Fall 2018 Applicants

[glycoprotein1]

Received an acceptance from Cambridge this morning! Very excited! 

[cocakolakowski]

Although I am still waiting on a few places, and pretty much made up my mind on where I believe I will be going, SMU finally got back to me yesterday and told me I was waitlisted. It seemed a bit late to be notified, but again, not a rejection.

[cocakolakowski]

Hello everyone, 

      I officially accepted an offer from Syracuse University for the fall. This forum has helped me manage all the stress and anxiety that unfortunately can come from application season. Best of luck to everyone and thank you for providing a home via this forum for all my questions and worries. You guys are the best ?

[ltr317]

10 minutes ago, cocakolakowski said:

Hello everyone, 

      I officially accepted an offer from Syracuse University for the fall. This forum has helped me manage all the stress and anxiety that unfortunately can come from application season. Best of luck to everyone and thank you for providing a home via this forum for all my questions and worries. You guys are the best ?

Congrats!  I guess I won't see you at the Stony Brook open house? 

[ltr317]

I'm out at UConn and Rutgers but have moved up the waitlist at the CUNY GC. 

[ltr317]

I was accepted at Fordham yesterday but without funding.  I'm going to ask for tuition waiver and if they say no, then I'll be attending Stony Brook unless I'm admitted off the waitlist at CUNY.  At least this long and grueling application cycle is almost over.  Good luck to everyone who is still waiting for a decision(s). 

[Histo]

Has anyone heard anything from University of South Carolina? Only place I'm still to hear from and it's radio silence at the moment. 

[JaneZ1118]

On 3/6/2018 at 11:55 PM, L13 said:

Sorry to respond so late, but I know exactly how you feel. I'm an international student who didn't get into a PhD program the first time around and ended up at one of the schools that rejected you after reapplying. (I didn't, and still don't, have any publications or conference papers, by the way.) Lots of people go through several application cycles before landing somewhere, so I urge you not to give up. Be realistic about your chances, but don't be too down on yourself. The application game is kind of a crapshoot and it's very possible you'll fare better next year. Give yourself a break for the time being, figure out what you're going to do next year in terms of work/life, and then start brainstorming ways to improve your application. You may have to tweak the focus, pick different schools to apply to, or consider a master's program.

Thank you very much! I really appreciated your suggestion.

[randomaccount19]

Would anyone be so kind and explain to me the following situation I find myself in:

I've applied to the History PhD at Cambridge, sent my application by the funding deadline and haven't heard anything back from them. No personal email, no invitation for an interview, nothing. The only thing that I noticed maybe a week or two ago is that my status has changed to "Awaiting approval by GAO". Nothing else has happened since then.

What should I make of this? I'm going crazy, please advise!

[lkjpoi]

1 hour ago, randomaccount19 said:

Would anyone be so kind and explain to me the following situation I find myself in:

I've applied to the History PhD at Cambridge, sent my application by the funding deadline and haven't heard anything back from them. No personal email, no invitation for an interview, nothing. The only thing that I noticed maybe a week or two ago is that my status has changed to "Awaiting approval by GAO". Nothing else has happened since then.

What should I make of this? I'm going crazy, please advise!

Sending an email to show you are still very interested would probably be appropriate. If you have already been in touch with the professor with whom you wish to work, then email him or her. Something simple which shows enthusiasm, not pushiness, just asking for any news about your application, whether you might be able to answer any questions or provide extra materials, etc.

[dr. t]

4 hours ago, randomaccount19 said:

Would anyone be so kind and explain to me the following situation I find myself in:

I've applied to the History PhD at Cambridge, sent my application by the funding deadline and haven't heard anything back from them. No personal email, no invitation for an interview, nothing. The only thing that I noticed maybe a week or two ago is that my status has changed to "Awaiting approval by GAO". Nothing else has happened since then.

What should I make of this? I'm going crazy, please advise!

UK PhDs are on a significantly later cycle than US ones.

