2021 Application Thread

[history202-]

whoops, double post.

Edited February 10, 2021 by history202-
double post

[history202-]

29 minutes ago, scarletwitch said:

I think it’s probably an authentic result but am surprised there is just one so far as usually you would see more than one, but then this cycle is super weird so who knows ??‍♀️

Yeah, I guess if Princeton also decided to only admit a handful of students, then it is certainly possible that others are not on this site.

[HardyBoy]

3 minutes ago, history202- said:

Yeah, I guess if Princeton also decided to only admit a handful of students, then it is certainly possible that others are not on this site.

I do know that Princeton trimmed its cohort size a little, but not like other schools (I think down to about 20 from about about 25, but don't quote me on that).

[history202-]

4 minutes ago, HardyBoy said:

I do know that Princeton trimmed its cohort size a little, but not like other schools (I think down to about 20 from about about 25, but don't quote me on that).

That's good to know. Happy to hear it. I doubt it means anything for my chances - but hopefully we see a few more folks here get lucky. It's such an excellent program.

[t-24601]

to the ones who are accepted to Boston College and UC Davis, can you share your sub field please?

[sonnybunny]

Here's to hoping we will get some answers in the next two days before the weekend. I applied only to Boulder and I'm anxious to hear back soon, hopefully next week.

[kchistory]

4 hours ago, t-24601 said:

to the ones who are accepted to Boston College and UC Davis, can you share your sub field please?

I was accepted at UC Davis. I'm an Americanist with a focus on race, gender, and immigration.

 

(Boston College rejected me - so I'm no help there!)

[switzl]

Does anyone claim the Rutgers admission? Do you know if all admission offers have been sent out?

[Dayzz]

Welp, got denied from my top school (UCLA). Still waiting to hear back from UCR after my “chat” with my POI and from UCI (no interview). Stanford rejected me but no surprise there. Congratulations to those who have received acceptances! If all fails this year I will be applying again next year before I lose my positivity. I didn’t realize how competitive this cycle was until I came to this forum. 

[t-24601]

7 hours ago, kchistory said:

I was accepted at UC Davis. I'm an Americanist with a focus on race, gender, and immigration.

 

(Boston College rejected me - so I'm no help there!)

Thank you for letting me know! Also, congrats! I am an Ottomanist, but of course they may decide to not accept anyone in Middle Eastern/Africa/Asia fields this year...

[Maguire]

14 hours ago, history202- said:

That's good to know. Happy to hear it. I doubt it means anything for my chances - but hopefully we see a few more folks here get lucky. It's such an excellent program.

Spy another Princeton admit on the results page so I guess we can assume acceptances have gone out and just not a ton of people who've been accepted are on here. 

Already forward-planning for next year, lol. I think/hope things will work out better for the 2022 cycle. 

Edited February 11, 2021 by scarletwitch

[baseballboy]

52 minutes ago, scarletwitch said:

Spy another Princeton admit on the results page so I guess we can assume acceptances have gone out and just not a ton of people who've been accepted are on here. 

Already forward-planning for next year, lol. I think/hope things will work out better for the 2022 cycle. 

can anyone confirm that Princeton acceptances have already gone out?

[thisisnew]

37 minutes ago, baseballboy said:

can anyone confirm that Princeton acceptances have already gone out?

I can't confirm... but if we don't get rejections today/tomorrow (possibly Monday), it would seem abnormal given Princeton's past admit/reject schedule. Then again, this is an abnormal time.

 

All this internet sleuthing on this site reminds me of Don't F*** with Cats (similarities end at the detective work, content is a little dark)

[iotres]

19 hours ago, setori said:

Did anyone hear back from Harvard History of Science Dept.?

 

Also curious about this. Did anyone apply to Chicago's CHSS and know if offers are out already?

[Ryan_The_Grogu_Fan]

27 minutes ago, thisisnew said:

I can't confirm... but if we don't get rejections today/tomorrow (possibly Monday), it would seem abnormal given Princeton's past admit/reject schedule. Then again, this is an abnormal time.

