2020 application thread

[snackademic]

What's going on with the sprinkling of results from Columbia and Harvard? So confusing!

[norellehannah]

3 hours ago, aco2 said:

Are any of the people on here the Stanford acceptances? And if so, what are your fields/ POIs?

I'm one of them (though I still don't believe it's real)! I'm early modern Europe/gender and sexuality, and my email was from Findlen!

[Carrots112]

5 minutes ago, norellehannah said:

I'm one of them (though I still don't believe it's real)! I'm early modern Europe/gender and sexuality, and my email was from Findlen!

Massive congratulations!!! 

[norellehannah]

19 minutes ago, Carrots112 said:

Massive congratulations!!! 

thank you so much!! congrats to you on Yale!!

[snackademic]

Is it a bad idea to reach out to POIs inquiring about application status?

[aco2]

1 hour ago, norellehannah said:

I'm one of them (though I still don't believe it's real)! I'm early modern Europe/gender and sexuality, and my email was from Findlen!

Congrats, that's huge!!

[schlesinger1]

1 hour ago, snackademic said:

Is it a bad idea to reach out to POIs inquiring about application status?

Unfortunately, yes, bad idea

[snackademic]

1 hour ago, schlesinger1 said:

Unfortunately, yes, bad idea

Ha, I thought so but thought I'd ask. The silence is so nerve-wracking! Thanks for your feedback.

[TMP]

On 1/28/2020 at 12:07 AM, TMP said:

Unless they specifically told you to contact them around a certain time, refrain from emailing them. You will always be waiting for things: TA assignments, fellowship decisions, answer from your committee whether you passed your written exams, a decision from a conference, etc. etc.  Use this time to work on building your level of tolerance and patience from molten lava to steel.

@snackademic Your friendly reminder.   

[histofsci]

16 hours ago, AP said:

Wait, am I reading this correctly? The 2019 cohort is 24 students? 

Yes, I believe so! If you look at some of the other programs, it's much smaller. 

[dr. t]

6 minutes ago, histofsci said:

Yes, I believe so! If you look at some of the other programs, it's much smaller. 

That's because cohort sizes of 20 are quite frankly irresponsible.

[jocelynbymarcjacobs]

Looks like some Columbia rejections went out. Anyone else still have nothing in their portal?

[icanhavephdasatreat]

Hey folks, I'm a little confused about what to do. Columbia seems to have sent out acceptances a few days ago via updates to portal. I didn't receive one, so I assumed myself to be rejected. Today, it seems like people are receiving emails to check their portals that contain rejection letters. I didn't receive one of those either. I've also checked the portal and have no status updates. I'm not sure how to interpret that information--should I contact the admissions office and ask about my status? I'm not sure if rejection letters are populated to the portal at the same time, but it doesn't strike me as a one by one sort of process. Any advice would be appreciated. 

[svjfdbbre123]

38 minutes ago, icanhavephdasatreat said:

Hey folks, I'm a little confused about what to do. Columbia seems to have sent out acceptances a few days ago via updates to portal. I didn't receive one, so I assumed myself to be rejected. Today, it seems like people are receiving emails to check their portals that contain rejection letters. I didn't receive one of those either. I've also checked the portal and have no status updates. I'm not sure how to interpret that information--should I contact the admissions office and ask about my status? I'm not sure if rejection letters are populated to the portal at the same time, but it doesn't strike me as a one by one sort of process. Any advice would be appreciated. 

I skyped with my POIs on Wednesday and they said they are still waiting for the final decision made by the central committee. My field is international/global history. 

[AP]

39 minutes ago, icanhavephdasatreat said:

Hey folks, I'm a little confused about what to do. Columbia seems to have sent out acceptances a few days ago via updates to portal. I didn't receive one, so I assumed myself to be rejected. Today, it seems like people are receiving emails to check their portals that contain rejection letters. I didn't receive one of those either. I've also checked the portal and have no status updates. I'm not sure how to interpret that information--should I contact the admissions office and ask about my status? I'm not sure if rejection letters are populated to the portal at the same time, but it doesn't strike me as a one by one sort of process. Any advice would be appreciated. 

You wait. 

[AP]

2 hours ago, telkanuru said:

That's because cohort sizes of 20 are quite frankly irresponsible.

Utterly irresponsible. I don’t know why I’m so surprised.... 

[IGoToWar]

On 2/5/2020 at 11:44 AM, historyofsloths said:

For those who have been accepted, was there a particular song you played to celebrate? I'm interested in creating a happy playlist. In the same vein, for those who have received rejections, was there a song you immediately started playing/hearing in your head? For me it was Rainbow Connection, mainly to give myself some hope and because you can make it sound really sad in your head lol.

