Fall 2014 Applicants

[spellbanisher]

Rejected by Rutgers this morning, so I imagine those of you waiting will be hearing back soon.  Nothing yet from NYU.

 

Edited to add:  What do people make of getting accepted by top ranked programs and then rejected by lower ones?  Rutgers is great and the faculty are amazing, but I was admitted by more selective programs.  Are people in the committee hedging against being turned down?  Or am I trying to fix an explanation on what is by nature a pretty random process?

Their website says they only admit 12-15 out of an average of 275-300 applications. That is about a 4-5 percent admit rate. Hard to imagine getting much more selective than that. Even if that is just the take rate, you would still be talking about an admit rate in the 7-10 percent range.

I don't think any school strictly rates their apps from best to worst. They admit based on fit and demonstrated potential and other factors. If you don't get into a lower ranked program, it could be because they thought other students research interests were a better fit or the area/poi you applied to is already full.

[thedig13]

Rejected by Rutgers this morning, so I imagine those of you waiting will be hearing back soon.  Nothing yet from NYU.

 

Edited to add:  What do people make of getting accepted by top ranked programs and then rejected by lower ones?  Rutgers is great and the faculty are amazing, but I was admitted by more selective programs.  Are people in the committee hedging against being turned down?  Or am I trying to fix an explanation on what is by nature a pretty random process?

 

From what I've heard, non-elite programs will consider the other places where a prospect has applied before making an admissions decision. The logic is that, if a particularly promising applicant has an outstanding chance of getting into a top-ranked program, he'll probably choose to go there no matter who else admits him. From an adcom's point of view, admitting that student would be a waste of an admissions offer, so it makes more sense to admit a slightly-less-promising (but still outstanding) applicant who might not get into a top-ranked program and whom the non-elite programs have a fighting chance of drawing in.

 

If this practice does exist, I doubt that it takes precedence over fit or perceived quality, and it's highly unlikely that it's applied so aggressively that no top-tier prospects are admitted. It probably makes sense to still admit top-tier candidates on the off-chance that they'll accept.

 

I was told all of this by a pair of professors in STEM fields, so this may not be the case in a History department, although I don't see why adcom practices would differ between disciplines like that.

[maelia8]

@thedig13 I also thought I was more likely to get into lower-ranked programs than higher-ranked ones, but the schools where I've been wait listed and/or admitted are all the most prestigious on my list, so I would totally believe that the practice you mentioned exists, because it makes sense based on my experience. Even if it has only a small amount of influence, perhaps it's enough to tip the scales in a lot of situations.

[czesc]

A lot of the most prestigious schools may be prestigious for reasons other than selectivity, which would help explain what's going on. I know that many tend to have very large programs, which means there are more professors for students to fit with and more grad students under them. 

Edited March 10, 2014 by czesc

[USHistoryScene]

Current History PhD here wanting to let the Fall 2014 applicants/ admits know that U.S. History Scene (which is a cohort of about 35 history grad students and junior faculty founded at Harvard) is looking for interns this summer via telecommute (so you can hang in the archives wherever you are). We're pretty liberal about sharing general exam prep, helping you in the transition to grad life, and are looking for new PhD students passionate about public history/ digital humanities. Here is the link if you are interested in getting involved: http://www.ushistoryscene.com/apply-for-an-internship/   Many departments will provide summer stipends to PhD students who are doing public service/ history projects so we can also help you apply to funding. If you have questions, shoot us an e-mail at editors@ushistoryscene.com. Congrats guys! 

[sdelehan]

I am on Northwestern's wait list for the doctoral program in history and I am wondering if anyone has an idea about how long it usually takes to hear one way or another. I talked to them about a week ago to let them know that I got into an MA program and they told me I was still under consideration. I'm just hoping they don't leave me hanging all the way until the deadlines are close and I have to make a rushed decision.

[poofysheep]

I am on Northwestern's wait list for the doctoral program in history and I am wondering if anyone has an idea about how long it usually takes to hear one way or another. I talked to them about a week ago to let them know that I got into an MA program and they told me I was still under consideration. I'm just hoping they don't leave me hanging all the way until the deadlines are close and I have to make a rushed decision.

 

It's not unheard of to hear back on April 15th, and in fact, I'm almost assuming that's when I'll hear from the school I'm wait-listed at. My recommendation would be to try to arrange a visit to Northwestern and have your decision in mind in the case you do get a last-minute acceptance. I'm kind of in the same boat as you - I've been accepted to one program and am wait-listed at another, and I will have visited both programs by the time April 15th rolls around.

