mcb27

I will check those out. The second book sounds especially relevant. Thanks!

For my masters I have to prove reading ability in a foreign language. I took four semesters of German as an undergrad, but it has been three years since I took a German course, and it was certainly never one of my strengths academically. And as an Americanist, I have never dealt with foreign language sources (at least I haven't yet), so even reading a passage in German is difficult at this point in the game. I was wondering if anyone else has fulfilled their foreign language requirement by translating a passage with a dictionary, and what kind of preparation they took in doing that? I understand some people may have already been close to fluent in a language before they were tested, so they may have done little to know studying. At this point I've just been reviewing vocab, and I don't have to complete this exam until sometime next year, so certainly not in any kind of panic mode. But any prep strategies others may have would be great to hear about (especially if your experience was in German). Thanks!

"You complete coursework and then write a thesis, which is essentially a book-length piece of original research. This takes students anywhere from three to six years." I'm of course referring to the thesis portion here.

PhD length varies person to person, let alone program to program. You complete coursework and then write a thesis, which is essentially a book-length piece of original research. This takes students anywhere from three to six years. As for an MA thesis, in my experience, smart students know their topic before the end of their first semester and are at the very least digesting secondary materials during that first semester. Lots of factors shape the nature of your research. Where are the sources? Do they need to be transcribed/translated? etc. You're going to be doing research during school, which means you'll have to balance that research with your classes and with TA responsibilities if you're fortunate enough to have a position. Hopefully you can get a bulk of your thesis work done the summer that bisects your (hypothetical) two-year MA program. But you'll have to make a living during that time, as well. TAships (at least for MA students), rarely pay you during the summer months. So you'll have to factor in all of this in trying to predict how much time is spent on your research. If you'd like a more general answer, graduate school is a full time job, that should occupy you 40-60 hours per week. Probably more certain weeks of the year.

I'd like to point out that there are some past posters on this forum who took very circuitous routes as students, and made decisions along the way that were egregious, and were their's to own up to, and they eventually found themselves in an Ivy League PhD program. So don't think that a nontraditional, bumpy route rules you out of anything, especially considering none of your problems were your fault. As others have stated, let your letter writers address the rogue adviser. That shouldn't be much of an issue, especially if multiple writers address the situation. The episode with your father, feel free to address or not. I'm sure that episode in your life was a learning experience in and of itself, and framing those life experiences as times of maturation is not unheard of in good SOPs. Your academic record is strong on its own, and focusing just on it would totally be understandable. Nontraditional routes aren't always a negative in the eyes of graduate committees, though. Good luck!

Ok, that makes sense. I thought you were referring to your undergrad GPA.

That's pretty insane as well. Was this your overall GPA or GPA in history classes? Regardless, it's a high GPA, and the structure of most undergrad classes rarely translates to graduate school. Nearly every grad program mentions on their website that an emphasis is put on your GPA in classes relevant to your major and your overall GPA in your last two years of undergrad. In terms of grades, these are much more important than your overall GPA. Even then, grades are hardly the most important factor on your application.

Your GPA is very good.

Hello all I'm not 100% set on specifics, but my main interests are in American environmental and urban history around the Gilded Age and Industrialization. I've done quite a bit of research on schools already (one of the smarter things I convinced myself to do), but I still am nervous about all of the work I still need to do before I have a resume I'm really happy with. Here's my current shortlist of schools: IU, Wisconsin, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Delaware, Cincinnati, Oklahoma, Houston, IUPUI (MA only) Wisconsin and Cornell are my top choices for now. I tried to get a good variety of schools (along with good fit, of course). Good luck to everyone!

thanks guys.

I used the search function and didn't see much discussion on urban and environmental history. I'm mainly interested in urban landscapes and how they changed Americans' relationship with nature and the environment in the late 19th/early 20th century. Looking at programs, I can see that Oklahoma and Delaware have some interesting environmental historians. IU, Carnegie Mellon, and Cincinnati also have some interesting profs in their departments. Just wondering if anyone else has any expertise on the intersection of the two themes, especially on a more personal/professional level than an undergrad like myself has. Thanks for any feedback.

Thanks for the advice everyone! I'm certainly not set on anything in terms of research areas. My interests seem to change quite often! Two of my professors are Americanists, the one I've talked to so far is an American foreign policy professor, though. Luckily the university hired a prof this Fall whose specialty is 19th century US, gender, etc and she just finished grad school. I have a seminar with her so she'll be a huge help when I get the chance to talk to her one on one. I certainly have other options in mind, like archive work, library science, public history, etc. I think I have a pretty good appreciation for the academic process and a sense of appreciating graduate school for what it is, not just what it can gain me. That being said, I'd like to be practical about it so I'll definitely keep an open mind.

Hello all, I'm new to the forum, and relatively young by the looks of it. The threads here have been very helpful, though. Anyways, I'm only in the fall semester of my junior year and just wanted some advice on things I can do to prepare best for the applcation process that I'll go through next fall. Just some info, I go to a small but strong liberal arts school. The history faculty is only comprised of five professors. It's a very good faculty, though. No superstars but all have PhDs from strong schools and I have the advantage of knowing my professors really well. I have a 3.4 overall, 3.74 in history classes. Due to scheduling, though, I've only had five history classes. The bulk of my major will be completed over the next four semesters. If I were to choose a focus now, it would have to be something surrounding 20th century American social and political history, especially the issue of nationalism and freedom of speech, dissent during times of conflict, etc. I guess my main concern is GPA. I would like to get into a top program. My overall GPA should improve over these next two years as I get further into history classes. I think I can get a 3.6-3.8 over the next two years. But even thinking about applying to an Ivy is so intimidating to me, coming from a family that has no history in academia, big business, etc. Has anyone else faced this? What is the cutoff in your opinion in terms of ranking? Is it worth going into a PhD program that is below Top 25 level? Also, foreign language is a weak spot for me. I've finished my undergrad requirement, and I know American domestic history will likely only require one language at the grad level. Does anyone have tips on individual studying of languages, or even effective learning of a totally new language at a late age like mine? I love the subject which I mentioned but the history of the US in the Middle East is also fascinating to me, but the idea of knowing multiple languages is intimidating. Anyways, I hope this starts some discussion. Just reading these threads has been great and the community seems first class. Thanks!