Sigaba

I sent you a PM.

When you start taking graduate level classes in a history department, you will have professors who can summarize 800-page books in one sentence. Some will add a sentence like "this book could have been an article." Is staying under a word limit about counting beans? Or is it about being concise in a discipline in which decision-makers increasingly value brevity? "Sometimes less is more," is how an Americanist who has an award named after him put it to me.

@4everstudent writing with a word budget is hard. However, you may have more to work with than you realize. Consider the following. A double spaced page with one inch margin will have about 250 words and take two minutes to read aloud. So a 500 word SOP is basically the script for a four minute "elevator speech" for convincing your audience that you'd make a good addition to a program and to a department in the near term and to the historical profession in the future. The following paragraph has 48 words. Imagine yourself listening to yourself talk about your aspirations for graduate school and beyond. What are the essential pieces of information that must remain? What elements would you like to keep, but don't necessarily need? What words simply don't belong? Are there ways to tell "the story" better? The following revised paragraph has 28 words. Explain how the program will help you become a historian who will advance historiographical debates and serve the profession. Keep only essential sentences and words. Cut everything else. [If you have Netflix, consider watching The West Wing, season 2, episode 9 for inspiration. The episode is ostensibly about NASA. It's also about the power of the well-written word.)

I recommend you find a way to cut your SOP to the word limit. Find ways to reduce the use of prepositional phrases, streamline verbs by cutting participles and the use of the passive voice, and cut sentences to the bone. You will never know if an admissions committee puts you in the "no" pile for "failure to follow simple instructions," or to lower the ranking of your application materials in other ways. Please take a close look at your frame of mind during this process. In a handful of posts, you've indicated a preference for finding shortcuts by not taking the GRE, by not searching for information on how to phrase a self-introductory note to professors, by applying to "safety schools," by picking programs using a controversial definition of "fit," and now by disregarding instructions on word limits. To me, you're sending a mixed message about how hard you're willing to work as a graduate student. IME, professional academic historians are very perceptive when it comes to reading between the lines, and, when among themselves, tend to speak candidly. It's a "buyers' market" when it comes to applying to history graduate programs. Do what you can to put your best foot forward in your use of the written word. Do not give readers a "wait a minute" moment. They may use that moment to move on to the next applicant.

Hi, @OutsideAgitator. ICYMI, this topic was discussed earlier in this thread. Something to keep in mind. If you're going "to wait until the last minute" and ask questions without having first done some research on your own, you're going to send the wrong message.

MOO, you knowing that you're one of x aspiring graduate students for a cohort of y admitted students doesn't really help you. If you're one student in a pool of two applicants for one spot, it doesn't mean that you have a one in two chance of admissions. All things are not equal when admissions committees determine who will best fit into a program. There will be stuff going on behind the curtain beyond your control, maybe even beyond your potential advisor's. I suggest that you ask questions about your process, not theirs. Formulate questions that will enable you to put your best effort into your application materials. If you focus on your effort, you will gain confidence from knowing that you did your absolute best under the circumstances.

IRT sending thank you notes, please consider sending a physical letter or note.

IRT your SOP, I recommend that you keep your discussion of your GPA concise. You had a medical issue which you have addressed. Before you addressed the issue, your GPA was x (overall), since, your GPA is y (overall). I would not disclose the medical issue. One never knows if a department has just gone through a difficult experience with empathy and professionalism but is now thinking "Let's not do that again, at least for a while...!" Similarly, I recommend that you not go into the details of why you changed from discipline to discipline unless you can develop a cohesive narrative that demonstrates intellectual growth towards psychology as a profession. This is not a suggestion to write a "Every since I was a ..." essay. I am suggesting that you tell the story of a serious minded student finding important questions and issues that can best be addressed in a psychology graduate program. I would hit the mute button when it comes to describing your feelings about your past performance and your perceived inadequacies. To paraphrase a DGS who returned a SOP, "write it without the angst." Question: Is there an opportunity to participate in your department's honors program for undergraduates?

Ferguson, a historian, is helping to launch the University of Austin. His reasoning is here https://tinyurl.com/krk7aeaa The school's website is there https://www.uaustin.org/ IMO, Ferguson has things backassward. The core of what's wrong in the Ivory Tower today is that a critical mass of tenured professors don't take the teaching of undergraduates as seriously as they should. Things have gone from academics balancing "publish or perish" with other responsibilities to "I got mine, get yours, but without the mentoring I received when I was in your position. Now, here's a high grade so that you go away and leave me alone." Also, academic historians of traditional fields and methodologies did themselves few favors with how they participated in the historiographical debates of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Advisory. If Ferguson is right, make sure that you don't post anything that may constitute a CLM if your username can easily be traced back to you IRL.

