Let's hope so! My alternative is either to finish up an MA at my current uni (I've completed 16/36 credits for it so far) or most likely move to Chicago with my partner, try to get a job working in some sort of capacity as an admin assistant for a university (pref Uchicago in Hyde Park), and reapply this upcoming fall. It is always good to have a backup plan.

[fartsmeller]

1 hour ago, youngblood79 said:

Hi everyone! I was curious if anyone could share their thoughts about the University of Minnesota. I was admitted into their History program. I'll figure out more about the program in the next couple of weeks, but I wanted to hear what other people about the program? Is it a solid school to get into? Will I struggle for employment afterwards? etc. 

I am graduate student in the program. Like with a lot of programs, I would say it depends on what area you are studying. 

This link should help you understand where the program (along with other programs) is strong and where it isn't so strong: https://www.historians.org/wherehistorianswork

In short, we do best with focuses outside the Western Hemisphere.  A decent percent of people do the pre-modern period and find jobs in academia.  

If you have anymore questions, feel free to PM me. 

Edited January 29, 2019 by fartsmeller
typos, of course

[TMP]

2 hours ago, John Stamos said:

OHSP, when it comes down to it if one school is offering full tuition and an 18k stipend while the other is offering the same plus additional money per the adviser's research project, I'm going to be taking the latter offer. It only makes sense. 

Research the COST OF LIVING for each place.  A $18K can go further in Bloomington, IN than Chicago, IL. A $25K can barely suppor you in NYC when it does alright in Durham, NC.

2 hours ago, OHSP said:

You'll know whether and where you've been accepted within a few weeks, so I'd reserve your energy and not spend time fretting over hypotheticals. But also, "the adviser's research project" won't be your research project, it sounds a little like you're more familiar with European schools than US schools. 

Agreed 100% Focus on something else.

2 hours ago, John Stamos said:

OHSP, another thought for you - which is better choosing an ivy league with no personal adviser mentorship ala big program and feeling like just a number, or choosing a state school with an adviser who is a leader in the field and has already contacted me? Basically name recognition vs adviser? Which one matters more for landing an academic gig?

Latter.  You need an adviser who actually gives a damn about your PhD program and helping you succeed.  Too many people fall through these cracks.  Also, note that there are excellent public universities that do exceptionally well such as Michigan and Berkeley. You can't make that kind of distinction.  You need to focus on the quality of your adviser's advising and career trajectory, the program's offerings, and post-PhD job placements.

1 hour ago, John Stamos said:

I have an interview coming up but it is not formal and the adviser has already spoken with me about a project to work on. And my app has already been reviewed just no acceptance yet.  For all I can tell the interview is really just a meet and greet and is being specifically set-up for me meaning it's not like there are 5 applicants or other people coming. Is it safe to think that I'm the prime candidate or should I just assume that others are being interviewed as well?  

Maybe, maybe not.  Don't assume anything in the PhD admissions until you have that final decision letter.

1 hour ago, historygeek said:

Also, is it a good sign that I had been asked to visit before applications were due? I'm probably over-thinking a lot of things, but I visited one of my choices in October and met with all of the people I was interested in working with, as well as the grad program director. One of the professors emailed me (a reply to my thank you note) that she hopes I go there. Am I just overthinking to make up for my anxiety?

Never a guarantee.  I've visited places before applying and had good rapport but still got rejected. The very least you did was put a face on your application and made a networking connection.

[TexasTiger]

1 hour ago, fartsmeller said:

I am graduate student in the program. Like with a lot of programs, I would say it depends on what area you are studying. 

This link should help you understand where the program (along with other programs) is strong and where it isn't so strong: https://www.historians.org/wherehistorianswork

In short, we do best with focuses outside the Western Hemisphere.  A decent percent of people do the pre-modern period and find jobs in academia.  

If you have anymore questions, feel free to PM me. 

I would assume within the Western Hemisphere anyone who studies Native American history does well

[Boolakanaka]

@TexasTiger Define doing well?

[psstein]

3 hours ago, youngblood79 said:

Hi everyone! I was curious if anyone could share their thoughts about the University of Minnesota. I was admitted into their History program. I'll figure out more about the program in the next couple of weeks, but I wanted to hear what other people about the program? Is it a solid school to get into? Will I struggle for employment afterwards? etc. 

