Fall 2017 applicants

[cinnamontea]

12 hours ago, rainbeew said:

I am waiting for Amherst. Last year I heard acceptances went out around Feb. 6th... Anyone out there with news, predictions?

I got a mail from the director of graduate studies on Feb 2nd, telling me that I'll get the official acceptance soon, and that I've been recommended for admission, into the UMass Ph.D. program. But I'm don't know  either if acceptances are sent together or not. 

[SarahBethSortino]

On 2/3/2017 at 0:36 PM, Sigaba said:

SBS--

As you and @nhhistorynut have already earned admission to at least one graduate program apiece and as each of you are applying to doctorate programs with M.A.'s, how you communicate what you know and what you want to learn are going to put you over the top. That message is something you can control.

Your metrics and your academic pedigree to this point are largely beyond your control now. Also, compare the following two thumbnails. Which thumbnail says I get good grades and test well? Which says I have some familiarity with the historiographical debates of my areas of specialization as well as the the broader debates among professional academic historians?

My GPA is 4.00, my GRE score is 170 verbal and 6 writing.

I am an Americanist specializing in diplomatic history. My research interests center around President Eisnehower's views of ethnic and racial differences and how those views informed his administration's grand strategy, specifically the use of clandestine paramilitary operations.

I understand your point. But I have not yet been accepted to a PhD program. I wish. Unless you are referring to my MA... I got into all the schools I applied to, but they were all in the U.K. I don't know how to play the game in the US. The standards of admission in the U.K. Are heavily focused on SOP, fit within the faculty, and research topic. I have been informed by many programs I applied to here that they won't even bother with your application if you don't have a certain set of numbers. If they didn't look at those numbers, why even require the GRE? Maybe I'm just speaking from a place of extreme, panic attack inducing anxiety. I have all the subjective markers that would give me a good shot, but if my numbers are the thing that keeps me out, I'd honestly rather not ever know that. 

[SarahBethSortino]

2 hours ago, cinnamontea said:

I got a mail from the director of graduate studies on Feb 2nd, telling me that I'll get the official acceptance soon, and that I've been recommended for admission, into the UMass Ph.D. program. But I'm don't know  either if acceptances are sent together or not. 

Hey, so I have a question about this.. applications were only due January 15th. Was this an unofficial, hey just wanted to let you know email or has your acceptance been conferred by the committee? Seems a little hard to believe that they reviewed and made their decisions in a little over two weeks 

[GreenTeaKnits]

2 hours ago, SarahBethSortino said:

Hey, so I have a question about this.. applications were only due January 15th. Was this an unofficial, hey just wanted to let you know email or has your acceptance been conferred by the committee? Seems a little hard to believe that they reviewed and made their decisions in a little over two weeks 

Applications were due January 2.

http://www.umass.edu/history/apply

[OHSP]

2 hours ago, SarahBethSortino said:

Hey, so I have a question about this.. applications were only due January 15th. Was this an unofficial, hey just wanted to let you know email or has your acceptance been conferred by the committee? Seems a little hard to believe that they reviewed and made their decisions in a little over two weeks 

Quick notifications can happen - I heard back from UIUC just over 2 weeks after applications were due in.

[archi]

Also a longtime lurker but wanted to let anyone waiting on Rutgers know I got an email this morning from the vice-chair of the department (not POI) telling me I was on the shortlist and asking to confirm my continued interest in the program. Final decisions will be made Feb. 14th. No idea if this was sent to everyone or not. 

[SarahBethSortino]

1 hour ago, GreenTeaKnits said:

Applications were due January 2.

http://www.umass.edu/history/apply

I mean that's still a month. Not a lot of tie considering the website says 6-8 weeks. I guess I had forgotten application dates. I had all my apps in by Nov 1. 

[rainbeew]

Congratulations,  GreenTeaKnits and cinnamontea. Hope I can be there also but I am still waiting?

[OHSP]

2 hours ago, clarchibald said:

Also a longtime lurker but wanted to let anyone waiting on Rutgers know I got an email this morning from the vice-chair of the department (not POI) telling me I was on the shortlist and asking to confirm my continued interest in the program. Final decisions will be made Feb. 14th. No idea if this was sent to everyone or not. 

Congrats and thanks for the update! I've found the "you're on the shortlist but how much do you really want to go here" email so painful - so close but so unofficial. Hopefully you're basically in! 

Edited February 5, 2017 by OHSP

[angesradieux]

The DGS from UIUC contacted me to let me know that I've been admitted with five years of guaranteed funding, the first of which is a fellowship. Second admissions offer!

[OHSP]

18 minutes ago, angesradieux said:

The DGS from UIUC contacted me to let me know that I've been admitted with five years of guaranteed funding, the first of which is a fellowship. Second admissions offer!

Congrats! Are you planning to go to the admitted students weekend? I'm trying to work out a way to get there - currently visiting another school at the end of Feb but there's a bit of a gap between the weekends (and I'm coming from overseas). 

Edited February 5, 2017 by OHSP

[angesradieux]

2 minutes ago, OHSP said:

Congrats! Are you planning to go to the admitted students weekend? I'm trying to work out a way to get there - currently visiting another school at the end of Feb. 

I'm planning on going to their recruiting days on March 6-7. The fact that it falls on a Monday/Tuesday is really convenient for me, because I have to take off a a stretch from Thursday-Saturday later in the month to visit another school. My work schedule rotates based on the day of the week, so it would've been kind of tough to take off the Thursday-Saturday stretch twice in such a short period of time. I was kind of cringing a little bit at the thought of trying to make it work until I looked at the calendar and realized it's not an issue.

[OHSP]

8 hours ago, SarahBethSortino said:

I had all my apps in by Nov 1. 

