Some Stats via History Progams!!

[veilside]

I am a prospective PhD student like the rest of you, and also, like the rest of you am getting very, very restless... So I have at least attempted to find out something. I have called some programs that I have applied to and found out the following information..... Bear in mind that I am going for Ancient History, so, some of these are for the Classics dept. others for the History dept.... they are clearly marked as to which dept. they refer to......hope this helps somewhat.

UChicago (History): They received 431 applicants for history, 12 in the ancient field. They have made all their decisions and letters will be sent out sometime next week. They said that due to the economy they admitted far fewer than normal applicants and that they even are doing waitlisting this year, they said that they normally do not waitlist.

Harvard (History): Received over 500 applications for history, 20 in the ancient field. Still looking at applications as of Feb. 13th. Upon a phone call to the graduate director, they are still reviewing applications BUT... rejections have already gone out. Well, the first wave anyways. If you have heard nothing from Harvard as of Feb. 17, then you at least made it to round two!! I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Princeton (Classics): They received over 120 applications, and will offer admission to about 8-12. They, as of Feb 13th, have finished their process, and notifications will go out first week of March.

Penn State (History): Jenn Gilbert, the graduate director is very rude there, so no information. And if history repeats itself then people will find out from Penn State as late as April 20th. Unfortunately this is my safety school and I will most likely here from them last.

UNC-Chapel Hill (History): Very friendly staff there by the way. The department received 436 applications, 11 in the field of ancient. They will be able to offer admission to 2, maybe 3 in the field of ancient. Again, as in the case of UChicago, they will be doing waitlisting this year due to the poor economy. They, as of Feb. 13th, are still reviewing applications, and final decisions are not due from the department to the graduate school until March 15. So... this is probably a late notifying school. Expect to hear in the last weeks of March.

UPenn (Classics-PAW): Decisions available online. I was rejected.

[feisty]

Berkeley had 380 applicants. Not sure how many accepted though. All notified already, I think.

Not history, but Chicago's Committee on Social Thought had over 120 applicants, and is only taking 3 instead of the usual 7-8. According to the results page, at least one of them has already been contacted.

I heard somewhere (here) that Cornell and Princeton (history) have made their decisions.

[limeinthecoconut]

Wow, that's great! Thanks. Do you happen to know which fields they have notified for Harvard? Does your information just apply to Ancient field?

My little contribution: I know for sure that Cornell has notified at least one admit, on the same day that some other poster mentioned that decisions were done, i.e. 13 Feb.

[sra08]

Do you happen to know if Harvard rejections went out via e-mail or post mail? I don't want to get my hopes up...not that there's much hope with 500 other applicants.

[limeinthecoconut]

*gulp* Now that you mentioned it. They might have sent it out via post. Based on past results, all rejections have been via post.

[veilside]

Harvard: The number (500) is for all fields. They have notified first round rejections for all fields. The rejections were sent about 7-10 days ago, not sure how, but probably postal. So, if you have heard nothing you're still in the running... although if there is no contact from a prof. for an interview, most likely your not a "shoe-in" yet, but hey, I'm glad just to know that even if Harvard rejects me, at least they felt confidant enough to keep me around a little longer in the pile of apps! I think that it is safe to say that by now all first round rejections have been delivered.

Also, there is no harm in contacting the graduate coordinator for the history Dept. at any school that you want stat info on.... if anything it will make you feel a little better to know something.

[limeinthecoconut]

Okay, there'll be a lot of passive nail-biting on my part then. It'll take a while for the mail to get to me, since I'm an international reason. It's incredibly expensive for me to call, unfortunately.

Many thanks once again for calling, and sharing the information. Best wishes for your application.

[misterpat]

Also, there is no harm in contacting the graduate coordinator for the history Dept. at any school that you want stat info on.... if anything it will make you feel a little better to know something.

Penn State (History): Jenn Gilbert, the graduate director is very rude there, so no information. And if history repeats itself then people will find out from Penn State as late as April 20th. Unfortunately this is my safety school and I will most likely here from them last.

You don't see a connection?

