2021 Application Thread

[OHSP]

On 1/9/2021 at 8:13 AM, kchistory said:

 Is it safe to assume that if I haven't had significant exchanges with POIs, they likely are not interested in my project and that admissions is unlikely? I recognize that it is impossible to know why POIs did not respond, but I'm trying to prepare myself for the worst. Thanks for any insight!

No. Not at all a safe assumption. My advisor didn't respond to the emails I sent before I applied, they're not the kind of person to do so and it means nothing that they didn't respond. People have different styles, personalities, and boundaries. Meanwhile some profs who responded with interest never got back to me post-admissions season (at schools I got into). Professors are just people.  

[AP]

As you may begin to receive interview invitations (not all programs have them, and not all faculty do them), let me share some unsolicited and by no means exhaustive advice.

• Try as much as possible to detach yourself from your UG identity. Don't be a student, be a prospective colleague. 
• Interviews aren't that long, about 30 minutes (has anyone had a different experience?). You want to answer as many questions as possible so practice answering questions in 2-3 minutes. 
• In general, faculty want to know that you are not a jerk. Don't be a jerk. 
• You will get a question about why you want to come here. This is a chance for you to talk about about your research interests in terms of what they are offering (not in terms of you). So, talk about how faculty research inspire/inform/fir your interests, how course offerings and other training opportunities fit your professional goals, and how university-wide mission fits your persona (and this doesn't need to be very broad, think intern opportunities in the museum). 
• You will be offered to ask them questions and this is a question. Have smart questions ready, like how does the program sees itself in five years? (you'll ~on the market).

This is the most urgent themes I could think of.

[dr. t]

You can also try prompting faculty to talk about the one thing they always really want to talk about: themselves.

[AP]

11 hours ago, telkanuru said:

You can also try prompting faculty to talk about the one thing they always really want to talk about: themselves.

And a great question, for either the interview or the students weekend (which I doubt they'll do these...) is "what are you working on right now?"

[cryloren]

If you don't mind my asking, has anyone heard back from profs yet or if many are doing interviews this year? I've applied to quite a few programs by this point, and I'm trying to gauge my chances at this point

 

Thanks

[Maguire]

Hi, just like the previous poster, I’m wondering about the status of interviews and trying to gauge when decisions will come (based on past posts from the Universities I’ve applied to it seems like anytime from mid-January to early March, but quite a lot come in Feb). I’ve applied to 16 US PhD programmes and 1 MA - have already been accepted to 2 MA programmes here in the U.K. at Cambridge and Edinburgh but am hoping from good news from the US as I want to return! From what I can see, only perhaps 3/4 of the programmes I’ve applied to have done interviews in the last few years - Chicago, Yale, Berkeley. I’m a US History scholar, with a timely dissertation proposal and have held two research positions in the last year, one with a well known political scientist. I’ve been in touch with at least 2 professors from every university but one - so 15/16 - (in some cases I’ve corresponded with 4 or 5) and have had positive responses (this was a few months back), with several seeming keen. Hoping for the best - and for my fellow applicants also. But yes, if anyone could answer the post above and my query about timing and perhaps allay our concerns slightly? 

Edited January 11, 2021 by scarletwitch

[history45]

I am also a little anxious about the application interviews/ decisions but it seems like the history departments have not had much activity (I have not heard anything either). I would not panic - I'm sure there will be more updates in the next couple of weeks!

[coffeehum]

I've heard from one POI who wants to talk soon. The program doesn't seem to have a formal interview process, so I was surprised to hear from them and am more anxious about the radio silence from the rest of my programs as a result. I think it's to be expected though. Hang in there, everyone!

[Naijagirl]

Hi, 

Cryloren. I've applied for PhD in History for this application Season. I've heard back from Yale to schedule an informal chat, but haven't heard back from other programs. I believe February is when we'll start to hear back properly. It feels very long though right now for sure. 

