Fall 2018 Applicants

[cocakolakowski]

Glad to see we could come to some sort of collegial consensus on the most recent posts ?; I for one am thankful to have the game today to serve as a pleasant distraction from the waiting game. 

[Siswa]

On 2/2/2018 at 10:15 PM, TheHessianHistorian said:

I was just officially wait-listed for the PhD program at Washington University St. Louis. Honestly I'm honored I wasn't flat-out rejected from WUSTL, seeing as they are a very rigorous and high quality program. The email I got from DGS was pretty nice about it:

"I am writing as Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of History to inform you that you have been named an alternate for admission to the doctoral program in history here at Washington University. I realize that this is likely to produce mixed emotions. Please do take it in a positive sense: we were very impressed with your application and think that you are fully qualified for admission. However, due to tight restrictions on the size of our entering class, we are unable to offer you admission at this time. That may well change between now and April, so I encourage you to keep in touch with us in the coming weeks."

I got an identical letter. Am very flattered and in this deadly silence I have hope again. Wish you good luck, mate!

[ltr317]

Was away for a little while and come back to read near fireworks.  Glad this place is collegial again, since we're all in this history boat together.  

[ltr317]

1 hour ago, VladL said:

I was just about to take my nap before SB LII (kickoff half an hour after midnight in my neck of the woods) when I received a very cordial interview invitation from CUNY GC. It seems I'll have to rely on the ensuing adrenaline rush to keep me through the night. Considering that a waiting list has already been formed, am I to assume that my conversation with the Admissions Committee Chair and the POI will be the ultimate deciding factor? Has anyone following this thread ever been interviewed at/by CUNY GC? Working on my applications, I could not have imagined it would get so real... 

Congrats to you and @earlycalifornia.  Not sure what's going on since the GC is doing something different this year than in the past.  It's odd that a waiting list is already setup before making the bulk of their decisions, and if they did, not informing all the applicants.  

[khigh]

34 minutes ago, cocakolakowski said:

Glad to see we could come to some sort of collegial consensus on the most recent posts ?; I for one am thankful to have the game today to serve as a pleasant distraction from the waiting game. 

The game makes me bitter. My team came so close and now all we get up here is traffic. Lol!

[ltr317]

17 hours ago, asmhardin said:

@Johnlegghistory I just got a master's at Montana State - let me know if you have any questions! 

What was your focus?  I assume they're strong on history of the west.  

[asmhardin]

@ltr317 Yes, indeed! American West is definitely a strength in the department, and increasingly environmental history is becoming the big focus.

[ltr317]

5 hours ago, DGrayson said:

I think we can do a few different things if people want to make a board specifically for results. 

1) create an admissions/rejections thread. I’ve seen this done in other boards (I think Lit has one if i’m not mistaken).

2) create a decisions thread a little early

You're right @DGrayson.  The Lit, Writing and Rhetoric folks have a different thread about everything, academic or non-academic.  They are a fun, garrulous lot but are also supportive and serious about their future.  I spend almost as much time there as here, because I like bantering with some of the self-deprecating types over there.  No reason why we can't create new threads to please everyone's tastes and proclivities.  Thumbs up!  

[ltr317]

7 minutes ago, asmhardin said:

@ltr317 Yes, indeed! American West is definitely a strength in the department, and increasingly environmental history is becoming the big focus.

Did you concentrate in both areas?

[asmhardin]

@ltr317 I focused on race & the environment, but my geographic region ended up being the east coast even though I initially planned to study the West.

[fortsibut]

6 hours ago, khigh said:

And then there are those of us that get frustrated with this line of talk. People here UNDERSTAND all sides of it- the anxiety and planning and admissions and rejections and alternate plans. You may come from a family of people who have gone through the process or have friends that have, so they understand. Some of us have no one outside this forum that actually gets it. This thread saved me from many breakdowns the past few days. 

So, I would honestly suggest starting another impersonal thread where you just talk numbers and stats or maybe, just maybe, appreciate that there are real people on the other side of the keyboard. 

Or maybe you take your pages of venting that are derailing the thread to another thread rather than suggesting that people who are using this thread for its intended purpose create a new thread?

Look, this is going to sound kind of rude no matter how I say it (and that's really not what I'm going for) but you're done with this application cycle so if you wanna discuss things unrelated to new acceptance and rejection info, create a new thread.  I'm glad this forum gives you a place to vent and discuss things with people who understand you, but that's just as easily done in another thread.

[ltr317]

56 minutes ago, asmhardin said:

@ltr317 I focused on race & the environment, but my geographic region ended up being the east coast even though I initially planned to study the West.

