Fall 2016 Applicants

[knp]

Hey! I'm one of the Penn interviews, which will be held by Skype—I'm sorry if I caused any any extra/avoidable anxiety by posting it!  From previous years, (the key search terms being penn* history -art -state), it seems like there's usually 2-3 interviews recorded in the last week of January/first week of February, and then 6-7 acceptances in the last week of February, followed by more sporadic decisions, including the bulk of the rejections. (As per the results search; I have no idea what percentage of the interview/acceptance pool those capture). So, I'm excited, and the interview sounds semi-formal, but interviewing is clearly still not a necessary step for acceptance! I think part of why I got one is that I, personally, have no idea whether Penn is one of my best fits, or the worst fit out of seven applications. (Although I like all the schools I applied to so much that "worst fit" is still really good, and I'd still be really excited to go.) I go back and forth on that question every day, though, so perhaps that less-than-obvious-but-potentially-great fit is why they want to talk to me. I'm nervous but looking forward to it in part because I want to learn more about them!

[DGrayson]

5 minutes ago, knp said:

Hey! I'm one of the Penn interviews, which will be held by Skype—I'm sorry if I caused any any extra/avoidable anxiety by posting it!  From previous years, (the key search terms being penn* history -art -state), it seems like there's usually 2-3 interviews recorded in the last week of January/first week of February, and then 6-7 acceptances in the last week of February, followed by more sporadic decisions, including the bulk of the rejections. (As per the results search; I have no idea what percentage of the interview/acceptance pool those capture). So, I'm excited, and the interview sounds semi-formal, but interviewing is clearly still not a necessary step for acceptance! I think part of why I got one is that I, personally, have no idea whether Penn is one of my best fits, or the worst fit out of seven applications. (Although I like all the schools I applied to so much that "worst fit" is still really good, and I'd still be really excited to go.) I go back and forth on that question every day, though, so perhaps that less-than-obvious-but-potentially-great fit is why they want to talk to me. I'm nervous but looking forward to it in part because I want to learn more about them!

Yeah, the Penn postings freaked me out lol. I've already spoken to my POI there back in November, but I didn't get an interview request and have been freaking out about it for most of the day!  I have been thinking about offering to send some of the departments I applied to a copy of my Yale book review. My problem is that I'm coming from an outside department and my writing sample, though hopefully pretty good, is from that discipline. My book review also-I hope- is pretty good and it is actually on a book from my historical field, so I feel that it may be beneficial to offer to include it. I'm not 100% though as this line of thinking may be out of pure desperation!  

[KLZ]

Not sure you should send unsolicited materials. Anyone else, thoughts? 

[mvlchicago]

If it's getting published by a reasonable (read: Peer review) academic place or a fairly well respected periodical (Paris Review of Books) I wouldn't hesitate to let your POIs know about it ("Hey just FYI I did this Thing that shows you I am a solid investment and am capable of projects [LINK].") If it's a review on a blog (unless a substantial one), I'd be less inclined to do so. 

Edited January 25, 2016 by mvlchicago

[KLZ]

Yes. I agree with mvlchicago - if its being published, send it! Especially through your POIs.

If its just the book review that you wrote for your Yale application and you have not submitted it for publication anywhere, or have published it on a blog, etc., I'd hesitate. 

[Neist]

9 minutes ago, mvlchicago said:

If it's getting published by a reasonable (read: Peer review) academic place or a fairly well respected periodical (Paris Review of Books) I wouldn't hesitate to let your POIs know about it ("Hey just FYI I did this Thing that shows you I am a solid investment and am capable of projects [LINK].") If it's a review on a blog (unless a substantial one), I'd be less inclined to do so. 

Yup, I echo this comment, and the director of my university's McNair program told me the same.

If you read some of the graduate applicant help books (I used mainly Graduate Admissions Essays by Asher), they tend to agree with this stance as well.

Edited January 25, 2016 by Neist

[DGrayson]

Ok thanks guys! I'll hold off on it, it was probably just nerves taking over anyway! 

[betwixt&between]

For the potential Brown admit who received a POI email, from the Results forum: Curious about your area of interest/POI, if you're comfortable sharing? 

[TMP]

Unless it's an actual article based on original research in a peer-review journal, do not submit anything to your POIs.  Book reviews are worth only pennies when articles based on original research are worth their weight in gold.

[stillalivetui]

Just a thought, if a POI mentioned I should follow up with my application from a conversation last summer, how would you do so? I don't to want to feel like a pest, but at the same time, I'm getting the urge to follow up on this suggestion.

[catsandscarves]

7 hours ago, stillalivetui said:

Just a thought, if a POI mentioned I should follow up with my application from a conversation last summer, how would you do so? I don't to want to feel like a pest, but at the same time, I'm getting the urge to follow up on this suggestion.

did you email them when you submitted your application? when was the deadline? if a professor asked me to do that, I would email them and let them know I submitted my application and that I was still very excited (in a more tame way obviously) to work with them/interested in their program. I would reply to the thread we had already started together so they could remember who I was. Hope this helps!

