History Admissions 2008

[jaw17]

Husband's also now on the UMich wait list. Out of curiosity, when is the admitted student weekend, and do waitlisted applicants ever/usually attend those?

[amanda1655]

It is on March 16, 17, and 18. I am not sure about whether waitlisted students attending. I do know that Michigan tries to have an incoming class of 20 and that they accepted 33 students.

Right now, my first choice is Michigan so I probably won't be turning down my acceptance.

[abc]

I'm also one of the Michigan waitlistees....and would gladly take a spot if one opened up.

Does anyone know how they use their waitlist -- is it ranked or is there some other mechanism for deciding who gets a spot?

I haven't heard from anywhere else yet, and I assume that having not heard from Princeton at this point means I didn't get in. It's past 5 pm on the east coast, so I have to imagine they've sent out all their acceptance emails.

[Cornell07]

Rejected by UPenn. Login to the application website.

[amanda1655]

Sorry to hear that, Cornell.

Keep in mind how random this whole thing is. People get into Harvard who don't get into lower ranked places. Princeton will take someone that Yale wouldn't. Cornell will reject someone who Columbia loved. It all depends on who is reading your statement.

[missycari]

I'm sorry about that too, Cornell. Amanda's right, though. Keep your chin up.

[abc]

I didn't get into Penn. It sounds like they're sending out the rejections first.

[groundball]

Yep, sending out rejections first probably weeded out by GRE/GPA I am guessing. Anyone have any insight into Cornell's program? I applied there and had some decent contact with professors but it sounds like a lot of people didn't apply there?

[NSGoddessQ]

To all of you who were rejected, like me, from UPenn today take heart:

http://realestate.msn.com/Buying/Articl ... &GT1=10932

Philly made it in at #5 most miserable large city in the country.

Better luck on the rest...I am definitely in the midst of a losing streak right now.

Yeah...Philly, while it has its benefits, is not my favorite large PA city. Although I'm still considering Rutgers, which is quite near (and nearest to home)...

And hey, totallyfreakingout: I'm not sure you need to anymore. :wink: You're in at two great programs, in a gorgeous location where you will need these: 8) Even those lucky people who are getting them all can only go to one school in the end, which is something that is kind of starting to sink in with me...

"You mean that grad school isn't buffet-style? I can't take the architecture/campus of School X, put it in the lovely pastoral town of Uni Y, cut and paste the whole thing right on the Northeast Extension, and then fill it with my favorite faculty from everywhere? You've gotta be kidding me! I thought we were living in the future here!"

[dmh26]

Hey all!

Just curious...anyone going to the admitted students week at Michigan State this Sunday - Wednesday? If so, let me know! It would be nice to put a face to your online name..lol

[Louiselab]

thanks to my penn rejection today I am now rejected by every school i applied to! How lovely. I'm trying to think of something funny to say to make myself feel better and then i recall how much money i spent on application fees and the fact that i'm paid minimum wage and how long it took to save that money after taxes were taken out... and suddenly i want to throw something hard and heavy at a window... this should be tax deductable...

[scirefaciat]

Hey All,

I saw two rejections by website on the results page for UT-Austin, so now Im wondering if maybe Im not looking at the wrong page. Mine only says that my credentials were sent to the graduate committee for review.

Has anyone else checked to see if their status had changed?

[Nofia]

I just checked my status page and it says the same thing yours did. maybe they're rejecting us in batches ;-)

[missycari]

[quote name="Louiselab

[amanda1655]

I agree with missycari.

Reading your post is a bit painful because any one of us could be in your situation. Michigan rejected or waitlisted 92% of their applicants this year. I am sure that UPenn, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Harvard, Wisconsin, and all of the other programs which are popular on this board had similar rejection rates. Anything could have been their deciding factor - the perceived tone of your essay, the conversations that you had with faculty members before you submitted your application, how well known your letters of recommendation writers were, really anything. I know the rejection letters sound hollow - we know you could have excelled in our program, this is no reflection on your excellent scholarship, etc.- but I bet if we were on the adcomms they would begin to sound more honest.

Rejection isn't a judgement on you. It's the result of hard decisions that professors had to make in a short amount of time. Take misscari's suggestion, use this year to think about whether or not you want to reapply and try to determine how you could improve your app. If you need an SOP read or any advice, I am sure any on this board would be willing to help.

[missycari]

Exactly, exactly. And I'll add that several programs I looked at reported that the most important factor was either statements of purpose or recommendations - talk about potential for randomness! In terms of the SOP, I'm not saying it's totally random, but it's a really HARD thing to write and I think it's especially difficult to truly convey how qualified you are in this kind of writing. What I'm saying is, the fact that your SOP might not have been the best does NOT mean you didn't have strong credentials.

As to the second, recommendations, as Amanda points out, vary in the weight they carry depending on how famous your recommender is. Unfair but true. Not to mention I'm sure some professors put more effort into these than others, leaving you, the student, helpless and at their mercy. Even more unfair.

My point is that while grad programs look at your entire record, some of the biggest deciding factors are not necessarily at all reflective of you as a student and as a scholar. Improving where you can might make all the difference. Don't take these rejections personally, and if you decide to apply again, be confident that you have what it takes, and with some luck you'll make it next year!

