History at Columbia and Stanford

[hiccup]

Has anyone heard anything from either of the above universities?

I know they're website says that acceptances will be handed out in March, but I noticed that some other programs within the social sciences/humanities have been hearing back from them.

Grrr. The suspense is killing me!

[lulu]

I'm waiting on those two schools as well (and Harvard, too). I haven't heard back from any of those three -- although a friend of mine said he knew someone who had just heard from Stanford history and that person got in. I'm a little worried since I thought my credentials were really good.

[hiccup]

Do you happen to know how this guy or girl was notified? E-mail? Call from professor? Letter mail?

Like you, I think my credentials are pretty good for both places. (And since my first choice by a long shot is most likely to reject me, these were in my next cluster of "would-like-to-go-there" schools.)

[lulu]

I wish I knew. I didn't really ask for details from this friend -- I think I wanted to live in denial. You know: "They just haven't had the opportunity to e-mail me yet" (which is quite plausible, since, at some schools I've been relayed the good news by my potential supervisors), or "It's just that mail takes a while to get here from Cali/NY."

I noticed, though, that one person posted that they received something from Columbia by mail -- and it wasn't good news. I think they said it was sent by snail mail. Which is how I think they're sending their acceptances/rejections. I was perusing their website the other day and I think I came across something to that effect. I had tried checking through that "Track your Application" website, but nothing had changed since December (for Columbia, I mean).

As for Stanford, I'm not sure how they're conveying them. I had this other friend who got into a completely different program/department, and he got his notification by e-mail. In which case, I'm worried!!!

[Guest BruceL]

I've applied to Columbia and Harvard for a History PhD as well and heard nada. I realize how uber-competitive admissions are for these programs and am becoming increasingly pessimistic by the day. Can I ask what kind of credentials you guys had and to what subfield(s) you applied? I applied with what I thought were reasonably competitive "hard" stats for International History: 3.67 GPA from an Ivy, 750M/680V/5.5AWA, 3 years of work experience (teaching and research), a publication, and 2 other conference papers. I hope we all get in somewhere!

[lulu]

I thought my CV was especially impressive -- a couple of articles, numerous awards, honors, and scholarships, and a lot of languages. I also had excellent (and highly respected/"famous") references, as well as extensive research experience. My field is Modern Europe . . . . and I am so insanely worried that I'm losing sleep at night!!!!!

[Guest]

It appears today may be the day for Columbia ... gulp

[hiccup]

Tell me about it.

I just heard from them today. :cry:

[lulu]

Stanford doesn't want me. :cry:

At least I have other offers . . . but oh, how I would have adored the warm weather!

[Guest BruceL]

lulu, may I ask where you've been accepted so far? It never occurred to me how competitive these History admissions would be. At the top universities, it seems, fewer than 5% of applicants are accepted. I'm an "oafer" right now (as in 0-for-x) and actually think I may have struck out entirely. Unbelievable!

[lulu]

Hey BruceL,

While I don't mind sharing, I feel so weird posting the nitty-gritties of my acceptances in a public forum, so, if you're a member, drop me a line and I'll be glad to divulge . . .

On a more general note, I can tell you that I've been accepted to four schools so far, with a variety of funding packages -- all the way from full fellowships at a couple of places down to wait-listing for full fellowships at another, and some "mid-range" offers in between. Unfortunately none of the schools that I've been accepted to were even among my top choices. I have yet to hear back from Harvard, but I'm 99.9% sure I'll be rejected from there, too (since, I've already been rejected from Columbia, and, as I haven't had a phone call or e-mail yet from Stanford, we can pretty much rule out me going to sunny, gorgeous California in the fall as well!!! I am expecting my rejection letter from them sometime in the mail next week).

How many schools did you apply to, BruceL? With your credentials, I can't imagine that you won't be going at least *SOMEWHERE* in the fall. Since, as you say, you had the great "hard stats," and what sounds like a very impressive CV, I'm actually surprized that you've been turned down from even one school! You sound like the very competition that I was afraid of going into this grad application process!!!! It's the applicants like you that had me up at night, biting my nails and worrying!

Maybe the best is yet to come, i.e. Harvard!?!? Hang in there, I'm sure a great offer is on its way!

[lulu]

*laughing* This whole grad process sure had my knickers in a twist -- the earlier message I posted about Stanford rejecting me, was actually Columbia. I had someone else open the letter for me because I was too terrified to look myself! When the envelope is a thin one, I don't have the heart to open my own mail. But yes, I'm confident that I will be rejected from sunny California, too!

[Guest]

I have been waiting for my rejection from Columbia for days. So far nothing but silence. I don't know if I should be hopeful or not.

While we're on the subject, has anyone heard anything at all from CUNY?

[BruceL]

I e-mailed my contacts at Harvard and Columbia . . . Unfortunately, I found out today I was rejected at both . The prof at Columbia was much nicer, telling me I was among the finalists and that my application was considered very seriously. The acceptance rate was under 7%. At Harvard they accepted around 10%.

