ndoco2024 Posted February 7 Posted February 7 37 minutes ago, 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 !! :))) 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!!! meanwhilelife81a 1
meanwhilelife81a Posted February 7 Posted February 7 21 minutes ago, 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!!! 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. đŸ˜
ThrowAwayTemp Posted February 7 Posted February 7 1 hour ago, 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!!! Were the waitlists generic letters or did anyone reach out to you?Â
ndoco2024 Posted February 7 Posted February 7 1 hour ago, ThrowAwayTemp said: Were the waitlists generic letters or did anyone reach out to you? I got generic letters from each of the Grad schools, and then the DGS as well as my POIs emailed me
meanwhilelife81a Posted February 7 Posted February 7 Goodluck to everyone who applied to UW-Madison!!!  from the Graduate advisor last week: “Our timeline to notify nominees, as well as those not offered admission, is next Wednesday, February 7.“
beee Posted February 7 Posted February 7 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!!Â
obk90 Posted February 7 Posted February 7 1 hour ago, 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!! 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 1
the_geographer Posted February 7 Posted February 7 3 hours ago, 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!! 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 1
site_n_blindness272 Posted February 7 Posted February 7 9 minutes ago, 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." 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. the_geographer 1
meanwhilelife81a Posted February 7 Posted February 7 Is it me or schools are behind on releasing application results?? historyprincess and site_n_blindness272 2
OHSP Posted February 7 Posted February 7 On 2/7/2024 at 4:35 AM, Aishaaa said: Yes, I applied to the Ph.D. program, and then in April, they accepted me as an MA student without funding. Oh that makes more sense -- I'm sorry that happened, it's frustrating, and the MA is outrageous in terms of cost.Â
ndoco2024 Posted February 7 Posted February 7 Has anyone received Columbia rejections? I saw someone also posted in the results page asking. Not sure if they have a waitlist either...
meanwhilelife81a Posted February 7 Posted February 7 6 minutes ago, ndoco2024 said: Has anyone received Columbia rejections? I saw someone also posted in the results page asking. Not sure if they have a waitlist either... Since acceptances were released yesterday, rejections might be next..tomorrow or Friday.
obk90 Posted February 7 Posted February 7 Yeah, the Columbia rejection is coming soon. I don't think they have a waitlist.Â
meanwhilelife81a Posted February 7 Posted February 7 (edited) The Graduate Advisor at UW-Madison told me they will release all notifications today but I have not heard a thing…I wonder… Edited February 7 by historianmusicologist118
obk90 Posted February 7 Posted February 7 46 minutes ago, historianmusicologist118 said: The Graduate Advisor at UW-Madison told me they will release all notifications today but I have not heard a thing…I wonder… That is potentially very good news for you. Rejections were issued yesterday. meanwhilelife81a 1
meanwhilelife81a Posted February 7 Posted February 7 13 minutes ago, obk90 said: That is potentially very good news for you. Rejections were issued yesterday. I’m a current student so I actually applied internally so I just e-mailed my materials instead of the application system which makes things a bit different for my case…. But hopefully?? obk90 1
obk90 Posted February 8 Posted February 8 1 hour ago, obk90 said: Yeah, the Columbia rejection is coming soon. I don't think they have a waitlist. 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. AB2024 and meanwhilelife81a 2
ndoco2024 Posted February 8 Posted February 8 3 hours ago, 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. 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 meanwhilelife81a 1
historyprincess Posted February 8 Posted February 8 I dont know about all of you - but these last few programs being quiet is making me real nervous !!! UMich and Rutgers especially being so silent. AB2024 and site_n_blindness272 1 1
anhistorian Posted February 8 Posted February 8 Has anyone heard from UMich, Stanford, Rutgers, or UPenn yet?
ndoco2024 Posted February 8 Posted February 8 (edited) 10 minutes ago, anhistorian said: Has anyone heard from UMich, Stanford, Rutgers, or UPenn yet? 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. Â Edit: also, UMich seems to have released decisions this + next week in the past, so I wouldn't worry about silence! Edited February 8 by ndoco2024 adding info
site_n_blindness272 Posted February 8 Posted February 8 1 hour ago, anhistorian said: Has anyone heard from UMich, Stanford, Rutgers, or UPenn yet? I applied to both Stanford and Rutgers and also have yet to hear anything back! meanwhilelife81a 1
meanwhilelife81a Posted February 9 Posted February 9 Anyone still waiting on Princeton, Madison, and Vanderbilt? đŸ˜…
AB2024 Posted February 9 Posted February 9 3 hours ago, anhistorian said: Has anyone heard from UMich, Stanford, Rutgers, or UPenn yet? I applied to Stanford and Rutgers and also haven't heard anything!!
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