Fall 2016 Applicants

[prculus]

So, I've had a few recent hits on academia.edu from the city where my #1 institution is located. Given it's unlikely that they're just coming from out of the blue (especially since they happened right after I updated my final grades, and then CV, on my application), would it be safe to assume that I made at least the first few cuts, or do these initial cuts generally happen later?

[anthrostudentcyn]

14 minutes ago, prculus said:

So, I've had a few recent hits on academia.edu from the city where my #1 institution is located. Given it's unlikely that they're just coming from out of the blue (especially since they happened right after I updated my final grades, and then CV, on my application), would it be safe to assume that I made at least the first few cuts, or do these initial cuts generally happen later?

Yess can people please discuss the significance  of these hits? I've been getting them from lots of towns near some of my schools. 

[SunshineLolipops]

I have hits from anywhere but where I've applied.  Not entirely sure why people in Ukraine, Brazil, and Mauritius are so interested in 19th century US history, but hopefully their interest will magically rub off on admissions committees.  Also just got my first rejection of the cycle... laissez les bon temps rouler.

Edited January 24, 2016 by CvC1780

[prculus]

1 hour ago, CvC1780 said:

I have hits from anywhere but where I've applied.  Not entirely sure why people in Ukraine, Brazil, and Mauritius are so interested in 19th century US history, but hopefully their interest will magically rub off on admissions committees.  Also just got my first rejection of the cycle... laissez les bon temps rouler.

They might be on sabbatical in another country, or just there in vaca over the winter break; I know this was the case with at least two of my POIs, and it seems that I might have had a hit from one of them (but, again, knows!).

[knp]

xp

[ashiepoo72]

I wouldn't read too much into academia hits. For what it's worth, I didn't get a hit from the Davis area until after I started the program. They are not indications of whether you'll get in or not, only that someone in that area wanted to know a bit more about you.

CvC1780 -- the cycle has just begun! I know it sucks to get a rejection so early, but there's plenty of time for good news yet. Don't be discouraged!

[knp]

Oh, yeah, I'm not fussed about it! (If that was directed at me.) I just find their presentation of it pretty funny—let's make sure to use BIG FONT!

[TMP]

To put into perspective from an ABD, you will continue to get hits as long as you maintain that academia.edu page.  I've gotten hits from a variety of places over the years, and most often during fellowship review seasons.  You'll also get hits in your local area where you're working on your degrees and that's usually graduate students in your program stalking you (because they're too insecure to talk to you to learn more about you).

Seeing the analytics page on academia.edu is fun but also makes you more cognizant of your internet footprint.

[Quickmick]

15 hours ago, Josh J. said:

I would be curious to hear where you are applying. I'm applying to environmental history programs, and have somewhat of an interest in the history of wildfire management on public lands. I was a wildland firefighter for about 8 years, so it is more than simply an academic interest.

@j. john too early to tell, I am exploring... Merchant at UC Berkeley is no longer accepting students, nor is White at Stanford... the list is evolving.

[anthrostudentcyn]

Anyone know anything about UToronto/are applying there?

[Jennbunny76]

On January 22, 2016 at 4:38 PM, ashiepoo72 said:

Congrats to the Minnesota admits! It's such a fabulous department with a wonderful group of supportive faculty and grad students.

I'm a little late with a reply--but thank you! I received notice of "unofficial" acceptance with two fellowship nominations. I am very excited as Minnesota is one of my top choices, but I also know that I need to wait and see if I get other offers. Because I also need to consider the best interests of my children, things like funding, schools, and location, will play a huge factor in my final decision. 

[emiliajulia]

12 hours ago, anthrostudentcyn said:

Anyone know anything about UToronto/are applying there?

I looked into it, but didn't end up applying because the deadline passed while I was abroad and I....forgot (oops)

I grew up about an hour and a half from Toronto--it's a fantastic city, and I've heard nothing but good things about the school. I think their funding package is a little low for international students but I'm not sure on the details. 

[anthrostudentcyn]

7 minutes ago, emiliajulia said:

I looked into it, but didn't end up applying because the deadline passed while I was abroad and I....forgot (oops)

I grew up about an hour and a half from Toronto--it's a fantastic city, and I've heard nothing but good things about the school. I think their funding package is a little low for international students but I'm not sure on the details. 

