Fall 2015 Applicants

[db757]

Has anyone heard from the University of Oregon?

[brl254]

I received an admission offer from the University of Oregon yesterday.  Not sure if all notifications went out already though. 

[herstorian728]

Has anyone heard from the University of Oregon?

 

I haven't heard anything - but as brl said - I saw some posts on the results page making me loose hope as I thought oregon was a good fit for me - fingers crossed all acceptances didn't go out yesterday! good luck to you

 

And congrats brl254

[kateosee]

Well, it looks as though I'll be getting an MA first. 3 MA acceptances, no PhD acceptances. I feel pretty good about that, though, having come from a super small, liberal arts college. 

I do have a question for you all. I was accepted to a history MA program and a women's studies MA program. My area of focus is 19th and 20th century women's history - more specifically, the history of feminism, women's education, and the influence of popular culture on the construction of gender roles. For that reason, I am leaning more toward an MA in women's studies. Do you all think that will in any way hurt my chance of entering a history PhD program (I have a BA in history)?

 

I am probably not the one to give advice about this as I have no degrees in either history or women's studies and yet was accepted into Michigan's History & Women's Studies programs. 

With that said, I think it is much easier to go from a History MA to a WS's PhD than a WS MA to a History PhD. It seems to me that your interests fall more into history with a feminist lens. That is certainly doable in history departments. 

 

It's also worth looking into schools where they value interdisciplinary work even within more structured programs (ie history). 

 

Good luck! 

[IvanBezdomnii]

I was informally contacted by my POI about my wait-list status at Georgetown in much more glowing terms, but the official notification is the bluntest and gloomiest wait-listed message I could've imagined. Reads like a rejection letter. See below:

 

The Admissions Committee has carefully reviewed your application to the Ph.D. in History program. At this time, I regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you admission to the program. 

However, we have placed you on our Priority Waitlist for the Fall 2015 semester. Should a vacancy occur in the program over the coming weeks, we will review our waitlist and act accordingly. I can, of course, offer you no guarantee that such vacancies will occur.

[ashiepoo72]

Don't worry Ivan, I'm sure that's a form email and doesn't reflect negatively on your chances. If your POI seemed positive, that's what I'd focus on. Fingers crossed for you!

[nom]

I was informally contacted by my POI about my wait-list status at Georgetown in much more glowing terms, but the official notification is the bluntest and gloomiest wait-listed message I could've imagined. Reads like a rejection letter. See below:

 

The Admissions Committee has carefully reviewed your application to the Ph.D. in History program. At this time, I regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you admission to the program. 

However, we have placed you on our Priority Waitlist for the Fall 2015 semester. Should a vacancy occur in the program over the coming weeks, we will review our waitlist and act accordingly. I can, of course, offer you no guarantee that such vacancies will occur.

 

How did your online log in screen change? I keep pressing refresh...::sigh:: 

[kyjin]

I do have a question for you all. I was accepted to a history MA program and a women's studies MA program. My area of focus is 19th and 20th century women's history - more specifically, the history of feminism, women's education, and the influence of popular culture on the construction of gender roles. For that reason, I am leaning more toward an MA in women's studies. Do you all think that will in any way hurt my chance of entering a history PhD program (I have a BA in history)?

I don't think the Women's Studies MA will harm you. You have the History background in your BA, and when you do decide to enter the History PhD, you may end up picking up a second MA in History along the way. (At least that's how my program works.) In my case, my BA was in History and East Asian Studies, and I did my MA in East Asian Studies. Not having the History MA didn't hurt me; I got into two History PhDs (out of 4) in my cycle, and am doing fine in my PhD right now.

[Fianna]

Wisc-Madison rejections are out. Doesn't look like they bother to send an email. Checked my portal after looking at the status page and it was there.

[db757]

I haven't heard anything - but as brl said - I saw some posts on the results page making me loose hope as I thought oregon was a good fit for me - fingers crossed all acceptances didn't go out yesterday! good luck to you

 

And congrats brl254

Is the status of your application still "pending?"

[Heimat Historian]

I wonder if there is a similar story at Penn State. Only two people announced last week and one of them was an early modernist. 

[HistoryMystery]

I wonder if there is a similar story at Penn State. Only two people announced last week and one of them was an early modernist. 

 

And Cornell, perhaps? I'm not too sure how it all works though I have my theories. Based on my extensive research of the results (what else can a waiting man do), I've noticed that some years schools (like UCLA for instance) have mass-releases. A good example is Berkeley this year. Then, some years, schools seem to trickle out acceptances over a week or more, or have multiple cycles of admission. I'm guessing the latter happens when one particular subset of the history department is slow in evaluating applicants, or just needs more time to choose, but the others are ready.

 

For certain east coast schools I'm sure you can take the weather into account as well. I know at Cornell they've been absolutely hammered (I've gotten many texts with pictures demonstrating the blizzard-y conditions)! That alone probably adds a week to the evaluation time for some departments.

[fopdandyhomo]

And Cornell, perhaps? I'm not too sure how it all works though I have my theories. Based on my extensive research of the results (what else can a waiting man do), I've noticed that some years schools (like UCLA for instance) have mass-releases. A good example is Berkeley this year. Then, some years, schools seem to trickle out acceptances over a week or more, or have multiple cycles of admission. I'm guessing the latter happens when one particular subset of the history department is slow in evaluating applicants, or just needs more time to choose, but the others are ready.

