Fall 2012 Applicant Chit Chat

[Safferz]

Congrats to taybaxter and diplodocus! Has anyone claimed the UCLA acceptance yet?

[StrangeLight]

Hello All,

I've been a lurker here for quite a while. Thank you to everyone for all of the informative posts and for the place to commiserate about the stresses of this process. Also, congrats to all the early acceptances!

I've been asked to visit the campus and interview in person at one of my schools. I didn't expect to have to interview and the idea is kind of terrifying b/c I do not have a detailed - or even very specific - proposal for a dissertation project. Can anyone share their interview experiences? Were you asked to elaborate on your dissertation proposal or was the interview more balanced with other topics?

Thanks in advance for any help!

first off, hi! second, congratulations on the interview. third, it depends on whether you already have an MA or not.

if you don't have an MA yet and are applying to combined MA/PhD programs, then you can talk as broadly about your academic interests as you want. you definitely don't need a dissertation project yet, but you should spend some time talking about the project you proposed in your statement of purpose. i think at your stage it's most helpful to talk about the kind of history you want to do (social? political? cultural? environmental?) and the kind of questions you want to ask (ones that draw a big picture, ones that complicate someone else's big picture, ones about historical memory, people's experiences, economic systems, state formation, pirates). you don't want to sound too erratic, so if you're applying to be a chinese historian, then make sure you always mention china.

have questions for the people you speak with. ones that you wouldn't be able to answer simply by reading the department website. if you know who you're going to meet with ahead of your visit, then look at their bios on the website to get some feel for what they're into. if possible, try to read the introductions of their most recent books. you don't want to ask them questions about their work (unless they're your potential advisor), but if you're interested in women's history in africa and you're talking to someone that does women's history in latin america, mention your interest in women's history. they'll notice if you show up already knowing a bit about how the place works and who you're speaking to, and they'll read that as your interest in being there. don't walk in clueless, basically. do a bit of research first. we are, after all, trying to become professional researchers.

if you already have an MA, then you should have a dissertation topic. you don't need a research question yet (the exact question you'll be asking) but you should have "i want to look at tourism in interwar US and its effects on conceptions of race and gender." you should be able to talk concretely about some of the books that have been written on your topic. you'll want to do a little more investigating of the department website, to see if maybe one of the asianist historians also works on tourism, so that you can connect your interests to the department not just by region ("you have lots of africanists here") but by theme ("you have lots of people that work on transnational history here").

good luck! as long as you don't walk in completely blind, you'll be fine.

[telemaque]

Congrats to taybaxter and diplodocus! Has anyone claimed the UCLA acceptance yet?

Would also love to know about the UCLA acceptance!

[oseirus]

I tried talking about scuba diving with others who were interested, but some got offended.

I'm offended you even brought up that PAINFUL topic again! This is NOT time for such things! We must comport ourselves on these here interwebs

[oseirus]

The more people that unlurk, the more worried I get that I'll meet my academic rival.

We meet again Kelkel! Let the duel commence!

[swirled]

Thank you Strange Light. That was a very generous response!

[sandyvanb]

Congrats Diplodocus!

[Hopin'-n-Prayin']

I see that many of my schools have began announcing decisions in other of their programs...any one know if this has any correlation to the History departments at these schools announcing?

[Curlicue]

After reading this gem of a forum, I have decided to change my thesis topic. It will now be titled.... "Cross Disciplinary Encounters: Unlurking Near Potential Competitors."

[Kelkel]

After reading this gem of a forum, I have decided to change my thesis topic. It will now be titled.... "Cross Disciplinary Encounters: Unlurking Near Potential Competitors."

You can submit it for publication in my new work, Oh The Humanity: A History Graduate School Reader.

[swirled]

If a school nominates you for a fellowship, can you consider yourself (at least) half-way in? Or is that wishful thinking?

[goldielocks]

If a school nominates you for a fellowship, can you consider yourself (at least) half-way in? Or is that wishful thinking?

I'm in this situation, too, so I'm sort of vacillating between hope and fear about this. Would be excited to hear others' thoughts on this.

[barricades]

If a school nominates you for a fellowship, can you consider yourself (at least) half-way in? Or is that wishful thinking?

I'm assuming it's an university-wide fellowship or something similar?

From my experience, if that's the case, you are probably very close to being accepted. I'm hesitant in saying this because I don't want anyone to get their hopes up (after all, you're only officially in once you get the official letter). But, realistically, departments tend to nominate their most competitive applicants to these fellowships.

