Fall 2016 Applicants

[nevermind]

7 minutes ago, tenochtitlan said:

Has anyone heard/applied to Penn's History and Sociology of Science programme? Previous years suggest the interview emails were sent a long time ago... :\

I applied. I haven't heard a word. It's not a great research fit for me (although someone recently graduated with research that overlaps significantly with mine, which is why I applied). I'm assuming rejection at this point, because it seems like interview notifications are sent out about a week after applications are submitted (at least in previous years). 

[alain]

Have the people who heard from NYU previously been in contact with POI or was the email from the DGS? 

[insidethesun]

22 minutes ago, bettafish said:

The calm before the next storm of rejections

 

Indeed. You just have to stay positive and hope for a surprise.

[Quickmick]

1 hour ago, Josh J. said:

Yale supposedly got 10,000 applicants last year, according to their rejection letters...

 

1 hour ago, DGrayson said:

That's probably the number that applied to all programs in the School of Arts and Sciences. That would be crazy for one department.

 

1 hour ago, L13 said:

Ah, that makes sense. I edited my post to elaborate on that possibility a bit.

 

57 minutes ago, insidethesun said:

That's probably the case. It is safe to assume that all of the top ranked programs receive around the same amount.

I mentioned something like this yesterday and nobody seemed inclined to jump in... I was thinking if top 20 schools get 400 apps each that is 8000, but a lot of those are counted multiple times as a lot of people are applying to 10 schools. if people are 10 schools each that might mean 800ish apps? for 200-300 spots in the top 20? Doesn't sound too bad, really. But I am just making up numbers. Even if 100 people per state applied that would be 5000 which just sounds like a big number.  Does anyone know how big the average applicant pool is in a year for PhD history programs? I am curious to know! Is it possible that admissions from diff schools 'compares notes' to limit the number of multi-admits? This could provide leverage in terms of funding packages and keep the admit/attend ratios high...while that sounds wacky each admit decision is basically a +/- quarter million dollar investment.

[Watershed]

1 hour ago, Quickmick said:

 

 

 

 Does anyone know how big the average applicant pool is in a year for PhD history programs? I am curious to know! Is it possible that admissions from diff schools 'compares notes' to limit the number of multi-admits? This could provide leverage in terms of funding packages and keep the admit/attend ratios high...while that sounds wacky each admit decision is basically a +/- quarter million dollar investment.

This is a stats page for UCSB's applicant pools over a recent three-year period:

http://www.graddiv.ucsb.edu/documents/stats/HIST_Grad_Profile_Final.pdf

[TMP]

5 hours ago, Quickmick said:

 

 

 

I mentioned something like this yesterday and nobody seemed inclined to jump in... I was thinking if top 20 schools get 400 apps each that is 8000, but a lot of those are counted multiple times as a lot of people are applying to 10 schools. if people are 10 schools each that might mean 800ish apps? for 200-300 spots in the top 20? Doesn't sound too bad, really. But I am just making up numbers. Even if 100 people per state applied that would be 5000 which just sounds like a big number.  Does anyone know how big the average applicant pool is in a year for PhD history programs? I am curious to know! Is it possible that admissions from diff schools 'compares notes' to limit the number of multi-admits? This could provide leverage in terms of funding packages and keep the admit/attend ratios high...while that sounds wacky each admit decision is basically a +/- quarter million dollar investment.

Professors do not have time to compare notes across programs.  Decisions have to be made relatively quickly because of internal departmental and university deadlines for funding.  They also do know what type of program a particular applicant is likely to be admitted and try to aim for those they know they have a reasonable shot at having that person commit.  Nonetheless, it's a boon for a program if it admit students with multiple offers, which means it picked a really great candidate and puts them at a particular benchmark.  They are willing to negotiate on funding if they need to get the student to commit.  It's part of the business.

Numbers of applications do range between 200-300 in a year when the economy is strong in most departments.  The rate of admissions do tend to be below 20%, if not 10% as programs have been moving towards making their entering classes much smaller than in the past and being conservative as not to over-enroll.

Edited January 30, 2016 by TMP

[turnings]

The very best programs are competing for a similar set of applicants. Obviously not the same as fit varies from place to place but, as you'll discover when you bump into a number of the same people at different admit weekends, there is a fair bit of overlap. I imagine this is why places like NYU have such notoriously insane admissions procedures - they're competing for the Harvard-level admits but don't have quite the pull of those five or six top departments.

