Applications 2019

[psstein]

24 minutes ago, Sigaba said:

IMO, one should always apply to schools/programs of genuine interest regardless of concerns about adequate funding.

With the caveat, of course, that inadequate funding can cause you to select another program over one with funding concerns.

[psstein]

20 minutes ago, historygeek said:

Does anyone know the average Villanova funding? It looks like the funding spreadsheet was deleted. ?

I would be down with starting a new funding spreadsheet, if anyone would be interested in that?

I would share my funding information. It's two years old, but things haven't changed all that much.

You applied for a MA from Villanova. You should know that most MAs in the United States are not fully funded.

[historygeek]

1 minute ago, psstein said:

You applied for a MA from Villanova. You should know that most MAs in the United States are not fully funded.

Oh, I know! I know they do fund some MA students (yesterday was the priority funding deadline), so I was wondering if anyone had had experience with what they usually give out. 

[federalist51]

Thanks for the very helpful responses, @telkanuru @TMP @ashiepoo72 ! Ohio State is one of my top choices, so knowing I still have a chance of being admitted definitely provides some relief. 

[TMP]

14 minutes ago, historygeek said:

Oh, I know! I know they do fund some MA students (yesterday was the priority funding deadline), so I was wondering if anyone had had experience with what they usually give out. 

If yesterday was a priority funding deadline, then it may be a GOOD while before you head anything.  If there's no clear indication of when these people will hear of funding, then it 's worth asking Villanova how the priority funding deadline works in terms of timing vis-a-vis funding notifications. E-mail the DGS or grad administrator in the Department for more information. 

[historygeek]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/192JhkiVUpUNsHd0h6SgFZ4abuTeNSVfe1qEBRRPzmFc/edit?usp=sharing

I made a new funding spreadsheet. 

[hbhowe]

8 hours ago, urbanhistorynerd said:

Does anyone have any ideas on what Harvard's stipend might be? My POI told me it is the highest out of any Ph.D. program but I've seen places like Columbia + Stanford offer stuff in the 40K's.

I just spoke to a Harvard grad student I knew through work/other channels who said the Harvard stipend was "fine" and that there was a lot of money available in grants, etc. from different centers and institutes outside the history department--not a ringing endorsement but definitely not as dire as I've heard students at other schools paint their stipend situations.

[sickeagle]

Others may already be aware of this site, but http://www.phdstipends.com/results has a good searchable database of past stipends... but it could benefit from more entries! 

[urbanhistorynerd]

1 hour ago, hbhowe said:

I just spoke to a Harvard grad student I knew through work/other channels who said the Harvard stipend was "fine" and that there was a lot of money available in grants, etc. from different centers and institutes outside the history department--not a ringing endorsement but definitely not as dire as I've heard students at other schools paint their stipend situations.

I'm assuming you'll be attending admitted students day/week soon? See you there!

[adsperli]

Just a question since someone mentioned when the adcom for Wisconsin-Madison is meeting... after the admits are decided, are offers usually sent the same business day? Need to have an idea for my peace of mind.

[fortsibut]

2 hours ago, historygeek said:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/192JhkiVUpUNsHd0h6SgFZ4abuTeNSVfe1qEBRRPzmFc/edit?usp=sharing

I made a new funding spreadsheet. 

Does the old one (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10XIYhIw4fCbUend2WkA3iujfftu9TrXwR-YKcgr3JKo/edit#gid=693576939) not work for other people right now?  I can see it fine.  I have an older backed up copy as well.

[hbhowe]

1 hour ago, urbanhistorynerd said:

I'm assuming you'll be attending admitted students day/week soon? See you there!

Definitely, if I can find out when it is! Looking forward to it!

[dr. t]

5 hours ago, Sigaba said:

IMO, one should always apply to schools/programs of genuine interest regardless of concerns about adequate funding.

I don't agree, I think. Don't apply to a program that doesn't interest you just because it has good funding, but only apply to schools that can adequately support your research.

Also I confirmed earlier today that all Brown acceptances have indeed gone out. It was very early this year. If you haven't heard, I'm sorry. Consider me severely chastised for trying to think I had a grasp on the situation from France ?

[Karou]

7 hours ago, Sigaba said:

IMO, one should always apply to schools/programs of genuine interest regardless of concerns about adequate funding.