[StrangeLight]

i agree with barricades, with a small caveat. some schools have limited numbers of TAships to give to incoming students. say 5 applicants are being considered for university-wide fellowships and the department has another 3 TAships to hand out. if all 5 win the fellowships, then the department can extend offers to another 3 students with TAships. if 2 of 5 win fellowships, the other 3 considered will almost certainly get the TAships, and that'll be it. but if only 1 of 5 wins the incoming fellowship, then 3 of the 4 remaining will get TAships and 1 person considered for a fellowship may end up with a rejection.

the math may seem unlikely, but in small programs or programs that had higher yields than expected in previous years, this sort of situation is not unheard of. to anyone being considered for a fellowship, i'd say to be cautiously (very) optimistic. it looks good, but the math may not ultimately work in your favour.

[A Finicky Bean]

You can submit it for publication in my new work, Oh The Humanity: A History Graduate School Reader.

Hahaha, fabulous.

Oh, and congrats to everyone who has heard news. I swear I am present and following but with studying for the comp (may) and the new puppy...my hands are full! Apps? What apps?

Edited January 31, 2012 by A Finicky Bean

[goldielocks]

Tomorrow is the last day of January. Hooray hooray hooray!

[Veilside1]

Any word or inside info on the University of Chicago?

[Safferz]

Tomorrow is the last day of January. Hooray hooray hooray!

Can you believe it? It only became real to me when I had to buy my February metro pass earlier today. This is the month I've been thinking about since I first started working on my applications in August, and it's almost here! SO excited.

[goldielocks]

Can you believe it? It only became real to me when I had to buy my February metro pass earlier today. This is the month I've been thinking about since I first started working on my applications in August, and it's almost here! SO excited.

Haha I am afraid it will be sort of anticlimactic for me, until at least the end of next week.

[telemaque]

Can you believe it? It only became real to me when I had to buy my February metro pass earlier today. This is the month I've been thinking about since I first started working on my applications in August, and it's almost here! SO excited.

Yep, I paid my February rent today! It's almost here. I can't say I'm super excited, though...more like dreading having to stop pretending that I'll get in to some of these schools and face the rejections

[virmundi]

Any word or inside info on the University of Chicago?

I seem to recall that their application indicated that decisions would go out in early March...

[crazedandinfused]

Thanks GradCafe-ers. You helped me put together a way stronger app than I would have otherwise. So, you all rock. That's all.

Sorry for the affectivity, but it's late and i mean it.

Oh, and for all of you dreading the possibility of spending the next six years ensconced in brutalist architecture, at least you aren't going here.

Edited January 31, 2012 by crazedandinfused

[Loimographia]

Thanks GradCafe-ers. You helped me put together a way stronger app than I would have otherwise. So, you all rock. That's all.

Sorry for the affectivity, but it's late and i mean it.

Oh, and for all of you dreading the possibility of spending the next six years ensconced in brutalist architecture, at least you aren't going here.

awww, we love you too. I'm currently sending out warm, fuzzy feelings into the universe to convince it to work in favor of everyone on this message board (except my rivals in my field, no warm-fuzzies for you!)

Also, that pic makes me think of a very sad version of UCSD's Giesel Library. So very sad

[Safferz]

Thanks GradCafe-ers. You helped me put together a way stronger app than I would have otherwise. So, you all rock. That's all.

Sorry for the affectivity, but it's late and i mean it.

Oh, and for all of you dreading the possibility of spending the next six years ensconced in brutalist architecture, at least you aren't going here.

Aww! And isn't it great having a place full of people who get it? I'm the only one I know applying to grad school right now, so this forum has been a godsend. But I've been warned that it can also make the anxiety worse, especially once people start getting into programs you've applied to.

As for brutalist architecture, I've spent the last four years studying in a building far worse -- a giant concrete turkey. And some of you applied there

[oseirus]

Thanks GradCafe-ers. You helped me put together a way stronger app than I would have otherwise. So, you all rock. That's all.

Sorry for the affectivity, but it's late and i mean it.

Oh, and for all of you dreading the possibility of spending the next six years ensconced in brutalist architecture, at least you aren't going here.

Another thing I didn't take into consideration ... I vaguely knew all the schools I applied to (as far as architecture is concerned) I never bothered to check out the individual department buildings ... and now as the weather gets miserable on the east, I remember how bitterly opposed to the cold my constitution is. Then again ars gratia artis & of course dulce et decorum est pro scientiae mori