Fall 2017 applicants

[cyclingonthemoon]

47 minutes ago, Audrey90 said:

Hello! Long time lurker here

Congratulations to all those admitted so far! 

I received this response from UCLA. Safe to assume I didn't get in? 

 

Also, has anyone heard back from Stanford? 

FYI, I'm waitlisted by UCLA. The notification came about a week ago. I also applied to Stanford and it remains SILENT.

[angesradieux]

Anyone have any tips for planning visits? Helpful travel sites, best times to look for flights, etc.? I'm trying to plan my trip to Illinois, and I found a hotel I can afford, but I'm having a hell of a time trying to figure out a flight. So far I've only found one that doesn't involve a 12+ hour layover.

[voprosi]

14 minutes ago, angesradieux said:

Anyone have any tips for planning visits? Helpful travel sites, best times to look for flights, etc.? I'm trying to plan my trip to Illinois, and I found a hotel I can afford, but I'm having a hell of a time trying to figure out a flight. So far I've only found one that doesn't involve a 12+ hour layover.

Google Flights and Skyscanner were helpful when I had to do a lot of flying and traveling last year. I would also search directly from the airline website in addition to the other flight websites.

I am also in the same boat regarding visit days, except that I am living abroad and working full time. Regardless, commiting to a place for the next five years of my life without visiting seems a bit risky. I'm going to have to think about whether the 30+ hour round trip flight will be worth it. 

[psstein]

Has anyone heard from Indiana's HoS?

 

[angesradieux]

6 minutes ago, voprosi said:

Google Flights and Skyscanner were helpful when I had to do a lot of flying and traveling last year. I would also search directly from the airline website in addition to the other flight websites.

I am also in the same boat regarding visit days, except that I am living abroad and working full time. Regardless, commiting to a place for the next five years of my life without visiting seems a bit risky. I'm going to have to think about whether the 30+ hour round trip flight will be worth it. 

I used Google flights. I found one flight that might work, but it's way more expensive than what I was bargaining for and it's in and out of a different state, so getting a ride to the airport and back home might be tricky. Doable, but expensive and difficult to arrange. I'm kind of annoyed the visitation days are so soon. I wish I had more notice, maybe then planning wouldn't be such a pain.

[OHSP]

12 minutes ago, voprosi said:

I am also in the same boat regarding visit days, except that I am living abroad and working full time. Regardless, commiting to a place for the next five years of my life without visiting seems a bit risky. I'm going to have to think about whether the 30+ hour round trip flight will be worth it. 

I am in the same position, with +48 hour round trips ahead of me. Duke is paying for me to visit but I don't see how I'll be able to afford visits to other schools as well, so I'll likely be making the decision without having ever visited most places. [I'm aware that this is a super privileged spot to be in right now - good luck to everyone still waiting]. 

[Neist]

I usually use Google Flights. Although, if you're poor in cash and rich in time, you might consider Wanderu .

[History Fanatic]

Has there been any sign of activity from Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, or Florida??   

[Neist]

1 hour ago, psstein said:

Has anyone heard from Indiana's HoS?

 

There's someone in the results claiming to be waitlisted. Not sure if that means acceptances have been sent out, but...

Thought I'd toss it out there if you hadn't noticed yet.

[french_historynerd]

Well just got my first rejection. That's a crappy feeling. Only 5 more schools left to hear from. Ready for this process to be over already.

[angesradieux]

1 hour ago, Neist said:

I usually use Google Flights. Although, if you're poor in cash and rich in time, you might consider Wanderu .

Thank! I'll look into it.

[psstein]

1 hour ago, Neist said:

There's someone in the results claiming to be waitlisted. Not sure if that means acceptances have been sent out, but...

Thought I'd toss it out there if you hadn't noticed yet.

That's why I asked, actually. I'm not horrified if I got rejected, but it seems kind of early... the application deadline was 1/15.