Mind I'm not saying it's great that the system works this way, and obviously the programs you're admitted to have, within reason, only a marginal relation to how talented you might be as a historian. The problem with prestige is that its luster fails to fade even when we admit to the much more complicated reality of the process.

[sts4656]

6 hours ago, tenochtitlan said:

Has anyone heard/applied to Penn's History and Sociology of Science programme? Previous years suggest the interview emails were sent a long time ago... :\

Also I applied to that one and heard nothing.... :/ I started to worry for my future......

[sts4656]

19 hours ago, Neist said:

I wouldn't worry too much yet. If the results of previous years are to be trusted, January 26th is very, very early for HASTS. Most results are in late February through March.

Maybe they just needed to clarify something about that applicant? Or maybe it was an interview a POI did personally? Who knows.

@Neist Thank you so much for the support, actually the interview e-mails for HASTS are sent in previous years in late January or early February, but the acceptances and rejections are sent in late February as you said. That's why I lost my hopes a little bit, but also we don't know whether the e-mail was from his/her POI..

[DGrayson]

Congrats to the people who got into Northwestern! It looks like a really good program! 

[Neist]

8 hours ago, sts4656 said:

@Neist Thank you so much for the support, actually the interview e-mails for HASTS are sent in previous years in late January or early February, but the acceptances and rejections are sent in late February as you said. That's why I lost my hopes a little bit, but also we don't know whether the e-mail was from his/her POI..

The main reason I wouldn't worry if it was my application is that if the results are to believed, the HASTS program doesn't appear to do many interviews. I mean, maybe they just have a really small pool of potentials? It's also possible that they only interview people that they're more borderline considering, not full considering.

I think it's probably okay for another couple weeks.  

[hbnj]

Someone got accepted at UC Berkeley. Congrats!

Congrats to all the Northwestern admits! 

[emiliajulia]

congrats @ northwestern admits!! it seems like an awesome program, kudos to you all!

[tipmar]

I was just rejected from NYU via mail from my POI. Pretty crushed about it. For those still waiting - I was told that not all decisions had been finalized yet. 

[alain]

3 hours ago, tipmar said:

I was just rejected from NYU via mail from my POI. Pretty crushed about it. For those still waiting - I was told that not all decisions had been finalized yet. 

Sorry about the rejection  Hopefully the rest of your cycle goes well nonetheless. I'd resigned myself to inevitable rejection as well (idk if I should bother contacting my POI) but this is slightly (and possibly unnecessarily) getting my hopes up. 

[tipmar]

17 minutes ago, alain said:

Sorry about the rejection  Hopefully the rest of your cycle goes well nonetheless. I'd resigned myself to inevitable rejection as well (idk if I should bother contacting my POI) but this is slightly (and possibly unnecessarily) getting my hopes up. 

Assuming you have established some sort of a previous relationship, I would just contact your POI and ask. It will probably put you out of your misery, one way or another. That is what I did, and I am glad to at least know where I stand. 

[anthrostudentcyn]

@tipmar How much contact did you have with the POI before? I was in contact with one due to an emerging field, and he encouraged me to apply, I asked him a few questions about the program. Could I just say, I was wondering the timeline of my app? Or how do you word it politely? Hehe. 

[RamyaS]

19 hours ago, Neist said:

The main reason I wouldn't worry if it was my application is that if the results are to believed, the HASTS program doesn't appear to do many interviews. I mean, maybe they just have a really small pool of potentials? It's also possible that they only interview people that they're more borderline considering, not full considering.

I think it's probably okay for another couple weeks.  

 

@Neist and sts 4656, till a few years ago, HASTS used to send out emails in the first week of February, for interviews that carried on from mid February to Mid March, with the adcom finally deciding around the 17th or the 20th of March. I hope this timeline helps! Good luck!

[tipmar]

1 hour ago, anthrostudentcyn said:

@tipmar How much contact did you have with the POI before? I was in contact with one due to an emerging field, and he encouraged me to apply, I asked him a few questions about the program. Could I just say, I was wondering the timeline of my app? Or how do you word it politely? Hehe. 

