JKL

A way to find your interest is to ask yourself this question: What about it? I loved history. It's my field now. But I once struggled to find a specific interest in it. Then I asked myself what I loved about history. The answer? American history. Well that was good but not good enough. What about American history? The early republic, that is, Washington's presidency to Madison's. What about the early republic? The political culture. What about the political culture? Constitutionalism. What about constitutionalism? Constitutional dialogue. What about constitutional dialogue? Memory. What about memory? The memory of the Articles of Confederation. And what about it? Conflicting narratives of why the Articles failed. DING DING DING! AND WE HAVE A DISSERTATION! Do you see what I did? I used the Socratic method on myself. Stop at a place broad enough for extensive research but narrow enough to ask a specific question within a specific context. (This is the most difficult part.) Ask yourself what interests you about the influences of classical rhetoric on modern practices. Your love is what keeps you up at night. You'll know it when you find it. Best of luck.

Would a graduate program in literature or rhetoric and composition be better for studying prose and its styles? I would think the latter, but I'm from the other side of the playground (History) and want the literary folks' input.

Any word from Washington University in St. Louis or the CUNY Graduate Center?

Stop worrying, guys. Just assume the committees laughed at your application then threw it in the trash. Assume that afterwards they went out for coffee to discuss how pathetic you truly are for thinking you stood a chance. After coffee, they returned to the office. They dug your application out of the trash for another laugh; your statement of "purpose" had them rolling. They took selfies of themselves with your application, posted the photos on Twitter, and watched as even the school chancellor retweeted them. Your POI crumbled up the application once again and shot it like a basketball into the trashcan but missed and didn't even pick it up. Making their rounds the next morning, the janitors picked it up and read it. They laughed harder than the admissions committee. "What a waste of time, money, and energy this person would be for the History Department," said one of the janitors. The other janitor agreed, noting that the time, money, and energy would be better spent on purchasing new toilet paper. Your POI returned home later that night. Family members asked about the applications and whether or not any of them stood out. "Nope. Not a single one," said your POI from the comfort of a home that tenure affords and that you'll never experience. "Not a single one."

The GRE requirement is an odd thing. I guess it's not enough that you've finished or nearly finished your BA and perhaps have an Honors thesis and/or publication under your belt. No, you have to solve this problem: If Johnny is riding his bike without a helmet at 9 miles per hour with wind resistance at 10 knots, how many joules of energy does the Sun produce when Susan eats an apple while standing on one foot?

Visit as many of your field's graduate program websites as possible. If they have a "current students" page, click on the names of each student to see if they have uploaded their CV. You'll eventually find one you like. Make sure it's clean and professional. Stylistically, less is more. Don't worry about your lack of publications or presentations; undergraduates aren't expected to have these things anyway. Everyone's CV looks empty at that stage. Don't sweat it.

You're right. That makes sense. If graduate school is in part training camp for considering other perspectives, applicants can get a head start by considering that of the faculty on the admissions committee. Thanks for your input.

Thank you guys for the responses. It baffles me that programs simultaneously want applicants with research experience yet are willing to write-off an applicant without looking at what research experience they bring with them. This makes the admissions process contradictory at worst and incoherent at best. "We're looking for experience, but we don't actually look at the experience." What a farce. But I suppose they can do whatever they please.

Would a low GRE (perhaps worse than low - maybe one point above a squirrel) of 135-140 on the quantitative portion and 150-155 on the verbal outweigh an application with great LOR, great SOP, an article publication, encyclopedia entry in progress, and an Honors thesis in progress? I'm an undergraduate, but I'm trying to imagine scenarios that would keep me out of a top-ranked PhD program. Would a GRE score in that range do it?

If the possibility of landing a university gig deflates, there's always the community college or private school option. And I'm pretty sure that many private schools pay more or as much as an Assistant Prof position.

Me earlier this year: "The application process won't be that bad. It's only four programs. I won't allow myself to become too stressed out about it. I'm an organized person anyway." Me now: "MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTT SSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP."

Is it necessary to ask for LOR from professors you've taken? That makes the most sense, yes. But what if there's a professor you've never taken, but he/she oversaw your thesis project/research?

What's your take on the popular history vs. academic history prose debate?

Where in an application composed of a writing sample, LOR, SOP, GRE, and transcript would you mention an undergrad publication?

Related question: Can the topic and time period of the writing sample be different from that which you wish to pursue in grad school?

Check out Arkansas. http://cavern.uark.edu/rd_arsc/mest/4749.php

Given the over-saturation of PhD candidates in American history, 20th century in particular but also early America, is there any original research left to be conducted in the field? I asked myself this question and initially shrugged it off. But the longer I scanned at my school's library the rows of shelves of publications in American history, the thought ominously returned: What's left to be written? What's left to be contributed? If there's no original work being done, then graduate schools are nothing more than factories of regurgitation. The works of the same historians are cited until dissertations become Fredrick Jackson Turner, Charles Beard, and Bernard Bailyn reprints. Has the well of American historical research run dry? Am I alone in this concern? Tell me what you think.

Hello everyone, If you have in mind the subject you'd like to teach, would your MA and PhD have to be in the same subject in order to teach it? Eventually, I'd like to pursue a PhD in History, but, before that, would like to receive an MA in Political Science. Other questions cut short, can History be taught (PhD obtained), even though previous degrees aren't in History? Thanks.

Traditionally, you're just asked to become a proficient reader, for writing in the language isn't necessary during research. If you wanted to learn to write it, that would be something you'd have to do on your own time.

Theodore Roosevelt, by a long shot. He held bare-knuckle boxing matches in the White House lawn, stepped down as Assistant Secretary of the Navy to fight as a soldier at San Juan Hill, won Nobel Peace Prize (ended a war that America wasn't even in) AND Medal of Honor, continued to give speech after being shot in the chest, and earned the pimp-slapping name of the "Trust Buster." 1.) Teddy 2.) Everyone else

Just out of curiosity, what is your particular area of study, and why (specifically) did you choose it?

Thanks for the quick response. It seems as if learning another language while in a PhD program could very well slow a student down, so getting started on the language while completing an MA seems to be the way to go. Do candidates choose which language they want to study, or do professors choose it, depending on the area of focus the candidate has chosen?

Hello, everyone. I've begun looking into various MA programs and have noticed that most schools require candidates to document reading proficiency in at least one foreign language, preferably French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Greek, or Latin. Do schools expect candidates to already know one of these languages, or do they generally let students take classes in the chosen language upon acceptance into the program? Surprisingly, there isn't much information online regarding the foreign language aspect of graduate school, but maybe the fine folks at thegradcafe.com can help me out.