2022 Application Thread

[Kashew_Nuts93]

Would the Columbia acceptances be willing to share what field they’re in? I know Columbia admits by field and just curious if I should just cross it off now. 

Edited February 8, 2022 by Kashew_Nuts93

[dr. t]

4 minutes ago, anxiouslurker said:

No one in this thread is suggesting I'm "special" or giving me hope of a TT job here, nor am I asking them to.

You have suggested several times now that your reasons to get a PhD mean that the advice given here does not apply to you.

7 minutes ago, anxiouslurker said:

Again, I'm very disturbed by the diversity comment posted today.

Again, if you could specify what you are referring to?

8 minutes ago, anxiouslurker said:

 Like all of us (myself included), you have certain privileges and blind spots. 

Of course. But that does not limit me to discussing only my own experiences. Again, I don't know you, so take what advice you find useful. 

12 minutes ago, anxiouslurker said:

I'm stepping away from this discussion for now.

Classic.

[Brit1234]

 

21 minutes ago, dr. telkanuru said:

You have suggested several times now that your reasons to get a PhD mean that the advice given here does not apply to you.

Again, if you could specify what you are referring to?

Of course. But that does not limit me to discussing only my own experiences. Again, I don't know you, so take what advice you find useful. 

Classic.

New poster here, felt like I had to say something after reading your final response to this thread. Although maybe I'm alone in this, I can't help but feel that you come across as a bit of a bully in this post. I'm sure you have much to share this forum, truly. But I'd much rather have a forum of people anxiously discussing their university prospects than arguing. I hope you agree. 

 

[TheWitWitch]

36 minutes ago, Kashew_Nuts93 said:

 

Would the Columbia acceptances be willing to share what field they’re in? I know Columbia admits by field and just curious if I should just cross it off now. 

 

Any info would be highly appreciated 

[flowersandcoffee]

Waitlisted at Columbia - just received the email to check the portal.

Lots of waitlisting for me. Harvard, Columbia, Berkeley 

[Mile6]

36 minutes ago, Kashew_Nuts93 said:

Would the Columbia acceptances be willing to share what field they’re in? I know Columbia admits by field and just curious if I should just cross it off now. 

American history; both 19th and 20th C interests mentioned in statement.

[CoffeeCatsCorgis]

2 minutes ago, flowersandcoffee said:

Waitlisted at Columbia - just received the email to check the portal.

Lots of waitlisting for me. Harvard, Columbia, Berkeley 

Aw, but three waitlists at fantastic schools looks like some pretty good odds to me. Hoping one of them manifests into an acceptance for you.

[CoffeeCatsCorgis]

I noticed that Harvard acceptances/rejections were all international students, does anyone have insight into whether decisions have gone out on the portal for Americans?

[TexasTiger]

Honestly, with the collapsing job market incentivizing more people to apply only to top tier programs and top tier programs cutting their cohort sizes, I really wish Harvard's grad school would reconsider its three lifetime application limit.

[CaitlynM]

@CoffeeCatsCorgis I am an American student and haven't heard anything from Harvard (or Columbia) yet. Feeling super discouraged at this point, but still, good luck to all!!!

[anxiouslurker]

Context to my last post that I failed to add: I'm referring to the (albeit seemingly well-intentioned post) implying that white men are at a significant disadvantage in the academic job market due to a type of unofficial affirmative action. As for everything else, I've said numerous times that I know the risks and that they apply to me. Hence, why that thread isn't worthwhile for me and I'm choosing to let my previous comments speak for themselves. 

Moving on to applications since that's why we're all here: @CoffeeCatsCorgisI'm an American applicant and got my Harvard decision for the PhD program via the portal last night. 

 

Edited February 8, 2022 by anxiouslurker

[CoffeeCatsCorgis]

@anxiouslurker Apologies if you've already said this, but would you be willing share what the decision was/your field?

[anxiouslurker]

Just now, CoffeeCatsCorgis said:

@anxiouslurker Apologies if you've already said this, but would you be willing share what the decision was/your field?

It was a hard no, but I expected it as the fit was decent but not great (plus, its harvard lol)

[metfan26]

Any South Asianists here get in anywhere? Interested to see how things went for people in our small field, seeing as I've done poorly myself.