 

For certain east coast schools I'm sure you can take the weather into account as well. I know at Cornell they've been absolutely hammered (I've gotten many texts with pictures demonstrating the blizzard-y conditions)! That alone probably adds a week to the evaluation time for some departments.

 

Official acceptances from Cornell went out today, I think, snow or no snow. Sorry to be the bearer of potential grim news!

[HistoryMystery]

Official acceptances from Cornell went out today, I think, snow or no snow. Sorry to be the bearer of potential grim news!

 

And this is why I try to stay away from this thread. False hope is better than none at all . Back to pacing the hallways for me!

[cscruggs78]

Long time lurker, first time commentator. Congrats to everyone who got acceptances and good luck to those still waiting. This was my 2nd time applying for programs so I know how it feels. Question: How are you notifying your admitted schools that you're waiting for others to respond? Thanks for the advice.  

[greengoose]

Long time lurker, first time commentator. Congrats to everyone who got acceptances and good luck to those still waiting. This was my 2nd time applying for programs so I know how it feels. Question: How are you notifying your admitted schools that you're waiting for others to respond? Thanks for the advice.  

 

I'm pretty much just taking that April 15 deadline at face value. As far as I'm concerned, nobody needs to know anything before then aside from whether I'm attending whatever visit day they have. (I'm planning on deciding before April 15, and turning down any schools as I know for sure to respect the waitlist, but you get the idea).

[ashiepoo72]

Welcome to the board! We are so glad you decided to unlurk

I respond by thanking whoever sent me the acceptance, and pretty leaving it at that. If they mention recruitment weekend I say I'm interested. You don't really need to say anything about looking at other offers.

[Henry Hudson]

Long time lurker, first time commentator. Congrats to everyone who got acceptances and good luck to those still waiting. This was my 2nd time applying for programs so I know how it feels. Question: How are you notifying your admitted schools that you're waiting for others to respond? Thanks for the advice.  

 

It is perfectly fine to say that you are waiting to see what other results you get, so you can make the best decision. It is also fair game to tell schools what others are offering to see if they will sweeten their offer. 

[Bactrian]

ADVICE/THOUGHTS:

 

So this application season (my first time applying-I graduated undergrad in May 2014) has not gone as well as I had hoped: AKA I have not received any acceptances. I did however get an interview at Emory but was eventually rejected because as my POI very kindly explained "they accepted mainly Latin American / African students this year, and accepted only 1 European student (I study Modern European-Germany) so although she really liked me and my application, it was basically not my year to get in"

 

So my question for all of you bright aspiring historians is this: What do I do between now and next year to strengthen my application? I am feeling a little lost seeing as I had a decent amount of accomplishments listed on my application this go around (a publication, 2 internships at relevant museums/archives, Phi Alpha Theta executive board member and editorial board member of my university's undergraduate history journal --we won both best chapter and best undergrad journal in nation while I was participating in these boards, currently working for a former professor copy-editing her upcoming history book, fluent in 1 language and working on a second......I think you get the point. Nothing earth shattering but a solid amount of good work thus far including of course a strong application (or so I thought :/ ) with good GPA and GRE and good LORs

 

I don't want to feel aimless and like I'm "putting my life on hold" while I prepare to reapply so I am looking for good suggestions that are realistic (able to be completed/worked on during these next few months to a year) that will help me be a more competitive applicant next time around. My POI at Emory said she really wants to stay in touch and wants to let her know what I'm up to, so do I look to her for suggestions? Is the typical "work on language skills, try and write a new article and publish" good enough? What about auditing grad courses at programs in my area? Doing archival research in Germany? Basically do any of you wonderful people have names of programs/seminars/workshops/etc that you or someone you know attended that facilitate an academic setting for students like me who are not in grad school but are working towards that goal, or perhaps anyone here wish to reveal a personal experience with this matter and subsequently have a list of what kind of Do's and Don'ts you would recommend? I know many of you are veterans of this process so this post is for everyone like me on this forum: feeling freshly down trodden and in the dumps do to no acceptances and at a loss of how to "get back in the game" so to say. Thanks!!

 

Work on your SoP. You've got a great list of accomplishments but even the best candidates will struggle if they don't articulate a feasible, clear, and above all interesting project that fits in with departmental strengths and priorities. Your proposed project is primary. Everything else--GPA, GRE, LoR, languages, pedigree, etc.--are used to convince the admissions committee that you can actually do what you say you want to do. But you have to want to do something cool for them to want to work with you.

Edited February 25, 2015 by Bactrian

[TMP]

Long time lurker, first time commentator. Congrats to everyone who got acceptances and good luck to those still waiting. This was my 2nd time applying for programs so I know how it feels. Question: How are you notifying your admitted schools that you're waiting for others to respond? Thanks for the advice.  

Don't need to say anything.  The funding is yours until April 15th.  

[SunshineLolipops]

Rejection notifications are up for Virginia.

[ellebe]

Indeed they are. 

 

Fack. 

[JTE]

I just checked my UVA application, and it still says "submitted." At least it's not a rejection.

[Chiqui74]

I just checked my UVA application, and it still says "submitted." At least it's not a rejection.

Did you check at the bottom of the page?  It's easy to miss.

[JTE]

I don't see anything on the bottom of the page. To be clear, this is the page that we used to submit the application and review it (has the "print receipt" button) and, gives a run down of what has been submitted and received, and says "submitted" with a big green check next to it, correct? The apply yourself website?