Way Out East

Hello All! I will be joining the Fall 2017 applicant pool. I recently graduated from my undergraduate program with a dual degree in History and in Political Science. I'm focusing on twentieth century American political history, specifically looking at the history of radical politics and terrorism in the United States. I had planned to apply last year but in the end decided to wait a year. I'm still narrowing down programs and contacting POIs, but I'm looking to apply to about 7 History programs as well as one M.S. program in Terrorism and Homeland Security Policy and have a deferred acceptance to an MA program at my undergraduate institution for the Fall. Best of luck to everyone!

Despite meticulous planning over a year before application deadlines, time got away from me and I found myself far too close to Ph.d program deadlines to apply this time around. I had letter writers lined up and the GRE taken, but did not have time to write a good SOP and perfect my writing sample to a point where I was happy with it. I also had not contacted the faculty members I was interested in studying with and was worried I would have been throwing money away. After being furious with myself for a few weeks, I am now trying to figure out the best path forward for myself. For some background, I am senior with a double major in History and Political Science with a minor in International Studies. My GPA is a 3.95, I am in the middle of writing a senior honors thesis. I spent last summer interning at a museum and have served as an editor for an undergraduate journal. I have presented a paper at a conference at my institution and am currently trying to get two of my recent papers published. My field is American history, with my research interests being the political and social history of the issue of immigration, of xenophobia, and of the immigrants themselves (ie their impact of politics and policy). The way I see it, I currently have three options. 1) An MA at my current institution (as strong suggested by one of my letter writers), 2) A Masters program elsewhere (I have been looking at applying for an Mst at Oxford or an MA program in the DC area), or 3) taking a gap year and applying to Ph.d programs next Fall. Each of these plans have significant pros and cons, and I was hoping that some of you may have advice on what you would do in my shoes. Thank you and have a wonderful holiday season.

Thanks! Italian and Irish immigrants hold a special place in my heart due to my ancestry, but I'm just as interested in other groups as well. I am also just as interested in the reactions to immigration as I am in the immigrants themselves. New York and other urban areas in the Northeast would be an area I'd likely focus most heavily on.

There is a 99.9% chance I will be joining those applying for Fall 2016. I am rising senior at a sizable research university in the Northeast. I am looking to do Early 20th Century America (1900-1945), primarily focusing on the relationship between immigration and politics. A lot of you seem so much further along in your preparation than I am! I just finished the paper that I plan on using for my writing sample (although it is going to need revisions over the summer). I have done some research on potential POI's and their placement history but not as much as I'd like. Fortunately I'm going to have a light course load in the fall so I can focus on my two language courses (Italian and German),my honors thesis and grad school applications. I won't be taking the GRE until October, which I hope isn't a big mistake on my part. I have two of my LoR writers lined up, and more or less just have to ask the 3rd. I'll be applying to a handful of PhD programs, the MA program at my current institution, and a secondary education program at my current institution. I am all ears to any tips, suggestions, etc. anyone on here might have for me. Good luck everyone!

I would sign up for Nazis in Latin America. A sports course on Latin America would be very cool. A professor at my university taught something along those lines (believe it was mostly on Football in Brazil) a few semesters ago.

Sports And Society. Goal of the course would be to show larger historical trends in modern history through sports. Ideally would be taught seminar style. Three main course themes: 1- Sports and War- shows the effect war has on common people, disruption of everyday life. Also take a look at famous athletes serving in war, something that would seem almost foreign to American society today. WW2 would be a subtopic of heavy focus. 2- Sports and Race- emphasizes the historical role of sport as a vehicle for social change. Examples would be the breaking of baseball's color line, Rugby World Cup in South Africa, etc. 3- Sports and Politics- The interplay of sports and political issues. Topics of focus would be Islamophobia and Football (Soccer) in Europe, The "Miracle on Ice", etc. I'm going to cheat and add two more (sue me). 1) A History Of Violence in the United States and 2) The Roosevelts, which would mostly focus on the two presidents but also delve into Eleanor, family history before them and after them.

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll add it to my list of books to try and find for cheap on Amazon. I love political maneuvering.

American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kaufmann Three Empires on the Nile: The Victorian Jihad 1869-1899 by Dominic Green

Columbia does not have a free standing Masters program. Not sure about Princeton. Best of luck to all of you waiting for a decision!

You may want to take a look at Janis Mimura from Stony Brook. Her focus is mostly on Japan, but does have interest in Germany too. I would tend to think most scholars who focus on the postwar/Cold War period of one would have some degree of interest in that same period in the other. http://history.sunysb.edu/blog/janismimura/

Thank you! The networking tip is definitely one I am going to look into. I have contacted one or two sources in the past, but should try to get back to that.

Thank you very much for the advice. I know some Italian, but I would not dream of calling myself fluent. I can almost read it without issue, speaking is another story. I want to learn Russian, but finding the time and the right medium to do so has been a challenge. I'm hoping a couple of classes that I have just begun will yield a LOR writer. One is a research heavy, 15 student seminar where I should have ample ability to interact with the professor. I've picked up Allan Brinkley's Voices of Protest, and he would be a dream POI, but I highly doubt he would be taking on grad students, especially on a topic he seems to have drifted away from. I have done some research on departments, but that was when I thought I'd be looking more at diplomatic history than political history. Thanks for the publications advice.

I have been lurking on this site for a while and decided to make an account hoping that some users may have advice for an undergraduate who is planning on applying to Phd programs in the future. I am a junior at a large, high ranked (top 100) public university in the Northeast US. I am a dual major in both History and Political Science with a minor in International Studies. I have a 3.95 GPA and a 3.93 History GPA. I feel my GPA should be competitive for top programs, but have seen on here that GPA does not appear to be on the same level as other factors (writing samples, department fit). I am planning on applying to Phd programs next fall, and was wondering what advice you may have for enhancing my application before I start applying. I am worried that if I don't get into an elite program, my future job prospects are not going to be as positive as I would like. The field I would be looking to pursue is US Political History, with the majority of my focus being between the Civil War and the Second World War.Specifically, the history of political parties, the effect of immigration on politics, and radical politics in the US. I am also fascinated by US-Russian relations but I feel that would be more of a minor field than a primary one. I plan on doing a Senior Honor Thesis next academic year on a yet to be determined topic related to the political environment in the US during one of the Roosevelt administrations. I believe I would have 1 exceptionally strong LOR but am a little concerned about the other two I would need. Would it hurt me to use a lecturer whose more of an adviser than an instructor? The University is so big and "industrial" (as one of my professors put it) that I've had a tough time making connections with faculty. I've tried to improve this during the last few months but have found many of the professors I have taken courses with have not been the friendliest people and seem to rather not have students at their office hours. Any suggestions on departments, resume boosters, networking, or anything else you deem important would be welcomed. Thanks! I also apologize if I violated any forum rules by giving such a long spiel.