Fall 2013 Applicants?

[lafayette]

I feel a bit foolish over such an oversight, especially with the time I spent on each application.

But most importantly, don't beat yourself over this -- this is exhausting work! And I CAN assure you they aren't going to throw out your application because of this. Instead, congratulations on completing your applications!

Edited December 17, 2012 by lafayette

[GuitarSlayer]

I actually came onto the forum tonight see if I could track down some advice on the research proposal -- 350 words to summarize what you plan to do after your thesis (which I haven't started throwing down yet, but will do so shortly). Good Lord, haha.

I also just nixed CUNY from the running. $125 app fee for them to tell me to a) get all my transcripts sent to my house; b ) put them in a big envelope with my GREs and writing sample and other support docs; c) oh, and also acquire written confirmation from a person in the language department that I am competent (never mind the fact the transcript says that I tested out of 4 semesters of both German and Spanish); d) mail it to them at my expense. REALLY!?

The only bright side to that is the endless amounts of hilarity in attempting to text the boyfriend about this with the iPhone's overzealous autocorrecting of "CUNY."

Edited December 18, 2012 by GuitarSlayer

[runaway]

The only bright side to that is the endless amounts of hilarity in attempting to text the boyfriend about this with the iPhone's overzealous autocorrecting of "CUNY."

I needed this laugh!!

[oceansize]

(or maybe keep my proposal and apply to a couple of programs which are not so competitive)

Imagine if one of those programs was the only one you got into - would you attend, and be excited about it? If so, great - if not, it's probably not worth the expense of applying.

Edited December 19, 2012 by oceansize

[heulwen]

Imagine if one of those programs was the only one you got into - would you attend, and be excited about it? If so, great - if not, it's probably not worth the expense of applying.

Well yes, that's the big question. I feel like maybe if I search a bit more, I can find a program which is not so competitive AND suitable for me. On the other hand I'm already sinking in debt so maybe I should just stop and hope for the best.

[annieca]

@GuitarSlayer -

I was at the University of York earlier this semester for a conference. Beautiful campus - the new section with the Ron Cooke Hub is gorgeous with lots of water (drowning risk, perhaps?). Otherwise, York isn't much of a happenin' town. But then again, you don't pick universities for graduate school for their happenin'-ness.

Working on cutting down my writing sample for St. Andrew's. Indiana lost my Goals essay (woohoo!) so I've got to email that to them, and then Maryland can't seem to figure out if they have my transcripts or not.

Goal: Before the end of the year all applications will be DONE and hopefully, off my mind so I can focus on more important things... like a long-overdue pizza, wine and movie night with some friends.

[TMP]

Well yes, that's the big question. I feel like maybe if I search a bit more, I can find a program which is not so competitive AND suitable for me. On the other hand I'm already sinking in debt so maybe I should just stop and hope for the best.

Edited December 20, 2012 by TMP

[runaway]

As an FYI to annieca and others currently applying: It's St Andrews, without any punctuation (not St. Andrews or St. Andrew's). Seems like a silly mistake to call out, but better here than on your application!

[GuitarSlayer]

@GuitarSlayer -

I was at the University of York earlier this semester for a conference. Beautiful campus - the new section with the Ron Cooke Hub is gorgeous with lots of water (drowning risk, perhaps?). Otherwise, York isn't much of a happenin' town. But then again, you don't pick universities for graduate school for their happenin'-ness.

Working on cutting down my writing sample for St. Andrew's. Indiana lost my Goals essay (woohoo!) so I've got to email that to them, and then Maryland can't seem to figure out if they have my transcripts or not.

Goal: Before the end of the year all applications will be DONE and hopefully, off my mind so I can focus on more important things... like a long-overdue pizza, wine and movie night with some friends.

 

I have been to York before -- I lived in London for 2 years, so I did some traveling to visit a friend who attended there for a year.  It is super quiet, but I can dig it.  With the National Rail system, I can get anywhere I want within a few hours, if I really want some action.  I'm not much of a partier anyway -- think crazy cat lady with a Julie Child streak.  XD

 

I'm currently done with everything minus Oxford's 1000-word research proposal.  I'm trying to expand it without sounding like I'm BSing, but it's getting difficult.

