Sparky

It seems to be almost entirely field-dependent. In religion/theology, for example, you pretty much have to have a master's degree of some sort (MA, MTS, MDiv) in order to be admitted to a Ph.D program. Even the ones where you get another master's along the way, and even if the program's website says that only a BA is required. In my first round of applications--for MA programs--when I called these places, the people basically said, "Well, I can think of two people in the past TEN YEARS who have come in without a master's degree...and they were way behind and ended up taking at least two extra years to finish...so..." It's not unusual for people to accumulate multiple master's degrees before starting a Ph.D, in fact. Schools recognize this, in that it is somewhat easier to get funding for an M[] in religion or theology than other subjects. On the other hand, I had a lot of trouble finding funded history M.A.s to apply to. Although a lot of the top history programs require a master's...

(I am not a classics person; can I play anyway?) I am going to make this my mantra in the coming months. Also, caputmundi, your screenname rocks.

Okay. Applying: 5 Accepted: 1 (the Ph.D program at my M.A. school...I better get in, or it will be a very awkward April) Waitlisted: 2 The committee will have a nice laugh over my application: 2 I will be disappointed, but not surprised, if I am at school #1 again next year. It is a great program, but not an ideal fit for me.

Um...what? The OP specifically said "modern euro. intellectual history." Last time I checked, the Caribbean wasn't in Europe. I agree. There are actually a lot of profs who list "cultural and intellectual history" as a single area on their bios, especially medievalists. I tend to see intellectual history as sort of a subfield of cultural.

Well, definitely include Works Cited. That's fundamental to a research paper. But as to whether it counts towards the 15 pages, I think there are two basic situations: 1. You have to upload the writing sample to the application website, and the site will not let you upload a document longer than 15 pages. 2. There is no page limit on the upload, OR, you snail-mail the paper/e-mail a PDF and thus also avoid a "technical" page limit. In this case, my current department (religion) allows 15 pages' worth of paper analysis, plus an attached 'Works Cited.' That seems to be common grading practice in classes, too--Works Cited is not counted towards the length of the paper. Keep in mind that (in most cases) the idea is not to send a 15-page paper; it is to send a paper no longer than 15 pages. I bet admissions people enjoy the occasional (well-written) 8/10 pager.

Right...I guess I should rephrase my question. Assuming the OP frames his/her interest in studying history as "I am fascinated by late nineteenth-century Europe," is there a stigma attached to, within that time/space, focusing on intellectual history as opposed to, say, political or economic history?

Okay, what do you all think of this: "I transferred from Q to R as a freshman undergraduate, primarily for medical reasons; these have since been resolved." Is that cryptic in a bad way, or does it just come across as "my medical history is private, thank you very much"? Should I stick with "personal reasons (i.e. not academic or disciplinary problems)"? Oh, it is absolutely not bad at all--unless I have to explain in detail. For you, on the other hand...I think that it could be *helpful*, at least where you are applying to religion programs at Catholic schools. Especially Jesuit schools--they looove it when applicants find backdoor ways to mention some sort of attachment to Jesuit ideals in their SOPs. (Note: you do not have to be Catholic to take advantage of this, either. Stuff the word "service" in there somewhere, and even if you sign your statement Moishe "The Token Jew" Rosenstein it is like 40 points on the GRE). Amazingly, no...despite their fantastic div school and great history dept, Chicago manages to have GAPING holes in exactly two fields: my specialization and my secondary interest. I actually have this question on 2 of my apps, but with one of them I am not worried because I am an M.A. student in the department right now--they already know the person, not the illness.

Call or e-mail the department and ask. This is a fairly common issue, I think, especially for people who are crossing subject lines between degrees. All of my best work is from religious studies classes, so when applying to history programs I have had to make sure that a paper from another subject was acceptable. Some places specify on their website whether they allow a paper from a cognate field; others I have e-mailed the director of graduate studies and asked. Note, however, that you probably want to be staying at least *relatively* close to your field. I am submitting a paper on medieval theology to programs in medieval history; it would probably not do me many favors to provide a queer theory-based analysis of Battlestar Galactica. Do you have something vaguely poli sci- or historical-ish that you are thinking of submitting? I have the impression that they want to see (a) analytical writing ability ( use of primary source material/hard data to analyze the problem, i.e. not just comparing other people's interpretations. But again, we are in rather different fields, so paper procedure could be different as well. Contact the school and ask.

