2024 Application Thread

[AB2024]

6 hours ago, site_n_blindness272 said:

I currently have all my decisions in except for one! Has anyone heard from Rutgers? lol

I haven't heard from Rutgers either! I'm just waiting on them and a couple more. My subfield is US race & gender with an emphasis also on digital public methodology. What's your subfield?

[meanwhilelife81a]

The DGS at Indiana U-Bloomington said they’re sending out offers this week but whoa Vanderbilt has been really good at being radio silent. Or is it just me? Has anybody heard anything from Vanderbilt History Admissions or their respective POIs?

[historyprincess]

8 hours ago, site_n_blindness272 said:

I currently have all my decisions in except for one! Has anyone heard from Rutgers? lol

Haven’t heard from RU either however I did see some people posted results last week. 

[anhistorian]

If I am not mistaken, I think UPenn is significantly delayed this year? I had an interview a while back but I am not sure what the ratio of interviews typically is or if there has been some issue. Would anyone have any information to share? Please and thank you. 

[site_n_blindness272]

16 hours ago, AB2024 said:

I haven't heard from Rutgers either! I'm just waiting on them and a couple more. My subfield is US race & gender with an emphasis also on digital public methodology. What's your subfield?

Glad I'm not alone lol! My subfield is early modern European gender and disability with an emphasis on the German-speaking world and the Reformation. Seems they haven't responded to many across the board!

[localdumpsterfire]

14 hours ago, historyprincess said:

Haven’t heard from RU either however I did see some people posted results last week. 

I'm a current grad student at Rutgers just popping in to say please be patient. They just hired a new grad administrator like last month and the DGS is currently teaching a graduate course this semester. 

[site_n_blindness272]

4 minutes ago, localdumpsterfire said:

I'm a current grad student at Rutgers just popping in to say please be patient. They just hired a new grad administrator like last month and the DGS is currently teaching a graduate course this semester. 

Makes total sense! Thanks for the insight  

[historyprincess]

1 hour ago, localdumpsterfire said:

I'm a current grad student at Rutgers just popping in to say please be patient. They just hired a new grad administrator like last month and the DGS is currently teaching a graduate course this semester. 

I was kind of expecting the worse at this point since I had seen acceptances last week - but thanks for giving some insider information!! 

[meanwhilelife81a]

Anyone else still waiting to hear back from Vanderbilt and Indiana?

Edited February 15 by historianmusicologist118

[meanwhilelife81a]

Lol got waitlisted at IU-Bloomington

[anhistorian]

I GOT INTO UPENN! I COULD CRY RIGHT NOW!

[meanwhilelife81a]

1 hour ago, anhistorian said:

I GOT INTO UPENN! I COULD CRY RIGHT NOW!

Congratulations! What is your subfield?

Edited February 17 by historianmusicologist118

[anhistorian]

5 hours ago, historianmusicologist118 said:

Congratulations! What is your subfield?

Thank you! It's South Asia. 

[historyluvr]

hi everyone!! congrats to those who have been accepted to schools! i have currently only received rejections. Still waiting on two schools, UC Davis and Rutgers. UC Davis I’ve seen one acceptance, one waitlist posted weeks ago and one more waitlist posted today. For Rutgers i saw a few acceptances last week but saw lots of people on this forum still waiting too. Does anyone have any insight to offer for these schools? The wait is killing me! Thanks everyone, and all the best luck to those still waiting! 

[beee]

what does it mean if a school already released its acceptances, rejections, and waitlists and you haven’t heard anything? specifically i’m talking about university of michigan. it’s the only US school I’m still waiting on and I don’t know if I should reach out or not 

[meanwhilelife81a]

3 hours ago, beee said:

what does it mean if a school already released its acceptances, rejections, and waitlists and you haven’t heard anything? specifically i’m talking about university of michigan. it’s the only US school I’m still waiting on and I don’t know if I should reach out or not 

I feel like no news is good news, no?

[andre_history]

On 2/17/2024 at 5:02 PM, historyluvr said:

hi everyone!! congrats to those who have been accepted to schools! i have currently only received rejections. Still waiting on two schools, UC Davis and Rutgers. UC Davis I’ve seen one acceptance, one waitlist posted weeks ago and one more waitlist posted today. For Rutgers i saw a few acceptances last week but saw lots of people on this forum still waiting too. Does anyone have any insight to offer for these schools? The wait is killing me! Thanks everyone, and all the best luck to those still waiting! 

Hello.

I received my update from UC Davis on February 7th; I was waitlisted there. Have you heard anything about your status yet? If you haven’t received any updates by email, it would be good to look at the application page and, if there is nothing there, send an email to the DGS. I’m not sure, but I believe that would be Sharmila Shinde (ssshinde@ucdavis.edu).