 

All this internet sleuthing on this site reminds me of Don't F*** with Cats (similarities end at the detective work, content is a little dark)

While I would like to agree with you (to give myself hope still), I don't think we can rely on the timetable of past years for Princeton. Yale usually sent all of their results out over the period of a day or two, but this year it looks like they sent out acceptances almost a week ago with no word yet for anyone else. 

[thisisnew]

8 minutes ago, Ryan_The_Grogu_Fan said:

While I would like to agree with you (to give myself hope still), I don't think we can rely on the timetable of past years for Princeton. Yale usually sent all of their results out over the period of a day or two, but this year it looks like they sent out acceptances almost a week ago with no word yet for anyone else. 

That is true (didn't look at Yale's because I didn't interview and assume that was pretty much it for me either way)... at the same time, way more corroboration for Yale (quantitative and qualitative here), when, with a similar cohort size, it would seem odd not to have the same from Princeton? Though, as I said, its an abnormal year, who knows! The detective work and conjecture here is (if slightly unproductive--acknowledging my own role in it...) thrilling in itself. Best of luck to everyone ?

 

[Shijia]

2 hours ago, t-24601 said:

Thank you for letting me know! Also, congrats! I am an Ottomanist, but of course they may decide to not accept anyone in Middle Eastern/Africa/Asia fields this year...

Hi! Glad to meet an Ottomanist here. It seems that we are on the same boat, I am also an Ottomanist who applied to Davis. Based on my exchanges, quite positive ones, with my POI back in late October, I believe they are accepting students in our field, but only 1 or 2, that is Middle East/South Asia/Africa combined. I haven’t heard anything from them, I’m hoping (or deluding myself) that they haven’t done with releasing results yet. But I’m getting more and more anxious and inpatient day by day. Feel free to DM me if you’d like to chat. 

[Maguire]

Hi all,

I'd appreciate some advice just re applying next cycle as I'm pretty sure that's what I'll be doing. I'm going to spend a lot of the summer working on my statement of purpose for each school and really show in each one that I'm a good "fit" for the department and relevant POIs. 

So by the time I start filling out applications next September I will have graduated from a top UK university - UCL - (hopefully with a 1st) and will be heading to Cambridge for my MPhil. I'm hoping that will put me in a better position when I apply next year. 

I'm an Americanist, specialising in 20th Century US History - Race & Ethnicity and its connections with the Cold War/US Foreign Policy. 

I'm thinking that I'm going to reapply to the following schools - Yale, Princeton, Michigan, Wisconsin, Duke, Berkeley, Emory, Illinois, Vanderbilt, and UT Austin. And then newly apply to - Northwestern, NYU, Brown, Cornell, UCSD. I'm wondering about also some smaller ones like UMass Amherst, Indiana Bloomington, Boston University and Ohio State. 

I don't want to apply to as many as 20 places but more like 12-15. Is it worth applying to some of these smaller places? I read that there's no point doing a History PhD unless you get into one of the top programs so am a bit wary but still open to applying. 

Also, in terms of writing sample, I have a MA-level essay (I'm taking an MA level module in my final undergrad year) I'm working on that corresponds to some of the themes I want to pursue in the PhD, but then I am also working on my dissertation, which also tackles issues of race and incarceration in US history. Would it be best to submit the MA-level essay or a section of the dissertation for the writing sample? Or simply perhaps adapt based on the required page length for each institution? 

I think next cycle will be my last as I can't afford multiple application cycles. This one itself has been costly enough. I think my backup will be to try to get a job teaching Social Studies/History at middle or high school level after I'm done with my masters - either in the US or at an international school abroad. It seems like a more practical path in many ways as you can focus more on teaching rather than the 'publish or perish' culture of academe. That said, if I got into a top PhD program next cycle, I'd be ecstatic. 

Thanks all. I think after this cycle ends I'm going to hop off Grad Cafe as I think I'm going to try to not go on here as much during the 2022 cycle and also as I need to focus on my final dissertation for undergrad  

[SAM311]

31 minutes ago, scarletwitch said:

Hi all,

I'd appreciate some advice just re applying next cycle as I'm pretty sure that's what I'll be doing. I'm going to spend a lot of the summer working on my statement of purpose for each school and really show in each one that I'm a good "fit" for the department and relevant POIs. 

