University of Texas - Austin 2008

[Minnesotan]

Okay, this is the last of the four that I remember people asking for. If more universities need their own thread to keep the general history discussion a bit cleaner, go ahead and add them in the format below:

Full School Name Year

[scirefaciat]

So has anyone heard anything yet? Other than the rejections yesterday, has anyone heard any good news?

[Nofia]

no good news...and no change to the status page either. harumph!

[BC08]

Nothing yet.....

[scirefaciat]

Dear UT:

You are really starting to annoy me. Can we get some kind of response? At this point, I'd just like the closure.

Give me something. Anything. Please?

Puppies and rainbows,

A.

Edited to Add: Rejected.

[BC08]

Rejected, checked website a few minutes ago. That's my first decision so far, and it feels like I've been punched in the gut by the schoolyard bully and had my Red Sox hat stolen. :cry:

Still praying for Brown, but each day that goes by without contact lessens my hope. Looks like I'll be enrolling at Harvard ALM if the trend continues.

[Minnesotan]

Sorry, guys. I saw the results on the board, and my heart sank. I knew a bunch of my fellow history nerds were waiting on this school.

If it helps, my only response has been a rejection from my dream program on Valentine's Day. The gf was less than thrilled about that.

Chin up. Plenty more schools to hear from. =)

[Nofia]

Argh, rejected by this one too. now I have only 2 schools to hear from...I'm getting very nervous since I'm 0-3 right now, and UT was one of the schools where I got encouraging emails from two of the professors when I wrote them back in the fall.

[scirefaciat]

crazy! Maybe someone declined?

[Pegona]

My online status was changed to accepted about a week ago now, but I still haven't received any email or letter concerning my apparent acceptance.

I'm not sure UT has their act together.

[AMC]

Hey Guys~

I got accepted to UT Austin and the admitted students event happens this Thurs - Sat Mar 6-8.

I don't know what this means for acceptance/rejection but I just wanted to weigh in and let you know!

[Pegona]

I got an email from them today saying that my formal acceptance letter was just put into the mail, after being misdirected.

So, I have no idea about funding or a recruitment weekend.

I don't plan to matriculate there, though, so neither's really an issue.

[rising_star]

So, for those of you with weird information on the online system- I would contact the dept. since it seems like their online system is malfunctioning.

From the dept.:

I apologize for the mixed information. The letter is correct. The denial is a mistake. Congratulations!

If there is any way I can help you make your decision regarding your acceptance, please let me know.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Good luck you guys!

YAY!! Congrats! Glad to hear it worked out for you!

[Pegona]

Does UT have a waitlist?

[pjizz]

i got all excited when you guys said the online notifications could be wrong...so i called my mom to check the letter they sent and she said it was a rejection

oh well, at this point it would have just added to the difficulty of making a decision.

[AMC]

AMC- I have no idea why I have received no information about the admitted student event other than the fact that it seems that I was a second tier admit (i.e. no fellowship to lure me in) but could not have been on a 'secret' waitlist because not enough time has elapsed since notifications for people to have turned down offers. Regardless...what is your area and is UT one of your top choices right now?

Hello Totallyfreakingout~

I'm sorry about your decision see-saw, but I am glad that you received admission!

It seems that with the admissions process I jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. I had exceptional luck and have been offered admission to 7 programs, several of which are "higher ranked" than UT Austin's history. However, after having visited two of the schools and UT Austin this weekend I found that accepting a program to attend is going to be almost as emotional and difficult as waiting for admissions decision notifications.

The faculty at UT are incredible, amazing and are very interested in seeing my topic- labor/business history -pursued at their university, so much so that I have received a national fellowship that would effectively ensure that I have no financial or other woes to stand in between me and the pursuit of my topic.

I know that funding is a HUGE issue, but I would really encourage you and everyone to visit the programs you are considering before making a decision.

Before this weekend, I could have told you 100% that I was going to another top program, even though it meant lower funding and living in a small, cold and isolated city. But now... I'm not so sure.