I exchanged some emails with my POI there a few days ago, and he said that he hasn’t received information about cancellations yet. But if you are at least on a waitlist, a lot of students are still making their decisions and you still have a chance. I don’t know about Rutgers, but it might be worth looking at some people who comment here and sending them a direct message to ask if they have received any updates.

Good luck!

[historyprincess]

On 2/17/2024 at 3:02 PM, historyluvr said:

hi everyone!! congrats to those who have been accepted to schools! i have currently only received rejections. Still waiting on two schools, UC Davis and Rutgers. UC Davis I’ve seen one acceptance, one waitlist posted weeks ago and one more waitlist posted today. For Rutgers i saw a few acceptances last week but saw lots of people on this forum still waiting too. Does anyone have any insight to offer for these schools? The wait is killing me! Thanks everyone, and all the best luck to those still waiting! 

I don’t want to be downer but from what I’ve seen on gradcafe from previous years it seems like RU sent out waitlist/acceptances two weeks before updating portals for rejections. However- please don’t take my word. Someone in here said that RU is going through some changes. 

[lasan98]

Hi everyone! I applied this season to 8 programs and got admitted to 4 of them (University of Michigan, NYU, Duke, UC Davis). I got rejected from every Ivy I applied to (Harvard, Columbia, Yale, and assuming UPenn rejection). I am extremely grateful for the offers I do have, and know they are excellent programs. I am one year out of undergrad and my major was not in History (I majored in two interdisciplinary fields related to my subfield). I don't have money for a Masters (I am first-gen, low-income), so I am thinking of taking one of my current offers, but for some reason I still feel really bad about not having gotten into any of the Ivies that I applied to. I have no clue how to make my application stronger without a MA, though. Does anyone have advice on this, or has gone through a similar situation? Any thoughts on/experiences with the programs I got offers from? As someone new to History I appreciate any insight you might have!

[historyprincess]

1 hour ago, lasan98 said:

Hi everyone! I applied this season to 8 programs and got admitted to 4 of them (University of Michigan, NYU, Duke, UC Davis). I got rejected from every Ivy I applied to (Harvard, Columbia, Yale, and assuming UPenn rejection). I am extremely grateful for the offers I do have, and know they are excellent programs. I am one year out of undergrad and my major was not in History (I majored in two interdisciplinary fields related to my subfield). I don't have money for a Masters (I am first-gen, low-income), so I am thinking of taking one of my current offers, but for some reason I still feel really bad about not having gotten into any of the Ivies that I applied to. I have no clue how to make my application stronger without a MA, though. Does anyone have advice on this, or has gone through a similar situation? Any thoughts on/experiences with the programs I got offers from? As someone new to History I appreciate any insight you might have!

Hi! First of all congratulations. 

Please don’t feel down about the Ivy schools. You got into some great programs! I can very easily say that some of the best fits for budding historians are not Ivies.

I hold my BA & MA from NYU. I know many professors from the history department & a few in some other related disciplines. I don’t have much insight on funding/logistics but I can say that I really loved my academic time there & would’ve applied for a PhD if it wasn’t for the fact that my mentors and I decided I should look at different schools to continue my education. I recommend the program for sure. 

I wish you luck! 

[OHSP]

2 hours ago, lasan98 said:

Hi everyone! I applied this season to 8 programs and got admitted to 4 of them (University of Michigan, NYU, Duke, UC Davis). I got rejected from every Ivy I applied to (Harvard, Columbia, Yale, and assuming UPenn rejection). I am extremely grateful for the offers I do have, and know they are excellent programs. I am one year out of undergrad and my major was not in History (I majored in two interdisciplinary fields related to my subfield). I don't have money for a Masters (I am first-gen, low-income), so I am thinking of taking one of my current offers, but for some reason I still feel really bad about not having gotten into any of the Ivies that I applied to. I have no clue how to make my application stronger without a MA, though. Does anyone have advice on this, or has gone through a similar situation? Any thoughts on/experiences with the programs I got offers from? As someone new to History I appreciate any insight you might have!

You were admitted into elite programs. I am going to be extremely blunt and tell you right now to get over the ivy thing. It might sound harsh but you need this reality check. 

I got into an ivy, I chose NYU instead because I based my decisions on advisors and fit. I have a TT-equivalent job (we don't have the tenure system but full-time, permanent, "assistant prof", 50% research, 40% teaching etc etc) in my own country (I always intended to move home after the PhD). Recent graduates of NYU have had very good success on the job market. During the PhD the program supported me and many of my peers to apply for and receive significant external funding. Why would you do a MA when you have funded options for elite, fully funded PhD programs? 

If you need to go to an ivy then tell the other schools ASAP so that waitlisted candidates aren't waiting until April. 