While I think this should be true, I respectfully disagree. I think it's a very subjective process based on what one prioritizes rather than an objective truth. For me there are a couple of programs that I know I would for sure not have been able to attend, unless I was willing to share a studio apartment with a stranger to get a good deal on rent —and while I'm fairly low maintenance about these things, I'm not willing to do that (I'm only sort of exaggerating with the sharing a studio thing). It made no sense to put the time, energy, and money into applying, knowing that I would have to decline the offer should I be admitted (even if it was my only offer, which would have been very difficult). I'm very much a "follow-your-heart" kind of person, but in that case I had to force myself to consider facts objectively, and in the end I opted to save myself the emotional stress of potentially being in that situation. Believe me, it was not an easy decision, and was the result of many long conversations with friends, family, and professors. All of that being said, I think there are exceptions, and if you really, really love a program and couldn't see yourself going anywhere else, you should apply, but there are many things to consider. 

@telkanuru, thank you for confirming that Brown has sent out all acceptances. Not good news on my end, but it's nice to know for sure. Also, enjoy my home country! (I know you're probably there for work rather than pleasure, but still).

Edited February 3, 2019 by Karou

[TMP]

12 hours ago, adsperli said:

Just a question since someone mentioned when the adcom for Wisconsin-Madison is meeting... after the admits are decided, are offers usually sent the same business day? Need to have an idea for my peace of mind.

Not necessarily.  Give them a few days to get themselves organized with the notifications. (Also, if it's a 4 PM meeting, people are allowed to "quit" their work for the day after that last meeting... ) 

[fortsibut]

12 hours ago, adsperli said:

Just a question since someone mentioned when the adcom for Wisconsin-Madison is meeting... after the admits are decided, are offers usually sent the same business day? Need to have an idea for my peace of mind.

Did someone say when they were meeting this year specifically?  Went back a couple of pages and didn't see it.

[Sigaba]

11 hours ago, telkanuru said:

I don't agree, I think. Don't apply to a program that doesn't interest you just because it has good funding, but only apply to schools that can adequately support your research.

FWIW, my POV is informed by an interview of Caroline Walker Bynum published in The Historian in 1996, especially her closing remarks at the end of the piece.

Also, when one applies to a program or for any position, one doesn't have full knowledge of available resources and support. You cannot learn if you qualify for a fellowship for the study of X at Happyland University  if you don't apply to Happyland University. 

(Maybe because of the way I phrased my point,I don't think we're in disagreement over the second sentence. By "genuine" I meant programs that have resources and people who can get you where you want to go.)

9 hours ago, Karou said:

While I think this should be true, I respectfully disagree. I think it's a very subjective process based on what one prioritizes rather than an objective truth. For me there are a couple of programs that I know I would for sure not have been able to attend, unless I was willing to share a studio apartment with a stranger to get a good deal on rent —and while I'm fairly low maintenance about these things,

A year from now, you may have an entirely different perspective on the relationship between the "subjective" and the "objective," as well as the possibilities of the unknown.

In any case, and FWIW, In my experience, on multiple occasions, diligent searches on craigslist and word of mouth have put in places where the tension between my need for privacy and limited finances.

Similarly, many unforeseen opportunities (as in research and job opportunities) have fallen in my lap because I kept in mind an axiom of diplomatic history: The moment one says "no," is the moment one stops being a diplomat.

My $0.02/YMMV.

[Karou]

1 hour ago, Sigaba said:

FWIW, my POV is informed by an interview of Caroline Walker Bynum published in The Historian in 1996, especially her closing remarks at the end of the piece.

Also, when one applies to a program or for any position, one doesn't have full knowledge of available resources and support. You cannot learn if you qualify for a fellowship for the study of X at Happyland University  if you don't apply to Happyland University. 

(Maybe because of the way I phrased my point,I don't think we're in disagreement over the second sentence. By "genuine" I meant programs that have resources and people who can get you where you want to go.)

A year from now, you may have an entirely different perspective on the relationship between the "subjective" and the "objective," as well as the possibilities of the unknown.

In any case, and FWIW, In my experience, on multiple occasions, diligent searches on craigslist and word of mouth have put in places where the tension between my need for privacy and limited finances.

Similarly, many unforeseen opportunities (as in research and job opportunities) have fallen in my lap because I kept in mind an axiom of diplomatic history: The moment one says "no," is the moment one stops being a diplomat.

My $0.02/YMMV.

