Fall 2017 applicants

[Sigaba]

39 minutes ago, novazembla said:

I found some stuff to cut, and it ended up being under 30 pages, so it's good. 

OK, another stupid question: While looking through one of my already-submitted applications, I noticed to my horror that I had mistyped the name of one of the professors I'm interested in working with. I didn't misspell it, I switched two letters in the middle of his name. I believe this professor is on the admitting committee. It wasn't on my SOP or anything, it was in a text area on the application. How screwed am I? Should I send him an email apologizing?

Do not send an email apologizing. Chalk it up to "lessons learned" and go on with life. If you're offered admission and you accept, you might mention it in passing if you establish rapport with this professor. 

On another issue. Do not describe your questions as "stupid." Here's the thing-. Your question has been asked and answered many times over the years--your question is a reflection of either your motivation or your skills.  I recommend that from this point forward that you do your due diligence as a historian by looking for existing answers to your questions. If, after making a best effort, you cannot find the answers, then ask.

(Do understand that, given your fields of study and the intellectual ferocity of its practitioners, you're going to be screwed if you end up working with this guy.)

[MMii]

18 hours ago, AP said:

Good luck! Not an Africanist here but I have lots of friends that are.

Thanks!! Trying to take a 'let the chips fall where they may' approach but it's not really working

[bigbangdeux]

I hope that everyone had a successful run of submitting their applications for December deadlines!! Question for those who have gone through previous cycles. Do most schools interview the applicants they are interested in or is that more of a school-by-school basis decision? What was your interview experience if you did have one?

[AP]

1 hour ago, bigbangdeux said:

I hope that everyone had a successful run of submitting their applications for December deadlines!! Question for those who have gone through previous cycles. Do most schools interview the applicants they are interested in or is that more of a school-by-school basis decision? What was your interview experience if you did have one?

It is my understanding that it depends on the department (not even the school). In my department, it also depends on your field (Eg Latinamericanists interview, Africanists don't). 

I think that I used TheGradCafe for pretty much all of my interview prep. I read forums and forums on what to expect and what not to say, etc etc. In the end, I was asked pretty difficult questions such as "what you think of Smith's approach to the study of nationalism?" (I had no idea who Smith was) or "when you say [insert quote from SOP], what do you mean?". I remember thinking that I missed the forum with the clever questions. 

Anyway, the interview went well. I got in, dah, but I also know it went well because my advisor told be years later what a good sense they got of who I was in those 45 minutes. (And yes, I was honest about not knowing who Smith was). Finally, a GREAT piece of advice I took from the forums was to have questions ready. My best question was about how the processed continued once we hanged up. Also, it is the only question I remember asking! 

[stillalivetui]

On 12/20/2016 at 10:09 AM, bigbangdeux said:

I hope that everyone had a successful run of submitting their applications for December deadlines!! Question for those who have gone through previous cycles. Do most schools interview the applicants they are interested in or is that more of a school-by-school basis decision? What was your interview experience if you did have one?

I think only a couple programs do interviews. I can say for sure that Indiana and Michigan don't do interviews. 

[bigbangdeux]

Yikes AP, that sounds super intimidating, but thank you for sharing! 

[lkjpoi]

Are there other active grad school forums out there? I am curious about the drop in interest in this year's application forum (I've been following this site for two years) and am wondering whether the current applicants have shifted to a different website or whether these kinds of forums are just becoming less popular generally. In any case, I'm definitely hoping we've all gotten lucky and there are fewer applicants this year! 

[NoirFemme]

1 hour ago, lkjpoi said:

Are there other active grad school forums out there? I am curious about the drop in interest in this year's application forum (I've been following this site for two years) and am wondering whether the current applicants have shifted to a different website or whether these kinds of forums are just becoming less popular generally. In any case, I'm definitely hoping we've all gotten lucky and there are fewer applicants this year! 

There's a pretty active grad forum on Reddit.

I'm a little superstitious, so I quietly submitted my apps and am "out of sight, out of mind"-ing this process lol. Especially since I still have a semester left before graduating in June.

There's a chance there are fewer applicants this cycle; random articles I've read over the past year from 2010-11 talked about how grad school and law school apps usually rise and decline based on the health of the economy.

[emhafe]

I know I tend to lurk on these forums. I think there are people who are continuing to read but don't see the need for much active participation unless they have a direct question. There's only so much you can say after a while, and now most of us are in the watching and waiting period.

[NoirFemme]

Happy New Year, y'all!

How are you holding up?

I'm actually more anxious and excited to see who is going to say yes, as opposed to worrying about the nos!

[OHSP]

I am also amongst the "waiting and seeing and lurking" crowd - I've applied to eight schools and received an extremely early (and very personal) acceptance email from one of them earlier this week. I have no idea how typical/atypical this is and while the school is a great fit and is offering me excellent funding, it's not my top pick. So now I am in the "waiting and seeing and slightly confused but happy to have something" camp. I'm applying from Australia so at the very least it's nice to know that I'll definitely be moving to the US this year. 

Edited January 6, 2017 by OHSP

[xypathos]

Grats @OHSP! Getting very early, unofficial acceptances is unusual but it does happen. I'm in the same boat though my acceptances came by way of Canadian schools (one history, one religious studies) but neither are my top school but I certainly won't complain about having choices already. 

[OHSP]

Congrats on yours @xypathos. Mine was oddly accompanied by a formal acceptance letter and details of funding, totally out of the blue - I'm now compulsively checking emails in case it happens again. I think it must have been a case of unusually good fit.

