2022 Application Thread

[flowersandcoffee]

9 minutes ago, BW2 said:

I had an interview today with four POIs. I had only been in contact with one of them beforehand and she was the one who sent the interview invite. I am looking for some advice on how to follow up/say thank you. Would it be appropriate to send one email to all four, to send individual emails to each one, to just email the POI who contacted me, or something else that I'm not thinking of? Thank you so much for your help and good luck to everyone!

I'd email all four collectively and thank them for their time/reiterate your interest in the program. For which school was it? It's very cool to have 4 POIs interview you. The more the merrier

Edited January 13, 2022 by flowersandcoffee

[emeraldsapphire]

On 1/12/2022 at 5:22 PM, AP said:

Actually, it's not only COVID.

Many programs, especially the hundred or so outside the handful usually spoken on this forum, have cut admissions because there are no jobs. While we want to have graduate students (because who wouldn't want to chime in the next generation of researchers?) the truth is that it is irresponsible for programs to keep awarding degrees. Further, this means that students stay longer in programs, which needs funding and means less admissions. 

Yeah, one of my profs at Yale said they've gone from around 30 spots to 18 now. And I know of at least one subfield that didn't get anyone last year and he said probably won't this year either. On the other hand, when I interviewed at Berkeley a few weeks ago, my POI said they had cut admission numbers drastically but are trying to rebuild to about where they were before (which he said was around 30). I do think the general trend is to shrink, not enlarge, though. 

Edited January 13, 2022 by emeraldsapphire

[Imperator Totius Hispaniae]

@BW2i had an interview with 3 professors at Berkeley and I emailed all 3 of them to thank them for giving me the opportunity to interview with them and discuss my work. So I would email all 4 of them. 

[AP]

19 hours ago, emeraldsapphire said:

Yeah, one of my profs at Yale said they've gone from around 30 spots to 18 now. And I know of at least one subfield that didn't get anyone last year and he said probably won't this year either. On the other hand, when I interviewed at Berkeley a few weeks ago, my POI said they had cut admission numbers drastically but are trying to rebuild to about where they were before (which he said was around 30). I do think the general trend is to shrink, not enlarge, though. 

Yes, but Berkeley heavily relies on grad students for teaching. Enlarging the cohorts would be, I imagine, more for that purpose. 

[TheWitWitch]

Hey everyone, as I am seeing that many of you are getting interviews at Columbia, would you mind sharing some info? What field are you applying? 
 

I am feeling very anxious right now, I had a feeling that Columbia was my strongest application….

[emeraldsapphire]

Accepted at Berkeley! Anybody else? 

[flowersofindia]

@emeraldsapphirewas it this evening from your POI?

[emeraldsapphire]

@timurdidnothingwrong, No it was an official letter from the department admin but my two POIs were CC'd. But yes, got it this evening. 

Edited January 15, 2022 by emeraldsapphire

[flowersofindia]

that's amazing congrats! no news on my end but super happy for you

[emeraldsapphire]

@timurdidnothingwrong, thank you! Did you also apply? 

[flowersofindia]

@emeraldsapphireyes interviewed first week of jan- what subfield?

[flowersandcoffee]

1 minute ago, emeraldsapphire said:

@timurdidnothingwrong, thank you! Did you also apply? 

Congratulations!!! Must be so exciting! What's your sub-field? 

[emeraldsapphire]

@timurdidnothingwrongand @flowersandcoffee, thanks so much! I'm in early modern. What about you guys? By the way, I posted earlier about Berkeley wanting to eventually expand their graduate student numbers, but I believe this year was still incredibly tight so if you don't/haven't heard anything, I'm sure it is *not* a reflection on you. My POI told me back in the fall that they would only be admitting a miniscule number this year, unfortunately, so it was crazy competitive. 

[wynntir]

16 minutes ago, emeraldsapphire said:

Accepted at Berkeley! Anybody else? 

Congratulations, how exciting! I wish all schools followed this fast of a timeline ?

[emeraldsapphire]

@wynntir, I know right? I actually wasn't expecting Berkeley to because when I talked with my POI last week, he said it would probably be about three weeks/the end of January. Maybe more departments will surprisingly speed things along! 

[BalkanItinerant]

Big congrats to the two Berkeley acceptances! I had my interview on the 3rd and I've been pretty tense. I'm a 19th century Americanist and my POI insinuated that most interviewees get accepted and that she'd get back to me within a couple weeks, but it's all quiet thus far on email and portal. She said they were looking to matriculate 16 this year, and I hope it's an American heavy cohort. I kinda worried I bored her rambling about my research interests toward the end of the call and I'm hoping that didn't kill me! Congrats to y'all!

Edited January 15, 2022 by BalkanItinerant

[flowersofindia]

@BalkanItinerantwhat exactly did your POI say re interviewees? that's really uplifting news for those of us in the dark

[BalkanItinerant]

@timurdidnothingwrong I asked about the stages of the process for admission and she explained how they had wiped out most applicants from contention (something like 90%) pre winter break and that from there the remaining contenders got forwarded to their relevant faculty members for further scrutiny at their discretion. She said getting to the interview stage gets you to the final group of candidates and that most people who made it there are offered admission. Simultaneously, they wait a bit longer until perhaps March to extend a few additional acceptances to ensure they have a decent cohort. I'm paraphrasing but this was the gist. 

[flowersandcoffee]

Just when we thought our Friday nights/weekends were safe lol 

[flowersandcoffee]

3 hours ago, TheWitWitch said:

Hey everyone, as I am seeing that many of you are getting interviews at Columbia, would you mind sharing some info? What field are you applying? 
 

I am feeling very anxious right now, I had a feeling that Columbia was my strongest application….

I feel like your message got lost with all this Berkeley news. I had an interview with Columbia. I'm a modern Europeanist. Sorry that you're feeling anxious about it  

[emeraldsapphire]

@TheWitWitch, I didn't apply to Colubmia so don't know specifically about there, but as I'm learning from another program this cycle, sometimes some subfields do interviews and others don't for grad admissions. So doesn't always mean you're out of the running! 

[BalkanItinerant]

Whoa, four Berkeley acceptances posted in one hour. Anyone claiming the others? It says three American and one International.

Edited January 15, 2022 by BalkanItinerant

[Imperator Totius Hispaniae]

@BalkanItinerantwow they’re doing this so early!

Edited January 15, 2022 by Imperator Totius Hispaniae

[Imperator Totius Hispaniae]

@BalkanItinerantwhen the results list "american" or "international", what does that mean? is that where the applicant is from or their subfield?

[fiddleleaf31]

Hi @BalkanItinerant  I am one of the Berkeley acceptances. Congrats to everyone else who as admitted! I am completely overwhelmed. It is my second cycle applying and I really didn't think I would make it through.  @Imperator Totius Hispaniae I think American means they are a permanent resident of US citizen, and international means they either have degrees outside of the US or are no US citizens.