So by the time I start filling out applications next September I will have graduated from a top UK university - UCL - (hopefully with a 1st) and will be heading to Cambridge for my MPhil. I'm hoping that will put me in a better position when I apply next year. 

I'm an Americanist, specialising in 20th Century US History - Race & Ethnicity and its connections with the Cold War/US Foreign Policy. 

I'm thinking that I'm going to reapply to the following schools - Yale, Princeton, Michigan, Wisconsin, Duke, Berkeley, Emory, Illinois, Vanderbilt, and UT Austin. And then newly apply to - Northwestern, NYU, Brown, Cornell, UCSD. I'm wondering about also some smaller ones like UMass Amherst, Indiana Bloomington, Boston University and Ohio State. 

I don't want to apply to as many as 20 places but more like 12-15. Is it worth applying to some of these smaller places? I read that there's no point doing a History PhD unless you get into one of the top programs so am a bit wary but still open to applying. 

Also, in terms of writing sample, I have a MA-level essay (I'm taking an MA level module in my final undergrad year) I'm working on that corresponds to some of the themes I want to pursue in the PhD, but then I am also working on my dissertation, which also tackles issues of race and incarceration in US history. Would it be best to submit the MA-level essay or a section of the dissertation for the writing sample? Or simply perhaps adapt based on the required page length for each institution? 

I think next cycle will be my last as I can't afford multiple application cycles. This one itself has been costly enough. I think my backup will be to try to get a job teaching Social Studies/History at middle or high school level after I'm done with my masters - either in the US or at an international school abroad. It seems like a more practical path in many ways as you can focus more on teaching rather than the 'publish or perish' culture of academe. That said, if I got into a top PhD program next cycle, I'd be ecstatic. 

Thanks all. I think after this cycle ends I'm going to hop off Grad Cafe as I think I'm going to try to not go on here as much during the 2022 cycle and also as I need to focus on my final dissertation for undergrad  

I don't have a ton of advice to offer as this is my first application cycle as well, but I will say this: 

- If you get into a smaller school with good funding, that's wonderful. I haven't heard the "no point unless you get into a bigger school" but my philosophy in pursuing this PhD is to do so without the expectation of a career at the end of it. Yes, that's all of our goals. BUT I believe that you should do this because you're passionate about the subject and it brings you joy. For me, getting paid (even a small amount) to do something that's life-giving for 5 years is worth it...even if it's at a small school. That being said, the faculty and board that you'd be working with is far more important than school name (at least that's what I have been told at every stage of this process). 

- I am right there with you on the middle/high school teaching front. I used to teach middle school without licensure and it truly allowed me to bring my passion for history into my daily life which is so much more than many can say. I think this is a solid plan. I got into an MA program as well and am waitlisted for funding. If that funding comes through I think I will tack education onto my plan and get my licensure to teach bio/history (weird combo, double major in undergrad) it the high school level. 

- Jumping back up to the top of your post. We can all work on our SOP, for sure. However, you seem like an excellent candidate already. Don't beat yourself up about not being a great "fit" this year or even whether or not you displayed it in this year's SOP. I feel like this year is truly a combination of luck, chance, and random choice between top candidates (which I am sure you were in for a ton of schools). Hopefully next year will be better, but at the end of the day - your worth isn't defined by any of this. 

Nonetheless, it's WILDLY frustrating. I agree about trying once more and then maybe throwing in the towel. This is a tough GAME and I have been shown more than ever that this is truly a game of chance (my husband is top of his dept. at Duke and didn't get in #tears) 

 

Best of luck to you. It's not over til it's over, as they say! 

[Boarskin]

Yale just sent out their rejection letters. 

[Maguire]

6 minutes ago, SadriannaM311 said:

I don't have a ton of advice to offer as this is my first application cycle as well, but I will say this: 

- If you get into a smaller school with good funding, that's wonderful. I haven't heard the "no point unless you get into a bigger school" but my philosophy in pursuing this PhD is to do so without the expectation of a career at the end of it. Yes, that's all of our goals. BUT I believe that you should do this because you're passionate about the subject and it brings you joy. For me, getting paid (even a small amount) to do something that's life-giving for 5 years is worth it...even if it's at a small school. That being said, the faculty and board that you'd be working with is far more important than school name (at least that's what I have been told at every stage of this process). 