Others might beat around the bush and provide replies that are worded more sensitively, but here's a straight answer for you. 

Edited February 21 by OHSP

[ndoco2024]

2 hours ago, lasan98 said:

Hi everyone! I applied this season to 8 programs and got admitted to 4 of them (University of Michigan, NYU, Duke, UC Davis). I got rejected from every Ivy I applied to (Harvard, Columbia, Yale, and assuming UPenn rejection). I am extremely grateful for the offers I do have, and know they are excellent programs. I am one year out of undergrad and my major was not in History (I majored in two interdisciplinary fields related to my subfield). I don't have money for a Masters (I am first-gen, low-income), so I am thinking of taking one of my current offers, but for some reason I still feel really bad about not having gotten into any of the Ivies that I applied to. I have no clue how to make my application stronger without a MA, though. Does anyone have advice on this, or has gone through a similar situation? Any thoughts on/experiences with the programs I got offers from? As someone new to History I appreciate any insight you might have!

Hey! So, yes, I also felt like sh*t when I got rejected from the Ivies, especially Columbia because it was a good fit. Like you, I also applied right after undergrad, also didn't major in History, and I'm also a first gen low income student (intl but did undergrad in the US). I am actually waitlisted at two of the schools you mentioned getting accepted into and got into UMich. Take some time to stop beating yourself up and celebrate!!!!!!!! This is a BIG ASS ACCOMPLISHMENT. People with MAs get rejected from these schools. You have potential, clearly!!! I understand the hyperfixation but do continue to reflect on why you applied to those programs in the first place. Clearly you liked them, and they had something great to offer you in your academic journey. 

[earlycalifornia]

On 2/21/2024 at 12:06 PM, lasan98 said:

Hi everyone! I applied this season to 8 programs and got admitted to 4 of them (University of Michigan, NYU, Duke, UC Davis). I got rejected from every Ivy I applied to (Harvard, Columbia, Yale, and assuming UPenn rejection). I am extremely grateful for the offers I do have, and know they are excellent programs. I am one year out of undergrad and my major was not in History (I majored in two interdisciplinary fields related to my subfield). I don't have money for a Masters (I am first-gen, low-income), so I am thinking of taking one of my current offers, but for some reason I still feel really bad about not having gotten into any of the Ivies that I applied to. I have no clue how to make my application stronger without a MA, though. Does anyone have advice on this, or has gone through a similar situation? Any thoughts on/experiences with the programs I got offers from? As someone new to History I appreciate any insight you might have!

if you think less of programs that aren’t ivies, I would recommend not going to them, but you might also want to consider why you feel that way and if there are legitimate reasons for it 

[anhistorian]

On 2/21/2024 at 10:06 PM, lasan98 said:

Hi everyone! I applied this season to 8 programs and got admitted to 4 of them (University of Michigan, NYU, Duke, UC Davis). I got rejected from every Ivy I applied to (Harvard, Columbia, Yale, and assuming UPenn rejection). I am extremely grateful for the offers I do have, and know they are excellent programs. I am one year out of undergrad and my major was not in History (I majored in two interdisciplinary fields related to my subfield). I don't have money for a Masters (I am first-gen, low-income), so I am thinking of taking one of my current offers, but for some reason I still feel really bad about not having gotten into any of the Ivies that I applied to. I have no clue how to make my application stronger without a MA, though. Does anyone have advice on this, or has gone through a similar situation? Any thoughts on/experiences with the programs I got offers from? As someone new to History I appreciate any insight you might have!

I understand where you are coming from. I come from a culture and family that places greater emphasis on big names rather than quality of education. I am an international, low-income student and the first person in my family with a graduate degree. 

When I was accepted at both Oxbridge and Tufts for my Master's a couple of years ago, I was told clearly to choose Oxbridge even though I could by no means afford it. I went against the advice of everyone around me and instead chose Tufts (they gave me full funding and it was the ideal advisor fit). I'll be honest everyone was quite upset with my decision but I refused to budge. 

I think I made an excellent decision financially and received an excellent education. My advisor at Tufts is the reason I was so easily accepted into doctorate programs this cycle. She holds great respect in my specific field. It took me a long time to recalibrate my brain into looking at programs not for their big names but for their quality of education and departmental strength. I am sure there will be moments where I will continue to work on this. I would recommend you say "f you" to the world and be incredibly proud of your achievements. This was a particularly difficult admissions cycle. Even getting a single acceptance is Godsend let alone four. 

[baldwinhouse22]

Only complaining here because the topic is meant for it—NYU’s radio silence puzzles me. I’m not concerned as I’ve gotten acceptances from two Ivies and a couple of other programs, but an applicant at my university has gotten a response. Still nothing for me. What’s taking so long, NYU?