[veilside]

Misterpat,

I don't know, I mean if 1 out of 6 secretaries get upset and are rude, well I can live with that. Besides, the people that you talk to are not those who make decisions about you nor will they really matter to you once your there. Of the five other programs that I contacted they were very friendly and eager to share information, so frankly, if Penn State's secretary is going to be rude, let her, I'm going to find out what I can when I can, and urge others to do the same.... Certainly you shouldn't call constantly, and don't ask if you are accepted... Simply ask if the process is finished, how many applicants there are, and how many in your sub-field, and how many were accepted.

This is part of their job.

Gathering statistical information is not, nor should be considered unprofessional on a prospective's part... We're all history students, and finding/using valuable information makes it possible to understand. Knowing a little more about the environment that we're in makes things... well not OK, but maybe a little better.

btw... She sounded very irritated and short as soon as she answered the phone to begin with, so no matter what I called about she would have been so...

[rustonite]

anybody have info on Ohio State? I'm very tempted to call, but trying to resist the urge.

[futurePhD]

Penn State (History): Jenn Gilbert, the graduate director is very rude there, so no information. And if history repeats itself then people will find out from Penn State as late as April 20th. Unfortunately this is my safety school and I will most likely here from them last.

First off thanks for all the info. Are you sure that you contacted the right person at Penn State? Did you mean you spoke with the graduate secretary? When I contacted the director of graduate studies at Penn State early in the process (A different person), she was cordial and extraordinarily helpful.

[sra08]

Thanks to everyone brave enough to call for this information. I actually broke down and called Stanford last week, and was told that we would know by the end of the month/early March. I know at least one person heard an acceptance from Stanford a few weeks ago, though, because my adviser told me another one of her students was accepted. So I'm pessimistic on Stanford, which was my first choice. Sigh.

Trying not to get my hopes up for Harvard. I live on the opposite side of the country, so who knows how long a rejection letter will take to arrive with the federal holiday.

[veilside]

Her official title is "student affairs--graduate" via the website. She was the person that the secretary transferred me to.

Like I said in my reply to misterpat, she was already in a bad mood when I called. She very well may be very nice, but she surely wasn't when I called.

[futurePhD]

Her official title is "student affairs--graduate" via the website. She was the person that the secretary transferred me to.

Like I said in my reply to misterpat, she was already in a bad mood when I called. She very well may be very nice, but she surely wasn't when I called.

We definitely spoke to a different person then. Nevertheless, it seems like it will be a long wait for Penn State. In the meantime, I hope you continue to dig around for information so we are not all completely in the dark!

[misterpat]

Misterpat,

I don't know, I mean if 1 out of 6 secretaries get upset and are rude, well I can live with that. Besides, the people that you talk to are not those who make decisions about you nor will they really matter to you once your there. Of the five other programs that I contacted they were very friendly and eager to share information, so frankly, if Penn State's secretary is going to be rude, let her, I'm going to find out what I can when I can, and urge others to do the same.... Certainly you shouldn't call constantly, and don't ask if you are accepted... Simply ask if the process is finished, how many applicants there are, and how many in your sub-field, and how many were accepted.

This is part of their job.

Gathering statistical information is not, nor should be considered unprofessional on a prospective's part... We're all history students, and finding/using valuable information makes it possible to understand. Knowing a little more about the environment that we're in makes things... well not OK, but maybe a little better.

btw... She sounded very irritated and short as soon as she answered the phone to begin with, so no matter what I called about she would have been so...

Right on. I appreciate your taking one for the team and getting the info, especially on UChicago which is relevant for me.

I personally would just feel like I'd be irritating them by asking something they probably get asked all the time. I didn't know you didn't ask about your admissions status; that makes me think about your calls a bit differently.

And you're right: answering those questions is part of their job. Then again, so is being polite.

[Kakirsten]

anybody have info on Ohio State? I'm very tempted to call, but trying to resist the urge.

I got an email from my POI notifying me of my acceptance and asking about my availability to visit on Fri, Feb. 6th. My application status changed to "Decision" letting me know I was officially accepted on Wed, Feb. 11th. I received my official, one page acceptance letter from the graduate school via post on Sat, Feb. 14th. I got an email today confirming my visit date.