- I am right there with you on the middle/high school teaching front. I used to teach middle school without licensure and it truly allowed me to bring my passion for history into my daily life which is so much more than many can say. I think this is a solid plan. I got into an MA program as well and am waitlisted for funding. If that funding comes through I think I will tack education onto my plan and get my licensure to teach bio/history (weird combo, double major in undergrad) it the high school level. 

- Jumping back up to the top of your post. We can all work on our SOP, for sure. However, you seem like an excellent candidate already. Don't beat yourself up about not being a great "fit" this year or even whether or not you displayed it in this year's SOP. I feel like this year is truly a combination of luck, chance, and random choice between top candidates (which I am sure you were in for a ton of schools). Hopefully next year will be better, but at the end of the day - your worth isn't defined by any of this. 

Nonetheless, it's WILDLY frustrating. I agree about trying once more and then maybe throwing in the towel. This is a tough GAME and I have been shown more than ever that this is truly a game of chance (my husband is top of his dept. at Duke and didn't get in #tears) 

 

Best of luck to you. It's not over til it's over, as they say! 

Thanks so much, this is all really useful

I agree, and I will most likely apply to some smaller schools. I think the main thing will be seeing who responds to my introductory emails when I send them in June, and that will give me a good idea of which departments are interested in my project! 

I'm also hoping to get some funding for my MPhil, but I may not find out until March/April! Good luck! 

I think re the SOP, I know I need to emphasise fit with the department and POIs slightly more than I did in this round. I think over the summer I will devote quite a bit of time to preparing materials, particularly the SOP as besides that the only major piece of writing is the personal statement which is only needed for a couple of schools. 

Yes, it is definitely frustrating! I am top of my dept. at UCL but I do think being able to say I'm doing the masters in this interim year will make quite a bit of difference reapplying next year! Maybe also some POIs will notice my name in the acknowledgments section of a book one of my Professors has coming out in the fall! (I was his research assistant last summer) He's pretty well known in the US as talks regularly about US politics and elections. 

[ThisGreatFolly]

20 minutes ago, scarletwitch said:

Thanks so much, this is all really useful

I agree, and I will most likely apply to some smaller schools. I think the main thing will be seeing who responds to my introductory emails when I send them in June, and that will give me a good idea of which departments are interested in my project! 

I'm also hoping to get some funding for my MPhil, but I may not find out until March/April! Good luck! 

I think re the SOP, I know I need to emphasise fit with the department and POIs slightly more than I did in this round. I think over the summer I will devote quite a bit of time to preparing materials, particularly the SOP as besides that the only major piece of writing is the personal statement which is only needed for a couple of schools. 

Yes, it is definitely frustrating! I am top of my dept. at UCL but I do think being able to say I'm doing the masters in this interim year will make quite a bit of difference reapplying next year! Maybe also some POIs will notice my name in the acknowledgments section of a book one of my Professors has coming out in the fall! (I was his research assistant last summer) He's pretty well known in the US as talks regularly about US politics and elections. 

Feel free to DM me about Emory – I may be able to give some insight.

[HRL]

Not doing so well this cycle and just have 4 schools left out of 11 that I originally applied to (Duke, Georgetown, UT Austin and Indiana). I'm hoping Duke and Georgetown get back to us by end of this week or beginning of next to get ever closer to closure on this cycle. And to shift more fully to thinking of how (and whether) to approach next year's applications. 

In particular, I wonder if next year will in fact net out as less competitive than this cycle - if cohort sizes will rebound (albeit not necessarily to pre-covid levels), if schools that didn't take students this year (NYU, Columbia, Brown, etc) will resume taking students, and if there was a greater surge in applicants this year than people who (perhaps wisely) decided to postpone applying to next cycle. What are other people's thoughts on these factors? And any early ear to the ground on schools that plan to increase cohort size next year? Would be great to aggregate this information upfront (insofar as it exists currently) to better assess the situation for next year as early as possible. I know I number myself among the folks on here that would probably have not applied this year if they knew a little more concretely just how dramatically cohort sizes were going to be cut before submitting applications. 