I have to admit, I’m not entirely sure what you mean by all of this, but I’ll do my best. In terms of objectivity/subjectivity I really just meant that I know what does and doesn’t work for me, having gone through the process of moving to a new place many times -although of course every place is different, and I only have a very surface knowledge of most of the places I’m applying to/thought of applying to, so perhaps I made a poor judgement call in cutting some programs. I guess I’ll never know but I did the best I could with the information I had at hand; when it came down to it, I had way too many schools on my initial list, and affordability and funding opportunities (although as you said, it’s impossible to have a full picture of what those opportunities may be from the outside) became the tie-breaker because I could not decide which programs to cut on a purely academic level. I can be flexible and compromise on almost anything for something I really want, but if I like Program A as much as I like Program B, and Program A offers either more money, or is located somewhere where my stipend will stretch further, well that’s an obvious choice.

I realize now that my previous post may have made me sound like some sort of prima donna, but I'm actually hoping to live with my roommates, and I'm certainly not looking for anything fancy. I'm just trying to make sure that I don't blow most of my stipend on rent and utilities (you would not believe the amount of time I spent researching the average monthly cost of A/C in New Orleans after I decided to apply to Tulane), because there are things that are more of a priority for me (being able to afford to fly home every other year would be nice, for instance).

As far as remaining open to opportunities, that's certainly something I agree with, and I hope I don't come off as someone who isn't flexible or who isn't aware that seizing certain opportunities often demands compromise, because that's not me at all. I'm not always great at conveying my meaning through the internet - and I also quite obviously suck at being concise, sorry this got so long.

Lastly, I hope this doesn't sound combative, not my intention at all, I appreciate you sharing your experience, I'm just really not sure what you were trying to say (blame that on the language barrier, or a tired brain, or me being just plain clueless -very possibly, it's a combination of the three).

 

Edited February 3, 2019 by Karou

[adsperli]

2 hours ago, fortsibut said:

Did someone say when they were meeting this year specifically?  Went back a couple of pages and didn't see it.

This post here: 

 

[psstein]

15 hours ago, adsperli said:

Just a question since someone mentioned when the adcom for Wisconsin-Madison is meeting... after the admits are decided, are offers usually sent the same business day? Need to have an idea for my peace of mind.

I have no idea. Normally, they go out about a day or two later. I think I got mine on a Tuesday or something.

[fortsibut]

8 hours ago, adsperli said:

This post here: 

 

Ah thanks!

EDIT: figured I'd weigh in with my own feelings on how widely to apply and fit and all that.  I definitely feel like I didn't cast my net far enough this year due to time constraints, finances, etc.  (Having to cut my writing sample which was based off my 60+ page MA thesis down to sub-50 for a number of programs and then polishing it up while getting together my other application materials, trying to read POIs' work and contact them, working full time, and everything else that just happens in life was hard enough, but some programs (looking at you, Columbia) set the max at 20 and I'll be honest, my writing sample for Columbia did not end up being indicative of my work at all, imo.  The fit was good enough at Columbia that I figured I'd roll the dice (did the same thing at MSU with a better sample but great fit with only one prof and struck out there), but I really struggled to figure out how good the fit had to be before I applied to schools.  I looked for academic fit above all, and it just worked out that none of the schools that seemed to be good matches were in places I'd absolutely hate living so that was cool.  Also, I figured out that I could live affordably in all the places to which I applied.

That said, I'd agree with @Sigaba that you never know what you'll be offered until you apply to schools, although many of us are certainly limited at how many $65-$100+ application fees we can afford to roll the dice on.  One program I'll be applying to next year if I strike out this application cycle is the Graduate Institute Geneva, which from what I understand doesn't offer a ton of aid but some people get hooked up if they're attractive candidates.  Might get money, might not, but worth rolling the dice to find out.

Edited February 4, 2019 by fortsibut

[Karou]

@fortsibut aah yes page limits can be rough, my application to Penn wasn't great, I struggled to cut down my own sample to their 10-page limit and I think I did a rather poor job of it. Oh well! I think it's something that all Penn applicants get frustrated over. But it's also true that we as applicants (and as students in general) tend to be very self-critical of our own work, I'm sure your writing sample is better than you think it is. I hope you hear good news this application cycle.  

It's true you never know what offer you will get from a school, but like you said many of us have to limit the number of schools we can apply to in the first place. I would certainly do things differently if I were to do it all over again, I have been particularly disorganized throughout this whole process. I thought I was very prepared, but some unforeseen, last-minute changes to my project mean that I may not be a great fit for some of the schools I applied to any more. I'm glad I changed the project, it's what I really want to do (although I know these things tend to change once you're in a program), but I think it may be working against me this application season. Duke came on as a sort of last minute addition for me (and boy, am I glad that I decided to apply!!), with the new project in mind, and I think that's a big reason as to why I was successful there. Not holding my breath for any of the other places I applied to, I think I will likely strike out everywhere else. But, where I'm at is more than good enough for me, Duke is a fantastic option!