Neat.  I did some reading on virgin soil epidemics depopulating the Indigenous groups along the east coast, as well as in New Spain and New France in my Early American History class.  So sad.

[AnUglyBoringNerd]

UCSB is sending out some (unofficial) admission(s), in case anyone is interested. One funding package possibility is something like: stipend (approximately 20 k) + tuition/fees and health insurance) for the 1st year, and TA stipend + tuition/fees and health insurance for 2nd to 4th year.

And I if I may humbly offer something else here, this is my second application cycle. After my first cycle ended abruptly in mid February (=I was not even wait-listed) 2017, I expressed myself in the Fall 2017 Applicants thread, and in response, this forum offered comforting words and more importantly, advice on what could be my alternative options/what I could do better. It was based on the (rather personal and very detailed) advice after my first cycle ended that I was able to build a new and stronger application package for this cycle. So far I am offered unofficial admission at UChicago (full funding) and UCSB. Of course, I only experienced two cycles so I am no expert here, but I think for many applicants, the end of your first and unsuccessful cycle is not necessarily the moment when you got your last rejection notification or, fortunately and unfortunately, the end of your Application Cycle. 

Just my two cents and some very general thoughts - the more specific version would  be offered under the lessons learned thread, so please don't take them personal. 

[khigh]

39 minutes ago, fortsibut said:

Or maybe you take your pages of venting that are derailing the thread to another thread rather than suggesting that people who are using this thread for its intended purpose create a new thread?

Look, this is going to sound kind of rude no matter how I say it (and that's really not what I'm going for) but you're done with this application cycle so if you wanna discuss things unrelated to new acceptance and rejection info, create a new thread.  I'm glad this forum gives you a place to vent and discuss things with people who understand you, but that's just as easily done in another thread.

Aaaand, I’m done. You could have taken this to PM like others have to vent their frustrations on me. I thought I could find support here, but I guess not. Very few of you actually know what this is like, so I was wrong in assuming that any of you know what it’s like to get rejected from everywhere. 

Thank you to those that have offered support. Your PMs have helped immensely and the same within this thread. At least I could feel happy for a day before having to deal with all this. We will see what next cycle brings. 

[fortsibut]

6 minutes ago, khigh said:

Aaaand, I’m done. You could have taken this to PM like others have to vent their frustrations on me. I thought I could find support here, but I guess not. Very few of you actually know what this is like, so I was wrong in assuming that any of you know what it’s like to get rejected from everywhere. 

Thank you to those that have offered support. Your PMs have helped immensely and the same within this thread. At least I could feel happy for a day before having to deal with all this. We will see what next cycle brings. 

You seem to take things really, really personally.  I wasn't trying to "vent my frustrations onto you," I was just asking you to create your own thread for whatever it is you're seeking from this one.  Come down off your cross; I don't understand this martyr syndrome you've got going on, here.  I've certainly been rejected from schools before as have many others on this board so your experience is certainly not unique.  I only applied to Cornell this year, and while it's not a huge reach it's certainly a reach and there's a good chance in less than a month I'll be exactly where you are.

For what it's worth, I'm truly sorry that you didn't get into your dream school, and I hope you either get in next year if you choose to reapply, or find a good alternative that provides you with the training you seek in a great environment with excellent POIs.  Nobody is cheering against you in this forum, least of all myself.  Keep your head up and best of luck the next time around; odds are good that I'll be back here doing the same.  (Although I'll definitely be applying to more than just one school the next time.)

I'm going to drop this whole issue since the general consensus seems to be that this thread should be kept for whatever it's turning into now, and I'd like to thank @Manuscriptess for creating a thread dedicated more strictly for what I was looking for in this thread.

[khigh]

7 minutes ago, fortsibut said:

You seem to take things really, really personally.  I wasn't trying to "vent my frustrations onto you," I was just asking you to create your own thread for whatever it is you're seeking from this one.  Come down off your cross; I don't understand this martyr syndrome you've got going on, here.  I've certainly been rejected from schools before as have many others on this board so your experience is certainly not unique.  I only applied to Cornell this year, and while it's not a huge reach it's certainly a reach and there's a good chance in less than a month I'll be exactly where you are.

For what it's worth, I'm truly sorry that you didn't get into your dream school, and I hope you either get in next year if you choose to reapply, or find a good alternative that provides you with the training you seek in a great environment with excellent POIs.  Nobody is cheering against you in this forum, least of all myself.  Keep your head up and best of luck the next time around; odds are good that I'll be back here doing the same.  (Although I'll definitely be applying to more than just one school the next time.)

I'm going to drop this whole issue since the general consensus seems to be that this thread should be kept for whatever it's turning into now, and I'd like to thank @Manuscriptess for creating a thread dedicated more strictly for what I was looking for in this thread.

