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2024 Application Thread

dr. t

By dr. t
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ndoco2024 Caffeinated

ndoco2024

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  On 2/6/2024 at 11:58 PM, modernhist123 said:

Maybe this is just my first rodeo, but this year seems particularly hard, I gasp just looking at the qualifications and achievements some history rejections have. Let’s get through this, and remember rejections are just redirections !! :)))

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I currently have just waitlists, I just graduated from undergrad last year, and for some reason reading those rejection posts has made me feel guilty and like I don't deserve it. I know it's just imposter syndrome but I'm also so impressed by their achievements and just wish for everyone to at least have one good outcome!!!

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site_n_blindness272
site_n_blindness272

Hi all! I'm still so jittery and shaky and can't believe it's real - but I just got notification from my POI that I've been admitted to Harvard's History of Science PhD program!! I study premodern dis

anhistorian
anhistorian

I GOT INTO UPENN! I COULD CRY RIGHT NOW!

meanwhilelife81a
meanwhilelife81a

GOT MY ACCEPTANCE NOTIF FROM BROWN!

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meanwhilelife81a

Posted
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  On 2/7/2024 at 12:38 AM, ndoco2024 said:

I currently have just waitlists, I just graduated from undergrad last year, and for some reason reading those rejection posts has made me feel guilty and like I don't deserve it. I know it's just imposter syndrome but I'm also so impressed by their achievements and just wish for everyone to at least have one good outcome!!!

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I feel the same way. I took a gamble in applying to history because I’m coming from a different somewhat related field (historical musicology), then two big non-Ivy schools had already rejected me before Brown. 😭

ThrowAwayTemp Decaf

ThrowAwayTemp

Posted
Posted
  On 2/7/2024 at 12:38 AM, ndoco2024 said:

I currently have just waitlists, I just graduated from undergrad last year, and for some reason reading those rejection posts has made me feel guilty and like I don't deserve it. I know it's just imposter syndrome but I'm also so impressed by their achievements and just wish for everyone to at least have one good outcome!!!

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Were the waitlists generic letters or did anyone reach out to you? 

ndoco2024 Caffeinated

ndoco2024

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Posted
  On 2/7/2024 at 2:02 AM, ThrowAwayTemp said:

Were the waitlists generic letters or did anyone reach out to you? 

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I got generic letters from each of the Grad schools, and then the DGS as well as my POIs emailed me

beee Decaf

beee

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hope everyone’s doing well! i know we’re all applicants here so this is maybe not the best place to ask this question but what’s everyone’s general understanding of the importance of a program’s rank/reputation? I’ve been getting mixed answers that rank is everything and without a high ranking program behind you, you might as well not get a phd or that rank does not matter and what does matter is faculty fit. the job market in history is not great and the AHA job report seems to confirm the fact that going to a top ranked program is important but I’ve also had my mentors tell me not to stress too much about program rankings because the job market is bad for everyone lol. just wondering what everyone’s thoughts were and hope everyone’s holding up okay!! 

obk90 Caffeinated

obk90

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  On 2/7/2024 at 1:26 PM, beee said:

hope everyone’s doing well! i know we’re all applicants here so this is maybe not the best place to ask this question but what’s everyone’s general understanding of the importance of a program’s rank/reputation? I’ve been getting mixed answers that rank is everything and without a high ranking program behind you, you might as well not get a phd or that rank does not matter and what does matter is faculty fit. the job market in history is not great and the AHA job report seems to confirm the fact that going to a top ranked program is important but I’ve also had my mentors tell me not to stress too much about program rankings because the job market is bad for everyone lol. just wondering what everyone’s thoughts were and hope everyone’s holding up okay!! 

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The job market is terrible for everyone, but it is not equally terrible for everyone.

Still, the reality is that you are unlikely to find permanent academic employment in History no matter your pedigree. A close friend of mine went to Ivy undergrad and a top Ph.D program, and then turned their dissertation into a book for HUP. It was generally well received in the field's journals. They've been jumping from postdoc to VAP for 6 years now. I understand this to be one of the better outcomes. 

the_geographer Decaf

the_geographer

Posted
Posted
  On 2/7/2024 at 1:26 PM, beee said:

hope everyone’s doing well! i know we’re all applicants here so this is maybe not the best place to ask this question but what’s everyone’s general understanding of the importance of a program’s rank/reputation? I’ve been getting mixed answers that rank is everything and without a high ranking program behind you, you might as well not get a phd or that rank does not matter and what does matter is faculty fit. the job market in history is not great and the AHA job report seems to confirm the fact that going to a top ranked program is important but I’ve also had my mentors tell me not to stress too much about program rankings because the job market is bad for everyone lol. just wondering what everyone’s thoughts were and hope everyone’s holding up okay!! 

