Applications 2019

[abolish_ice]

I'm new here and not sure how this works, so forgive me if this is not the right place for this query. I'd love to chat with some folks who are considering the programs I'm considering and hear their thoughts before campus visits. Is there a different forum for that?

I'd welcome anyone who's considering Stanford, Princeton or Harvard to slide into my DMs.

Congrats to all!

[daradara]

6 minutes ago, historygeek said:

This is such a fantastic forum. I love seeing everyone have so much genuine support for one another! 

I've gotten radio silence from almost all of the places I applied to, which I'm finally feeling okay about. I'm actually probably going to go to Villanova, depending on how funding goes! I applied for not only departmental funding, but an assistantship in the Graduate Office as well. Fingers crossed! 

The Villanova offer was for an MA, right? When I graduated from my BA, I decided not to apply to PhD and went to an MA first because I felt like I did not have the skills to be comfortable doing research at a high level. In fact, I did not feel like I even had a clear idea of what I really wanted to research. It really was the best decision I could make for my development and I felt quite confident applying for PhD this year because I was able to get extensive language training, settle on a robust and innovative topic, and get a deep understanding of the scholarship in my field. Personally, I recommend an MA to anyone, and hopefully the funding goes well for you. I did my BA at University of Pennsylvania and I visited Villanova when I was taking a language certification exam and it really is a beautiful campus! The whole Philadelphia metro is a great place very rich in education and culture, and the city proper is one of my favorite places in the world, up there with places likes NYC and Tokyo for me.

[historygeek]

Just now, daradara said:

The Villanova offer was for an MA, right? When I graduated from my BA, I decided not to apply to PhD and went to an MA first because I felt like I did not have the skills to be comfortable doing research at a high level. In fact, I did not feel like I even had a clear idea of what I really wanted to research. It really was the best decision I could make for my development and I felt quite confident applying for PhD this year because I was able to get extensive language training, settle on a robust and innovative topic, and get a deep understanding of the scholarship in my field. Personally, I recommend an MA to anyone, and hopefully the funding goes well for you. I did my BA at University of Pennsylvania and I visited Villanova when I was taking a language certification exam and it really is a beautiful campus! The whole Philadelphia metro is a great place very rich in education and culture, and the city proper is one of my favorite places in the world, up there with places likes NYC and Tokyo for me.

Yes, Villanova only offers Masters degrees! I wrote about this on another thread, but I actually decided to switch from 20th century American to European history (possibly medieval/early modern), so I'm hoping to be able to get a funded masters to get my footing there. The pictures of campus are absolutely stunning-- it looks like something out of a movie! I've never been to Philadelphia, but it seems like one can get a decent apartment there for relatively inexpensive, which is a plus for me.   I'm glad to hear that the metro area is so awesome!

[TexasTiger]

So five listed Princeton acceptances...we can probably assume they sent all their acceptances

Edited February 12, 2019 by TexasTiger

[DanaJ]

45 minutes ago, daradara said:

The Villanova offer was for an MA, right? When I graduated from my BA, I decided not to apply to PhD and went to an MA first because I felt like I did not have the skills to be comfortable doing research at a high level. In fact, I did not feel like I even had a clear idea of what I really wanted to research. It really was the best decision I could make for my development and I felt quite confident applying for PhD this year because I was able to get extensive language training, settle on a robust and innovative topic, and get a deep understanding of the scholarship in my field. Personally, I recommend an MA to anyone, and hopefully the funding goes well for you. I did my BA at University of Pennsylvania and I visited Villanova when I was taking a language certification exam and it really is a beautiful campus! The whole Philadelphia metro is a great place very rich in education and culture, and the city proper is one of my favorite places in the world, up there with places likes NYC and Tokyo for me.

100% agree! I never considered skipping the MA and even just picking a thesis topic made me rethink what I wanted to research. I feel like I would have been completely unprepared to apply to doctoral programs without my MA. Although now that the application stress is over, I have to finish and defend my thesis! My acceptance to my top choice program is conditional upon completion of my MA and I feel behind!