[meo03]

12 hours ago, TMP said:

Unless it's an actual article based on original research in a peer-review journal, do not submit anything to your POIs.  Book reviews are worth only pennies when articles based on original research are worth their weight in gold.

Agreed. 

I found out last week that an article of mine is accepted for publication, so I sent that news and an updated CV to my departments asking for this to be a part of my file.

[mvlchicago]

12 hours ago, TMP said:

Unless it's an actual article based on original research in a peer-review journal, do not submit anything to your POIs.  Book reviews are worth only pennies when articles based on original research are worth their weight in gold.

I would basically agree but also say that sometimes pennies can matter at a point when adcoms are debating between two equally qualified candidates. And of course this is also extremely context dependent; I was working with a couple lefty periodicals and my POI at Penn was very interested in the work I was doing there, hence those articles became things I sent to him and not my POI at Yale, for example. 

[anthrostudentcyn]

So if I spoke with a professor last semester, is there any way I can reach out to him again? Could I say, I submitted my application and look forward to hearing from the department, or something of that sort?

[ashiepoo72]

At this point I would NOT contact professors unless you made a commitment to do so or have something significant to report (external fellowship, publication in peer-reviewed journal).

You sent your apps, they're likely all or almost all under review, nothing you do now will change the outcome of that review. If anything, unsolicited emails with nothing substantial to show will annoy your very busy POIs--I can tell you based on my program that they are running undergrad and grad courses, advising their current PhD students, potentially involved in new hiring, setting up or participating in events, all while reading applications and making decisions about next year's cohort.

[anxietygirl]

For people applying to History of Science, Medicine, and Technology at Minnesota, decisions are made and will be released tomorrow  Good luck!!!! 

[hbnj]

Hey! I know I'm a bit late to this whole process. I've been reading this forum (and the admissions page) religiously for the past few days, but I just waited until now to introduce myself. This is my first time applying, and I've applied to 3 MA programs and 4 PhD programs. 

[jb1993]

55 minutes ago, anxietygirl said:

For people applying to History of Science, Medicine, and Technology at Minnesota, decisions are made and will be released tomorrow  Good luck!!!! 

Any idea for the rest of the admissions or have those already gone out?

 

[ashiepoo72]

There may be another small Minnesota wave. Last year it seems like all the results posted at once, but in previous years there were smatterings of admissions in late January and more in the first week of February. I think the first wave is people nominated for fellowships.

To the MSU admits--it is a lovely department. I had the pleasure of visiting during recruitment last year and would be happy to answer any questions via PM.

[SunshineLolipops]

Hoping that the four international admits to Ohio State are accidental spam from the same person... last year they did two different waves, hopefully it'll be the same this year

Edited January 26, 2016 by CvC1780

[AfricanusCrowther]

I actually think it's appropriate to write to your POIs briefly noting that you submitted your application and thanking them for their help during the application process. At least, that's what I did and I got pretty nice replies.

I feel bad for the MSU admit who applied to their terminal master's program...

[nom]

22 hours ago, knp said:

Hey! I'm one of the Penn interviews, which will be held by Skype—I'm sorry if I caused any any extra/avoidable anxiety by posting it!  From previous years, (the key search terms being penn* history -art -state), it seems like there's usually 2-3 interviews recorded in the last week of January/first week of February, and then 6-7 acceptances in the last week of February, followed by more sporadic decisions, including the bulk of the rejections. (As per the results search; I have no idea what percentage of the interview/acceptance pool those capture). So, I'm excited, and the interview sounds semi-formal, but interviewing is clearly still not a necessary step for acceptance! I think part of why I got one is that I, personally, have no idea whether Penn is one of my best fits, or the worst fit out of seven applications. (Although I like all the schools I applied to so much that "worst fit" is still really good, and I'd still be really excited to go.) I go back and forth on that question every day, though, so perhaps that less-than-obvious-but-potentially-great fit is why they want to talk to me. I'm nervous but looking forward to it in part because I want to learn more about them!

I'm one of the Penn interviews also. Which area do you want to focus on? I want to do East Asia (China)

[stillalivetui]

Yeah, that was rough. I'm wondering if Texas will be sending out their recruitment weekend invites this week.

[tipmar]

1 minute ago, stillalivetui said:

Yeah, that was rough. I'm wondering if Texas will be sending out their recruitment weekend invites this week.

You know, I have seen last year's reports and have been wondering what exactly the recruitment weekend is. I got the impression that Texas has an unusual system, do they invite people over before official admission is decided? Is that just a formality, or is the visit actually a way of finalizing the shortlist?

[stillalivetui]

I can't say for sure. But I get the sense it's just an opportunity for students who will be accepted to learn more about the program and visit campus.