[cryloren]

1 hour ago, Naijagirl said:

Hi, 

Cryloren. I've applied for PhD in History for this application Season. I've heard back from Yale to schedule an informal chat, but haven't heard back from other programs. I believe February is when we'll start to hear back properly. It feels very long though right now for sure. 

 

1 hour ago, coffeehum said:

I've heard from one POI who wants to talk soon. The program doesn't seem to have a formal interview process, so I was surprised to hear from them and am more anxious about the radio silence from the rest of my programs as a result. I think it's to be expected though. Hang in there, everyone!

 

2 hours ago, scarletwitch said:

Hi, just like the previous poster, I’m wondering about the status of interviews and trying to gauge when decisions will come (based on past posts from the Universities I’ve applied to it seems like anytime from mid-January to early March, but quite a lot come in Feb). I’ve applied to 16 US PhD programmes and 1 MA - have already been accepted to 2 MA programmes here in the U.K. at Cambridge and Edinburgh but am hoping from good news from the US as I want to return! From what I can see, only perhaps 3/4 of the programmes I’ve applied to have done interviews in the last few years - Chicago, Yale, Berkeley. I’m a US History scholar, with a timely dissertation proposal and have held two research positions in the last year, one with a well known political scientist. I’ve been in touch with at least 2 professors from every university but one - so 15/16 - (in some cases I’ve corresponded with 4 or 5) and have had positive responses (this was a few months back), with several seeming keen. Hoping for the best - and for my fellow applicants also. But yes, if anyone could answer the post above and my query about timing and perhaps allay our concerns slightly? 

 

1 hour ago, coffeehum said:

I've heard from one POI who wants to talk soon. The program doesn't seem to have a formal interview process, so I was surprised to hear from them and am more anxious about the radio silence from the rest of my programs as a result. I think it's to be expected though. Hang in there, everyone!

Thank you all! I've had total radio silence from all programs, so this gives me a good idea. I would assume, then, that my chances of getting into a program are low?

 

Edited January 11, 2021 by cryloren
context and question

[kleio]

1 hour ago, cryloren said:

 

 

 

Thank you all! I've had total radio silence from all programs, so this gives me a good idea. I would assume, then, that my chances of getting into a program are low?

 

Radio silence too, but trying to hang in there! I was not expecting to hear back from anyone this early anyways. Good luck everyone! Will keep checking here for updates. 

[OHSP]

5 hours ago, cryloren said:

If you don't mind my asking, has anyone heard back from profs yet or if many are doing interviews this year? I've applied to quite a few programs by this point, and I'm trying to gauge my chances at this point

 

Thanks

It's way too early. Many schools won't start getting back to people until late Jan to early-mid Feb. 

[OHSP]

2 hours ago, cryloren said:

 

 

 

Thank you all! I've had total radio silence from all programs, so this gives me a good idea. I would assume, then, that my chances of getting into a program are low?

 

Sorry to reply twice but what's up with all of the wild assumptions this year. This waiting period is unpleasant but some schools are probably only just beginning to download applications. 

[dr. t]

I mean, "my chances of getting into a program are low" is blanket a good assumption. 

[QuarantineQuail]

55 minutes ago, telkanuru said:

I mean, "my chances of getting into a program are low" is blanket a good assumption. 

Concurring. It took me three cycles to get into a funded MA program, and I've had very qualified friends with similar experiences. There are hundreds of people with brilliant resumes applying for just a few spots at pretty much every university, your chances are slim. But that's not a reason to despair!

[coffeehum]

1 hour ago, OHSP said:

Sorry to reply twice but what's up with all of the wild assumptions this year. This waiting period is unpleasant but some schools are probably only just beginning to download applications. 

I think it's because there is a steady stream of "interview offers" recorded in the results database. Many of the interviews are with programs that don't say anything about an interview being a part of the application process. Hard to say whether all of the "interviews" being noted are formal or informal, standardized or unique to specific professors, but it sure does exacerbate one's nerves to see the list grow. 

[TMP]

Not to be a Debbie Downer but this is a very good indication of what this year's admissions will look like. This is from Harvard.  My program at Ohio State will admit only 5 students.

