Fall 2017 applicants

[angesradieux]

4 hours ago, NCAtlanticist said:

Has anyone heard back from UGA, Duke, or UNC? If you have, would you mind sharing their decision and you UGPA/GGPA/GRE and topic? I am in that constant back and forth wavering about whether my UGPA-3.739 GGPA-4.0 (after 27 hours) and V-160, Q-152, AW-4.5 is good enough for some of these schools. And in the word of the Romans "Bona fortune tibi" applicants.

I was contacted by my POI at UNC a little over two weeks ago for a phone conversation. I've since communicated with him again via e-mail, and he told me that I should expect an offer around Wednesday this week. I don't know much about what the American field's doing, but he did say that they've narrowed the European field (across all time periods, medieval to modern) down to their top five candidates, and from what I understand all those offers should be out this week. However, I was also told that in the past they've sent out their letters in waves, so to speak. So while some people may hear back late January/early February, there may be additional haggling over other applicants, and additional acceptances may be sent out later. So even if you don't receive anything this week, don't lose hope. It doesn't necessarily mean you haven't been admitted. Good luck!

My UGPA was 3.97. GREs were Verbal 166, Quantitative 158, Analytical Writing 6.0.

I didn't apply to UGA or Duke, so I can't say anything about where they are in the process.

Edited January 30, 2017 by angesradieux

[french_historynerd]

Looks like U Mich is sending out interview invites this week? Has anyone heard for European History? Getting nervous! 

Edited January 30, 2017 by french_historynerd

[OHSP]

6 hours ago, NCAtlanticist said:

Has anyone heard back from UGA, Duke, or UNC? If you have, would you mind sharing their decision and you UGPA/GGPA/GRE and topic? I am in that constant back and forth wavering about whether my UGPA-3.739 GGPA-4.0 (after 27 hours) and V-160, Q-152, AW-4.5 is good enough for some of these schools. And in the word of the Romans "Bona fortune tibi" applicants.

Hi @NCAtlanticist, I received an offer from Duke last week and I've since received an invite to their admitted students weekend - there are 14 people on the list. I don't know whether Duke wait-lists or sends out offers in rounds but it might be worth emailing a POI to check? Re numbers, I've pretty much heard from most POIs that, after a certain cut off point (and I'm sure your numbers are above the cut off point), it's really just about the writing sample, fit, and your past work - my UGPA is 3.85, GGPA is not calculated yet because it's 100% dissertation, and my GRE numbers are V-166, Q-150, AW-5. I also have publications in relatively highly-ranked journals which helps - even if it just proves that you are "serious" about being a professional historian. Hope this is helpful - sorry to be the bearer of slightly bad news re Duke, but hopefully it's not over yet. 

[a.n.d]

Normally a lurker, but I finally got the motivation to make an account and post.

Has anyone heard anything from U of South Carolina or UT-Knoxville? 

[NCAtlanticist]

4 hours ago, OHSP said:

Hi @NCAtlanticist, I received an offer from Duke last week and I've since received an invite to their admitted students weekend - there are 14 people on the list. I don't know whether Duke wait-lists or sends out offers in rounds but it might be worth emailing a POI to check? Re numbers, I've pretty much heard from most POIs that, after a certain cut off point (and I'm sure your numbers are above the cut off point), it's really just about the writing sample, fit, and your past work - my UGPA is 3.85, GGPA is not calculated yet because it's 100% dissertation, and my GRE numbers are V-166, Q-150, AW-5. I also have publications in relatively highly-ranked journals which helps - even if it just proves that you are "serious" about being a professional historian. Hope this is helpful - sorry to be the bearer of slightly bad news re Duke, but hopefully it's not over yet. 

Thanks for the response. Only time will tell, I will maintain my cautious optimism. Congrats on your acceptance by the way!

[voforange]

Got unofficial word from Berkeley!! I am so relieved and over the moon!! Has anyone heard from Columbia or Harvard yet?

[OHSP]

1 hour ago, voforange said:

Got unofficial word from Berkeley!! I am so relieved and over the moon!! Has anyone heard from Columbia or Harvard yet?

Congrats! 

[voforange]

1 hour ago, OHSP said:

Congrats! 

Thanks!!

[MMii]

Hi everyone,

I have a question about funding for those who have more experience with the US system. I'm an international student, who cannot afford to take on any debt for PhD studies and as I have received my first offer I thought it would be prudent to get my head around what constitutes a 'good' funding package? If I have been offered 19 quarters of support including funding for five years and four summers, does this mean that my tuition will be waived or covered for the duration or is it more complex than this? I'll obviously contact the department to find out more, but wondered if anyone here has insight about this. The funding packages in the US seem much more complicated than the ones offered in my home country (which are often just lump sum annual amounts, and tuition is comparably negligible).

TIA

[viridian]

@SarahMoon I can give some tips as another international applicant, but since I am only an applicant and not an enrolled student, I won't have precise details of what it's like from within the program.

Usually, and I must emphasize *usually*, the funding package implies a full tuition waiver unless otherwise stated. But you would have to check with your school to nail down the precise conditions. For example, I know that at some universities, even if you go over the expected timeline -- writing up for a sixth year instead of finishing in five, which seems to happen very often for History students -- then that sixth year tuition is severely reduced so that you are only paying a nominal fee to remain in student status. Some universities also have lots of internal grants available to students seeking additional funding for dissertation completion. Or, if you manage to secure outside grants to support your studies, then the departmental funding can be "frozen" temporarily and reinstated once your outside grant runs out. However, this is not uniformly the case across the US, and the rules and rates of assistance will vary dramatically from school to school.