[potsupotsu]

43 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

So five listed Princeton acceptances...we can probably assume they sent all their acceptances

?

Sorry to hear that.

It was always kind of an expected rejection for me since it was the only school I applied to without contacting my POI first. It wasn't the best fit, though I think my POI there would be a good mentor for my project.

[luz.colorada]

Did anyone else here apply to Michigan's joint Women's Studies/ History PhD? 

[kxlx]

Good luck for those who got accepted to Princeton!

I also applied to Princeton, had a very positive response from the POI but now I'm anxious about the offer... Haven't got any news yet. 

 

 

[hpleon]

Hi guys,

I am offered admission from University of Kentucky for PhD in Medieval history.

But as an international student, I find I do not really understand the department.

Can anyone share me some information about the doctoral program and the department of history?

[Karou]

Congratulations @Jericho and @Tigla!! Very happy for you both!

And good vibes to anyone still anxiously waiting.

[TsarandProphet]

I was waitlisted at UMich and presumably rejected from Harvard, Chicago, and Princeton. I plan to accept the offer from Yale soon, so I hope it gives someone a seat at the University of Illinois.

[DanaJ]

4 hours ago, hpleon said:

Hi guys,

I am offered admission from University of Kentucky for PhD in Medieval history.

But as an international student, I find I do not really understand the department.

Can anyone share me some information about the doctoral program and the department of history?

I have also been offered acceptance to UK, PM me!!!!

i don’t know anything about medieval history specifically but I’ve been working to understand the program overall!

 

edit: we can work our way through figuring it out together.

Edited February 12, 2019 by DanaJ

[Jericho]

3 hours ago, Karou said:

Congratulations @Jericho and @Tigla!! Very happy for you both!

And good vibes to anyone still anxiously waiting.

Thank you!

[L13]

On 2/10/2019 at 9:12 AM, AnUglyBoringNerd said:

Mhm...I don't know about this. I feel what happens is that if the committee/professors at that specific school don't see us as a perfect match, we get rejected. This surely is more or less subjective, but does not necessarily mean that those professors are wrong. After all, it's more about what they think of us, not what we think of them. This might be sub-field specific, but my POIs from Harvard and Columbia both mentioned that they reviewed all the applications to my sub-field carefully. So, I no longer think the decision making in my sub-field is that random and arbitrary. Also, at least one of my POIs mentioned (figuratively) that someone whose style matches that of Harvard may not match the style of Columbia. 

You can DEFINITELY get rejected from a program even if you’re a ‘perfect match’ for a number of reasons. That doesn’t mean professors assess applications randomly or without care; it just means it’s a complicated process with many factors determining the outcome.

[FedeHikari]

Congratulations on the many admissions! I'm waiting to hear from Princeton (though I did not apply through History department, but from East Asian Studies) and few others...Do you guys think things are handled separately? Because my subfield is Japanese history and I don't know whether they consider all the Japanese history application together regardless of department? 

[AfricanusCrowther]

1 hour ago, L13 said:

You can DEFINITELY get rejected from a program even if you’re a ‘perfect match’ for a number of reasons. That doesn’t mean professors assess applications randomly or without care; it just means it’s a complicated process with many factors determining the outcome.

That's definitely true. Sometimes POIs will let you know about these factors in advance (i.e., "we're not taking early modernists this year"), but unfortunately that's not always the case.

[elx]

17 hours ago, hahahahaleigh said:

I know that this is something that's often said, but how often is this really the case? Two of my schools have already sent out offers (USC and UCLA), and UCLA has handed out some rejections. I haven't heard anything from either school. UCLA is my top choice so I am really hoping I'm on some sort of waitlist or something, but I'm also trying not to get my hopes up.

