New England Nat Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 Wow! UPenn is a great guess, since it's an obvious fit for my research focus. I haven't declined Princeton yet... one of my African history profs (his spouse is an Africanist political scientist that went there) convinced me to give it a bit more thought and wait until I have more details about their offer. I'm quite certain at this point though, and I can't afford to miss any more time away from my classes than I have to for campus visits. I have to graduate I was slightly surprised that she knew as much about your area of study as she did. THe professors in American history certainly haven't chatted with their students about the pool of people they accepted. Other than the fact that I've found at at least one of my classes if not two of them will be open to visitors on visiting days nothing's gone out in my subfield. I have some methodological reasons for chatting with the Africanists. The conversation wasn't in too much detail, just a mention that they wanted you but were unsure if you would come because of your specific area of study and how UPenn seemed closer. As for missing school days for visiting days... that's between you and your current school. I was writing a masters thesis during that equivalent semester, so was more open.
Safferz Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 So sorry, AFB. I know how the rejections feel. Keep your chin up and like crazedandinfused said, we'll be here next year. I know I'll need help too! We'll be like TMP and Safferz. GO, US!!! Take some time to relax and try not to dwell too much on the negative. Sending plenty of positive vibes your way. You guys are fabulous!! Remember it's not always about the quality of your application, but about a department's particular needs during a particular cycle and hoping what you have to offer is what they're looking for. Never allow yourself to feel defeated by a rejection or think that it's a measure of your ability or worth as a candidate. I wish I could say there's a science to this, and you can certainly ask for feedback on your application to tighten up any weak areas for next time, but there isn't. Just keep in mind that next cycle will have an entirely different field of applicants and can (and WILL) yield an entirely different set of results. I have a friend doing his PhD in a social sciences department at Columbia, and he told me that almost everyone in the department got in on their second try. Safferz, Toulouse1 and simone von c 3
virmundi Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 I declined my acceptance at USC today -- I loved the POIs there, but the fit wasn't as good as some of the other schools. Hopefully some other student will have an opportunity to get off the wait-list now and get into their program! I also received an official notification from Yale today, so I imagine that those of you who haven't heard anything yet will hear something (anything) soon... Cheers and best to all.
volta36 Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 Interesting... there's a Yale wait list on the results page. Could anyone provide more info about that, if at all possible? Thanks!
Safferz Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 I was slightly surprised that she knew as much about your area of study as she did. The professors in American history certainly haven't chatted with their students about the pool of people they accepted. Other than the fact that I've found at at least one of my classes if not two of them will be open to visitors on visiting days nothing's gone out in my subfield. I have some methodological reasons for chatting with the Africanists. The conversation wasn't in too much detail, just a mention that they wanted you but were unsure if you would come because of your specific area of study and how UPenn seemed closer. As for missing school days for visiting days... that's between you and your current school. I was writing a masters thesis during that equivalent semester, so was more open. It wouldn't be the first school with grad students that know about my application -- I think it's easy to involve grad students in the process when there's only a handful of them and most of my departments seem to accept 1-2 African history students a year. Princeton hasn't done this, but a few of the others have had their grad students reach out to me to say hello and make themselves available for any questions I may have about the program. It's nice to know they're so interested in me though, but I feel a little bad about letting them down lol. I'll take my prof's thoughts into consideration and give it some more thought, but I feel pretty confident in my decision and should be declining later this week.
New England Nat Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 It's nice to know they're so interested in me though, but I feel a little bad about letting them down lol. I'll take my prof's thoughts into consideration and give it some more thought, but I feel pretty confident in my decision and should be declining later this week. You know your field better than I do and are probably making the right decision. I don't have a dog in the fight of you coming to Princeton as you aren't in my field. It's a wonderful place but you are in a relatively specialized field. I've had long conversations about the various "mafias" in African history (i.e. the Kenyan Mafia, the Botswana Mafia, the South African...). Where there is a lot of work being done and it is relatively safe to research. You don't fall into that catagory and so you have to forge your own path and make your own decisions. I honestly suspect you are making the right decision in picking Harvard over Princeton in the narrow circumstances of what you've been saying about what you want.
Safferz Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 You know your field better than I do and are probably making the right decision. I don't have a dog in the fight of you coming to Princeton as you aren't in my field. It's a wonderful place but you are in a relatively specialized field. I've had long conversations about the various "mafias" in African history (i.e. the Kenyan Mafia, the Botswana Mafia, the South African...). Where there is a lot of work being done and it is relatively safe to research. You don't fall into that catagory and so you have to forge your own path and make your own decisions. I honestly suspect you are making the right decision in picking Harvard over Princeton in the narrow circumstances of what you've been saying about what you want. Thanks I've only narrowed it down to the three schools I'd like to visit at this stage, but I do know which school is my favourite and I hope the visits confirm that before I make a decision.