[crauson]

In terms of the SOP, I'm not saying it's totally random, but it's a really HARD thing to write and I think it's especially difficult to truly convey how qualified you are in this kind of writing. What I'm saying is, the fact that your SOP might not have been the best does NOT mean you didn't have strong credentials

To make things even more complicated, I would argue that there is no such thing as a "best" statement of purpose. For example, my own statement of purpose demonstrates, very strongly I feel (and the five professors I showed this to agreed, albeit it with some minor suggestions which I adopted): my current, high level of scholarship and sophisticated thinking; my capacity to grow intellectually; my knowledge of the field and its trends; why X school would be a fantastic fit; an awareness of what graduate school entails and my readiness for it; and finally it describes the topic I wish to pursue in my dissertation, but emphasizes my flexibility and willingness to revise that topic as a result of my intellectual growth in graduate school. But it doesn't convey my personality *at all*. Now, I suspect a statement of purpose like this will be a real hit or miss kind of thing. Think about it, the damn thing has two names: statement of purpose vs. personal statement. The former implies a desire for an objective statement, the latter a desire for a least some conveyance of personality. My point is, different schools want different things in their SoP/PS so it really comes down to the (I'm going to coin a phrase here) "professional personality" of the professors reading your application. Are they put off by your telling them how you first became interested in history and what your hobbies are, or do they look to that as a way of assessing whether you can make it through grad school or are going to drop out?

[amanda1655]

I took the opposite route. To some degree, I tried to infuse my personality into my writing. I have been out of undergrad for three years and what I have done during that time has shaped the historical questions I find interesting and how I will function as a historian. I am sure that some schools decided not to admit me because of my focus in my SOP. For others, it may have been the factor that pushed me into the admit pile. If I had known which schools preferred a more "personal" statement and which were more research focused, I would have responded accordingly. But, I didn't know. None of us do. In the end, we have to be satisfied with our decisions because we can't change them.

[el217]

Not to change the subject, guys, but I just checked the online status page and I got into Rutgers :mrgreen: Since I'm interested in gender history, it's quite high on my list, so I'm excited. Good luck to everyone else who applied there!

[missycari]

Not to change the subject, guys, but I just checked the online status page and I got into Rutgers :mrgreen: Since I'm interested in gender history, it's quite high on my list, so I'm excited. Good luck to everyone else who applied there!

Excellent news! Congratulations, you must be thrilled!

[yhinferno]

Hi all,

I am new to the forum. I have a quick question. I got an email from U Penn today saying to log into the applyyourself website and view the decision letter (or a link to it). But when I logged all I get is:

Submission Status: Not Submitted

No messages, no nothing. As if I had never applied.... Did this happen to anyone else? Judging from other posts, it seems like U Penn is sending out rejections (so probably got rejected), but still want to know for sure.

Thanks

[AMC]

Hi all,

I am new to the forum. I have a quick question. I got an email from U Penn today saying to log into the applyyourself website and view the decision letter (or a link to it). But when I logged all I get is:

Submission Status: Not Submitted

No messages, no nothing. As if I had never applied.... Did this happen to anyone else? Judging from other posts, it seems like U Penn is sending out rejections (so probably got rejected), but still want to know for sure.

Thanks

That's VERY strange. Is this the first time that it gave you this message or was this a recent change?

When I submitted my applications (not for U Penn, but every program invariably uses Apply Yourself or Embark), I got an e-mail straight away from each program saying that the application was successfully submitted and it gave a reference number. Do you recall receiving such an e-mail?

Also, try checking your credit card for the date that they charged you the admission fee. That way you can tell if this was a one time system error or if -unfortunately -it was not submitted at all.

[yhinferno]

I got the email that says your application is now complete and received:

Congratulations! You have successfully completed your application to graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania.

For us to process your application, you must do the following:

1. If you have chosen to pay the application fee by check or money order, please mail the payment. Your application will not be processed until we receive this fee. NOTE: Individuals who are abroad must make payment by U.S. check, international postal money order or credit card.

2. Send two copies of your official transcripts either directly by your current institution or in sealed envelopes.

3. Check your application periodically to make sure all supporting documents have arrived by December 15th for fellowship and scholarship consideration.

4. Mail the above item(s) to:

University of Pennsylvania

Graduate Division of Arts and Sciences

3401 Walnut Street, Suite 322A

Philadelphia, PA 19104-6228

215-573-8068 (fax)

For any questions or concerns please e-mail Patricia S. Rea at gdasadmis@sas.upenn.edu

Then later on I got this:

Dear Student,

Thank you for your application to the History Department at the University of Pennsylvania. During the next month or so, we will be compiling files for each applicant. If we find that you are missing information that we need, we will notify you. Otherwise, we will not send you anything until it is time for a decision, which will be in early to mid-March.

Please do not rely on the "status" portion of your application, as we won't be uptdating that until all files are received and sorted. Again, if we need something from you we will ask.

Thank you for your interest in the University of Pennsylvania, and good luck in your graduate career!

And today this:

Hello:

A decision has been reached regarding your application and is now available. Please go to: https://app.applyyourself.com/?id=UPENN-G (sign in page) and provide your pin and password.

Once you have accessed your application, You will be directed to a secure site where you can access and print your letter.

If you have any questions, please contact me directly using the address above.

And when I log in there is no link or anything!

[yhinferno]

I just confirmed that I did pay them, this is the statement from my credit card:

GRADUATE DIV OF ARTS & PHILADELPHIA PA Standard Purch 70.00

[canadiana]

I just got my website rejection from Pennsylvania. Kind of relieved and sad at the same time. This is not going to be a good weekend.