OHSP
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Posts posted by OHSP
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On 2/7/2024 at 4:35 AM, Aishaaa said:
Yes, I applied to the Ph.D. program, and then in April, they accepted me as an MA student without funding.
Oh that makes more sense -- I'm sorry that happened, it's frustrating, and the MA is outrageous in terms of cost.
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3 hours ago, Aishaaa said:
I'm not sure about the current situation at Johns Hopkins, but I can share my experience with NYU. Last year, I applied to that and they announced acceptances and rejections in early February. After a radio silence, I received an acceptance in APRIL, but unfortunately, it did not come with funding. So, it really depends
That is very strange... are you talking about the PhD programme? NYU history has never accepted students without funding except for the MA. I am a graduate and had some insight into the admissions process last year. Just for anywhere who is on here and considering attending NYU, it is important to know that the NYU graduate school of arts and sciences offers the exact same package (a MacCracken Fellowship) to all students: https://as.nyu.edu/departments/hebrewjudaic/graduate/resources-for-current-students/phd-financial-aid.html.
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On 2/12/2023 at 5:47 AM, popolo said:
Hi all!
In terms of prestige, is there a clear hierarchy between Princeton, Columbia, and Yale Phd Programs, or are they considered to be of equal prestige?
In terms of getting a job in history they're roughly the same and they're all close enough to NYC that you can tap into that scholarly community. Sub-field matters a lot.
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On 2/10/2023 at 8:14 AM, SpiralJetty said:
wondering if I am prematurely mourning Rutgers and NYU? any thoughts?
Yes to NYU. They make their decisions later than most schools.
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On 12/20/2022 at 6:46 AM, Rekhmire said:
What do you guys think my chances are? I know the GRE isn't as important for my subject area, but my verbal is bad, and I bombed my MPhil.
Applying for PhDs in Near Eastern Studies: Harvard, UCLA, Johns Hopkins, Chicago.
GPA: 3.9 in MA (Big 10 school), 3.5-ish in MPhil (in the UK, but during a COVID year with some extenuating circumstances), 4.0 in UG (not a very well known school).
GRE: 6.0 writing, 74th percentile for verbal, 30th for quant (lol).
Experience: 2 years of teaching, 2 years as a research assistant for a show on Near Eastern history, scholarships and prizes every year since UG, upper elementary or above in 6 languages.
The most important things are your writing sample and SoP -- grades, prizes, and "big 10 school" don't tell us what you think they might. GRE is next to meaningless.
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1 hour ago, CheckYesJules said:
So, I just found three typos in my writing sample...how screwed am I? They were a typo, a missed citation, and a comment of "unpack" I forgot to take out. It's a pretty long sample; any chance they won't notice?
This is not a big deal at all. Unless someone's a serious stickler, the typo and missed citation are extremely likely to go entirely unnoticed, and the "unpack" might get a lol, but that's it. I'm now in a position where I read applications and trust me no one has time to trip over little things like this.
- Grahamd, CheckYesJules and ladydobz
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19 hours ago, toad11 said:Hello! I have a rather weird question. I am currently in an English literature phd programme but it is ranked in the 80s. The programme's ranking has fallen over the years since it used to be in the 30s just about 5 years ago. I was wondering if reapplying to a better programme is even an option and if people ever do that. When I came in I was concerned about the department's speciality in a sub-field but all the talk about rankings has had me freaked out and I have been wondering if I should continue in the current programme at all. It is a very small programme but the rankings are a bit unnerving. I am in my second year and can only make a major shift now. Any later than this would be suicidal! Also, is it okay to get recommendations from professors in my current programme? I am sorry if this sounds completely ridiculous but I have been having this nagging thought for a while now and haven't been able to do much due to crippling anxiety. I know this a history forum but thought I could get some suggestions here! Thanks in advance!
Hey, this doesn't sound ridiculous but rankings are not the best reason to shift program, especially if you're getting those ranking from somewhere like US news -- no matter where you are the chances of a job are slim, and it's possible your program still has a good reputation (this is partly about your advisors). Are you being well supported by your current advisors? Have you been able to take the kinds of classes you wanted to take? Are there opportunities for you, including research funding? Do you think your dissertation is going to go where you want it to go if you stay in this program? Do you think you'll be supported through exams? I.e. are there reasons other than rankings to leave (or to stay)?