It's a very good, though hardly elite program. They have some really excellent French history faculty (e.g. Shank) and a few well known historians of science, though that's a different department. As for employment, it depends what type of employment you'll want after. If you want a TT position at a top 20 program, that's less likely. State universities tend to do well at placing students in their own region.

2 hours ago, John Stamos said:

I have an interview coming up but it is not formal and the adviser has already spoken with me about a project to work on. And my app has already been reviewed just no acceptance yet.  For all I can tell the interview is really just a meet and greet and is being specifically set-up for me meaning it's not like there are 5 applicants or other people coming. Is it safe to think that I'm the prime candidate or should I just assume that others are being interviewed as well? 

You should always act as though these sorts of things are formal interviews. Part of this meeting is seeing how well you get along with the advisor and whether the two of you can see yourselves working together profitably.

2 hours ago, historygeek said:

Also, is it a good sign that I had been asked to visit before applications were due? I'm probably over-thinking a lot of things, but I visited one of my choices in October and met with all of the people I was interested in working with, as well as the grad program director. One of the professors emailed me (a reply to my thank you note) that she hopes I go there. Am I just overthinking to make up for my anxiety?

That's an encouraging sign. Generally, if faculty are enthusiastic about your application and meeting with you, it's a good sign. Keep in mind that history faculty have a billion things to do at any given moment. They don't spend time lightly.

3 hours ago, John Stamos said:

OHSP, another thought for you - which is better choosing an ivy league with no personal adviser mentorship ala big program and feeling like just a number, or choosing a state school with an adviser who is a leader in the field and has already contacted me? Basically name recognition vs adviser? Which one matters more for landing an academic gig?

If you want an academic job, placement, placement, placement. Compare the two programs. Get your hands on a list of your prospective advisor's recent students. Use Google/LinkedIn and figure out what they're doing. Any program without a list of recent placements/recent graduates should have a very big red flag.

Your advisor's name follows you for the rest of your career, but your program's reputation will often keep doors open.

Edited January 30, 2019 by psstein

[fartsmeller]

38 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

I would assume within the Western Hemisphere anyone who studies Native American history does well

Funny you say that. I was going to include that, but I didn't want make my post longer. Yes, budding Native American historians tend to do well, though a lot the courses blend into the American Studies department (which is a very good department). A recent history PhD graduate landed a job in American Studies at Rutgers this past year, for example.

Edited January 30, 2019 by fartsmeller

[Procopius]

4 hours ago, youngblood79 said:

Hi everyone! I was curious if anyone could share their thoughts about the University of Minnesota. I was admitted into their History program. I'll figure out more about the program in the next couple of weeks, but I wanted to hear what other people about the program? Is it a solid school to get into? Will I struggle for employment afterwards? etc. 

What era and place do you study? I second the earlier posts who said that pre-modern is really good there, particularly early modern. 

[Dark Paladin]

7 hours ago, villageelliot said:

Are there any other early Americanists out there applying this cycle? I was thinking if there's interest it might be nice to get a thread going to commiserate over waiting, and once the time comes--decisions!

Hi, fellow early Americanist! Hopefully we will start hearing back soon.  

[federalist51]

10 hours ago, villageelliot said:

Are there any other early Americanists out there applying this cycle? I was thinking if there's interest it might be nice to get a thread going to commiserate over waiting, and once the time comes--decisions!

@villageelliot and @darkpaladin Good to see some fellow early Americanists on this thread! I am also anxiously awaiting decisions from the programs to which I applied, although I suppose we will all hear back soon enough. In any case, best of luck!

[ashiepoo72]

8 hours ago, youngblood79 said:

Hi everyone! I was curious if anyone could share their thoughts about the University of Minnesota. I was admitted into their History program. I'll figure out more about the program in the next couple of weeks, but I wanted to hear what other people about the program? Is it a solid school to get into? Will I struggle for employment afterwards? etc. 

Minnesota is a great program, but like everywhere it has strengths in specific areas. Several people already mentioned its stronger subfields, but you should look into your POIs' placement and publication records. From what I remember from my application season (4 years ago), there are some stellar Americanists there doing great work on race and gender.

[e_randolph]

6 hours ago, federalist51 said:

@villageelliot and @darkpaladin Good to see some fellow early Americanists on this thread! I am also anxiously awaiting decisions from the programs to which I applied, although I suppose we will all hear back soon enough. In any case, best of luck!

Also an early Americanist!

[anonymous052709]

Notre Dame HPS interviews are Feb 7. I don't know anything about history proper. 

