Fall 2013 Applicants?

[viggosloof28]

Thanks so much, everyone!  I'm wishing you equal luck and happiness with your decisions!

 

And thank goodness it's February.  Next week is going to be crazy for us all, I have no doubt.  Brace yourselves - we can do this!

[kyjin]

ETA: I just looked at the results page. Wow! Did Berkeley accept anyone?!! (Well, there's one in Art History but seems like everything else was a rejection.)

Seriously! There are a handful of acceptances on there, but I'm really curious how many students they took this year.  I know they have a serious funding crunch right now, but still...

Ah well. Obviously we are all just too cool for Berkeley.

[benedicite]

I forgot to say, Congrats, viggosloof! It's great to know you have a place.

 

 

I'm kind of freaking out. I just got an e-mail from Harvard from the minority recruitment office asking for information about my native american tribal affiliation. Aside from the basic clerical stuff, does anyone have any idea what I should gather from this about the status of my application?

[czesc]

I've been thinking about the Berkeley decisions. Their website claims they accept around 10% of applicants. Even if this forum isn't a representative sample, the number accepted here seems low, especially given some good numbers for the rejects.

 

Funding could be one issue. I know people who work at Berkeley in other disciplines. It does not sound like a good situation there financially or organizationally right now (which is one consolation for this reject). That said, Gov. Brown has promised to revitalize the UC system. I guess the department may be waiting to see the money before it makes decisions on that basis, though.

 

I also wonder if there's been some attempt to cut back on admissions in the wake of the poor job market.

 

That said, I'd love to hear from any of the Europeanists who got in about what they proposed to work on, their POI contact, etc. (either here on the forum or by private message) if any are willing to talk.

Edited February 1, 2013 by czesc

[New England Nat]

I wouldn't gather too much about it other than that your applicatiion is still alive.

[benedicite]

I wouldn't gather too much about it other than that your applicatiion is still alive.

 

Well, that sounds like good news to me.

[unchien]

Argh, knowing that Princeton has made decisions and is sitting on them is driving me mad!

[New England Nat]

They aren't "sitting on them".  They have bureaucracy too  

[LadyRara]

Congratulations to the UNC admit! :-)

 

Thank you to everyone who congratulated me! I would specify, but after spending a few moments about to write down these unique names... I'm just leaving at 'thank you guys, you are truly exceptional people!' I'm so happy that this is the generation of historians I get to work with!
 

:-D

[unchien]

They aren't "sitting on them". They have bureaucracy too

But oh how I wish they would just tie up their loose ends and tell us!

[Zephyr99]

I applied to 9 programs and I haven't heard a thing yet. It's both exciting and frightening to see some people out there with a bunch of acceptances and rejections from schools.  Here's to hoping next week that we all hear something! 

[rd12]

Has anyone else heard nothing from Berkeley? I wonder what is going on.

[GuitarSlayer]

I was actually looking into the UC schools, and one of my professors has a friend out there.  Supposedly, funding is ridiculously tight this year -- he actually discouraged me from applying (which isn't a problem, since I wasn't looking that way) because of the funding issues they're having even with their current students.  So definitely don't take this rejection too badly -- it's not you, it's the piggy bank. 

[hanbran]

Things will likely begin to look up in the UC system. The state recently voted in favor of tax increases to fund education.

[czesc]

Exactly - just not soon enough for those applying this year, I guess!

[lafayette]

You're probably right. I was mainly kidding. I imagine the interview will be more personal than anything else. One of my professors considers it a "glorified personality test," which is probably closer to the truth.

I had a phone "chat" with JHU that definitely was an interview.

A few things I recommend for interviews: Be able to discuss your research interests concisely, of course. But likely they will not ask "what are your research interests" straight out, as they have read your SOP after all. But in my case, it was elaboration of research interests and points I made in my SOP. So if you mentioned switching topics, or if your thesis was a little different from what you propose to work on next, be ready to discuss what brought you to shift. I really just advise having little 'narratives' thought out beforehand. For instance, what did you start with, what were the influences (generally literature or a course in which this literature was read), and why did you arrive at where you are now in your research interests? I had a 'cheat sheet' where wrote down a list of several personally influential works and their authors so I would not forget them in the heat of the moment (this helped tremendously! I know in times of high stress I tend to forget specifics that I would never would otherwise!). You've probably thought about your intellectual journey when writing your SOP, but just refresh yourself, and think of any points that might need to be elaborated upon (they'll probably ask you about them). Be able to concisely re-state what your future interests or potential for projects are, though I think particularly in the context of a chat it's okay to be open and honest about the fact you are following several leads and are not totally sure. I had the sense that my POI liked the way I was thinking it out and open to new possible areas.

Likely they are going to ask you "Why [school]?" so have a few things thought out in advance (it's okay to reiterate something in your SOP, but maybe flesh it out a bit). Lastly, they're definitely going to ask you if you have any questions. This was another thing I wrote down, and I'm glad I did, as it came last and my mind was going in a million directions by that point. It's really the time to talk about their institution (this is the same for work interviews too), so it's just good to show you're curious about it. Plus super concise questions can totally make up for some unintended rambles earlier on!