So I am stuck with an age old proposition- go to the school with "prestige" and expert faculty with a solid funding package. OR go to a lower ranked program with a phenomenal package, cool, affordable area and a strong, caring faculty.

Any thoughts????

[AMC]

Thanks Totally~

You're post really helped.

I do understand your hesitation about UCLA, and I was born and raised in Los Angeles.

Its too bad that I couldn't meet you over this weekend, there were several "Latin Americanists" and they were very excited and the faculty were truly engaging.

I hope that you and your partner work it out so that you can be in the same city, however, commuting from So. Cal to S.B. won't be difficult- but impossible and astronomically expensive. If you are looking at how far your funding dollar will stretch at UCLA, let me point out the following:

- The apartments around the campus (which border Beverly Hills, Brentwood and Santa Monica) are small, congested, noisy and expensive- we're talking $1,400 for a one bedroom if you are lucky, $2,200 if not.

- LA is an automobile city and you WILL need a car, there are no two ways about it. This brings in high insurance costs (currently $2,500 a year with a spotless driving record) and gas prices (I just filled up my tank for a whopping $3.89 a gallon!!!)

-LA culture: the campus is on the lovely side of the city, but the atmosphere is decidedly anti-intellectual. There are no study havens, no parks of quiet rest and no academic stimulation. There is the beach, the movies and the clubs. And there are traffic and parking woes to each!

I have three more campus visits before I have to make my final decision, but thanks for your help and I will keep you posted.

(by the way, LA is not SOOO gross and nasty, rather it's wide-spread, economically stratified and the pollution does make for pretty sunsets!)

[bleistift]

So, the choice is between UCLA and UCSB (though for a bit- before my partner heard and after I heard, UT was in the running). UCLA- the pros are obvious. The cons- L.A. is possibly the grossest, most polluted, most congested, sprawl of nastiness that has ever existed. Out of all of the cities to which I applied (including Bloomington, IN) L.A. was at the bottom of my list. Additionally, I have spoken to several UCLA defectors who do not like the assembly line mentality of most of the faculty there. Let's face it, I like attention- lots of it. I want an advisor who cares, who introduces me to people, who tries to help me get a job. Further, UCSB has a great placement record and many graduates are tenured at the types of universities in which I am interested in teaching...small, liberal arts colleges and the like. So, having said all of that...I am still trying to fight off the little obnoxious voice in my head that keep screaming, "UCLA?!?!? You have to go there- especially if you get an outside fellowship! You lucky bastard!"

I have to jump in and comment. Like AMC, I was born and raised in Southern California. I'm not taking offense to the characterization of LA as grossly polluted, overcrowded, etc. It's true. But like all stereotypes, it's ultimately, well, stereotypical.

First of all, UCLA is located in west LA, which is only miles from the coast. You will experience very little of the terrible pollution that affects the inland areas. I'm not sure if you are aware, but about half of LA, including downtown, is nestled in a valley between mountains (we call them mountains, but they're actually hills). The pollution generated by our terrible auto-centric culture is trapped in between the hills of east LA and the San Gabriel mountains, which essentially leaves the LA basin swimming in a cloud of pollutants. However, in UCLA you will be lucky -- the sea breeze in the day means your air quality is often 50% better than that of the inland.

Second, California has perhaps the most wonderful weather anywhere in the US. It's sunny all year round. Our idea of winter is 60F and cloudy. Rain bothers us perhaps 3 weeks a year. Even when you're stuck in the library, it's difficult not to smile when you can still enjoy the blue skies and sunny warmth permeating through the window during paragraph breaks.

West LA has quite a lovely culture, plus Westwood Village is definitely catered towards the college students. Wonderful restaurants (including an In N Out minutes from campus) abound, nightlife if you head east on the 10, and easy access to the beach to the west. Oh, and you're talking about a school that has been in the Final Four, what, the past 3 years in a row? And a football rivalry that is among the fiercest in the west coast. I guess it's strange to mention sports in a history forum, but you'd be surprised at how 3 hours of cheering on a Saturday will lift your spirits after a week of being locked up in archives and seminars.