Fall 2016 Applicants

[alain]

I know that somewhere on Michigan's website it said that they strongly encouraged people to contact faculty before applying, and I only know because I double checked before posting here. Go figure, can't find that page now. Anyway, I'm okay with the decision not to apply as I am way too stressed about the other applications to add another to the pile. If it doesn't work out this round, I'll definitely try next year. 

[AfricanusCrowther]

Is the writing sample for Harvard really a twenty-page maximum? 

[knp]

No idea, but do you know how much I enjoyed Penn's 10-page maximum?

[AfricanusCrowther]

1 hour ago, knp said:

No idea, but do you know how much I enjoyed Penn's 10-page maximum?

That blows. I guess I'm less annoyed by the page limit (20 seems reasonable) than the lack of instructions on the department website (really, Harvard? You want a writing sample of "remarkable quality"? Because I was just going to send an old newspaper i found on the sidewalk).

[alain]

5 hours ago, AfricanusCrowther said:

Is the writing sample for Harvard really a twenty-page maximum? 

Wait where does it say 20 pages? 

[stillalivetui]

UCLA is 10 pages as well. It's frustrating since it's my top choice and I have to figure out how to narrow down a sample.

[AfricanusCrowther]

13 minutes ago, alain said:

Wait where does it say 20 pages? 

On the application website: "Please see Program Details to determine whether the program to which you are applying requires a writing sample. Please follow departmental requirements on type and size of writing sample. Unless noted, writing sample is limited to 20 pages."

[alain]

18 minutes ago, AfricanusCrowther said:

On the application website: "Please see Program Details to determine whether the program to which you are applying requires a writing sample. Please follow departmental requirements on type and size of writing sample. Unless noted, writing sample is limited to 20 pages."

Oh, wow. Thanks! I would have sent a 30 page sample had I not seen this post...

[knp]

Yeah, I ended up using an entirely different paper for Penn than I did for all the ones with more average length requirements. My finished 25-page sample is not that different than the form it took when I first wrote it; it didn't cut so well, though, so I chose a different paper to serve as the basis of the 10-page one. It isn't the single finest thing I've ever written, but it's got my best and most argumentatively coherent single eight-page section to present along with two pages of intro/conclusion.

Although honestly, I rather prefer cutting down extant work to writing new things about my past and future.

[EducPhd]

5 hours ago, AfricanusCrowther said:

That blows. I guess I'm less annoyed by the page limit (20 seems reasonable) than the lack of instructions on the department website (really, Harvard? You want a writing sample of "remarkable quality"? Because I was just going to send an old newspaper i found on the sidewalk).

I have another question. Do you know if an CA universities you can pay before submitting or paying the application fee will force submission.

Thank you

[Chiqui74]

On 11/18/2015, 1:50:14, alain said:

Checking in to say I finally got my SOP to 500 words and now I like it much better than the long one. Oh well. 

Hope everyone else's applications/work/lives are going well. 

For people who applied to Michigan, did you contact your POI? I emailed two profs almost a month ago and they never got back to me. I feel bad because I really wanted to work with one of them but their website says that they strongly recommend you not apply unless you've corresponded with someone. I don't think I'll bother with the application but it kind of sucks. 

What is your field of interest?

[DGrayson]

Does anyone know if the second field on Brown's application is taken into consideration? I wanted to put African but there were only a couple faculty in the field.  

[dr. t]

I mean, everything's taken into consideration. I just wouldn't expect that sort of form answer to matter much.

[stillalivetui]

I'm still waiting for my recommenders to submit their letters to five schools with deadlines on December 1st. Let the stress commence.

[DGrayson]

5 hours ago, stillalivetui said:

I'm still waiting for my recommenders to submit their letters to five schools with deadlines on December 1st. Let the stress commence.

I'm in the same position. Two are in another state so I can't go pester them. 

[fencergirl]

Yup, turned in my first two apps with December 1st deadlines (Northwestern and UCLA... a girl can dream) but none of my letters are in yet! I pestered them a couple days ago and they said they are on top of it so just have to trust them!

[stillalivetui]

Welp, only one of my professors has submitted their recommendations. Anyone know how forgiving adcoms are with late letters?

[cemeterydr1ve]

The director of a research program that I am in has still not written letters for my 6 schools with Dec 1 deadlines. She is the most on-top-of-it, organized person I know, and she has written letters for me in the past and always submits them either the day before they're due, or on the day they are due. Nonetheless, it is nerve wrecking!

I just sent her a gentle reminder this evening (the only reminder I have ever sent her about anything), and I'm hoping she doesn't get annoyed with me for it. I mean, it's pretty reasonable to send a reminder about 6 letters the night before they're due, right? 

Edit: Oops, just realized this was in the History forum. Hopefully you guys don't mind a random post from a psychology major.. Heh. 

Edited December 1, 2015 by mircakes

[TheGreatIdealist]

I'm an applicant for Modern European History and was curious if someone might have a recommendation for a program that I may have overlooked in my application process.My field specialties are Nationalism/Identity and Diplomacy and I am currently applying to Vanderbilt, Indiana, and Yale with some others as backups. My undergraduate GPA is a 4.0, GRE was 160V, 158Q, 5.5AW. I have 5 strong LoRs and a writing sample from a published thesis in one of my topics of study. Is there any place that I might have overlooked? Are my current selections reasonable?  

Edited December 1, 2015 by TheGreatIdealist

[DGrayson]

23 hours ago, stillalivetui said:

Welp, only one of my professors has submitted their recommendations. Anyone know how forgiving adcoms are with late letters?

In my experience (which is on the Econ side) adcoms are usually ok with letters that are a little late as they don't start looking at applications until January. I'm not sure how it is for History though, but if it helps I am in the same boat! 

[stillalivetui]

I know UC Irvine explicitly states that all materials, including LORs, must be received by the deadline. I'm going to be pretty annoyed if I just wasted $90 because one letter wasn't submitted in time.

[SunshineLolipops]

Not sure if this has been said before in this discussion, but it's worth repeating as the stress and anxiety start to ratchet up.  This is a great place to find support through theprocess of applying, but we applicants are not the only ones who read the posts.  Professors do occasionally lurk, so don't post anything that you would not want an admissions committee to see.  Also, be careful about What you post here from correspondence with faculty or admissions staff, since a lot of that information can be private. Good luck everyone! 

[meo03]

Re: all the recent comments about page lengths.

There are several places that I am applying to that have page limits shorter than my 33 page writing sample (15 pages CUNY? sheesh). As I've spent the better part of the year turning my MA thesis into an article that is currently under review for a pretty good journal, I felt compelled to submit this work, as it is by far my most well-written and well-researched piece. 

What I have done--and let the chips fall where they may--is submit the complete article, complete with an abstract, and a one-page "table of contents" with where I give a short description, with page numbers, of each of my four main sections.

We'll see if that's a terrible idea...

[pro Augustis]

Well, I'm an idiot. I had bolded the fit portion of my SOP so I could jump to it when fine-tuning the statements for different schools. Then, of course, I forgot to unbold it when I sent off my first application. I even looked at it in the submission window and didn't think anything of the bolding, because that's how it had always looked. I guess that's one school whose answer won't be all that surprising, and it's not the most auspicious start to the season... 

[pro Augustis]

Update (sorry for the double post): they let me fix the formatting, so no longterm harm appears to have been done. But do pay close attention to that preview before submission when submitting your stuff...