I did my undergraduate studies in the US, so I would also like to add that you should look into cost of living. If you attend a school in a major metropolitan area, everything will be more expensive than at a school in a more rural area. Rent, food, transportation -- it all adds up to make a huge difference, in my experience. Since you say you cannot afford to take on any debt, you should really double check to make sure the funding package alone is enough for a student to get by in that city/town/area. You could google some of that information, and there are some websites that help you estimate costs based on your location, but in addition to that you should also reach out to current graduate students and ask them if your funding amount is enough to study debt-free.

So long story short, there are many factors to consider: what exactly the $$$ covers, and what kinds of back-up funding options are available alongside the initial offer. All this should be measured against the cost of living in that particular area. As well as other expenses like health insurance, car, parking & gas (if it's a region where driving is necessary).

 

If there are any current PhD students out there reading this -- and I know there are many of you! -- please share your wisdom.

 

**edited to add: congratulations on your first offer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 31, 2017 by viridian

[MMii]

@viridian , thank you so much! That is really so helpful in confirming/clarifying what I had read and thought I understood. I'll definitely double check with the department about tuition though.

[LWilk]

23 hours ago, avflinsch said:

good news - UVA is starting to send out notices
bad news - you were not a first round draft pick
Possibly good news - all of the notices went out by email, so check your spam folder (just in case you missed the email)

Is is possible that they are sending out offers by research area? That is wishful thinking on my part. 

[avflinsch]

6 minutes ago, LWilk said:

Is is possible that they are sending out offers by research area? That is wishful thinking on my part. 

Anything is possible, just keep your hopes up and keep checking their admissions website - you might be in the second round (aka waitlist)

[wjd]

UChicago admits, what are your fields?

Edited January 31, 2017 by wjd

[Lediona Shahollari]

20 hours ago, french_historynerd said:

Looks like U Mich is sending out interview invites this week? Has anyone heard for European History? Getting nervous! 

I applied to U Michigan for European History and I have not heard anything from them! I heard they do not send out letters until the end of February. 

[russianblue]

26 minutes ago, wjd said:

UChicago admits, what are your fields?

I'm also curious! UChicago is one of my top choices, I'm really hoping they aren't done sending out acceptances yet. Although it looks like so far it's just letters from POIs?

19 minutes ago, Lediona Shahollari said:

I applied to U Michigan for European History and I have not heard anything from them! I heard they do not send out letters until the end of February. 

That's disappointing, especially since they had one of the earlier deadlines :/ So far, I have only heard back from UVA, which was due two weeks later. 

[L13]

No idea if anyone is still waiting on Johns Hopkins, but acceptances were sent out a while ago and the accepted applicants have already been invited for a visit. I'm not sure how the timeline for waitlist notifications works, though.

[minion.banana]

1 hour ago, Lediona Shahollari said:

I applied to U Michigan for European History and I have not heard anything from them! I heard they do not send out letters until the end of February. 

At the end of my phone interview, my poi said that this week the regional caucuses of the dept meet to decide who they would like to admit. Then about a week later the heads of each caucus will meet to make final decisions- hope the timeline helps!

[french_historynerd]

36 minutes ago, minion.banana said:

At the end of my phone interview, my poi said that this week the regional caucuses of the dept meet to decide who they would like to admit. Then about a week later the heads of each caucus will meet to make final decisions- hope the timeline helps!

Thanks! So it's looking like the second or third week of February that we will find out decisions.  To be honest, I think I might get rejected from U of Mich because when I reached out to my POI she said that she wasn't taking students and that European History probably wasn't accepting many students regardless. But that's why this was my reach school. I'm ready for application season to be over, lol. 

[MMii]

On 2017/01/30 at 9:21 PM, npliegoc said:

Latin American history. I focus on post-1945 Mexico. What about you?

African history is mine! Focus on twentieth century South Africa intellectual history.

Edited January 31, 2017 by SarahMoon

[voprosi]

2 hours ago, russianblue said:

I'm also curious! UChicago is one of my top choices, I'm really hoping they aren't done sending out acceptances yet. Although it looks like so far it's just letters from POIs?

I echo this! I'm hoping they're at least staggered by fields. 

[OHSP]

For anyone yet to be interviewed by Penn, I just had my interview and it went relatively well (but it's hard to tell?). I was definitely a bit awkward but hopefully that's relatively common amongst history grad students. The interviewers were my three POIs and they asked pretty straightforward questions - how did I come to my proposed topic, a few specific questions about my area, how have I developed as a historian, etc. They mentioned that they were only interviewing a small group of people but I don't know if that means they'll only be offering places to those with interviews. Good luck to others waiting on UPenn. 

[Reaglejuice89]

On 1/27/2017 at 0:22 PM, Murf said:

Did anyone here apply to George Washington University or the University of Maryland?  According to last year's results both schools didn't release decisions until late February, but the waiting is making me antsy.  To those who applied, have you heard anything from your POI?

I applied to GWU. I haven't heard anything from the school or my POI yet. Hope this helps. Good luck!

[voprosi]

23 hours ago, voforange said:

Got unofficial word from Berkeley!! I am so relieved and over the moon!! Has anyone heard from Columbia or Harvard yet?

Congrats!

I'm waiting on Berkeley but am getting a little anxious. It seems though in the past rejections started rolling in at the end of January. Looks like it's taking them more time this year.

[realmarcelproust]

This morning I got a really friendly from my POI at Penn telling me that it was a pleasure to meet me and following up on a question about workshops I asked at the end of my interview last week. She also sent along the names of two other professors in the department she thought I should know/with whom I should potentially be in touch. She said she looked forward to be in touch again very soon. 

This doesn't mean anything either way, does it? I'm assuming so, but I don't really know how this works. I didn't send any followup emails either, so this came more or less out of the blue. 

Thoughts, anyone?

Also @OHSP glad to hear your Penn interview went well! What's your subfield, btw?