I had this playing when I received an acceptance e-mail late last night from one of my top choices.

It gets pretty good around 3:50

[histofsci]

I'm still waiting on Columbia, too! *obsessively checks SPAM folder*

I don't expect to get in but the wait is killing me.

 

Edit: Rejection is posted to the portal! No email.

Edited February 7, 2020 by histofsci
Added update

[gatto]

Also got rejected from Columbia without email notification. I wasn't expecting to get in (1. It's Columbia, 2. Unlikely to have an advisor for my field of interest, 3. IT'S COLUMBIA) but now I'm getting antsy about the other three schools I'm waiting on. NYU is feeling like a rejection at this point, but does anyone know where UCSB and Rutgers stand with applications so far? Will they start sending out decisions soon? 

[historyofsloths]

22 minutes ago, gatto said:

Also got rejected from Columbia without email notification. I wasn't expecting to get in (1. It's Columbia, 2. Unlikely to have an advisor for my field of interest, 3. IT'S COLUMBIA) but now I'm getting antsy about the other three schools I'm waiting on. NYU is feeling like a rejection at this point, but does anyone know where UCSB and Rutgers stand with applications so far? Will they start sending out decisions soon? 

Rutgers is around the same time as Penn, so likely next week and the week after you'll hear something. They send out rejections near the end of February. No clue about UCSB, though. Good luck! 

[Sigaba]

4 hours ago, telkanuru said:

That's because cohort sizes of 20 are quite frankly irresponsible.

 

2 hours ago, AP said:

Utterly irresponsible. I don’t know why I’m so surprised.... 

Not necessarily.

If you are responsible for a budget you want to hit your targets for both costs/expenses and revenue otherwise you may get less money the following fiscal year, if not following fiscal years as well.  (This use it or lose it approach to budgets explains the spending sprees departments/organizations both private and public go on at the end of fiscal years.)

Also, if a program is getting evaluated based upon key performance indicators (KPIs) beyond completion and job performance, you may end up with larger entering classes from time to time. 

Additionally, individual professors may getting evaluated based upon KPIs and, therefore, looking to supervise more graduate students. Or younger professors are exploring their own personal professional identities by throwing bigger hats in the ring.

Penultimately , an entering class may have a number of legacy students -- undergraduates who have specific academic pedigrees that (right or wrong) are taken as indicators of future levels of high performance and professional achievement. And/or they have the same last names as various campus halls, buildings, and facilities.

Finally, this year's admissions class may be that good. Applicants may be better than we were. This year's application thread was exceptionally quiet. It may well be that a larger number of aspiring graduate students received more hands-on support and mentoring from professors and graduate students than in years past. The one to one interaction would not only have made for stronger applications, it would also make for applicants better prepared for the rigors of graduate school.

My $0.02.

[Marier]

55 minutes ago, gatto said:

Also got rejected from Columbia without email notification. I wasn't expecting to get in (1. It's Columbia, 2. Unlikely to have an advisor for my field of interest, 3. IT'S COLUMBIA) but now I'm getting antsy about the other three schools I'm waiting on. NYU is feeling like a rejection at this point, but does anyone know where UCSB and Rutgers stand with applications so far? Will they start sending out decisions soon? 

For those wondering about NYU. Just had an informal interview with my POI 5mn ago, told me admission results will be posted probably next week (in the best case scenario) or the week after that. Visit day on March 27th. Said they're only able to accept 15 students: 4-5ppl for the History Programme, and 2 for each Joint History programmes.

Edited February 7, 2020 by Marier

[Michael Scarn]

1 minute ago, Marier said:

For those wondering about NYU. Just had an informal interview with my POI 5mn ago, he told me admission results will be posted probably next week (in the best case scenario) or the week after that. Visit day on March 27th. He also said they're only able to accept 15 students: 4-5ppl for the History Programme, and 2 for each Joint History programmes.

Can I ask who your POI is at NYU? I’m also applying to the Joint program. You can PM me 

[Sigaba]

@Marier @Michael Scarn

IME, discretion is critical when receiving and sharing information from professors, especially from younger professors who are still figuring things out for themselves.

Even if the information shared is not confidential, it is important to know if it is shared in confidence.

"I have it on good authority that announcements will be made in a week or so..." is better than "Professor X told me..."

[jocelynbymarcjacobs]

Unfortunately received a rejection from Columbia, but I’m not too surprised. Anyone else apply to University of Washington?