I think maybe the second and third items you listed can be sort of combined into the fit paragraph. So it's not just why the department is right for you, but why you are right for the department. "I am enthusiastic about working with Dr. Who, whose research into the hypnotic attraction of lava lamps has been a major inspiration to me as I research my MDiv thesis on glowy pretty things as representations of the Divine." And so forth. Plus, for those of us whose for whom "credentials" can be almost entirely conveyed in the phrase "Please see transcript," it is a nice excuse NOT to have a two-sentence paragraph about, say, Lambda Alpha. But as general advice, I wouldn't be so rigid as to lock myself into following the order the website lays out. At *least* two of my five applications have a different way of phrasing the SOP "requirements" on the department site as on the application itself.* Basically...do what makes the most sense. Which, in general, tends to be "this is what I want to study; this is why I want to do it here." *And then there's lovely Iowa: "A one- to two-page statement of purpose."

I transferred after my first semester of freshman year. For a pile of reasons that are not academic in the slightest--my GPA from that semester is something 3.8ish. Now, this has never been a problem. One of my apps, however, wants an explanation for any transfer. Can I just say "personal reasons"? It was mostly medical, and there is still a signficiant stigma attached to both of the conditions that contributed to the problem.

I am applying to Ph.D programs; my B.A. and future M.A. are from the same school. However, on one online application, it will not let me enter the same school twice, even though one is marked "graduate" and one "undergraduate." But if I just put in one or the other, I get this nasty "you are not qualified" screen. There is an option "if school code is not found, enter name of school manually." I tried that. I got an error message: "Missing school code." /sigh Sauce on the sundae: this is the application for my current school.

The SOP is what matters. Sell yourself to the specific department. Is the application for a history program? Then you probably want to suggest a historical topic for possible dissertation work. Is the application for a program in a philosophy department (even if the subfield is "history of philosophy")? Then stress the philosophical angle. Like, for philosophy, something about the ways in which the crappy abridged English translation of Le Deuxieme Sexe fundamentally changes the philosophical insights of the original. For history, how second wave feminist theory and feminist praxis differed based on the theorists reading the original LDS and the (American) activist leaders reading a crappy abridged English translation. (Except pick a topic with, you know, actual merit). I have one SOP for the programs in "history of religion" that are located in religion departments, and another, fairly different one for "religious history" in history departments. My general research interest is the same, but I'm proposing different questions about it. If the school has strong faculty support for intellectual history, I don't see why there would be much of a stigma. At the top schools, the magic word seems to be "fit"--do your interests fit in well with one or more of the faculty members there. Your scores and record are excellent--you know that already, but I'll grant you the ego-stroking anyway b/c goodness knows I understand the need --so it's just a matter of "all of these people will make outstanding scholars; who will make the best scholar here." My turn for a question: where did you find the acceptance rates for the intellectual history subfield? Or is this just one of those "things people know"?

I am writing my SOP for a top 10 program (my only one of those) right now and am having impostor syndrome to a ludicrous extent. Gaaah why does this particular professor have to teach at that school...

Thank you, everyone. This did help. I really appreciate it. I am finished with one SOP now, probably the second-hardest, so that's also helping. Hah! This is my situation EXACTLY. (Not "hah" as in "haha someone else is suffering like me," but "hah" as in oh the bitter irony...) And see? I even get virtual brownies out of this thread, because, well, South Pacific. Can the brownies have frosting and little colored sprinkles on top? Well, I am female (the religion thing trips people up, I know--religion is almost 70% male and my concentration is worse), but no, illo desideres Solarum tuberosum frixum* is probably not out of the question. Although, there's always youth ministry. *Probably incorrect. And let's not talk about why I know the scientific name for 'potato.'

I asked about this...people were basically in agreement that it is best NOT to state where else you are applying. This was my general gut instinct as well. The horrible, horrible exception to this rule, in my particular case, is that one of the programs to which I'm applying is the Ph.D program of the school where I am currently working on an M.A...and the "admissions committee" is comprised of two of the three professors who are writing recommendations for me. Common sense, I lack thee.