[62442fan]

 Awaiting Approval by GAO is the final stage of the Cambridge admissions cycle. It means that the department has decided to give you an offer. BUT at Cambridge the Graduate Admissions Office (GAO) has to verify certain things before you can officially receive an acceptance, mostly to do with making sure you didn't commit fraud

So congratulations! Barring something truly catastrophic (or you actually did commit fraud lol) you should be receiving an offer within 10 business days (might be longer so don't panic until about two weeks have passed). 

[L13]

17 hours ago, randomaccount19 said:

Would anyone be so kind and explain to me the following situation I find myself in:

I've applied to the History PhD at Cambridge, sent my application by the funding deadline and haven't heard anything back from them. No personal email, no invitation for an interview, nothing. The only thing that I noticed maybe a week or two ago is that my status has changed to "Awaiting approval by GAO". Nothing else has happened since then.

What should I make of this? I'm going crazy, please advise!

That means your acceptance is pending. Congrats!

Edited March 13, 2018 by L13

[randomaccount19]

The conditional offer from Cambridge just came through in the application portal. Thank you all for the encouragement and insights! 

[earlycalifornia]

On 3/8/2018 at 8:23 PM, ltr317 said:

I'm out at UConn and Rutgers but have moved up the waitlist at the CUNY GC. 

You received an email letting you know you moved up? 

[glycoprotein1]

9 hours ago, randomaccount19 said:

The conditional offer from Cambridge just came through in the application portal. Thank you all for the encouragement and insights! 

Congrats!!! I'm fairly certain I'll accept my offer from Cambridge so hit me up if you decide to go! 

[ltr317]

1 hour ago, earlycalifornia said:

You received an email letting you know you moved up? 

No, I spoke to my POI. 

[earlycalifornia]

1 hour ago, ltr317 said:

No, I spoke to my POI. 

I am hopeful for us both. 

[ltr317]

Same here.

[vhbrz]

For those of you who are admitted to PhD at the University of Maryland (especially in the Middle East field): Congratulations! Will you accept the offer? I'm on the alternate list and wonder if I have a chance. I would also appreciate any comments regarding the likelihood of being accepted from the alternate list at UM in general. Thanks! 

[astroid88]

FLAS notifications are out...at Michigan at least. Notified that I am a semi-finalist.

[Qtf311]

What if you accept at one school but then later have a change of heart and decide to accept at another school?  Any repercussions beside the former school hating me?

Edited March 18, 2018 by Qtf311

[TMP]

53 minutes ago, Qtf311 said:

What if you accept at one school but then later have a change of heart and decide to accept at another school?  Any repercussions beside the former school hating me?

 Once you decline offers, you lose the funding packages.  

[psstein]

59 minutes ago, Qtf311 said:

What if you accept at one school but then later have a change of heart and decide to accept at another school?  Any repercussions beside the former school hating me?

Yes, history isn't a big world. Let's say you're up for a job, and Professor X knows about you from his friend, Prof. Y at the university you flaked out on. That's not going to end well for you at all. Even if you've a Harvard PhD and 3 books + 10 articles in top journals, you might not get the job for "character reasons."

Part of getting along in academia goes beyond your work proper and to relationships. I've been in my program less than a year, and I already know people I could never in good conscience vouch for.

Edited March 18, 2018 by psstein

[OHSP]

1 hour ago, psstein said:

Yes, history isn't a big world. Let's say you're up for a job, and Professor X knows about you from his friend, Prof. Y at the university you flaked out on. That's not going to end well for you at all. Even if you've a Harvard PhD and 3 books + 10 articles in top journals, you might not get the job for "character reasons."

Part of getting along in academia goes beyond your work proper and to relationships. I've been in my program less than a year, and I already know people I could never in good conscience vouch for.

It does depend a little though, like if you suddenly get into a much better school because you were on a secret waiting list... people understand. That’s why it’s a good reason to hold off on committing until you’ve heard back from all schools.