[Karou]

Looks like Johns Hopkins is in the process of sending out some acceptances.

I'm expecting a rejection (I was already thinking that ,and now just noticed a major oops in my statement of purpose), but I think some of you have also applied and I'm rooting for you all!

Edited January 30, 2019 by Karou

[Sigaba]

The relationships between professors and graduate students cannot be forecast from the size of a department or a school nor from conversations/correspondence during the application process. You're not going to know if you're being mentored or getting good advice until you've been in a program for a while and you've screwed up for the second, third, or fourth time. (And maybe not even then.)

IRT job placement, many critical questions about placement can be answered through one's own research. Ultimately, the craft of history centers around research. Historians understand the difference between questions and research-based questions. Compare the following questions.

Q: What is the job placement record of Happyland University?

Q: In the past X years, Y out of Z historians coming out of Happyland University have secured tenure track jobs at research universities within K years. Of this group, N wrote their dissertations on J history and had Professors Xavier and Logan on their dissertation committees. I am hoping to understand the extent to which N's placements center around their dissertation topics, the dissertations themselves, and the support they received from Professors Xavier and Logan.

IME, it's much better for one's reputation to be known for asking research-based questions. YMMV.

 

[historygeek]

18 hours ago, psstein said:

That's an encouraging sign. Generally, if faculty are enthusiastic about your application and meeting with you, it's a good sign. Keep in mind that history faculty have a billion things to do at any given moment. They don't spend time lightly.

 

19 hours ago, TMP said:

Never a guarantee.  I've visited places before applying and had good rapport but still got rejected. The very least you did was put a face on your application and made a networking connection.

Thank you both for your responses! I figured it wasn't a guaranteed acceptance (though I can dream), but I'm glad that it wasn't necessarily in vain. 

[historygeek]

I see NYU has started sending out acceptances.

 

[I_Am_In_Paine]

24 minutes ago, historygeek said:

I see NYU has started sending out acceptances.

 

Based on the fact that several Art History acceptances were just posted, and that last year acceptances didn't come out until 2/5, I'm guessing that the one history PhD post on the results page was actually for Art History and the poster just didn't specify. I could be wrong, but I think it's a fair assumption.

[urbanhistorynerd]

Can someone tell me when is Michigan likely to release its decisions? The 'results' page isn't loading for me for some reason. 500 internal error it says.

[historygeek]

3 hours ago, villageelliot said:

Based on the fact that several Art History acceptances were just posted, and that last year acceptances didn't come out until 2/5, I'm guessing that the one history PhD post on the results page was actually for Art History and the poster just didn't specify. I could be wrong, but I think it's a fair assumption.

Solid observation! It looks like they tend to notify on the Monday of the first full week of Feb...

21 minutes ago, urbanhistorynerd said:

Can someone tell me when is Michigan likely to release its decisions? The 'results' page isn't loading for me for some reason. 500 internal error it says.

Feb 8 was last year, Feb 8-9 in 2017.

[urbanhistorynerd]

8 minutes ago, historygeek said:

Solid observation! It looks like they tend to notify on the Monday of the first full week of Feb...

Feb 8 was last year, Feb 8-9 in 2017.

Thank you!

[rgiblon]

Does anybody know how the timelines look for Canadian students applying in the US? I've noticed two of my schools (Chicago and Penn) have started reaching out, and I'm trying to figure out if that's a bad sign or if internationals just inherently take longer.

[Tigla]

@historygeek, the best medicine tends to be laughter. I miss The Office so much and needed a little chuckle after the stressful morning of waking up to no emails from universities.

[fordlandia]

Just confirmed that Recruitment Weekend at UT Austin does entail an interview with my POI. Has anyone been through this interview process and know the types of questions I would be asked?

[Karou]

7 hours ago, rgiblon said:

Does anybody know how the timelines look for Canadian students applying in the US? I've noticed two of my schools (Chicago and Penn) have started reaching out, and I'm trying to figure out if that's a bad sign or if internationals just inherently take longer.

As far as Penn, as I mentioned a few posts back, applicants in the last few years have reported getting interview requests quite far apart from one another, so there's still a chance that you will hear from them. My own attitude towards this is that I'll give it a few more days, but that if I haven't heard back by next Monday, I'll have to accept that it's most likely not a good sign. But of course your experience may be different. Good luck to you!

Edited January 31, 2019 by Karou