[LadyRara]

Well, I wound up applying to only one school. This has not been fun. Time gets away from you when you have a real job!!

[midnightfox]

Does anyone here have any experience reapplying to Pitt? I was rejected from there previously but had some productive conversations with one of the professors and have a good feeling about it now that I've changed my intended focus. My problem is that whenever I attempt to access the application it shows me the one I submitted last year and gives me no option to fill out a new one. Of course with it being in between holidays I cannot get in contact with anyone at the school, though I've tried and sent an email. I haven't been able to locate anything on the graduate school's website related to this sort of issue. Has anyone else had this problem or know how to fix it?

[optimusrhyme]

Did anyone include an article that is being reviewed for publication in their CV/applications? I am considering putting it in, while clearly marking it as "under review", of course. Thoughts?

[Quant_Liz_Lemon]

I included an under review article. 

[theregalrenegade]

For my UK apps - when "the research proposal should be approximately 2-3 pages of A4" does this mean double-spaced usually? Another app says for the SOP, "a one-side A4"... Any ideas or former applicants with experience in this?

 

I'd email them, but I don't think it would get answered prior to the Jan. 1 deadline.

[New England Nat]

include the article with "under review"

[annieca]

For my UK apps - when "the research proposal should be approximately 2-3 pages of A4" does this mean double-spaced usually? Another app says for the SOP, "a one-side A4"... Any ideas or former applicants with experience in this?

 

I'd email them, but I don't think it would get answered prior to the Jan. 1 deadline.

1 side of A4 is the same as one page, double spaced. 2-3 pages is exactly that, two/three pages. They have a weird thing about sided paper, as far as I've learned, in the UK, hence the mention of sides of paper.

[theregalrenegade]

1 side of A4 is the same as one page, double spaced. 2-3 pages is exactly that, two/three pages. They have a weird thing about sided paper, as far as I've learned, in the UK, hence the mention of sides of paper.

 

Thank you kindly for the clarification 

[PhDreams]

Harvard applicants- Any applying to History of Am Civ?

[lafayette]

Harvard applicants- Any applying to History of Am Civ?

 

I am. Working (or rather, procastinating) on my application right now. Looking forward to submitting, as it will be my last.

Edited December 30, 2012 by lafayette

[PhDreams]

I am. Working (or rather, procastinating) on my application right now. Looking forward to submitting, as it will be my last.

 

Me too. Terrible deadline, though. Jan 2. Gahhhh...

[jamc8383]

runaway - I assume you're doing Eastern European history? Sorry to disappoint! Despite my ethnicity my interests lean more toward the British Empire. Yes, I'm thinking of starting to contact potential LOR writers soon, probably in April. Should I wait longer to start contacting potential POIs?

oseirus - haha, I'll keep in mind that my capacity for the Dark Arts will have been weakened, though in truth I think I would have probably been the dunce of Slytherin; manipulative legal sliminess has never really been my forte, despite working in the field

It is really unbelievable how supportive this forum feels; I don't remember people being so personally invested in one another on law school admissions fora.

CageFree - thanks! Do you study Argentine history by the way? (basing my inference off your avatar)

Considering everyone is saying how important LORs are, what do you think of the following situations for LOR writers? The first two I will probably ask, the others I would consider as my third...a sort of related question is whether it's a better idea to try to bring in someone from law school, even if they don't have a history background, or to choose all three from time in undergrad, longer ago...

1. Close advisor during undergrad, implicitly encouraged me to go to grad school (started naming advisors, etc.) but seemed sort disappointed when I went to law school instead and, over email after I started law school, seemed to think it was strange that I would still think about pursuing a PhD and wondered if I should do legal history as a law professor with a JD alone.

2. History professor who liked me during undergrad; visited her during my first year of law school and she seemed to think I should have stopped to think about what I was doing with my life before going to law school and then realizing that I sort of wished I were in history instead. Maybe/hopefully I will have convinced her of my seriousness after working in law for two years, but worry I will still come off as diletanttish with this switch. She's also overseas right now...should this be an in person request?