FYI this is a history thread, but same advice applies. -
5 hours ago, wynntir said:
Going into round 2 of applications (with a deferred masters in my back pocket!) Hopefully I will stick to my guns and not waste all day poking around the forum, but I do have two questions that I'm hoping somebody can help me with.
- I informed a Professor, whom I spoke to last year and really clicked with, that I was reapplying and she remembered me and wished me luck. She then reached out a few days later and suggested I submit a paper to an upcoming conference in my field to better my chances of acceptance into a graduate program and offered to help me work on the submission. She is the director of graduate studies at this Ivy institution. I don't want to read anything into this that's not there. Is this something POIs commonly offer? She is giving me great and specific feedback on my abstract and I am so grateful for her offer to help, but I don't want to be taking advantage of it if she was just being polite. This was/is my top choice school and I don't want to mess up this opportunity.
- I was really happy with my writing sample last time around. I have a backup, but it's not as well developed. If I re-apply certain places, would it look awful to re-submit the same writing sample (with minor improvements)? I guess I can develop my other research further, but it's so difficult to do research now that I don't have institutional access anywhere!
I wouldn't read too much into it -- she might just be a nice person/she might remember some big holes in your app and be trying to help you get into a different program/any program. I wouldn't take it as an "in" or even an opportunity beyond a professional relationship with this professor (which is different from an acceptance into the school's program).
Change your writing sample--it didn't get you into the programs you applied to and it is a really important document. You don't need to start again from scratch or do new research, but you likely need to re-write the sample -- re-think your argument, your analysis, the structure of your chapter/essay etc. -
5 hours ago, TheGradCocaCola said:
I would be happy to hear your views on the matter, but it seems to me that the logical conclusion from this is that the $62,840 tuition made the admissions committee ignore my English writing problems and other weaknesses:
? "We believe you have outstanding promise to excel in this challenging program." ?Yup.
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3 minutes ago, jpbends said:
Thank you! I'd never really talked to my mentor at UW about the possibility of doing a History PhD there, so I wonder if that factored into it. That being said, I got the official email just now with the rejection decision. That's fine, because I have two great programs to pick from (and am waiting on one more).
We are in somewhat similar fields so feel free to DM -- I'm finishing up and just started a permanent job, tt-equivalent but I'm not in the US, but anyway I have some *thoughts* about the programs you're considering, based on the experiences of friends. Suspect you'll get into UH as well. Anyway--feel free!
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45 minutes ago, jpbends said:
Chocking this one up as a rejection from both the MA and PhD programs in History at the University of Washington. Portal and past results suggest that hearing by around February 23rd was reasonable, and it's March already. I attended UW for my Masters, so it's not really surprising that they don't want to spend another 6 years retraining someone, but would have loved the opportunity to continue working with some of the faculty I was already there with.
Another possibility, just looking at your acceptances so far, is that they didn't actually think you would accept the offer and wanted to be able to extend it to someone else--congrats on Michigan and UCSD, amazing programs!
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On 2/12/2022 at 10:35 AM, aurelie426 said:
I'm setting up some Zoom calls with POIs at programs I've been accepted to (!!) Would love some advice about the sorts of questions to ask and things to pay attention to when assessing offers!
Ask how they support students to get grants/research and writing fellowships, and how successful students have been -- this is not something I thought was particularly important when I was considering programs, but grants have made my phd possible (and my life so much easier) even with a stipend over 30k + paid teaching. Money makes a difference, and big fellowships often come with networks and prestige (all important when it comes to the job market).
- charmsprof and psstein
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On 1/12/2022 at 3:33 PM, Prophecies said:
Hello everyone.
I've noticed threads warning about history phds in the USA. The academic job market is dead, public history is struggling, the degree is long and time-consuming. All valid points, but I'm curious about 3 year phds from the UK or even Australia. Does the same advice apply?
I'm considering a Phd in history, following a Masters degree (all from the UK; I'm Australian). My field is Modern European History, with emphasis on Russia (culture, art, religion). Currently I tutor creative writing and run a growing YouTube history channel. I am very passionate about teaching history, outside schools and universities, to those without the opportunity. One of my dreams is to write a popular history books. I believe a Phd and Masters will equip me with the skills to write high-quality history. But much of the advice online steers towards American Phd programs, which seem more intense and longer. Any advice on UK History phds would be appreciated.
