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Fall 2015 Applicants


dr. t

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It sounds like you're very happy with NYU, Chiqui.  What was the deciding factor? 

I'm not sure, TBH.  I do feel there are more people in Michigan that I could potentially work with in my subfield and time period, but there are other issues that make me inclined to accept NYU instead.  For example, NYU REALLY, REALLY wants me. I've even had professors not in my field contact me offering help and offering to talk to me about anything that may make my decision to accept the offer easier. They've done a superb job in courting students, and although I can't speak for others, it has worked on me.  Michigan only has me on a waiting list which means they can take me or leave me, as they say.  Also, since I'm bringing my family along, I need to think about career opportunities for my husband, who is the main earner since I'll be on a fellowship.  NYC has a HUGE market for what he does and Ann Arbor, well, does not. Sure, we may be able to afford a larger place in Ann Arbor, but only if my husband can find a job at all, which will not be a problem in NYC. So, despite my feelings that perhaps Michigan would be a tad better for me academically speaking, it's not significantly better than NYU for me to disregard all the other considerations.

 

Also, I've always wanted to live in NYC so there, I get to move!  Honestly, I am very happy with NYU and do not feel it is a consolation prize at all, but it would have been nice (not to mention the BEST fit for me) to get into Harvard.  Ah well, c'est la vie.

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so, i had this very very interesting rejection situation with Washington State Univ today... I called the grad coordinator and he told me that the primary POI I wanted to work with (Dr. Anderson) suddenly resigned from the dept, and got a new job, so the Univ does not have any East Asian study prof anymore (although Dr. Kawamura is around, her focus was on US diplomatic history). The grad coordinator even told me that the dept was told about her resignation around Christmas (he said they were shocked about it as she was on a tenure track) and now they are frantically tryin to find a replacement asap coz they cannot even offer some E. Asian courses this semester......

Honestly, idk what to make of this rejection but im glad that i was already admitted to another institution coz i really think that this was such a weird and bad luck....any thoughts on this anyone? has anyone of our fellow applicants had this kinda experience so far??

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Eesh, very sorry to hear that Harvard's not been kind to this board. I still really admire everyone who had the guts to apply. 

 

Can't believe it's March.

 

C'mon, late surge of acceptances...

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The fact that UCLA has not sent out rejections is really starting to annoy me...

 

I am going crazy waiting for UCLA. Have they sent out all of their acceptances already?

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I am going crazy waiting for UCLA. Have they sent out all of their acceptances already?

 

I don't want to give too much info as you can never be 100% sure, but based on communication with my POI I don't think they are quite done yet. If you look at the results page you can also see that historically, UCLA tends to take anywhere from a week all the way to a month to send out all of its acceptances.

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I don't want to give too much info as you can never be 100% sure, but based on communication with my POI I don't think they are quite done yet. If you look at the results page you can also see that historically, UCLA tends to take anywhere from a week all the way to a month to send out all of its acceptances.

 

i love you.

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Hi!

I'm reading this thread since a long time but this is my first post here.

I want to ask your opinion on my situation with a school that accepted me.

I received an e-mail with the acceptance letter and an invitation to the Admits day, I already booked my flight... but I haven't been contacted by any professor so far (it's been two weeks since I received their mail and the visit is in less than a week).

What do you think about it? That maybe they are not so interested in me? Or that emails are not necessary because I am going to the admits day? I am a little disappointed, maybe I should contact them first?

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Hi everyone. I want to share some thoughts.

I discovered this site roughly a week ago and then received an (incredibly generous) offer from UBC's MA program 2 days ago. Yes, it was on a Saturday, oddly enough. The days in between my discovery of this site and my offer were really stressful, to be honest.
I seriously started to question whether what I'd done with my BA - which I finished just now in February at the national university of a small European country which barely makes any "Top 300" list - could ever compare to what these kids already in nice North American schools had been doing for the past four years. Gradcafe's option to look back years and see all those rejections freaked me the fuck out. I convinced myself that I'd be stuck at home for my MA - and would have to put my dream of studying in North America on hold.

Unlike virtually everyone here, I applied to only one school, UBC. With my BA from a random school, I knew (without having to read this forum) that I wasn't ready for PhD work at the top American schools - and I thought I couldn't afford the masters programs offered there, or at U of Toronto and McGill for that matter. This made me wonder why other people here don't seem to be applying to UBC's history program. I find this strange because UBC seems to have the whole package. Vancouver looks beautiful (can't wait to see it!) and the department appears to be solid as well. And tuition is really low - and that's coming from me, who hasn't had to pay anything for school, ever.

 

I hope my success makes people who don't come from a school that is considered prestigious slightly more hopeful. My advice for everyone: when you apply, be yourself, not who you think the school is looking for. This served me well and I think UBC saw that my historical work and interests were coming from a genuine place, even though I had factors that clearly did not work in my favor.

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Thanks! Still psyched about Davis. I think by April 15th? The letter didn't say anything specific. Though I'm sure I'll get a definitive answer when I attend the recruitment weekend in a few days.

 

Sweet! That sounds great. Assuming drinking is a part of the whole thing? Wish I was able to attend a recruitment weekend...don't make any sense coming over from Tokyo though. Good luck with the rest.

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I've been told Austin will notify by the end of the week, though if you were accepted you likely had an informal correspondence with your POI or got a recruitment weekend invite at some point this past month. There was radio silence on part of my POI, who it turns out will be jetting off on leave next year, and upon my prompting, told me they weren't able to make me an offer. Glad that I don't have to repeatedly log into my MyStatus now!

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Thanks y'all! as further info: they accepted 10 out of 180 applicants. So like, don't feel too bad if it didn't happen? Additionally, if you are on the waitlist now, I doubt I will take up a spot at Vanderbilt, so there's a better chance for the rest of you :) .

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