[bigbangdeux]

Did anyone else's status on uwisconsin madison's status application change? Earlier this morning I wasn't able to see my status but now it  looks differently and on the left under History PhD there is now another little slot that says Available for Recommendation and 'Pending Review' under both in the status description. Is this normal? 

Edit: added screenshot of page - blocked out the misc numbers in case they are significant to my identity or whatever :P

Edited January 6, 2017 by bigbangdeux

[OHSP]

@bigbangdeux mine has changed as well and looks the same. 

[museum_geek]

49 minutes ago, bigbangdeux said:

Did anyone else's status on uwisconsin madison's status application change? Earlier this morning I wasn't able to see my status but now it  looks differently and on the left under History PhD there is now another little slot that says Available for Recommendation and 'Pending Review' under both in the status description. Is this normal? 

Edit: added screenshot of page - blocked out the misc numbers in case they are significant to my identity or whatever

I applied to UW Madison's Anthropology PhD program and my application status page is now the same as yours.  I guess it's a general Graduate School thing rather than being specific to any single applicant or department.  In any case, I'm glad someone else posted about this, otherwise I would have seen it and started freaking out for no reason!

[bigbangdeux]

 

24 minutes ago, OHSP said:

@bigbangdeux mine has changed as well and looks the same. 

Okay glad to know it happened to other people lol. I was mildly panicking. 

 

4 minutes ago, museum_geek said:

I applied to UW Madison's Anthropology PhD program and my application status page is now the same as yours.  I guess it's a general Graduate School thing rather than being specific to any single applicant or department.  In any case, I'm glad someone else posted about this, otherwise I would have seen it and started freaking out for no reason!

 

Yeah I'm assuming it just means that everything was received by the graduate school and is ready for the committees to review.

[Reaglejuice89]

I'm currently going into my last semester of my M.A. program in European history at UNC Greensboro. I'd been researching different universities where I thought i might find a perfect fit since last summer and whittled it down to 5 key places I think would work best. I want to work on German Colonialism in the early twentieth century, specifically around the time of World War One. My goal is to write my dissertation on representations of the German Empire at home and abroad somewhat in the spirit of Erez Manela's work Empire's at War. I spoke to at least one POI everywhere I applied and they all said they thought my idea was pretty sweet and would love to work with me if I make it through the admissions committees. 

I just sent off the last of my applications and am hoping for the best. I think the two strongest areas of my apps were that I had a very strong writing sample and a very focused SoP. My undergrad GPA was on point (3.9) and my [current] M.A. GPA is pretty good (3.83). I assume my letters were pretty good because I've cultivated good relationships with my Professors that i asked to write on my behalf over the last year and a half. My GRE was wildly mediocre but I'm not worried about it, one POI suggested I might consider retaking it and I'm sure i could do better (i last took it as an undergrad senior 2 1/2 years ago) but I don't have $200 bucks or whatever it is now to blow on some test so I can do a couple points better — not everyone even cares about it, one POI even told me point blank that he was on the grad admit committee and he never even bothers with GRE scores. I know the pros and cons, it kind of seems like i'm mortgaging my future on a $200 test, but oh well. Let come what will.

I still think I'll stand out because I'm an excellent writer/ editor and because I have a pretty good idea of where I want to go with a dissertation. 

I applied to the PhD programs at Duke, Emory, University of South Carolina, George Washington University, and Georgia State University.

wish me luck!

[NoirFemme]

Welcome to the thread, and good luck!

[Belle55]

Did anyone else apply to UNL??

[OHSP]

On 1/7/2017 at 8:48 AM, bigbangdeux said:

 

Okay glad to know it happened to other people lol. I was mildly panicking. 

 

Looks like it's changed again - I have to stop checking it... may the next weeks pass quickly. :/

[voprosi]

Judging by a quick search in the results section of this website for Wisconsin history, admissions decisions haven't been released until the first week of February at the earliest. Assuming this year is no different, there's still some time! I have a little memo in my phone that tracks when decisions have been released in the past to remind myself to not panic prematurely! 

[angesradieux]

Anyone else hear anything from UNC Chapel Hill? I've received an e-mail from the professor I'm hoping to work with there saying that they're seriously considering my application and he'd like to arrange a phone conversation, which is scheduled for tomorrow. Has anyone else here been in contact with a professor from UNC? I must admit, I'm a little nervous. He said it's just a conversation, not an interview, but I'm not really sure what to expect.

[TMP]

40 minutes ago, angesradieux said:

Anyone else hear anything from UNC Chapel Hill? I've received an e-mail from the professor I'm hoping to work with there saying that they're seriously considering my application and he'd like to arrange a phone conversation, which is scheduled for tomorrow. Has anyone else here been in contact with a professor from UNC? I must admit, I'm a little nervous. He said it's just a conversation, not an interview, but I'm not really sure what to expect.

Just go with it.  Remember to review your application before the conversation to refresh your memory.  Mostly, it's just to make sure you're for real.  Not a robot or a clown....  It's okay to be nervous.  Professors already know that.

[OHSP]

4 hours ago, angesradieux said:

Anyone else hear anything from UNC Chapel Hill? I've received an e-mail from the professor I'm hoping to work with there saying that they're seriously considering my application and he'd like to arrange a phone conversation, which is scheduled for tomorrow. Has anyone else here been in contact with a professor from UNC? I must admit, I'm a little nervous. He said it's just a conversation, not an interview, but I'm not really sure what to expect.

Congrats! UNC Chapel Hill is known for being a tight-knit supportive program and I've met a few faculty members who were extremely nice - i.e. I wouldn't worry too much and it's a really good sign that they're considering you for a position - maybe just read through your application and remind yourself why you applied there. Good luck!