As someone who was screaming at a laptop for most of 14-15 December, that is impressive. Hope you start hearing back soon - traditionally this coming week is very full of emails. 

[cinnamontea]

8 hours ago, SarahBethSortino said:

I mean that's still a month. Not a lot of tie considering the website says 6-8 weeks. I guess I had forgotten application dates. I had all my apps in by Nov 1. 

Hey! Well it definitely was a semi official mail, because it said that the history grad committee had reviewed my application and recommended me for admission to the graduate center, and that I will get the official acceptance with the financial package soon. But I'm an international student with pretty much no knowledge of the US system. So I can't really say beyond that. I hope things work out for you!

[cinnamontea]

7 hours ago, rainbeew said:

Congratulations,  GreenTeaKnits and cinnamontea. Hope I can be there also but I am still waiting?

Thanks! hopefully it will work out

[angesradieux]

15 hours ago, SarahBethSortino said:

I mean that's still a month. Not a lot of tie considering the website says 6-8 weeks. I guess I had forgotten application dates. I had all my apps in by Nov 1. 

November 1? 0.o I'm impressed. I had deadlines December 6, 12, and 15, and I was panicking and scrambling over all of them. I wish I'd had the discipline to get them done that early!

[luz.colorada]

17 hours ago, clarchibald said:

Also a longtime lurker but wanted to let anyone waiting on Rutgers know I got an email this morning from the vice-chair of the department (not POI) telling me I was on the shortlist and asking to confirm my continued interest in the program. Final decisions will be made Feb. 14th. No idea if this was sent to everyone or not. 

Congrats! Can I ask what your subfield is? 

[SarahBethSortino]

8 hours ago, OHSP said:

As someone who was screaming at a laptop for most of 14-15 December, that is impressive. Hope you start hearing back soon - traditionally this coming week is very full of emails. 

Haha... I had the unfortunate circumstance of being laid off in early November so I spent all my time writing apps haha. Luckily I got another job right after I submitted, but I thank god for those three weeks to write uninterrupted.

[cyclingonthemoon]

Hi everyone! A long time lurker here. I wonder when do you think is a good time to walk away from a waitlist? I am admitted to two of my top choices, currently waiting for the official admission letters. But a third university just send me an email last night and telling me I am on their waitlist. Do universities expect an immediate response to a waitlist email? If so, what is the wisest thing to say at this moment? 

 

[Calgacus]

1 hour ago, cyclingonthemoon said:

Hi everyone! A long time lurker here. I wonder when do you think is a good time to walk away from a waitlist? I am admitted to two of my top choices, currently waiting for the official admission letters. But a third university just send me an email last night and telling me I am on their waitlist. Do universities expect an immediate response to a waitlist email? If so, what is the wisest thing to say at this moment? 

 

If you've already been admitted to schools you know you'd rather go to, then you should absolutely let the third school know that they can remove you from the waitlist. IF you don't yet have a sense of where you'd prefer to go, and you think you might want to go to the waitlisted school, then just write back and tell them you'd like to keep your name in consideration. Do remember that school 3 is someone else's top choice. That doesn't mean you take your name off the list if you think you may like to go there, just because you feel guilty about taking spots from others. But if you've got admits to top choices and there's no way this school compares with those offers for you, then no reason to hold up a spot you know you'll turn down anyway. Rule of thumb is as soon as you know you won't be choosing a particular school, you should let them know too. And that applies for waitlist spots as well.

[cyclingonthemoon]

22 minutes ago, Calgacus said:

If you've already been admitted to schools you know you'd rather go to, then you should absolutely let the third school know that they can remove you from the waitlist. IF you don't yet have a sense of where you'd prefer to go, and you think you might want to go to the waitlisted school, then just write back and tell them you'd like to keep your name in consideration. Do remember that school 3 is someone else's top choice. That doesn't mean you take your name off the list if you think you may like to go there, just because you feel guilty about taking spots from others. But if you've got admits to top choices and there's no way this school compares with those offers for you, then no reason to hold up a spot you know you'll turn down anyway. Rule of thumb is as soon as you know you won't be choosing a particular school, you should let them know too. And that applies for waitlist spots as well.

Thanks Calgacus! I am quite certain I will choose between the two schools that admitted me right away. But should I hold the waitlist spot of the school 3 until getting OFFICIAL letters from the first two schools?  Or is it quite unnecessary? 

[mdivgirl]

On 2/2/2017 at 11:57 PM, KTF87 said:

My timezone is EST + 7.

Sometimes I sleep with the phone on my face.

I love this.  I am EST + 13.  I have lost all distinction between day and night.

[OHSP]

28 minutes ago, mdivgirl said:

I love this.  I am EST + 13.  I have lost all distinction between day and night.

EST + 16. I wake up every hour. 

[nhhistorynut]

17 minutes ago, OHSP said:

EST + 16. I wake up every hour. 

Wow suddenly I feel really lucky to just live in EST, which is the same timezone as my target school. Though I can say that, for some reason, professors always send emails to me at like 1am.

[mdivgirl]

5 minutes ago, nhhistorynut said:

Wow suddenly I feel really lucky to just live in EST, which is the same timezone as my target school. Though I can say that, for some reason, professors always send emails to me at like 1am.

I asked my professor who wrote my recommendation letter if she thought the application deadline meant midnight, and she said she hoped so since that's when she was planning on submitting the letter.  Sure enough, with less than an hour to the deadline I got the e-mail saying that she had turned it in -- and that was Central time so past midnight where she was in Boston.  So apparently the life of a professor is just as crazy as that of a student.  This is what we are signing up to!  Or, at least, trying to.