[Sigaba]

8 hours ago, NCAtlanticist said:

@Sigaba I love your comment:  "If you don't find it in yourself to dial down your attitude and increase your situational awareness, the staff will figure you out and extend to you none of these courtesies." By saying that the admin's comment at Columbia was "shitty" has nothing to do with "situational awareness," it has everything to do with not being an ass. Also, you assume that the person who sent the first email had an "attitude." Judgemental much? The admin could have just said "letters of admissions are coming out in x days" or not responded. I would appreciate if you could make the trek down your ivory tower and drop the air of moral superiority.

Since you went this route, I'll play.

You want to be a graduate student in history.  Yet you decided not to do any research on this BB to gather accurate information about where I currently work. Instead, you made an assumption that is not supported by evidence that is readily available.

You also failed to read my post correctly. The use of bold face in first quote was to indicate that the email in question came from an admin--something that you should have noticed before popping off on how "shitty" Columbia is.

Yet you insist your situational awareness isn't an issue. I disagree.

By the bye, as you say you're not an ass and as you're clearly a person who doesn't say anything on line that you'd not say in person, here's a question.  Since you feel so strongly about this matter, how did the conversation go when you shared this view with the admin in question and told her how she should do her job?

Before you respond to this post, I recommend that you check your temper and read this post. 

If you still want to stay on this path, I suggest that you take it to PM --especially if you're not going to reconsider your tone.

Or, if you prefer, the discussion can shift to the ups and downs graduate students' relationships with departmental staff or dealing with the disappointment of rejection in sustainable ways.

It is your call.

[Sigaba]

3 hours ago, voprosi said:

I am also in the same boat regarding visit days, except that I am living abroad and working full time. Regardless, commiting to a place for the next five years of my life without visiting seems a bit risky. I'm going to have to think about whether the 30+ hour round trip flight will be worth it. 

 

2 hours ago, OHSP said:

I am in the same position, with +48 hour round trips ahead of me.

If you cannot make the visit, keep in mind the alternatives: phone conversations with ABDs, Skyping with other graduate students in the department, communications with international students, chats over beer/coffee with alumni in your area. 

Also, please keep in mind that one of the most important questions--is the professor who is going to supervise your quals and dissertation committees going to mentor you--cannot be answered in advance. Those who know the answer (the professor's colleagues) are not going to tell you the answer until you figure it out for yourself and you have earned their trust.

[Neist]

1 hour ago, psstein said:

That's why I asked, actually. I'm not horrified if I got rejected, but it seems kind of early... the application deadline was 1/15.

I'd still hold onto hope. Last year I tried to make sense of why things happen when. I now think that such an effort is an impossible endeavor.

If you float around long enough on these forums, you hear all sorts of crazy stories about admissions experiences. There is no norm, and there's rarely consistency. Heck, my old boss' husband was accepted with funding into a program one week before school started. Someone dropped at the last minute, and he got the spot. Anything's possible. 

[wjd]

Well, my rejection letter came from Stanford, but my POI chased it with an email explaining the madness.

Asked him if he could offer come criticism of my app, so I can be more aware of areas that I can work to improve my image, and he said that he couldn't, because my file was great. As for why I was still rejected, and I suspect this is relevant to many of us...

"But the competition for admission this year was just brutal.  Not only did we have an abundance of brilliant candidates, we also faced a reduction in the total number of places we were allowed to offer -- in fact, the lowest total in our history.  We are looking at just a dozen new admits into our PhD program next year -- and that isn't a dozen Americanists, but a dozen students overall, spread between the department's thirteen different PhD granting tracks.  In these circumstances, we had to leave many abundantly qualified candidates behind, particularly in the US field, which always receives the largest number of applications."

[a.n.d]

2 hours ago, History Fanatic said:

Has there been any sign of activity from Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, or Florida??   

I applied to Tennessee and haven't heard anything yet, either. 

[Antebellum]

10 minutes ago, wjd said:

"But the competition for admission this year was just brutal...the lowest total in our history...particularly in the US field, which always receives the largest number of applications."

*Cries silently in the corner, clutching my copy of James McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom*

2 hours ago, History Fanatic said:

Has there been any sign of activity from Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, or Florida??   

Like @a.n.d and you, I also applied to Tennessee. Haven't heard anything from them yet so still holding out hope!

