canadiana Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Indiana seems to be savoring the suspense. One phone call on the 8th, then a single snail mail letter on the 19th. This is killing me. I know what you mean. My parents got so tired of me asking them if they checked the mail (twice a day, everyday) that they gave me a copy of the key to the mailbox.
dmh26 Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 seriously, the wait is killing me! I'm still waiting to hear back from UT-Austin, UVA and Ohio State (I was rejected by Yale and University of Wisconsin-Madison). I know checking the status page every hour won't make them update it any sooner, but sheesh. a side question, does anyone think it will count against me that I have a masters in another (sort of related) field?? I have an MA in museum studies and now I'm worried it may work against me. After the two rejections I'm totally second guessing everything! I am so with you on the wait for Ohio. I have heard nothing since I submitted my app on September 30th. It's driving me crazy. Everyone other school has at least sent an email..lol Have you heard anything?
Nofia Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 I am so with you on the wait for Ohio. I have heard nothing since I submitted my app on September 30th. It's driving me crazy. Everyone other school has at least sent an email..lol Have you heard anything? Aside from receiving emails in October from the two professors there who I emailed and would hope to work with, not a thing...certainly nothing since submitting my application though. I came very close to calling the admissions departments today just to ask when decisions would be sent out, but I restrained myself since those are not the sort of calls I should be making from work :wink:
Cornell07 Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Ah! But that is what cell phones are for!
Nofia Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 haha, I'm more worried about a coworker overhearing me I guess since I sit directly in front of one of my project directors, though I'm bad and use my office phone without discretion usually.
AMC Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 This is so odd, that I was wondering if anyone else could help me sort it out. One of the programs I applied for- Cornell ILR -has not notified about admissions decisions, but has posted on their website that they are extending the admissions deadline to March 15. WTF??? Does this mean that NO ONE got accepted?? See below: Important Notice for Prospective Students The Graduate Program admissions committee have agreed to extend the deadline for applications to March 15, 2008 for Fall 2008 admission. If you are still interested in applying, please begin your application as soon as possible. I can't make heads nor tails of this! PS. I phoned and e-mailed the department but have heard no reply. Should I be worried??
Louiselab Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 That sounds weird... maybe they just didn't get enough applications?
AMC Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 So has there only been that one acceptance to UT - Austin then? That seems so very strange! Does anyone know when notices should be going out or the status page will be updated? Hi~ I was admittied to UT Austin. The notified me via e-mail on the 15th and there has still been no change of status in my webpage. So hope springs eternal! I will let you know if I hear any more.
amanda1655 Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 Hey, I know what you mean. I guess it's easier contacting individual professors with whom you were interested in working. The department directors etc don't want to deal with hundreds of such requests. Also see if your undergraduate professors can look over your application and see where you could have done better. I actually know a few students who did contact the department to see why they weren't admitted (I think Minnesotan did this the first time he applied as well). Some received helpful feedback... insufficient language prep, weak writing skills, etc. Others didn't. It's a grab bag. What's important is finding out where you can improve. Maybe you didn't apply to a wide enough range of schools. Maybe you need to spend a year or two studying a language. The key is to improve your application so you have better results next year. It may sound harsh but if you don't find out where your app was weak, you may setting yourself up for disappointment.
canadiana Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 Hmm...well, then I guess I will try to contact the departments as well. Thanks, Amanda!
Louiselab Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 insufficient language prep, weak writing skills, etc. Maybe you need to spend a year or two studying a language. I have to say, I don't know about anyone else but I was really excited to see the language requirement for history. Finally, all those years of abuse from French teachers has paid off and an American institution appreciates learning foreign languages... I can say with certainty the foreign language department is not where i went wrong. Except no one wants Italian, that was a waste of time...
amanda1655 Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 The point is you need to find where you were weak and fix it. Heck, the problem could be you didn't apply to a wide enough variety of schools. I don't know. Each individual candidate will be different. I probably emphasized languages because I know that's where I'm weak. I have 2 years of Spanish, 1 year of German, and 1 semester of French. I could use a bit more French and German, especially since my emphasis is British History. Also, you don't have to e-mail schools having a professor look over your essays isn't a bad idea.