Great, thanks! Their History of Science program deadline is still open, and I've been on the fence as to whether to apply/bother my recommenders for one more school. 

 

Also to the person who got the NYU interview, what subfield were you? And any idea when they're releasing decisions?

Edited January 25, 2016 by anthrostudentcyn

[StrumundDrang]

Congrats who received the interview offer from Upenn!

Sadly I didn't hear anything from the department. Should I consider it a rejection?  

[ashiepoo72]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know of a single history program (I am not including history of science, about which I know little) has formal interviews. This means that getting an interview doesn't mean you'll get admitted and not getting an interview means you'll get rejected. Interviews are generally done because a potential adviser wants to know more about you. They are a good sign, but not every POI will do them, so not getting one isn't necessarily a bad sign.

It is human nature to freak the F out at this time of year. Don't assume you're rejected before you actually are rejected. I would caution people not to use the results page as anything but a vague indicator of when programs start notifying, because in a lot of ways divining answers from tea leaves is as helpful as trying to determine your status from the results of others. Several programs admitted me days to weeks after they started admitting other people. The results page was useless to me for a good third or more of the places to which I applied.

Some programs are pretty consistent with results. Northwestern comes to mind--admits and rejects go out within days of each other and all at once. Most programs that I've seen are not like this, and many have formal or informal wait lists which means some people don't even know their status until as late as mid-April.

Basically, drink some wine, watch some Netflix, relax as much as possible. Don't assume any result until you have an offer, or lack thereof, in hand.

[bettafish]

This is my first year applying and I'm really new to all the subtleties of communication with POI's.  Today a POI sent me an email that seemed to indicate acceptance.  It didn't at all mention rejection but it doesn't directly mention getting accepted either.  They basically said "you will hear from the committee soon.  I hope you consider our university.  Please direct any questions you have to me."  Anxiously awaiting hearing back from committee but I wanted a second opinion.  Does this sound like an acceptance to you all?

[tipmar]

4 hours ago, anthrostudentcyn said:

 Also to the person who got the NYU interview, what subfield were you? And any idea when they're releasing decisions?

Medieval Europe. No idea when results will be out, I am afraid. I got the impression that all shortlisted applicants in this field had been contacted for interviews, but I have no information as to any other fields.  Really, really hoping for good news here.  

 

18 minutes ago, ashiepoo72 said:

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know of a single history program (I am not including history of science, about which I know little) has formal interviews. This means that getting an interview doesn't mean you'll get admitted and not getting an interview means you'll get rejected. Interviews are generally done because a potential adviser wants to know more about you. They are a good sign, but not every POI will do them, so not getting one isn't necessarily a bad sign.

It is human nature to freak the F out at this time of year. Don't assume you're rejected before you actually are rejected. I would caution people not to use the results page as anything but a vague indicator of when programs start notifying, because in a lot of ways divining answers from tea leaves is as helpful as trying to determine your status from the results of others. Several programs admitted me days to weeks after they started admitting other people. The results page was useless to me for a good third or more of the places to which I applied.

Some programs are pretty consistent with results. Northwestern comes to mind--admits and rejects go out within days of each other and all at once. Most programs that I've seen are not like this, and many have formal or informal wait lists which means some people don't even know their status until as late as mid-April.

Basically, drink some wine, watch some Netflix, relax as much as possible. Don't assume any result until you have an offer, or lack thereof, in hand.

I am pretty sure that some history programs do interview formally. I am not certain how official my interview with NYU was, but I have been previously interviewed by another program in a fashion that was definitely not casual/initiated by one POI - It was scheduled by the program secretary and was conducted by 3 faculty members. 

[nevermind]

22 minutes ago, ashiepoo72 said:

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know of a single history program (I am not including history of science, about which I know little) has formal interviews. This means that getting an interview doesn't mean you'll get admitted and not getting an interview means you'll get rejected. Interviews are generally done because a potential adviser wants to know more about you. They are a good sign, but not every POI will do them, so not getting one isn't necessarily a bad sign.