 

Edited January 12, 2021 by TMP

[OHSP]

4 hours ago, QuarantineQuail said:

Concurring. It took me three cycles to get into a funded MA program, and I've had very qualified friends with similar experiences. There are hundreds of people with brilliant resumes applying for just a few spots at pretty much every university, your chances are slim. But that's not a reason to despair!

It’s fair to be nervous! My advice though is that you just have no idea what’s going on in a dept, and the admissions season is not over until it’s over. Covid obviously makes shit worse but departments are always somewhat unpredictable. There have been more posts this year in which people begin to despair prematurely. Despairing will just make everything worse—see if you can just tell yourself that the probability of hearing anything before the end of Jan is very unlikely, and then get on with whatever else you need to do. It’s definitely harder said than done but let the admissions cycle run its course before you assume that you’re out of the running.

 

**this isn’t really a response to @QuarantineQuail, just following on from their post.

Edited January 12, 2021 by OHSP

[Maguire]

1 hour ago, OHSP said:

It’s fair to be nervous! My advice though is that you just have no idea what’s going on in a dept, and the admissions season is not over until it’s over. Covid obviously makes shit worse but departments are always somewhat unpredictable. There have been more posts this year in which people begin to despair prematurely. Despairing will just make everything worse—see if you can just tell yourself that the probability of hearing anything before the end of Jan is very unlikely, and then get on with whatever else you need to do. It’s definitely harder said than done but let the admissions cycle run its course before you assume that you’re out of the running.

 

**this isn’t really a response to @QuarantineQuail, just following on from their post.

Thanks - this is really helpful. I agree that everyone seems to be more nervous this year than usual (myself included!), but since many don’t do interviews I think we don’t need to worry about not hearing anything this month (also I think it depends on who your POI is). I think it may be likely - depending on where you’ve applied - some may hear towards the end of this month, but February is definitely the far more common month to hear back from places. It’s hard to not think about it and be quite tense this month, but it’s only 2.5 weeks to February so at least we know resolutions are on the horizon. 

[Manana]

I've had an interview today and I feel like it didn't go great. Like it wasn't horrible, but I was nervous and not prepared and so I forgot important points in my answers and my english (not a native speaker) wasn't great at all, I stuttered and forgot words a lot. The good thing is, I know my prospective advisor is very interested in my proposed project (he mentioned it several times in emails and repeated it during the interview). 

So my question is- should I send an email? Is it considered appropriate to ask for a second interview, or to try to explain my performance? Just for reference, this is an English university.

[AfricanusCrowther]

28 minutes ago, Manana said:

So my question is- should I send an email? Is it considered appropriate to ask for a second interview, or to try to explain my performance? Just for reference, this is an English university.

No -- just send a thank you email.

[AP]

1 hour ago, Manana said:

I've had an interview today and I feel like it didn't go great. Like it wasn't horrible, but I was nervous and not prepared and so I forgot important points in my answers and my english (not a native speaker) wasn't great at all, I stuttered and forgot words a lot. The good thing is, I know my prospective advisor is very interested in my proposed project (he mentioned it several times in emails and repeated it during the interview). 

So my question is- should I send an email? Is it considered appropriate to ask for a second interview, or to try to explain my performance? Just for reference, this is an English university.

No. If you send a second email it should ONLY be to thank them.  

[AP]

I realize maybe my post might have contributed with the anxiety. But it was aim this way: are you waiting it out? Put your time to use and prepare for possible interviews. And yes, "interviews" can be an umbrella term for anything from an informal phone conversation to a more structured meeting. 

[TheWiggins]

For the question of how to write an impactful statement of purpose - here is my attempt. 

[Maguire]

Does anyone know if interviews are essential to getting accepted to the Yale History PhD programme? I’ve seen people posting about getting interviews from them but have not heard anything myself. I have previously corresponded with 2 professors in the department and those exchanges were positive. Have seen cases where people have gotten in without interviews but don’t really know what to expect? Thanks in advance.