History Admissions 2009

[kahlan_amnell]

got an email from michigan. the answer's no, but i'm not heartbroken about it.

for anyone waiting for results from them, check your emails. good luck!!

The answer was no for me too. G-mail notifier showed me enough of the e-mail to know it was a rejection before I even opened the e-mail. Oh well, I figured I wasn't going to get in there.

[synthla]

I emailed Ohio State as well, and promptly received my rejection due to budgetary concerns. BUT, I also received an acceptance to U. South Carolina!!!! Yay!!! My worst fear is no longer!

Congrats riss! That is fantastic news!

[riss287]

Thanks! It really does feel like a huge weight just lifted off my shoulders. I was convinced I'd get rejected everywhere.

[petpolitics]

got an email from michigan. the answer's no, but i'm not heartbroken about it.

for anyone waiting for results from them, check your emails. good luck!!

waitlisted for me.

[misterpat]

Finally got in somewhere! University of Missouri, where I did my undergrad. I'm on the funding wait-list, but they made it sound like there is a very good chance of getting off of it.

[Nicolay]

Congratulations, Misterpat!!! That is wonderful news. Missouri has an excellent faculty!

[general_jr]

"The Department of History is highly selective. Every year, we decline more qualified applicants each year than we have the resources to accept. We typically receive 300-350 applications. We admit 50-60 students, all of whom receive some kind of financial aid"

I just want to dispel this misinformation once and for all. This is either a misprint, or it counts their MAPS (MA) program. The PhD program has 10-15 students and will likely be smaller this year. For example, they admitted two medievalists and waitlisted one more. If you look elsewhere on the website, gives better numbers.

[WindWhisked]

Just got accepted to the UConn MA -- no funding for MAs this year, but I'm still psyched as it was my first choice -- yay!

Congrats StoriaItaliana! My field is speech-language pathology but I was just looking around for fellow accepted graduate students. Best of luck at UConn!

[Louiselab]

Riddle me this... Would it make you feel better to know that your were recommended by your potential adviser for admission, but due to budget cuts... you too were axed and weren't accepted by a minute fraction and then spoke with faculty who said things like, "Gee, you're so great, we really should've taken you, you'd be a pleasure to have in the department!"? I guess it's a compliment... or something.

[riss287]

Definitely a compliment, but I'm sure that doesn't make you feel any better.

[limeinthecoconut]

Finally got in somewhere! University of Missouri, where I did my undergrad. I'm on the funding wait-list, but they made it sound like there is a very good chance of getting off of it.

Congrats, misterpat!

[Cornell07]

Hi, if any of you are here from last year, you might remember my frequent posting on this board (heck I started this darn thread). That being said, I thought those of you who do remember me might like to know that I got my first decision from a grad school: I was accepted by Yale for an MA in International Relations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IynQCmqvXZs = me on Friday.

[Sonic]

I just got the acceptance email from the University of Maryland! It completely caught me off guard, since I didn't expect anything on a Sunday morning. This was the last school I had to hear from so it looks like this crazy ride is over for me! Good luck to everyone who is waiting for those late notifiers!

[sra08]

Congratulations to everyone who's gotten good news.

I just got an acceptance e-mail from Maryland, too. A very pleasant surprise for a Sunday morning! I hope they give me funding info soon. I'm not sure I can make their admitted students day, and I'd have to completely change my travel plans for spring break if I do go visit.

[daydaydvd]

Hi, if any of you are here from last year, you might remember my frequent posting on this board (heck I started this darn thread). That being said, I thought those of you who do remember me might like to know that I got my first decision from a grad school: I was accepted by Yale for an MA in International Relations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IynQCmqvXZs = me on Friday.

Congratulation! I feel you, from Youtube.

[misterpat]

Hi, if any of you are here from last year, you might remember my frequent posting on this board (heck I started this darn thread). That being said, I thought those of you who do remember me might like to know that I got my first decision from a grad school: I was accepted by Yale for an MA in International Relations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IynQCmqvXZs = me on Friday.

Way to go, brah. That your #1?

[Cornell07]

Way to go, brah. That your #1?

It is a great match. While (depending on funding) it is not my #1, I certainly will not shed a tear if I go there.

[Louiselab]

Hi, if any of you are here from last year, you might remember my frequent posting on this board (heck I started this darn thread). That being said, I thought those of you who do remember me might like to know that I got my first decision from a grad school: I was accepted by Yale for an MA in International Relations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IynQCmqvXZs = me on Friday.

i remember your pain from last year, as it so accurately reflected my own... The proverbial long and winding road I suppose.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! isn't it a great feeling to be one of the "accepted" people on gradcafe? FINALLY?

[Nicolay]

Congrats Cornell07!! Glad your wait paid off. Your persistence can serve as inspiration for the rest of us!

[riddimorrhyme]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/07/arts/07grad.html?em

[StrangeLight]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/07/arts/07grad.html?em

well that's depressing.

[older and wiser]

If that NYT article was actually news to any of you folks, then you probably didn't read up enough before applying to grad school.

Just sayin'.

[8in2009]

If that NYT article was actually news to any of you folks, then you probably didn't read up enough before applying to grad school.

Just sayin'.

Well said.

[StrangeLight]

it's not news. but think of the students who started their PhD program 5 years ago, when things were competitive but the economy was in one piece and more jobs were to be had. and now they've got nothing. like the person the NYT article bookends. it's depressing for him.

your reaction amuses me, though.

[TMP]

Cornell07 and everyone else so far- congrats on your acceptances! For those of you on the verge of resorting to Plan B, don't give up. Some of us here are applying for the second time and as you can see... you learn a lot in the admissions process. It's so... subjective that no one can really write a book about applying to humanities grad program like Princeton Review can for undergraduate schools. Remember to e-mail with feedback- you will make a very good impression on the professors- ask for honest opinion of your file. You will, then, target the weakness and work on those. If they say that your writing sample was wonderful but your GRE score sucked, well, then work on that, not do more research and writing.

Although I am not applying this year, my friend (who's my current adviser's second MA student, and I'm next in the line) was quite successful with three acceptances so far and is still waiting out on.... no surprise, NYU. Based on her success this year and we are similar in our interests, I'm looking forward to next year (although I know that I'll still be deathly terrified and nervous). But I may have to compete with her first MA student... who now has a year of teaching experience...uggghhh!

As for that NYT article today, history programs are extremely slow to recognize that the PhD is quite versatile. (AHA basically slammed doctoral programs a couple months ago on this issue) Those who are quick to recognize the problem of tough academic job market are already training their PhD students to be "broad" historians, rather than just specifically for academia. I'm definitely targeting those schools and I'm open to jobs beyond the academia. I'm not too worried myself, really. If I can get a job at a SLAC, then great. If not, so be it. I've worked in public history before and I loved it so I really don't care where I end up as long I get something that pays my bills and student loans. If I wind up in a program that's not *there* yet, I'll just have to keep my mouth shut and say "yes, sir, I want to be a professor at a R1. Yes, sir, I will publish as much as I can..." Ha, right. My undergraduate advisers never dissuaded me from entering grad school, in part they believed I should be there, and in part, they saw that I had experience of working with history profession outside of academia and was open to other possibilities. If anything, I know that if I talked to one of them again a year later, she'll still lobby for me to work in the public forum. She went to a historian's conference last spring and wrote to me essentially implying how jealous she was of all *those* people and I would be so lucky if I go down that road.