Thank you for clarifying your position, but others in this thread have taken it to PM to tell me exactly how they feel. I have no cross. I am upset and angry. 

I’m dropping this now too. 

[Manuscriptess]

Oh man, I did not mean dredge all of this up... 

If you guys wanna talk about interviews, admissions, packages, and whatnot, I'll see you in the new thread.

[DGrayson]

1 hour ago, khigh said:

Aaaand, I’m done. You could have taken this to PM like others have to vent their frustrations on me. I thought I could find support here, but I guess not. Very few of you actually know what this is like, so I was wrong in assuming that any of you know what it’s like to get rejected from everywhere. 

Thank you to those that have offered support. Your PMs have helped immensely and the same within this thread. At least I could feel happy for a day before having to deal with all this. We will see what next cycle brings. 

Hey khigh! Not sure if you're going to still be reading this but I figured I'd post about my experience in the hopes it helps.

Two years ago I applied for Ph.Ds for the first time, though it was in a different discipline. I didn't have a high enough GRE Quant score (it's all about numbers there), and after a particularly long and drawn out applications cycle I didn't get into anywhere accept for 1 masters program I applied to as a fluke.  A year into that program and I realized that the other discipline wasn't really for me and decided to go back to history, something I always loved but was advised against because of the job market (as I'm sure we all have). Yet again I was rejected from every single Ph.D program I applied to, getting into yet another masters program. Please understand when I say I know EXACTLY how you feel getting rejected from every place you've applied to. I had that same feeling again when Penn sent out interview requests a few weeks ago and I didn't get one. 

I tell you this, and post it here instead of doing a PM, in the hopes that others who are in a similar position to where I was to know that many others also know what this feels like. That being said, I humbly offer the following pieces of advice:

1) Get off Gradcafe: I'm saying this for your sake. You need to get away from this environment and the constant reminder. At this point it may have become a habit, checking your email every 15 minutes and Gradcafe every half hour, but no matter how good your intentions are, seeing other people getting into programs just twists that knife. You can certainly come back! The advice on this thread really is useful and it's great meeting people who understand what going through a cycle is like, but you need time for you right now. 

2) Treat yourself: Go see a baseball game (do they have baseball games now? Idk), get a nice dinner, watch RuPaul's Drag Race,  do something you've always wanted to do, surround yourself with friends and family. Even the smallest of things can make a big difference.

3) Let some time pass, maybe a week or maybe two, but give yourself time. Then start reaching back out to POIs and see where you went wrong. 

I think that at this point of the application season tensions are running a bit high, and it's easy to forget that we're all going through this together. Hopefully this helps!   

Edited February 5, 2018 by DGrayson

[ltr317]

@DGrayson  that is good advice.

[pim81590]

@AnUglyBoringNerd congrats on hearing from UCSB and Chicago. For UCSB, did you apply to History or to the East Asian Languages & Cultural Studies program? Thanks for updating the forum with your results!

[unanachronism]

So nervous about the start of a new week! More emails, portal checking, keeping my phone ringer on, answering phone calls from telemarketers because maybe it's from a school, wondering when some church lady phone-a-thon from South Carolina calls me to ask if I need prayers if I should say yes... good luck to all and don't drive yourself too crazy. 

[lordtiandao]

I'm hoping Berkeley results come out this week. Good luck everyone!

[DGrayson]

24 minutes ago, lordtiandao said:

I'm hoping Berkeley results come out this week. Good luck everyone!

Here’s hoping! I’m wondering if creating a waitlist is what pushed notifications back. 

[AnUglyBoringNerd]

1 hour ago, pim81590 said:

@AnUglyBoringNerd congrats on hearing from UCSB and Chicago. For UCSB, did you apply to History or to the East Asian Languages & Cultural Studies program? Thanks for updating the forum with your results!

Thanks for the kind words! I applied to the Department of History.  But a professor from EALC is also one of my POIs. My POI at the History department actually asked the reasons why I wanted to do my PhD in History instead of in EALC (bc either way i can get the same three POIs), and I said I'd like to experience a relatively more disciplinary training in History. (this conversation happened before I decided to apply to UCSB) BTW I forgot where I saw this (either on the forum or the result page) that it is possible that the History Department transfers applications to EALC.

Hope this helps.

Edited February 5, 2018 by AnUglyBoringNerd

[Guest345]

Have to say a somewhat-nerve wracking thing is being in a timezone different from the schools you've applied to. I'm currently abroad in Europe and I keep reflexively checking my EST-set clock.

Edited February 5, 2018 by Guest345