Warning: this is very emo and angsty and all that jazz. Read with the same empathy for people blowing little things out of proportion that you employed when you read poetry your friends posted on their LJs in high school. Thanks. So I have my SOPs just about finished, except for the "fit" paragraphs in each one. And this is the hardest part. I cannot make myself list out the reasons I want to go to each of these schools. It's not that the reasons don't exist, or that I don't know them. But I can't write them out. I won't--can't--allow myself to go to the department website and look up the names of the professors who specialize in my secondary field of interest, I can't go look up the proper name of [school]'s really cool manuscript collection, I can't...I can't allow myself to dream. Because I knew, I knew that as soon as I started to write these paragraphs, I would get my hopes up. I can't do that. Not when the program accepts one person per field, or accepts only 10% of the people who apply and even then not everyone gets funding. I don't want to go into personal details, but suffice to say that when applying to undergrad, I was accepted to my dream school early in the year only to be rejected in the summer through no fault of my own (truly; it's...complicated), and I know how devastated I was. I let myself dream, I let myself fantasize, and I got completely destroyed. I do not have the emotional strength to go through that again. When I applied for M.A.s, I very purposefully did not apply to my dream program, because I knew I couldn't handle a rejection. Last night, when I was finally starting this part, I told myself I could keep it objective, that I could separate myself from this. But I can't. I can feel the hope and the excitement rising, and, well, DO NOT WANT. ...But...if I can't get through these @$!& paragraphs, I have zero chance at these schools. And a Ph.D is something I very much do want. Do any of you have the same or similar feelings? How did you get past them? How do I get rid of the hope?

Heh. First time around I had a seizure during one of the analytical essays (Complex partial seizure = the lights are on but nobody's home). So that one was pretty much a waste--I think that I wrote, like, one paragraph. It might have been in English. Now, a *normal* person would think, "Oh, I just had a seizure, I am not going to be thinking clearly, there is no reason to finish this test and accept my scores, thus making them a part of my permanent record." *My* thought was, "But if I cancel my scores, I will feel guilty for missing a class for nothing." Fortunately, the GRE does not test for common sense.

How about e-mailing the department's Director of Graduate Studies (or some such title)? That way, you can say something like, "...I have been trying to get in contact with Dr. Who but have not been able to. I do have a couple of questions about the department as a whole, though." You can still say, in your SOP, that you want to work with Dr. Who--after all, the question on the application doesn't say, "Have you talked with someone here who is willing to advise your dissertation," does it? ) Ohhh my gosh, I know, I find it emotionally devastating to send cold e-mails to professors (some of whom I happen to believe walk on water)...I feel like, I deserve credit for this dammit! But I think "been in contact with" implies a two-way communication. So yeah, try the graduate studies director--dealing with annoying twits like us at the end of November is part of their job. (My current advisor is our dept's DGS...I hear stories. If a student contacted him a week before the deadline with the statement I suggested in the first paragraph, he would, like, worship your politeness and being-considerate-ness).

Yes. I mind. I mind totally. Get your own thread. ;o) I wouldn't mention someone unless I had heard back from them, but I don't think it's a bad thing. E-mails get overlooked in inboxes all the time--either I don't realize it's there, or else I'm meaning to respond and don't get around to it, or I am convinced that I *did* respond when in reality I didn't. So I am in the camp of "it's not a bad thing," but I wouldn't mention their name. Because what if that prof *did* read the app and was like, "Um...I don't know this person..." Getting caught in a bent truth...not a good thing. Why not try e-mailing that person again? (Barring a Dec. 1 deadline, of course) I think that thread suggested saying something like, "Hi, I e-mailed you earlier, but evidently communication lines got crossed somehow. My name is Smurglefrod Hefferheim, and..." @ Everyone else, thanks for the suggestions!

I am TOTALLY taking a lightsaber to my graduation ceremony. A robe with a hood? Oh, hell yes.

Hm...I went 3/3 on MA program acceptances without contacting faculty, although I did talk to someone at the admissions office at one of the schools. Got funding at two of them. But I don't know what kind of selectivity you are talking about. I'm in religion, which has a very screwy system, so it's hard to compare. I haven't worked all that closely with my advisor. I think it depends to some extent on the subject and to a large extent on the specific program.

I've always sort of wondered, what is that supposed to mean, anyway, studying "divinity"? Is the person studying to become divine? (Heh, maybe THAT would explain some of the attitudes we're encountering...) What aspect of "and society" are you focusing on? Do you have a specific historical/geographical context in mind yet? I do religion-and-society-esque work, except in the Middle Ages, so it falls under history of Christianity.

Many of the departments to which I'm applying recommend stating in the SOP the professors in the department with whom you've been in contact. Even when the directions don't specifically state this, it seems like a good idea. How do you go about doing this? It seems ridiculously presumptous to say something like "I have spoken with Dr. Who, and he has agreed to work with me"--I mean, you CAN'T say something like that. How are you all handling this?

As a general rule, I think the moon has less rain. )

See now, this is why the rest of us are studying Christianity--we all learned Latin and then said, "Screw it, that's enough languages for me." (That is the convenient thing about applying to history programs as well as religion ones...the history depts have been *impressed* that I know Latin and one medieval vernacular. Religion depts are like, "Only one?")