I would just be honest about it, they know how stressful it is and they know that rejections take an unconscionably long time to reach you. I said something along the lines of "I became aware that admitted applicants were notified recently. As I was not notified, I suspect that my application has been rejected. I was wondering if you are able to confirm my status, so that I know my prospects at X before making any other plans" 

 

[emiliajulia]

wowza, congrats to the Stanford admit!! mega kudos!

 

[johnnycomelately]

I have been in contact with a POI at one of my top choices, and they have requested a Skype interview.  I'm really not sure how to prepare, or what to expect. Has anyone else had this type of interview? What sorts of questions should I expect, and what should I ask? I already have a firm offer from a great program as well as an unofficial acceptance to another, and feel less anxious than I normally would-but I don't want to come off as uninterested or overconfident. 

[hbnj]

16 minutes ago, johnnycomelately said:

I have been in contact with a POI at one of my top choices, and they have requested a Skype interview.  I'm really not sure how to prepare, or what to expect. Has anyone else had this type of interview? What sorts of questions should I expect, and what should I ask? I already have a firm offer from a great program as well as an unofficial acceptance to another, and feel less anxious than I normally would-but I don't want to come off as uninterested or overconfident. 

I had an interview like that. I was contacted by a POI but there was a 2nd person sitting in the call. Most of the questions were directed towards my research (it sort of felt like a defense), and also about my interests in the field. A couple of odd questions: what challenges do you foresee in pursuing a job in academic history considering the current climate/job market? What types of sources do you think would be useful in your studies if you couldn't rely on formal essays and newspapers? They didn't take any notes and they didn't ask me any questions about the university. That said you can't be sure what to expect of what questions they'll ask. They will ask you if you have questions so I had 7 written down. They also might accidentally answer some of your questions so have more than one 

[TMP]

Those of you contemplating contacting POIs/DGS after rejection, wait.  Wait until the entire season is over, meaning until April or that you have been rejected everywhere.  If you got waitlisted or accepted somewhere else, there is no point in having a conversation.  Everyone will be happy that you've been admitted somewhere, no matter the ranking or prestige of the program.  There are many, many opportunities down the road to work with these professors.

You do not want to be That Applicant who can't handle rejections and starts whining the minute they happen.  Professors deal with rejections all the time themselves and they have learned to accept most of them with grace.  Rejections hurt no matter what.

You also want to get off the emotional roller coaster as well so you can begin to look at the process and your application more objectively.

There can be a possibility that the POIs will not remember much about your application (particularly for large fields) and there were factors out of their control (internal politics).  Be prepared for a range of responses from "Sorry, I can't remember your application and I'd have to go through your file again" to "Your statement was relatively weak.  Here are some suggestions for strengthen it..."  Some might be upfront to say that they had a limited number of applicants they could admit and there was someone else who was a better match.  Some won't say much in that way but you'll find out in the fall when new graduate students are posted on the departmental page.  Some are going to be willing to be honest and direct while others won't want to say much out of fear of hurting your feelings (That actually happened-- one of my favorite POIs didn't tell me that he had picked someone else until I met his student at a graduate seminar a year later.  I realized that this kid was a better match for the POI than me.  My current adviser was a better match for me anyway.  Awkward but...sometimes you just have to laugh.)

As for interviews, just be prepared for anything.  Like any other academic interviews, professors feel at liberty to ask a range of questions intending to test your skills, knowledge, interests, and tastes to make sure you can fit in with the departmental culture and intellectual community.

[jpb]

I've been trying to brush up on the work of a few POI for my interview in a couple weeks, as I really have no idea what I'll be asked. Better safe than sorry, I suppose. As I'm in the midst of a gap year, I plan on reacquainting myself with my research that I submitted for my writing sample. Flying blind is always anxiety-inducing!

[sts4656]

On 29.01.2016 at 9:53 PM, nevermind said:

I applied. I haven't heard a word. It's not a great research fit for me (although someone recently graduated with research that overlaps significantly with mine, which is why I applied). I'm assuming rejection at this point, because it seems like interview notifications are sent out about a week after applications are submitted (at least in previous years). 

@nevermind Have you seen that somebody wrote to the results page that he received an e-mail for interview from HSS in December, as we expected.. So we can definitely assume rejection at this point... :/