Minnesotan Posted February 21, 2008 Author Posted February 21, 2008 Yeah. After you have a rejection in hand, it is helpful to (politely) inquire as to how you could improve your application, if you were to reapply next year. Sometimes the replies are vague and unhelpful. Other times, the program director will be quite detailed about what went wrong with your application, and offer some useful suggestions. Only do this if you can take criticism and apply it to your future writing, though. It could make a painful process even more painful, if you internalize too much.
missycari Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 Italian might not be that universally great but I think Spanish is worse... what a disappointment (for Europe). I've taken Spanish since eighth grade! I keep thinking back to eighth grade when I had the choice - French, Spanish, or Latin, and then in ninth grade we also had German. And in practical terms Spanish really was a good choice. But, oh, had I only chosen ANY other language! I have had a couple of years in French now in college, so my language prep is decent I think, but I wish I had German or Latin instead of Spanish. But I'm determined to use my Spanish now. Oh yes. Spain will work its way into my dissertation somehow.
amanda1655 Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 Haha! I have the same plan. I keep thinking of ways that I could incorporate the Basque into my dissertation. Perhaps a comparison between the Irish Literary Revival and the Basque separatists at the turn of the century. Maybe Spanish history will see a renaissance. If so, it can thank the thousands of high school teachers who encouraged their students to take Spanish instead of French or German because Spanish was so much more useful.
missycari Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 Amanda, I am thinking this might be a particularly good plan for you and me since we are both interested in Britain. I understand that if possible, one should try to avoid owning up to being a British historian when on the job market because they are, alas, so common. Maybe if we write dissertations comparing the British Isles and Spain we can spin ourselves as also being Continentalists, and get jobs. Yay.
NSGoddessQ Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 Italian might not be that universally great but I think Spanish is worse... what a disappointment (for Europe). I've taken Spanish since eighth grade! Ditto McDitto. Only try having Spanish as your language while you're studying 19th century US History (primarily from the East Coast). :roll: It worked great for my Comp. Lit. major, but not so much for the historical time period I'm working in. This summer's project? French or German. (or Yiddish if I wanted to get really creative... 8) )
amanda1655 Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 Cari - The best part is we can spend a semester in Spain eating tamales and sopapillas and dancing with flamenco dancers. As for you, NSGoddessQ, I am sure we can come up with something. Do not fear!
Minnesotan Posted February 21, 2008 Author Posted February 21, 2008 If I could gently urge you to move the language tangent to the languages thread (in this same forum), I would appreciate it. The history thread has gotten so popular that I'm trying to think of ways to separate some content. Maybe we could start threads for some of the common schools we're waiting on. I hear the names UT-Austin, Indiana, NYU, and Cornell a lot around here. What do you folks think?
dmh26 Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 If I could gently urge you to move the language tangent to the languages thread (in this same forum), I would appreciate it. The history thread has gotten so popular that I'm trying to think of ways to separate some content. Maybe we could start threads for some of the common schools we're waiting on. I hear the names UT-Austin, Indiana, NYU, and Cornell a lot around here. What do you folks think? Can you add Ohio State? lol
rising_star Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 Ditto McDitto. Only try having Spanish as your language while you're studying 19th century US History (primarily from the East Coast). :roll: It worked great for my Comp. Lit. major, but not so much for the historical time period I'm working in. This summer's project? French or German. (or Yiddish if I wanted to get really creative... 8) ) YAY for comp lit majors!! Not a historian but comp lit gave me the freedom to study abroad in Spain. Plus I took Kiswahili... Now I'm just trying to figure out where to do my dissertation fieldwork to utilize these languages. Too bad I've grown increasingly interested in rural South America and South Asia lately.
BC08 Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 I'll definitely invest in Rosetta Stone once I have an idea of where I'm headed and what my travel costs look like. This wait is absolutely killing me. Brown's letter is in the mail and I'm praying fervently that my interview with their leading Civil War-era historian put me over the top with the committee. If not, then its going to be a miserable midterm week!
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