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From what I understand, "ranking" matters much less than placement history. Prestigious schools often have good placements because of their prestige--but not always. Some departments post their recent placements, others don't. Rankings (in my view) are somewhat capricious and not really indicative of anything objective about the institution or department. Placements, on the other hand, are concrete job outcomes for the people who go there.

The other thing is that the uneven badness of the job market is also very field-dependent. It's not just the quantity of jobs in each subfield but the ratio of candidates to jobs. So, for instance, even though there are generally a lot of jobs in American history, 20th century US history is (so I've heard) one of the worst job markets because so many grad students are focusing on it right now.

Of course, all of that only really matters from the jobs perspective. I don't really think the experience of doing a phd at an Ivy is actually in any objective way better than doing it somewhere less "prestigious."

site_n_blindness272 Decaf

site_n_blindness272

Posted
Posted
  On 2/7/2024 at 5:18 PM, the_geographer said:

From what I understand, "ranking" matters much less than placement history. Prestigious schools often have good placements because of their prestige--but not always. Some departments post their recent placements, others don't. Rankings (in my view) are somewhat capricious and not really indicative of anything objective about the institution or department. Placements, on the other hand, are concrete job outcomes for the people who go there.

The other thing is that the uneven badness of the job market is also very field-dependent. It's not just the quantity of jobs in each subfield but the ratio of candidates to jobs. So, for instance, even though there are generally a lot of jobs in American history, 20th century US history is (so I've heard) one of the worst job markets because so many grad students are focusing on it right now.

Of course, all of that only really matters from the jobs perspective. I don't really think the experience of doing a phd at an Ivy is actually in any objective way better than doing it somewhere less "prestigious."

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This is what my previous advisor and mentor emphasized when he recommended to me what programs to apply to. He focused on faculty fit and placement history - this resulted in a list that was about half Ivy and half public universities. 

Additionally, subfield and focus are major players. I am lucky in that my subfield and thematic focus are experiencing a surge of interest - which provides funding opportunities - but it is also not flooded at the moment. There are other subfields though like the_geographer mentioned where this is currently not the case. It's unfortunately a bit of a crapshoot, as I don't think your historical studies should be chosen based on what could make you more steady income but rather interest and passion, but it's the state of the market right now. 

When choosing a program, I recommend inquiring about where their recent students have been placed. If there hasn't been much success for them, maybe consider elsewhere. There are also a lot of grad history programs that are shifting their focus to non-traditional tracks and have adjusted how their programs function based on this, such as comps. They also tend to have more crossover with Public Scholarship and Library Sciences programs and encourage certificates in these areas. Asking current students their career goals and how their current program has assisted in developing them with this career in mind might also assist in considering what programs you might consider. These factors will matter more in the long run than prestige, as your competitiveness and skillset will more likely than not get you a placement.

OHSP Mocha

OHSP

Posted
Posted
  On 2/6/2024 at 3:35 PM, Aishaaa said:

Yes, I applied to the Ph.D. program, and then in April, they accepted me as an MA student without funding.

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Oh that makes more sense -- I'm sorry that happened, it's frustrating, and the MA is outrageous in terms of cost. 

ndoco2024 Caffeinated

ndoco2024

Posted
Posted

Has anyone received Columbia rejections? I saw someone also posted in the results page asking. Not sure if they have a waitlist either...

obk90 Caffeinated

obk90

Posted
Posted
  On 2/7/2024 at 10:04 PM, obk90 said:

Yeah, the Columbia rejection is coming soon. I don't think they have a waitlist. 

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Update that I was wrong about this. They do have a waitlist. I still think it's very likely I will receive a rejection, but I suppose this gives me a reason to actually check the status change in the portal.

ndoco2024 Caffeinated

ndoco2024

Posted
Posted
  On 2/8/2024 at 12:03 AM, obk90 said:

Update that I was wrong about this. They do have a waitlist. I still think it's very likely I will receive a rejection, but I suppose this gives me a reason to actually check the status change in the portal.

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They do?? I hadn't seen anything about it on the results page so I thought they didn't also!! But hopefully there's still a chance :)

ndoco2024 Caffeinated

ndoco2024

Posted
Posted (edited)
  On 2/8/2024 at 9:30 PM, anhistorian said:

Has anyone heard from UMich, Stanford, Rutgers, or UPenn yet?

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Still waiting on UMich (WGS/History joint program) and UPenn-- though I am expecting a rejection from UPenn since I didn't have an interview.

 

Edit: also, UMich seems to have released decisions this + next week in the past, so I wouldn't worry about silence!

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