3. Superstar history professor (but more a superstar outside the academy than in, maybe) who wrote me a law school recommendation; will probably not remember me all that well and will require a lot of explanation as to why I was switching gears (especially because I'm concerned he'll think I'm retreating from the potential to use my education for activism). I also wonder to what extent I could stress that he can work off my law school LOR if he still has it, so as not to take up too much of his time?

4. Not-really-history-oriented research advisor with whom I worked a lot during law school who agreed to write me a recommendation in the future, but seemed much more interested in doing so for a law fellowship than for a history PhD, which he sort of thought was a strange idea.

5. JD/PhD-holding legal history professor in law school; was very impressed with my ability to critique scholarly papers during colloquia but for whom I didn't work as closely as the above - i.e. I didn't write a major research paper with him. However, he could serve as a sort of bridge to show continued interest in the field in law school. Also denied tenure recently so I wonder if he will be down on the whole history PhD thing as well...

In sum, I think, with the exception of the last person, they might all be wary of me crossing back over disciplinary lines once I seem to have migrated from one to another...

Hey all-

Longtime lurker and future Fall 2013 phD applicant.  

 

Czesc, I might encourage you to take a graduate history course this spring (registrations will be available soon for most universities that operate on semesters) and then, following your undoubtedly stellar performance, request an LOR from that professor.   It would be a strong recommendation because they could attest to your abilities to function on the history graduate level.  Most universities have some sort of "extended learning" type program that allows students that are not officially enrolled to take classes (in many cases credit can be applied to a degree later: this would be particularly spectacular if you took a course at one of the universities to which you hope to apply).  I did something very similar to this on the MA level a couple of years ago.  And, of course, most graduate seminars are held in the evening and could therefore accommodate your full time work schedule.

 

I don't know if this is helpful at all, but thought I'd chime in.  

 

Applying to: U of Chicago, UPenn, Yale, UBC, Toronto, and Madison-Wisc for Modern European urban history

[lafayette]

Me too. Terrible deadline, though. Jan 2. Gahhhh...

 

Although yesterday when I was incapacitated the January 2nd deadline haunted a little, it wasn't so bad in the end. Actually, I preferred it. I feel as if my applications became progressively better. Though, as I was working on new ones, I would find litlte mistakes in those formerly submitted  (like a rather ridiculous typo on my CV that was submitted for all but one of my apps! NO idea how I missed it) that I would convince myself would result in my prompt rejection from all programs (kidding! mostly.)

 

So thrilled to be done! Now the worst part -- waiting.

Edited January 2, 2013 by lafayette

[aaiiee]

Hey guys! New to this forum and super relieved to find out that I am not the only one who is going through an intensely frustrating and anxiety ridden phase right now. I have applied to 8 places in total. Whereas most of them are anthropology departments, I have applied to Duke for their PhD in History. I just perused through this thread and couldn't find anyone discussing Duke. hmm how come! I thought the programme has a pretty decent reputation. Anyway I will be applying because of this particular professor who has been working on exactly the same issues that I wish to engage with during my research.

 

ah! The waiting period is so excruciating. >.<

[theregalrenegade]

I feel as if my applications became progressively better. Though, as I was working on new ones, I would find litlte mistakes in those formerly submitted 

 

Agreed. The more applications I complete, the more I think I'm getting the hang of it - minus the annoying little typos, etc I could be wayyyy off, of course. I guess we'll see, right? Four left to go for me. A couple are complete, but I'm waiting on emails sent to admissions for clarification or verification on certain parts of the application before I hit that final submit button. 

 

Stay strong, everyone!

[annieca]

All but one application have been submitted. I'm waiting on a letter of rec to input into my application for Aberystwyth, but otherwise DONE! It's a relief, yes. Except...

Maryland's system is odd. I sent in my transcripts a month or so ago and they say "Wait 2-3 weeks for us to upload it to our server" which I did. It hasn't shown up on their server that they got my transcripts. And so here I am, sitting on the 2nd of January wondering "What happened Maryland?" The deadline was December 15th so I'm worried that I'm now out of the running because of their computer system. But, I did email the Graduate Admissions people and ask them, "Do you have it and I'm just not seeing it, or do you not have it at all?" Waiting for that response...

I'm suppose to hear from two of my schools within the next two weeks so there's that to (not) look forward to!

Stay strong everyone!