As a tally of sorts on this first Monday of February, out of my remaining 6 schools I'm assuming that I've been rejected by both Brown and Penn, very possibly Harvard as well. Waiting on Columbia, Tulane and Yale! Good luck everyone!

[kaufdichglücklich]

19 hours ago, Sigaba said:

FWIW, my POV is informed by an interview of Caroline Walker Bynum published in The Historian in 1996, especially her closing remarks at the end of the piece.

Also, when one applies to a program or for any position, one doesn't have full knowledge of available resources and support. You cannot learn if you qualify for a fellowship for the study of X at Happyland University  if you don't apply to Happyland University. 

(Maybe because of the way I phrased my point,I don't think we're in disagreement over the second sentence. By "genuine" I meant programs that have resources and people who can get you where you want to go.)

A year from now, you may have an entirely different perspective on the relationship between the "subjective" and the "objective," as well as the possibilities of the unknown.

In any case, and FWIW, In my experience, on multiple occasions, diligent searches on craigslist and word of mouth have put in places where the tension between my need for privacy and limited finances.

Similarly, many unforeseen opportunities (as in research and job opportunities) have fallen in my lap because I kept in mind an axiom of diplomatic history: The moment one says "no," is the moment one stops being a diplomat.

My $0.02/YMMV.

Absolutely agree. As long as you can afford the application fees I think prospective students should apply to all programs that interest them regardless of whether the program seems to have good funding or not. When I was applying for MA programs I applied to a school that "on paper" was unfunded, but the advisor was perfect fit for my research so I just went for it anyways. Well it turned out that my advisor felt the same way, because she was able to secure a funding package for me that was normally only given to PhD admits. Another example - a friend of mine was IN LOVE with the one year MA program at U Chicago despite everyone telling him it was a dirty pay-to-play cash cow scheme for the university. Well he applied anyways and was one of the .000001% of people who get a full tuition waiver. You really never know what is going to happen, so just apply. 

[DanaJ]

5 hours ago, Karou said:

@fortsibut aah yes page limits can be rough, my application to Penn wasn't great, I struggled to cut down my own sample to their 10-page limit and I think I did a rather poor job of it. Oh well! I think it's something that all Penn applicants get frustrated over. But it's also true that we as applicants (and as students in general) tend to be very self-critical of our own work, I'm sure your writing sample is better than you think it is. I hope you hear good news this application cycle.  

It's true you never know what offer you will get from a school, but like you said many of us have to limit the number of schools we can apply to in the first place. I would certainly do things differently if I were to do it all over again, I have been particularly disorganized throughout this whole process. I thought I was very prepared, but some unforeseen, last-minute changes to my project mean that I may not be a great fit for some of the schools I applied to any more. I'm glad I changed the project, it's what I really want to do (although I know these things tend to change once you're in a program), but I think it may be working against me this application season. Duke came on as a sort of last minute addition for me (and boy, am I glad that I decided to apply!!), with the new project in mind, and I think that's a big reason as to why I was successful there. Not holding my breath for any of the other places I applied to, I think I will likely strike out everywhere else. But, where I'm at is more than good enough for me, Duke is a fantastic option!

As a tally of sorts on this first Monday of February, out of my remaining 6 schools I'm assuming that I've been rejected by both Brown and Penn, very possibly Harvard as well. Waiting on Columbia, Tulane and Yale! Good luck everyone!

10 page limit?! I was whining about programs who had a 15 page limit (Notre Dame). My POI told me not to cut something artificially to fit a page limit, at the same time I selected a chapter from my MA thesis (it flows best in chapter form) that was 24 pages for the sample I sent to most programs. I managed to cut that to 17 for ND and hoped they wouldn't be too upset. Some of these ranges are entirely too short to allow an applicant to feel comfortable with both a strong sample and being sure that it demonstrates their interests!!

Good luck to you on your remaining applications! I've only heard back from 1 of 5, and it wasn't good news... granted they were not my top choice program and beyond my POI, I would really have struggled to find committee members, which is likely why they didn't take the chance on me! I think the next 2 weeks will be big, but 2 of my applications had rather late deadlines (Jan 15 and Feb 1), which might mean I have to wait until March to hear from them, and one is my top choice program!

[Ccthomas95]

Someone tell me that I’m not the only one finding today agonising ?