I think there's always a chance because the top choice applicants are likely to apply to all unis, get accepted in several, and then inevitably need to turn all but one offers down. It might not be the most likely outcome, but it's a possibility. Chin up

Edit: Also, did you guys see the new NYU acceptance on the results page! They're really keeping us on their toes, aren't they? Though both of the accepted applicants were notified on 7th Feb so maybe their results are out but a very small cohort and not many of them gradcafe obsessed?

Edited February 12, 2019 by elx

[historygeek]

Let me just say that I really hope I get any rejections on/by Thursday. Friday is my birthday. 

[Balleu]

17 minutes ago, historygeek said:

Let me just say that I really hope I get any rejections on/by Thursday. Friday is my birthday. 

Ooof, I can relate. Mine was this past Sunday, it was a "milestone" birthday, and although I did my best to keep focused on the moment.... it's not easy. I hope Friday is a great day for you and that all news comes before then.

[elx]

27 minutes ago, historygeek said:

Let me just say that I really hope I get any rejections on/by Thursday. Friday is my birthday. 

Oh no! Have you thought about logging off your emails for a day? I got my rejection email on my Mum's birthday (Friday), she came to visit me for the weekend and I was really listless all through the time we were meant to be celebrating. It sucked -- and it wasn't even my bday.

[historygeek]

Just now, elx said:

Oh no! Have you thought about logging off your emails for a day? I got my rejection email on my Mum's birthday (Friday), she came to visit me for the weekend and I was really listless all through the time we were meant to be celebrating. It sucked -- and it wasn't even my bday.

Yeah, I think I'm going to turn off email notifications! 

[Balleu]

1 hour ago, elx said:

I think there's always a chance because the top choice applicants are likely to apply to all unis, get accepted in several, and then inevitably need to turn all but one offers down. It might not be the most likely outcome, but it's a possibility. Chin up

Yes, it's certainly the case that top applicants will get multiple offers. But I wonder about all the other moving pieces that go into a second-round offer? For example, when someone turns down an offer, I assume the school would move to fill that slot with another applicant from roughly the same field? I'm sure there are even more factors other than field that I'm not thinking of at the moment.

I'm keeping up my hopes about a second round offer at Wisconsin/Northwestern, or an acceptance at Cornell. I'm assuming rejection at Yale and Princeton, but I knew the outcomes of those programs would be impossible to predict. 

[confusatory]

2 hours ago, elx said:

I think there's always a chance because the top choice applicants are likely to apply to all unis, get accepted in several, and then inevitably need to turn all but one offers down. It might not be the most likely outcome, but it's a possibility. Chin up

Edit: Also, did you guys see the new NYU acceptance on the results page! They're really keeping us on their toes, aren't they? Though both of the accepted applicants were notified on 7th Feb so maybe their results are out but a very small cohort and not many of them gradcafe obsessed?

Ah well, I just got rejected from UCLA this morning, so it seems that I wasn’t waitlisted.

[elx]

36 minutes ago, hahahahaleigh said:

Ah well, I just got rejected from UCLA this morning, so it seems that I wasn’t waitlisted.

That sucks, I'm sorry!

1 hour ago, Balleu said:

Yes, it's certainly the case that top applicants will get multiple offers. But I wonder about all the other moving pieces that go into a second-round offer? For example, when someone turns down an offer, I assume the school would move to fill that slot with another applicant from roughly the same field? I'm sure there are even more factors other than field that I'm not thinking of at the moment.

I'm keeping up my hopes about a second round offer at Wisconsin/Northwestern, or an acceptance at Cornell. I'm assuming rejection at Yale and Princeton, but I knew the outcomes of those programs would be impossible to predict. 

Yeah it probably would be the same field an offer was declined in, but who's to say that's not going to be your field?! Also, I've no idea how rejections work but lots of Yale ones have gone out (if the results page is to be trusted), but you haven't yet got one. It might mean nothing, but it also might mean they're still considering your application!

[Franker89]

Has anyone else been waitlisted at Princeton? How many people do you think get waitlisted? Chances of being pulled off the waitlist?

Edited February 12, 2019 by youngblood79