However, my specialty (Russian/Eastern European/Eurasian History) needed to change their official visit day from April 3rd to an earlier date, so that may be why I heard so soon. I don't know that they've made decisions in all fields.

[Louiselab]

Besides, the people that you talk to are not those who make decisions about you nor will they really matter to you once your there.

This is part of their job.

I personally know from experience that once people start telling me what my job is, I don't like them. and wow, I would really hate to be an admin assistant wherever you end up going.

[synthla]

I'd have to second that; trust me, it's better to treat everything as though they matter. I work as a professional in an office with a multitude of support staff and it doesn't matter if you work directly with someone or not; treat them dismissively and word gets around. Then when the person you do rely on isn't there for you when you need it, it all makes sense.

[Kakirsten]

I'd have to second that; trust me, it's better to treat everything as though they matter. I work as a professional in an office with a multitude of support staff and it doesn't matter if you work directly with someone or not; treat them dismissively and word gets around. Then when the person you do rely on isn't there for you when you need it, it all makes sense.

I actually work as an administrative assistant in Admissions/Academic Counseling at a small college where I did my undergrad. Word MOST DEFINITELY gets around. Granted, I also teach freshman and do orientation, so I have a lot more points of contact, but these people who work in graduate administration are a LOT more than glorified secretaries. They control most of the information flow, and you will most likely be dealing with them at some point if you matriculate at their school, so being extra nice never hurts. At the very least, if they remember someone as unpleasant, they could "misplace" an acceptance/rejection letter for a few days. (This is not to say that the OP ever insinuated that he/she was rude to the contact person!)

Even if you don't give your name... um, my phone has caller ID.

[pawnee68502]

I'd have to second that; trust me, it's better to treat everything as though they matter. I work as a professional in an office with a multitude of support staff and it doesn't matter if you work directly with someone or not; treat them dismissively and word gets around. Then when the person you do rely on isn't there for you when you need it, it all makes sense.

EXACTLY. Additionally, I've found when you take the time to, really do nothing more than be a decent human being, office assistants and clerical workers can save your a** if need be. And they will.

And, as someone who has worked as an office assistant, and with a parent who has "only been a secretary" her whole life, it's really unnecessary to take the tone of, "it's their job." Some day, someone may say the same to you. Karma.....

[veilside]

whoa.... I think things are getting out of hand here... When I said that "they don't matter" what I mean is that if you talk to "them", it has no direct effect, either positive or negetive on your possibility to get in.... Also, I was always respectful to them, and quite polite.

yes, I understand that what I said could come off rude and arrogant, but all I was trying to convey is: It is okay to call a dept. to find out some basic information about admission... it "IS" their job.... I meant nothing disrespectful by saying that... Sometimes merely stating a fact can seem perjorative, but that's not what was intended.

and yes, I also understand that once into the program, that the person in question does matter to some degree, of course, but again, this is the problem with reading a posting--one can attatch any mood to the writing and not know the original intent....I'll start using the little faces, I suppose that's why they're there.

In short:

I was nice to them, I only asked them to do what they are paid to do, and they have no bearing over if one will or will not be admitted.

My mother is a receptionist, so I would never rude to one anyways

Now.... hopefully that's put to bed, and let's continue on with the original concept of this thread.

[riss287]

I agree. I think we kind of lost the point by jumping to conclusions. I'm also curious about Ohio State, but I'm too scared to call. I'll wait another couple of weeks. I wonder what the acceptance:rejections ratio is overall so far.

[synthla]

Now.... hopefully that's put to bed, and let's continue on with the original concept of this thread.

:wink:

[misterpat]

On a lighter note: http://www.snuggiepubcrawl.com/

[riss287]

On a lighter note: http://www.snuggiepubcrawl.com/

That Snuggie has really become a sensation! It's a good thing I'm not in marketing, because I really thought it would bomb. On an off note, I love that the emoticons have titles to them because sometimes I can't see exactly what the face is, so I put my mouse over it and it says "Surprised" hehe!