[Guest]

Sorry to hear that. My long awaited rejection arrived yesterday. I thought I'd feel worse. I guess this whole thing has been a maturation experience. :roll:

[Guest daphna]

"hard stats" are not enough to get into a school. The most important thing in a schools decision whether to accept someone or not is a good match between the candidate and the faculty members who can advise that candidate for a PhD. Otherwise you can have a great candidate in a great school yet stuck with no decent advisor.

So while GPAs, GREs, and things like publications, reccomendations, writing samples, personal statements etc. are all important - in the end even the best candidate could be rejected on the basis of an insufficient match between them and the faculty.

[hiccup]

Actually, I think you're a little off with that assumption as well -- and I certainly don't think any of us forgot about faculty matches, otherwise we wouldn't have applied to the schools and programs we did if there weren't professors whose research interests coincided with our own. But honestly, I don't know after going though this process how much that even matters. At the schools where my research interests fit perfectly with two or more faculty members, I was rejected. In fact, I was rejected from every school that I thought would have been a great fit on precisely what you say we are forgetting. Instead, I got into every school that I thought would be a "long shot" simply because my interests were too far removed from my potential supervisors. At one of the schools to which I have been accepted, I will possibly be studying with a military historian who has never written anything even remotely related to my proposed dissertation topic. I think that's why we were all talking "hard stats" because most of us did our homework on the faculty, department, program, and institution.

[Guest]

Let's not forget old-fashioned elitism. It seems that one's pedigree is increasingly important at the most prestigious schools. Recent article in AHA's Perspectives (september, maybe?) confirms it -- the top schools are hopelessly incestuous. What chance do we mere mortals (public school folk) have?

[hiccup]

Let's not forget old-fashioned elitism. It seems that one's pedigree is increasingly important at the most prestigious schools. Recent article in AHA's Perspectives (september, maybe?) confirms it -- the top schools are hopelessly incestuous. What chance do we mere mortals (public school folk) have?

Now *THAT* I definitely overlooked. Well, perhaps not 'overlooked' . . . I think that I was just in denial. I erroneously assumed that, when it came down to it , you didn't necessarily have to be a "thoroughbread" to place.

[Guest daphna]

I wasn't trying to belittle anyone or hurt anyone, and I aplogize if my reponse sounded agressive.

I know you guys didn't "forget" about it, but from the answers it looked like you were comparing all the hard stats and not thinking too much about this issue. I just wanted to put all of us back into proportion because I know its really upsetting to get a lot of rejections (you know, having gotten them). :-) I just wanted to "remind" us about that factor. :-)

Also, amazingly enough, what seemed like a great match when you sent the application, may not be a great match now for reasons you don't know.

For example, I applied to one school which I thought would be the best overall package for me, with lots of faculty that have my interests exactly.

However, before getting the results someone I know who is in the world of academia and knows whats going told me that for various reasons (which of course I will not specify) that school actually has no one for me anymore (several months after sending the application) because none of relevant faculty will be relevant by the time I get there. Had I not had this contact I would never have heard of this. Having heard this, however, I wasn't too surprised when a rejection came from that institution.

So we don't always know whats going on in the background.

[Guest]

Any news on NYU? I'm wondering what's happening there. I know there was an early acceptance to the joint program in History and Judaic studies, but is anyone else waiting to hear from them?

[hiccup]

I wasn't trying to belittle anyone or hurt anyone, and I aplogize if my reponse sounded agressive.

I know you guys didn't "forget" about it, but from the answers it looked like you were comparing all the hard stats and not thinking too much about this issue. I just wanted to put all of us back into proportion because I know its really upsetting to get a lot of rejections (you know, having gotten them). :-) I just wanted to "remind" us about that factor. :-)

Also, amazingly enough, what seemed like a great match when you sent the application, may not be a great match now for reasons you don't know.

For example, I applied to one school which I thought would be the best overall package for me, with lots of faculty that have my interests exactly.

However, before getting the results someone I know who is in the world of academia and knows whats going told me that for various reasons (which of course I will not specify) that school actually has no one for me anymore (several months after sending the application) because none of relevant faculty will be relevant by the time I get there. Had I not had this contact I would never have heard of this. Having heard this, however, I wasn't too surprised when a rejection came from that institution.

So we don't always know whats going on in the background.

Oh no, I didn't take it as an insult. But I guess, upon re-reading my response, it (my response, I mean) did come across rather cattily.

I just meant that while what you proposed can be a factor, this whole grad application process is so unpredictable that you really never know where you're going to end up. The schools that seem to match up well with your interests sometimes reject you, and those that seem like terrible fits can often offer you the best package.

If this grad school application process has taught me anything, it would be -- expect nothing. Don't expect to get into the University of X, and don't expect to get rejected from Y. In the end, all that worrying gets you nowhere.

[Guest daphna]

Oh, I definitly agree with that!

In the case of Graduate applications, always expect the unexpected. :-)

Also, always remember that lots of really really good candidates are applying to your schools, so chances of getting accepted are pretty small, and getting rejected doesn't mean anything bad about you (I find this philosophy is very helpful for my ego ).

At this point, I just want to get all the answers already, so I can make a final decision, but of course the one answer that could possibly make a difference is the one that is taking the longest to arrive.