And it might be stressful because hey, you really want it, and perhaps you've never done a similar interview before, but I found that after I hung up I was super invigorated. It was great to talk about my research interests and have a professor I respected really take interest, at least enough to hear me out. I had dreaded the interview a little at first, but would welcome any opportunity to do it again. And it made me really look forward to going to graduate school to continue to have such conversations.

Best of luck!

Edited February 1, 2013 by lafayette

[lafayette]

I nearly forgot the most important part of interview advice: Immediately go out afterwards and have a good drink! (And don't think too much about what you COULD have said, or whatever).

[PhDreams]

I had a phone "chat" with JHU that definitely was an interview.

A few things I recommend for interviews: Be able to discuss your research interests concisely, of course. But likely they will not ask "what are your research interests" straight out, as they have read your SOP after all. But in my case, it was elaboration of research interests and points I made in my SOP. So if you mentioned switching topics, or if your thesis was a little different from what you propose to work on next, be ready to discuss what brought you to shift. I really just advise having little 'narratives' thought out beforehand. For instance, what did I start with, what were the influences (generally literature or a course in which this literature was read), and why did you arrive at where you are now in your research interests? I had a 'cheat sheet' where wrote down a list of several personally influential works and their authors so I would not forget them in the heat of the moment (this helped tremendously! I know in times of high stress I tend to forget specifics that I would never would otherwise!). You've probably thought about your intellectual journey when writing your SOP, but just refresh yourself, and think of any points that might need to be elaborated upon (they'll probably ask you about them). Be able to concisely re-state what your future interests or potential for projects are, though I think particularly in the context of a chat it's okay to be open and honest about the fact you are following several leads and are not totally sure. I had the sense that my POI liked the way I was thinking it out and open to new possible areas.

Likely they are going to ask you "Why [school]?" so have a few things thought out in advance (it's okay to reiterate something in your SOP, but maybe flesh it out a bit). Lastly, they're definitely going to ask you if you have any questions. This was another thing I wrote down, and I'm glad I did, as it came last and my mind was going in a million directions by that point. It's really the time to talk about their institution (this is the same for work interviews too), so it's just good to show you're curious about it. Plus super concise questions can totally make up for some unintended rambles earlier on!

And it might be stressful because hey, you really want it, and perhaps you've never done a similar interview before, but I found that after I hung up I was super invigorated. It was great to talk about my research interests and have a professor I respected really take interest, at least enough to hear me out. I had dreaded the interview a little at first, but would welcome any opportunity to do it again. And it made me really look forward to going to graduate school to continue to have such conversations.

Best of luck!

 

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[History Time]

Someone got into Madison......

[czesc]

Thanks so much for the recap, lafayette. I've been dreading the possibility of an interview but I'd definitely feel better about one than the silence/rejection that's marked my experience so far!

[Wicked_Problem]

PhDreams: All this talk of UC system funding makes your acceptance to UCI's CLS program all the more remarkable.

[benedicite]

I had a phone "chat" with JHU that definitely was an interview.

A few things I recommend for interviews: Be able to discuss your research interests concisely, of course. But likely they will not ask "what are your research interests" straight out, as they have read your SOP after all. But in my case, it was elaboration of research interests and points I made in my SOP. So if you mentioned switching topics, or if your thesis was a little different from what you propose to work on next, be ready to discuss what brought you to shift. I really just advise having little 'narratives' thought out beforehand. For instance, what did I start with, what were the influences (generally literature or a course in which this literature was read), and why did you arrive at where you are now in your research interests? I had a 'cheat sheet' where wrote down a list of several personally influential works and their authors so I would not forget them in the heat of the moment (this helped tremendously! I know in times of high stress I tend to forget specifics that I would never would otherwise!). You've probably thought about your intellectual journey when writing your SOP, but just refresh yourself, and think of any points that might need to be elaborated upon (they'll probably ask you about them). Be able to concisely re-state what your future interests or potential for projects are, though I think particularly in the context of a chat it's okay to be open and honest about the fact you are following several leads and are not totally sure. I had the sense that my POI liked the way I was thinking it out and open to new possible areas.

Likely they are going to ask you "Why [school]?" so have a few things thought out in advance (it's okay to reiterate something in your SOP, but maybe flesh it out a bit). Lastly, they're definitely going to ask you if you have any questions. This was another thing I wrote down, and I'm glad I did, as it came last and my mind was going in a million directions by that point. It's really the time to talk about their institution (this is the same for work interviews too), so it's just good to show you're curious about it. Plus super concise questions can totally make up for some unintended rambles earlier on!

And it might be stressful because hey, you really want it, and perhaps you've never done a similar interview before, but I found that after I hung up I was super invigorated. It was great to talk about my research interests and have a professor I respected really take interest, at least enough to hear me out. I had dreaded the interview a little at first, but would welcome any opportunity to do it again. And it made me really look forward to going to graduate school to continue to have such conversations.

Best of luck!

Wonderful advice. Thanks so much for sharing. And congratulations on the interview!

[Sio68]

Someone got into Madison......

 

I saw that. Makes me feel a bit crappy tbh Hopefully they didn't do it all in one batch.

 

Congrats to whoever got in though!

Edited February 1, 2013 by Sio68

[dknows]

Someone got into Madison......

 

Twas me. Received an informal email from my POI. 

[Sio68]

Twas me. Received an informal email from my POI. 

 

Hey! Well done.. Madison looks like a great place to study. They certainly have some awesome profs.