virmundi Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 (edited) Thanks I've only narrowed it down to the three schools I'd like to visit at this stage, but I do know which school is my favourite and I hope the visits confirm that before I make a decision. At this point, it doesn't really matter what school you choose, you'll still sound kind of crazy -- through no fault of your own -- by saying out loud (or writing): "Well, I turned down X, Y, and Z world-renowned, famous universities to go to world-renowned university A." No matter which university fits into which variable, it'll still sound kind of incredible (in the literal, Latin-esque sense of the word )... ) EDIT to add: Which is simply to say, what a wonderful place to be and what a wonderful decision to have to make. Edited February 16, 2012 by virmundi
Gene Parmesan Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 For current students (and I guess anyone, really): is it standard for POIs to be "wooing" their potential advisees at this point? Or, better question, is it a red flag of sorts if a POI isn't doing this at all...like not even offering to answer questions/put me in touch with current students or anything? I know different people have different communication styles and all, but I'm kinda getting a weird vibe from one professor. Her communications with me have made it seem like she's sure I'm coming in the fall (so no need to woo?), but I've obviously in no way committed yet, sooo.... Interesting question that I've thought about as well. Personally I've had mixed results since my schools accepted me. After my first acceptance as early as Dec 28 has still yet to make contact with me regarding whats going on. On the other hand, another school has done a good job of wooing, but only from the grad advisor, not specific POIs. Another school's grad advisor reached out first, followed by 2 POIs who have been in contact encouraging me to visit and putting me in contact with students. Maybe schools work differently with this. I also suspect a lot of the wooing from these profs will happen during the visits maybe? Again, I suspect it varies from school to school (for example, with acceptances, some call, some email, some send snail mail, etc.) I've also had a few profs seem to "assume" I'll end up there, but maybe thats the wooing part?
Safferz Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 For current students (and I guess anyone, really): is it standard for POIs to be "wooing" their potential advisees at this point? Or, better question, is it a red flag of sorts if a POI isn't doing this at all...like not even offering to answer questions/put me in touch with current students or anything? I know different people have different communication styles and all, but I'm kinda getting a weird vibe from one professor. Her communications with me have made it seem like she's sure I'm coming in the fall (so no need to woo?), but I've obviously in no way committed yet, sooo.... I don't think it's a red flag -- you got in, so of course your POI wants you there! Some schools are more aggressive in their recruitment (and I think that often has more to do with competing with other schools than actually wanting the student, but I digress...), but a more withdrawn POI that gives you space to decide for yourself is not a problem. You'll know whether there's a weird vibe when you meet in person... I wouldn't take her email communication style as an indication of that. At this point, it doesn't really matter what school you choose, you'll still sound kind of crazy -- through no fault of your own -- by saying out loud (or writing): "Well, I turned down X, Y, and Z world-renowned, famous universities to go to world-renowned university A." No matter which university fits into which variable, it'll still sound kind of incredible (in the literal, Latin-esque sense of the word )... ) EDIT to add: Which is simply to say, what a wonderful place to be and what a wonderful decision to have to make. It's still so strange and surreal to me! I'm really looking forward to the visits, if only to see a few campuses I didn't think I'd ever actually see outside of movies
New England Nat Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 For current students (and I guess anyone, really): is it standard for POIs to be "wooing" their potential advisees at this point? Or, better question, is it a red flag of sorts if a POI isn't doing this at all...like not even offering to answer questions/put me in touch with current students or anything? I know different people have different communication styles and all, but I'm kinda getting a weird vibe from one professor. Her communications with me have made it seem like she's sure I'm coming in the fall (so no need to woo?), but I've obviously in no way committed yet, sooo.... It's really a culture of the department issue. Some places there may be faculty interested in you that you didn't identify whose interests link with yours in ways you had no way of knowing when you applied. Those people may want to make themselves known to you so that they can influence your decision one way or the other. I had some places that other than official communication didn't contact me at all. And Princeton on the other extreme I had an email from a different professor in my box every day for a week after my acceptence. It almost became distracting before it slowed... My sister, a junior level faculty member in a history department found the Princeton behavior on the extreme of wooing, but didn't think it was strange at all that places tried to influence my decision.
oseirus Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 I got a rejection from ASU. Just an update... Hang in there bean! If you have to wait till the 2013 cycle you know you'll have plenty of tips and strategies at your disposal. And to those who received good news congrats! Tomorrow is another day for the rest of us
TMP Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 In terms of wooing, I welcome any phone calls to distract me from my job!
oseirus Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 Let's pretend I never said anything about Arsenal today, ok? What was the final score? ... I'm too mean unable to check the score myself
oseirus Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 Thanks I've only narrowed it down to the three schools I'd like to visit at this stage, but I do know which school is my favourite and I hope the visits confirm that before I make a decision. If I don't get the programs I want this go-round I am coming to you next year .. not that there is a 'scientific' method to this process but maybe some of Saff good luck will rub off on me
Gene Parmesan Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 What was the final score? ... I'm too mean unable to check the score myself haha! yes it was a brutal game. Arsenal would do well to buy some quality defenders in the next market.
WendyDarling Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 Today, I was officially rejected from Wisconsin (letter in the mail, but no surprises) and accepted with funding to Rutgers. My positive feeling from earlier has not worn off. Nor has my complete lack of ability to work on my thesis. Hopefully my advisor will take the good news about Rutgers in exchange for those pages I'm supposed to send her. It would be nice to actually finish this MA before I'm supposed to start a PhD.
sandyvanb Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 If I don't get the programs I want this go-round I am coming to you next year .. not that there is a 'scientific' method to this process but maybe some of Saff good luck will rub off on me That's what I was thinking!
Toulouse1 Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 Congratulations on the Rutger admit with full funding, WendyDarling! That is wonderful news!
Safferz Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 Congrats WendyDarling!! If I don't get the programs I want this go-round I am coming to you next year .. not that there is a 'scientific' method to this process but maybe some of Saff good luck will rub off on me I'd vote this up but apparently I've reached my positive votes quota
oseirus Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 Congrats WendyDarling!! I'd vote this up but apparently I've reached my positive votes quota LOL no need for a vote ... just remember me next year IF I have to re apply
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