 

Good luck! I did my BA at Northwestern, and from the perspective of an undergrad at least, the history department was fabulous!

[maelia8]

Have I missed something, or has UNC Chapel Hill STILL not sent out a formal wave of rejections?I haven't seen more than 1 or 2 in the results postings. I haven't heard from them one way or the other and I'm assuming rejection, but it would be nice to know. Do they have a wait list? Haven't seen anybody posting that they are on that either ...

[levoyous]

Along the same lines, has no one at all heard from NYU history-French studies? It seems very late for there to be no results...

[poofysheep]

levoyous I've still heard nothing, and yes, I'm thinking the same exact thing. I'm considering inquiring about my application status if I don't hear anything soon. If not for the fact that I've seen no other results go up, I would think they'd lost my application or something.

[Leighton]

Hi everyone,

 

I have a question that I was hoping someone on here could answer: has anybody heard anything from Fordham? I applied for the PhD program in history (duh) and it seems oddly late. I have been checking the admissions stats/reports on here for a while and I haven't seen anything from Fordham for Fall 2014. The previous years seem to have been around this time, but I'm not sure if they're the best things to go by. Anyone have anything from them? 

 

Thanks

[hohummelody]

Regarding NYU, for what it's worth, I don't know that anyone has heard official word from the History/Middle East Studies Joint Phd either (although unofficially, yes). Seems like the joint programs are taking their time.

[ccc376]

Leighton-

 

I got accepted to Fordham's MA program on 3/11. I applied directly to the MA, though. 

[engphiledu]

Does anyone have information on the University of Alabama's (Tuscaloosa) history program? My fiance hasn't heard word, and when we finally contacted the department, we received a somewhat cryptic message about them being able to give us a "sense of what we can do in about two weeks" after they return from spring break. 

[Leighton]

Thanks ccc376. Maybe they are doing the MAs first or something? I don't know.

[awells27]

Does anyone have information on the University of Alabama's (Tuscaloosa) history program? My fiance hasn't heard word, and when we finally contacted the department, we received a somewhat cryptic message about them being able to give us a "sense of what we can do in about two weeks" after they return from spring break. 

Wow, with April 15th rolling around, one has to wonder what kind of adcomm would take so much time.  Is this MA or PhD?

[engphiledu]

Wow, with April 15th rolling around, one has to wonder what kind of adcomm would take so much time.  Is this MA or PhD?

It's for the M.A. program. We've checked the website, but it hasn't changed from "referred to department." The secretary of the department, when we called, sounded really surprised that we had not heard anything yet and was worried that the notices had ended up "on a desk somewhere." lol That's why she recommended we contacted the director who sent back the somewhat confusing email. We'd like to stay optimistic, but at this late in the game, it doesn't look good. We'd rather know for sure though.

[awells27]

That's just rude on their part.  I hope she has another admit available

[engphiledu]

I don't know about rude (though, these are our futures that they have held between their hands), but we are just. . . very confused. The secretary was very nice and tried to be helpful, but it would be good to know where we stand. It's the one school we both haven't heard back from (I applied for the English M.A.), and we applied back in December, so it would be nice to know so we can move on and start planning. He does have one other offer from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, but neither of us know about funding yet. The application process this year was not kind to either of us lol

[Leighton]

engphiledu -

 

I hope everything works out with Alabama. This seems to be going on at a few schools, which is surprising for me because I don't remember it being this way when I applied for my MA. 

[Leighton]

Well, Fordham said "no" after I sent them an email asking about the status of my app. No biggie, have an offer from SLU and on the waitlist at Loyola Chicago, but Fordham stings. Best of luck to all of you guys and congrats to the Fordham MA acceptance!

[ace3]

engphiledu- I checked my application status for the MA @ UA on February 4th and saw that my status changed to accepted. I recieved my official notification about a week later. I hope this helps! If you have any other questions feel free to shoot me a message.

[AbbeyRoad]

Quick question, I still haven't heard anything from Boston College, NYU, and Illinois. Should I contact those departments? It seems like it's pretty late to have not heard anything. At this point I'm assuming they are rejections. Thanks!

[levoyous]

BC has notified all its admits and waitlists. Pretty sure NYU has, too.

[AbbeyRoad]

I figured as much. Oh well. Thanks for the info!