AshDarling

I'm ready to move out of my small town and do something worthwhile, interesting, and intellectually stimulating. I could take the year to learn Latin and freshen up my German, so in that sense it wouldn't be wasted. But I'd likely have to wait 2 years to "get on" with my life, if I applied next season and got in. Thank you for your insight. I'm not 100% opposed to waiting, though I'd rather be starting my masters/doctorate sooner rather than later.

The problem with what I want to study is I have so many interests, but many of them do lie within early modern Europe / England. I definitely need to narrow it down, but I also don't want to waste another year. I could, but its not ideal. Would this be a reason to go masters vs. PhD? I don't even know of any masters program I'd want to pursue, at least not off the cuff. I'd have to do some digging. I took 5 years of German between high school and college, and a year of Spanish. I know a little Latin, but not formally or enough to be comfortable with it. I haven't mentioned my current job(s) in my SOP extensively, just a line about how I didn't envision myself doing what I do now when I started my BA. I looked into Alison Beach - she seems more medieval than early modern. But it never hurts to contact people in departments I want to join. Thank you both for your feedback. I appreciate it!

First time applying to grad schools for history. I'm currently looking at Ohio State & U. Wisconsin-Madison. Primarily looking at PhD programs, but now I'm thinking I should look at an MA one too. I started the process late, so I can only apply to a few schools, anyway. Digging up old writing samples (senior thesis, esp.) to edit and spruce up a bit. Writing my SOP (and it probably sucks, ugh) and meeting with my grad professor/unofficial advisor on Tuesday to figure out what to do. I have an MA in Teaching social studies, but want to get a degree in history. I want to teach at the college level, research and write. Not sure what else I should have as my goals right now. Anyway, just wanted to pop in and say hello!

Hello all! I've been looking into graduate programs (MFA, MA, etc) for a while now and I've finally decided to pursue my life-long love: history. I know I'm starting the process REALLY late. I'm applying to one or two schools, tops. I know its a long shot, and I know that my chances are slim. But I'm applying anyway, even if its only for the practice. The school I'm really drawn to is Ohio State. I LOVE their Constellations Initiative; the thematic study of history through certain focus areas (women's history, military, etc). I love that its interdisciplinary, too. I have two recommenders lined up and need to get my third. I took my GRE in 2010 and may have to take it again, which I'm prepared to do. I'm having trouble writing my SOP, though. I haven't done much academics-wise since I graduated with my masters in teaching in 2012. I substitute taught that year and had my own classroom 2013-2014. I loved teaching, but thought my efforts would be better suited to college teaching. I have done tutoring in history and English/writing, I am a freelance editor for novels, and I'm writing my own novel right now (not sure that's relevant). I have also served on an organizational event committee to benefit a literacy council in my town. And I have been working at a veterinary clinic as a receptionist and inventory manager. I guess my issue is combining everything I've done since 2012 into a coherent SOP. I know why I want to go to OSU - the academic culture, the Constellations, the research opportunities - but I'm having issues trying to piece my experiences together to say WHY I want to go to grad school to begin with. I also don't know what I want to study, specifically. My obsession has been Tudor England (esp. Henry VIII), but I'm also interested in women's and military history. I love studying the power of politics and how people can create shifts of power within court. An idea I had the other day included studying the dynamic of royal mistresses and how their shadow courts of Tudor England (Anne Boleyn while Katherine of Aragon was still queen; Jane Seymour during Anne's decline; etc.) influenced policy / the king's rulings. Anyway! Not exactly sure why I'm posting. Maybe to get ideas on how to organize my SOP, or how to approach what I may want to study (since its fluid right now). Thanks for reading this jumbled mess.