(Is Duke accepting applications for Fall 2022?) In any case, for developing options, I recommend that you start with the "low hanging fruit" so you can work backwards towards the branches of the trees you want to explore as a graduate student. Find "state of the field" articles in academic journals directly related to your areas of study so you can get familiar with the main currents of debate over the last five to ten years. Do some preliminary research on the academics who wrote the articles and who seem to be cited often. You may start to see patterns -- they went to the same programs and/or are influenced by the same scholars. You don't necessarily need to read everything -- try to develop an eye for skimming while making note of which works you will want to circle back and study. When assessing degrees of overlap between your interests and potential committee members, keep in mind that the objective of a doctoral program is to create new knowledge. By the time you start working on your dissertation, there's a good chance that you'll know a bit more about your specific topic than members of your committees. And even before then, it's possible that your interests will shift. (Also, rapport may not develop and you decide to work with someone else.) Admissions committees will be looking for information that indicates an applicant's ability to do work at the graduate level. A challenge you face is finding ways to tell the story of how you got to where you are, and how that work has prepared you for an emphasis on film studies and Marxist theory that will get you where you want to go as a professional academic. Please do not be deterred by statistics. Yes, you want to have well managed expectations when it comes to selecting potential programs. At the same time, next year an applicant will be pleasantly surprised to receive an offer of admission from Happyland University. Why can't that person be you? ICYMI, https://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/43-literature-and-rhetoric-and-composition/ https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/93170-tips-for-applying-to-english-phd-programs/ https://www.marxists.org/ https://marxistsociology.org/announcements/journals/

It is in your best interest as an applicant to answer the question truthfully. https://students.ucsd.edu/_files/student-conduct/Standards of Conduct.pdf https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/2710530/PACAOS-100 102.00 GROUNDS FOR DISCIPLINE Chancellors may impose discipline for the commission or attempted commission (including aiding or abetting in the commission or attempted commission) of the following types of violations by students, as well as such other violations as may be specified in campus regulations: 102.01 All forms of academic misconduct including but not limited to cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, or facilitating academic dishonesty. 102.02 Other forms of dishonesty including but not limited to fabricating information, furnishing false information, or reporting a false emergency to the University.

@XIII_Gemina, please make sure that you proof read your application materials thoroughly. In the post you've pasted several times, you have the same typo ("udnergrad"). I would be wary of using the term "Thucydides Trap" <<LINK>>. (Will you be able to get the necessary clearance to work at ONA?)

ICYMI, there's political science forum located at https://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/36-political-science-forum/ There, your queries might generate more traction.

The SoP may be more important than your writing sample. Potential readers may decide that reading the former is less labor intensive -- and more revealing.

Hi, @geschichte_2022 I recommend that you develop a cohesive argument on how your research interests fit into your (provisional) vision of your career as a professional academic history. Do you have in mind existing historiographical debates that you'd like to advance? How do your secondary and tertiary research interests advance our understanding of modern Korean history? How does an understanding of the decolonization of Korea help us to understand similar processes on the other side of the world? Please work on your command of academic American English. I understand that the transition for native speakers of Asian languages to American English can be challenging. I personally think it would be churlish for members of admissions committees to not be sensitive to these challenges. And at the same time, it's likely that you'll be competing against applicants who have polished their writing skills.

Why start a new thread when there's an established conversation already for this application season?

IMO, a few more details are needed. How long ago did he retire? Is he still an active participant in the profession? (Will his work advance existing historiographical debates?) What kind of research are you doing? Are you exercising independent judgment or checking boxes on a list? (Have you found something he might have otherwise overlooked?) How engaged are you? Are you just making a buck or leaning forward and being a thoughtful (junior) partner? What are your other LoR options? (Are you looking to switch things up drastically because things didn't go as well for you as you'd have liked last season?)

IMO, "fit" is a word aspiring graduate students use to show how well they understand that academic history is a profession in which decisions about "fit" are made by faculty members, not students.

Posts are down this season (so far) but don't let that deter you from asking your questions, especially since three faculty members and several current graduate students are actively lurking.

@Grospatapouf While the Small Wars Council has gone quite, if you register and post an introduction there, you may get some suggestions on ways to match your MIL experiences to your academic aspirations. As you navigate the path of your educational career, you may come across active duty / former / retired American SOF types. In my experience some can be very particular in how they interpret statements like "I... served within a special force unit." (A former commanding general of USSOCOM was recently dragged into an exchange on Twitter over who is or isn't a Ranger.) Please spare yourself an avoidable headache by being very clear about your service when you introduce yourself. If you sense confusion or even skepticism, exercise patience and give details so nothing is lost in translation.

@carlrogersfan98 the resources below may provide food for thought. https://www.kecksci.claremont.edu/prehealth/Grammar.pdf https://grad.ucla.edu/asis/agep/advsopstem.pdf

Have you looked at the University of Texas at Austin? There may be opportunities to integrate many of your interests and skills in innovative ways.

Here are links to two older threads that may help.

Please keep in mind that professors may have a different (read: opposite) vision of "fit." So as you seek information to gauge how a program will help you serve your self interest, please consider the benefits of phrasing your questions thoughtfully and tactfully.

I recommend that you pursue option number three while concurrently seeing if your department will allow you to take a class or two at nearby schools; if you can do your outside field in a department/school that will bridge some of the gaps between your department and your primary interests (as in your institution's law school); and if you can have a committee member from a neighboring schools. IRT your parents' health issues, please do what you can to find a sustainable balance among your personal preferences, your personal professional development, and their needs. Do all you can to understand that the balance may shift substantially over time. If you have siblings, please do what you can to harmonize your preferences with theirs, with the understanding that feelings can shift over time. If you have friends/relatives/colleagues who have faced similar challenges, try to hear them out even though some of their guidance may be counterintuitive, unsettling, or even painful.