[sstubble]

Just received my acceptance letter from UC Berkeley. Looks like I'll have to make some difficult decisions within the next two months or so!

[wjd]

39 minutes ago, sstubble said:

Just received my acceptance letter from UC Berkeley. Looks like I'll have to make some difficult decisions within the next two months or so!

Congrats!

[TMP]

39 minutes ago, wjd said:

Well, my rejection letter came from Stanford, but my POI chased it with an email explaining the madness.

Asked him if he could offer come criticism of my app, so I can be more aware of areas that I can work to improve my image, and he said that he couldn't, because my file was great. As for why I was still rejected, and I suspect this is relevant to many of us...

"But the competition for admission this year was just brutal.  Not only did we have an abundance of brilliant candidates, we also faced a reduction in the total number of places we were allowed to offer -- in fact, the lowest total in our history.  We are looking at just a dozen new admits into our PhD program next year -- and that isn't a dozen Americanists, but a dozen students overall, spread between the department's thirteen different PhD granting tracks.  In these circumstances, we had to leave many abundantly qualified candidates behind, particularly in the US field, which always receives the largest number of applications."

I wonder if this was a "copy and paste."  Stanford doesn't admit many students to begin with.  It's not known for having a large cohort (15+ students).  Any program that takes less than 20 with over 200 applications is very competitive.  Remember there are more than just European and American history fields-- just look at the list of "major" fields and how many faculty members are grouped in each.  Now that's intense competition for the faculty members to claim graduate students.  My own PhD program supposedly has cut from 15-17 students to 6 students... and we have 19 PhD fields.

As for planning visits, be open to asking about staying with a graduate student in the program.  I did and have hosted graduate students and we all appreciated the opportunity to spend time with the hosts.  Hosts will often try very hard to make you comfortable and feel welcoming in their community because they do *hope* that you will join them.  You'll also get a small sense of how livable their stipends are.  You will definitely save a lot of money this way on hotels.  If that free option isn't possible, then look into AirBnB.

@Sigaba is right that your adviser and potential faculty members are very important.  They are the ones you have to put up with, especially the adviser, for 6-8 years of your life.  I am so glad that I met my potential advisers and took our meetings seriously.  They were both fantastic people but talking with them on different topics allowed me to envision the kinds of conversations we might have.  A good adviser will guide you through the PhD, a great adviser will become your mentor and think beyond the framework of the department's PhD requirements such as making sure there are classes for you to take, fighting for your continued funding, listen to your ideas and offer immediate feedback, never stops critiquing your writing, and, most important of all, do not leave you high and dry at any stage of the process including the academic job market (if that's what you want).

Graduate students tend to be hit or miss; they change from one year to another as students come in and out.  Everyone enters with different levels of motivations and goals for the PhD as well all walks of life.  Graduate students can be challenging to deal with but they are not super important for survival as your exam and dissertation committees.

In short: Look at the faculty and resources before looking at the graduate student body.

[wjd]

4 minutes ago, TMP said:

I wonder if this was a "copy and paste."

Meh, I'll take what I can get. Whatever helps me sleep at night, right?

[OHSP]

35 minutes ago, wjd said:

Meh, I'll take what I can get. Whatever helps me sleep at night, right?

I mean of all the people who applied, this historian bothered to send you an email, probably because they're a decent human and thought your work was good - academics are not all just robots / I really don't think Stanford professors are sitting around sending out fake-comfort emails to potential grad students. 

Edited February 10, 2017 by OHSP

[MikeTheFronterizo]

Just got my acceptance from the SMU PhD program! Anyone else applied? 

[MMii]

8 hours ago, OHSP said:

I am in the same position, with +48 hour round trips ahead of me. Duke is paying for me to visit but I don't see how I'll be able to afford visits to other schools as well, so I'll likely be making the decision without having ever visited most places. [I'm aware that this is a super privileged spot to be in right now - good luck to everyone still waiting]. 

At this stage I'm facing a 60 hour round trip (cheapest flight and only one I can possibly manage right now), but I think it's totally worth it to get a sense of where I'll be living for the next 5+ years Here's hoping the visa works out.  Congrats on your acceptances!