[Kashew_Nuts93]

21 minutes ago, flowersandcoffee said:

Waitlisted at Columbia - just received the email to check the portal.

Lots of waitlisting for me. Harvard, Columbia, Berkeley 

Would you be willing to share your field? 

[CoffeeCatsCorgis]

Just now, anxiouslurker said:

It was a hard no, but I expected it as the fit was decent but not great (plus, its harvard lol)

Sorry to hear! I'm irrationally still hopeful for fit-related reasons, but of course, its Harvard. My rejection will probably be on its way soon as well.

[flowersandcoffee]

1 minute ago, Kashew_Nuts93 said:

Would you be willing to share your field? 

Yeah of course Kashew Nuts! I'm a modern Europeanist 

[anxiouslurker]

2 minutes ago, CoffeeCatsCorgis said:

Sorry to hear! I'm irrationally still hopeful for fit-related reasons, but of course, its Harvard. My rejection will probably be on its way soon as well.

You never know! It's not over until it's over!

Edited February 8, 2022 by anxiouslurker

[charmsprof]

7 minutes ago, anxiouslurker said:

Context to my last post that I failed to add: I'm referring to the (albeit seemingly well-intentioned post) implying that white men are at a significant disadvantage in the academic job market due to a type of unofficial affirmative action.  

Not to gaslight or invalidate your interpretation, or to put words in @TMP's mouth, but I think that the gist they were getting at is that if you're a cishet white male, do some soul searching before applying for a PhD. Not saying that they shouldn't apply, but to check privilege at the door and make space for others. 

--

"As a PhD applicant, I saw sexism and ableism firsthand and I am telling you, these behaviors -- committed by older cishet while men -- were so gross and offensive, and I want to see less of such people in the future. I was intentional in finding professors who would accept my background and be advocates (I did a lot of informational interviews. The only men who made the cut were Gen X!).

Bottom line, in my POV, if you are upper class white cishet male applicant, you need to think very hard how you will contribute to making academia a better place and support students from a wide range of backgrounds. Use your privilege, not abuse." (TMP quote, pg 28, it wouldn't let me quote directly)

[anxiouslurker]

@charmsprofI picked up on that message too and appreciated it. I'm sure some departments are genuinely trying to diversify, but white people + men are, of course, still getting the majority of TT jobs in our field to my knowledge. I agreed with most of the post and the overall message except I don't think we're at a point where white males need to be dissuaded from going to grad school because they'll be at a significant disadvantage down the road. I could see how that example could get picked up by bad actors (i.e., more privileged applicants wrongly getting a victim complex). I still think the post seemed to be well-meaning, but thought it was worth pausing to consider the nuance of diversity hiring and how to best discuss it here. Most importantly, I think  @TMP deserves to give themselves way more credit for their success at landing a VAP position. Hopefully, that clarifies my previous vagueness 

Edited February 8, 2022 by anxiouslurker

[TexasTiger]

Hey does the person who posted a Penn acceptance mind sharing who it came from?

[Brit1234]

7 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

Hey does the person who posted a Penn acceptance mind sharing who it came from?

another Penn acceptance here, although I'm not the one who posted on the acceptances. I got emailed from one of the department heads

[GradSchoolAndSuch]

Congratulations to the GW, Penn, Harvard and Columbia admits! ?

Edited February 8, 2022 by GradSchoolAndSuch

[AlQayzar]

In at Penn, subfield is Middle East/Africa. Got an email from the dept head, official letter to follow shortly. 

[aco2]

5 hours ago, Go Weast Young Man said:

For the kind of people who are interested in history grad school, would particularly recommend looking at legal jobs. A lot of people think you need to go to law school and become a lawyer to make money there, but lots of paralegal and even legal assistant jobs (which hire tons of people with humanities\social sciences BAs and no direct experience) pay perfectly good money with health insurance\benefits and room for advancement to be making in your late 20s way more than you would make as a tenured professor

I will say, I took a couple of years off between my MA and starting the PhD and worked in real estate, and was making about $45K with health insurance to boot. So, I'll just leave that in addition to the legal field recommendation above, which I also agree with!