It is human nature to freak the F out at this time of year. Don't assume you're rejected before you actually are rejected. I would caution people not to use the results page as anything but a vague indicator of when programs start notifying, because in a lot of ways divining answers from tea leaves is as helpful as trying to determine your status from the results of others. Several programs admitted me days to weeks after they started admitting other people. The results page was useless to me for a good third or more of the places to which I applied.

Some programs are pretty consistent with results. Northwestern comes to mind--admits and rejects go out within days of each other and all at once. Most programs that I've seen are not like this, and many have formal or informal wait lists which means some people don't even know their status until as late as mid-April.

Basically, drink some wine, watch some Netflix, relax as much as possible. Don't assume any result until you have an offer, or lack thereof, in hand.

I don't think you're wrong at all, @ashiepoo72. My interview was very informal...the person who contacted me happens to be working on a book related to my very niche interests, which is why they wanted to contact me and find out more about my work/preparation. I don't think that the interview process is required to gain admittance to the program and I certainly don't expect more interviews from other programs (Most other programs don't advertise interviews...I know UPenn does interviews for History of Science, but I didn't receive one!). I wasn't given any information of being unofficially rejected/admitted (and certainly no off-the-record mentions of fellowships or the like). I think it was mostly a curiosity thing, as in "oh this person has a oddly specific background that may help me with my work...maybe I should talk to them."

 

@bettafish - It's not a guaranteed acceptance, but I would be cautiously optimistic if I were in your position.

[ashiepoo72]

NYU used to do formal interviews, but that stopped a few years ago.

It might be helpful for future admits to know which programs DO do formal interviews, so if anyone knows of any, please let us know. I'm sure there are a few, but based on my (obsessive) research when I applied, none come to mind.

[Neist]

1 hour ago, ashiepoo72 said:

Basically, drink some wine, watch some Netflix, relax as much as possible. Don't assume any result until you have an offer, or lack thereof, in hand.

This is pretty much what I'm doing. Well, sort of. Since I took on a TA/grader position this semester I'll probably be drowning in grading essays soon, but idle hands, and all that.

As for interviews, I don't think history of science does interviews, or at least not generally. I also wouldn't be surprised if it's more uncommon in history compared to other disciplines. In the hard sciences, there's probably a little bit more money to bring in potentials. Maybe the applicant pools in other disciplines that programs require a secondary, culling phase?

Edited January 25, 2016 by Neist
Typos.

[Josh J.]

20 minutes ago, ashiepoo72 said:

NYU used to do formal interviews, but that stopped a few years ago.

It might be helpful for future admits to know which programs DO do formal interviews, so if anyone knows of any, please let us know. I'm sure there are a few, but based on my (obsessive) research when I applied, none come to mind.

Baylor does do formal interviews. They take 1 to 3 people per year, and interview about six people for those slots. 

[SunshineLolipops]

Bravo to the University of Phoenix admit.  Go Fighting Phoenixes!!!

Edited January 25, 2016 by CvC1780

[Neist]

1 hour ago, Josh J. said:

Baylor does do formal interviews. They take 1 to 3 people per year, and interview about six people for those slots. 

Geez. If I applied to a program that only accepted 1 person, I'd seriously be discouraged. It'd also make for an odd first year because you'd have very few peers.

[mvlchicago]

^^^^ TBH the definition of "peer" is extraordinarily odd when you get to this point. I feel like I have more peers in other cohorts/departments than I do in my year. 

[Neist]

3 minutes ago, mvlchicago said:

^^^^ TBH the definition of "peer" is extraordinarily odd when you get to this point. I feel like I have more peers in other cohorts/departments than I do in my year. 

You do have a good point!

Then again, that's if we're assuming peers are those who are like-interested. My interests are so out there that I've never found a single person who shares the enthusiasm for the methodological approach I want to cultivate in grad school. 

Programs that fit my interests have been in short supply. If I don't get any decent offers this round I'll probably apply to more library programs next year. Or perhaps one of the few digital humanities programs. I'm not entirely sure. I'm quite jealous of people who've found relevant POI. 

The woes of being quirky.