[Maguire]

1 hour ago, HRL said:

Not doing so well this cycle and just have 4 schools left out of 11 that I originally applied to (Duke, Georgetown, UT Austin and Indiana). I'm hoping Duke and Georgetown get back to us by end of this week or beginning of next to get ever closer to closure on this cycle. And to shift more fully to thinking of how (and whether) to approach next year's applications. 

In particular, I wonder if next year will in fact net out as less competitive than this cycle - if cohort sizes will rebound (albeit not necessarily to pre-covid levels), if schools that didn't take students this year (NYU, Columbia, Brown, etc) will resume taking students, and if there was a greater surge in applicants this year than people who (perhaps wisely) decided to postpone applying to next cycle. What are other people's thoughts on these factors? And any early ear to the ground on schools that plan to increase cohort size next year? Would be great to aggregate this information upfront (insofar as it exists currently) to better assess the situation for next year as early as possible. I know I number myself among the folks on here that would probably have not applied this year if they knew a little more concretely just how dramatically cohort sizes were going to be cut before submitting applications. 

I think next cycle will be about the same in terms of competitiveness in that there may be more people applying next year. However, I think there’s some factors which might help 2022 applicants in that cohort sizes may increase slightly (but probably won’t be back to normal), more places will be open for applications so that will spread things out, plus there’s indications that tons of people applied this year due to COVID panic and feeling like going back to graduate school is a safe option right now, especially when you can get a stipend from a PhD program. Moreover, I think applicants who have gone through this 2021 cycle (such as the both of us) will be able to put together a better set of materials for the 2022 cycle and/or proceed on to Masters level study in the interim year (as I will be doing), so likely will be in a stronger position in the 2022 cycle compared to some for whom it may be their first cycle. A POI I talked to recently said they were hoping things would be more normal next cycle. I think things won’t entirely be the same but we’ll start to see improvements in terms of the pandemic later this year which should hopefully help decision-making overall. Wishing you best of luck with the remainder of decisions this cycle and don’t be too discouraged if not as I’m sure things will work out better next cycle! ?

Edited February 11, 2021 by scarletwitch

[wfchasson]

1 hour ago, HRL said:

Not doing so well this cycle and just have 4 schools left out of 11 that I originally applied to (Duke, Georgetown, UT Austin and Indiana). I'm hoping Duke and Georgetown get back to us by end of this week or beginning of next to get ever closer to closure on this cycle. And to shift more fully to thinking of how (and whether) to approach next year's applications. 

In particular, I wonder if next year will in fact net out as less competitive than this cycle - if cohort sizes will rebound (albeit not necessarily to pre-covid levels), if schools that didn't take students this year (NYU, Columbia, Brown, etc) will resume taking students, and if there was a greater surge in applicants this year than people who (perhaps wisely) decided to postpone applying to next cycle. What are other people's thoughts on these factors? And any early ear to the ground on schools that plan to increase cohort size next year? Would be great to aggregate this information upfront (insofar as it exists currently) to better assess the situation for next year as early as possible. I know I number myself among the folks on here that would probably have not applied this year if they knew a little more concretely just how dramatically cohort sizes were going to be cut before submitting applications. 

I would say it's a mixed bag. I've spoken to people at a few universities this year who are hopeful that cohort sizes will rebound next year. On the other hand, I've spoken to a number of people who think that next year will remain a bottleneck year as well, and that universities may use the current cuts as justification for permanently reduced cohort sizes moving forward. And you have to consider that cohorts are going to get smaller because of market pressures as well. It's a real blemish on the reputation of top programs when they are minting too many degrees and a considerable number of their students are stuck adjuncting. So I'd say remain hopeful that next year will be better, but try to temper expectations about the long-term trends within humanities departments. 

All this is going to create some pretty intense win-lose dynamics, I think. Some people may be shut out of PhD programs moving forward partially based on this austerity logic of making cuts now for the long-term viability of the program and the field in general. For those that get in, it may then mean more resources (internal funding, external grants, etc.) but the expense is obviously a pared down group of admits, and probably outweighs the poorly distributed benefits. 

Don't want to dissuade anybody from applying or paint too grim a picture here. This is just the sense that I get from the people that I've been talking to.