It Has Begun

[Jeppe]

i wouldn't mind seeing some recent PhD placement statistics from them.

Their placement of history PhDs is excellent, at least within the subfields that I'm familiar with. That said, anyone graduating in 2011 is probably in trouble no matter where he or she received their diploma from.

[TMP]

I forgot to mention how I ended up doing that ridiculous task and having to force myself to go to sleep. I'm abroad so my Skype is always on (as opposed to when I'm in the US). This meant that one of my PAs was online... My friend reminded me, "She could be skyping with the new admits OR should be skyping with her family!" I certainly hoped for the latter.

[Bukharan]

I only applied to five programs:

Oxford: Accepted

Cambridge: Accepted

Harvard:

Yale:

Princeton:

Hi! Did you get into D.Phil. programmes in Oxford and Cambridge or Master's?

[USUKHFfan]

Hi! Did you get into D.Phil. programmes in Oxford and Cambridge or Master's?

Since I'm just out of my BA program, I applied to the M.Phil programs at Oxford and Cambridge (Modern British & European History). I'm assuming from your D.Phil acceptance (congratulations, by the way!) that you already have an MA or M.Phil?

[BadgerHopeful]

Do you know which college(s) you're in yet?

[USUKHFfan]

Do you know which college(s) you're in yet?

At Cambridge, I got into Trinity ( ). Oxford's placement is still pending (and I'm waiting to hear about the Clarendon Scholarship). I'm assuming that an Oxbridge MPhil (I'm currently leaning towards Oxford...) will be well-respected by top US PhD programmes?

[BadgerHopeful]

Booooo Trinity!!

Which ones did you list for Oxford?

[USUKHFfan]

Hoping for Magdalen, since my mentor was a student there.

[BadgerHopeful]

Why are you leaning towards Oxford? Cambridge it totes better. It's science.

[USUKHFfan]

Cambridge it totes better. It's science.

?

[Emerson]

Another vote for Cambridge---it's really no comparison

As for an Oxbridge masters degree making you more likely to get into a US PhD program---I'll let you know how that works out over these next few weeks

[USUKHFfan]

Another vote for Cambridge---it's really no comparison

As for an Oxbridge masters degree making you more likely to get into a US PhD program---I'll let you know how that works out over these next few weeks

Re: Cambridge - Oh? I honestly didn't know.

[gradwoes]

Re: Cambridge - Oh? I honestly didn't know.

Who knew Gradcafe was filled with all these Tabs... Really, though, go to Oxford - a much more civilized locale.

[USUKHFfan]

Who knew Gradcafe was filled with all these Tabs... Really, though, go to Oxford - a much more civilized locale.

And...I've stumbled into the Oxford vs. Cambridge debate. Round 3,450. I've been trying to get my mind off the American schools by trying to decide whether Oxford or Cambridge would be the better path. Same subfield, but Oxford is a 2-year programme (Cambridge is a single year). Oxford seemed to have put more thought into advisors, but both schools tout their respective departments as the best in Europe...

[BadgerHopeful]

And...I've stumbled into the Oxford vs. Cambridge debate. Round 3,450. I've been trying to get my mind off the American schools by trying to decide whether Oxford or Cambridge would be the better path. Same subfield, but Oxford is a 2-year programme (Cambridge is a single year). Oxford seemed to have put more thought into advisors, but both schools tout their respective departments as the best in Europe...

That's a decision you have to make for yourself. No one here can effectively make it for you. Of course there are several things you have to consider. Do the interests of the advisors at Oxford or Cambridge more closely parallel your research interests? Do you think it would be more beneficial to do a one-year program or a two-year program? What about finances? Did you (will you) get a scholarship at one but not the other? And what about college accomodations? Will the college at one be more likely to offer housing to its graduate students than the other?

Then, of course, you still have three programs to hear from.

[BadgerHopeful]

I STILL haven't heard anything from Wisconsin.

[Emerson]

Yeah, in all seriousness, both Oxford and Cambridge would be a phenomenal experience. As Badgerhopeful said, follow the funding, advisors, and whichever program is better suited to you individually.

[Jeppe]

And...I've stumbled into the Oxford vs. Cambridge debate. Round 3,450. I've been trying to get my mind off the American schools by trying to decide whether Oxford or Cambridge would be the better path. Same subfield, but Oxford is a 2-year programme (Cambridge is a single year). Oxford seemed to have put more thought into advisors, but both schools tout their respective departments as the best in Europe...

If you don't mind me asking, what is your subfield? While I haven't attended either school, I do know quite a few doctoral students at my institution who received their M.Phil. degrees from Oxbridge before applying to US programs, and I would say that there are certain preferences for one or the other university, depending on what you study.

[qbtacoma]

I STILL haven't heard anything from Wisconsin.

Did Wisconsin get hit in the snowstorm too? Maybe that's it.

[USUKHFfan]

That's a decision you have to make for yourself. No one here can effectively make it for you. Of course there are several things you have to consider. Do the interests of the advisors at Oxford or Cambridge more closely parallel your research interests? Do you think it would be more beneficial to do a one-year program or a two-year program? What about finances? Did you (will you) get a scholarship at one but not the other? And what about college accomodations? Will the college at one be more likely to offer housing to its graduate students than the other?

Then, of course, you still have three programs to hear from.

Many thanks for your excellent advice (and to emerson and jeppe as well). My subfield is British and Modern European. PhD-wise, a similar track, although I want to be more globally-focused. I'll be better-able to decide once details come in from both.

And, indeed, of course I am still waiting to hear from the three American programs.

As for Wisconsin - they do seem to be trickling them out, don't they?!

[barricades]

Judging by the results from last year and the year before that, we should be hearing from Berkeley around next week... *fingers crossed*

[RDX]

Judging by the results from last year and the year before that, we should be hearing from Berkeley around next week... *fingers crossed*

and Yale and Stanford maybe THIS week

[barricades]

It's a schizophrenic situation. I hate when the weekends are coming up, because I know I won't be getting any news those two days. But then again, when they do arrive, I feel so much better, because it just leaves my head.

Then Monday arrives.

[barricades]

Also, one of my letter writers called my potential adviser at Yale, which got my hopes up. But he also told me said person said that funds had been cut, which means a small cohort. He said probably only a couple for European history (that's what I assumed anyway, since the phrasing was a little vague).

[BadgerHopeful]

Didn't Yale make its deadline two weeks later than it was last year? So perhaps we won't find out two weeks later than last year, aka the the 3rd or 4th week of February. Maybe I'm going crazy/making things up.