Obviously I haven't even touched on funding regarding UK / Aus.
My two cents: Australian universities love to hire people who know Australia well/are from there and have US PhDs, especially from elite US universities.
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19 hours ago, jgw050111 said:
Hey y'all! I applied this cycle to the Ivies and Ivy-adjacent PhD programs and a few of the apps were dual PhD-JD. I've been rejected from UChicago and Princeton (not too disappointed as there was minimal faculty for me to work with at both).
I still haven't heard anything (since my application confirmation) from Northwestern (Dual JD-PhD so I don't expect to hear soon), Columbia, NYU, Yale, and Harvard. Anyone else in the same boat? Should I just expect rejections at this point?
~fyi~ I study American Indigenous social and legal history and I'm in my last term of a M.A. in Atlantic History/Politics, so if any of y'all have recommendations for literally anything let me know!
Definitely don't just expect rejections -- I know from your perspective it feels late in the season, but it's still early, especially given that waitlists exist. NYU sounds like a fit for your work so just be patient even though it's difficult.
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On 1/5/2022 at 4:44 AM, KinOfKafka said:
I am currently looking for good Ph.D programs in gender history, or something similar (WGS, gender studies with history focus etc).
Some specifics I am looking for:
-Full-funding with stipend
-open to applicants with only BA (no masters)
-fairly open location wise, but I'm fairly broke- so cheaper average rent would be a plus.
Thanks in advance for any advice!
You might be better off looking at American studies if you have a US focus, that's where a lot of the gender studies work is happening. Otherwise look at UC programs. Gender studies is really broad and I can give you more helpful advice if you're a bit more specific
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1 hour ago, wynntir said:
Back with another Q - one of my applications asks me to list any and all relevant coursework. Should I list ALL of the history courses I've taken (there's a lot, obviously), or just the ones related to my intended research field?
If they use the words "any and all", list all history courses.
- Sigaba, AfricanusCrowther and TMP
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On 8/2/2021 at 4:45 AM, SaturnDevours said:
MA programs for sure. I don't think a PhD program would be good fit for me.
Do any of the programs you're applying for offer funding? Feel free to message me about NYU -- I know the cost of the MA program is enormous.
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On 7/27/2021 at 7:26 AM, SaturnDevours said:
Hello everyone, I've never posted in this forum before, but I have been lurking here and there. I'm applying to Loyola, Dominican, University of Maryland, St. John's University, and NYU specifically for their dual degree option to complete a Master's in Library Science and a Master's in Public History (or History in UMD's case). My research area is American material culture, photography, and art from the end of WWII to the present and how they can impact popular memory. I have previously worked on a project on photography and the civil rights movement, but I am hoping to branch out into other movements, events, and important figures from this time period. My goal is to marry art history and history in the work I do, and then get public audiences to engage with history through the analysis of objects. That's the idea at least, I'm still trying to figure out definitive parameters for future research. How specific should I be?
My materials are slowly coming together, and I am currently getting my butt kicked by my statement of purpose. Does anyone have any tips?
Are you applying to MA or PhD programs?
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On 2/17/2021 at 11:48 AM, LostAdult said:
I graduated cum laude with a BA in history from a state school (that happens to be nationally ranked in the top 30 of all schools, not some podunk school no one has ever heard of) with a 3.59 GPA four years ago this summer. Originally the plan was to get an M Ed in social studies and be a high school teacher so I took the GRE that year (158V, 160Q, 5.5W), and then promptly realized I can't stand high schoolers or the requirements to basically teach to tests that exist in schools these days. After I graduated I instead got a job with the Federal government. It's paid the bills but it's not a career field I want to be in any longer than absolutely necessary. I've gotten married in the time since then and I had plans to go back to school once life settled down a little more firmly for our family (he's in the military and we have at least one more move ahead of us, it should be our last). Originally I thought about going to law school but after some soul-searching I've realized that just isn't for me, so I've settled on pursuing a PhD in history after we move in early 2022, so I'd be starting the degree in fall 2022. Not entirely concrete on what exactly I want to study, but right now I'm interested in something involving the American South, the interesting relationship that is England and the rest of the UK, the relationship between France and the US, things like that. I know that pits me against damn near everyone applying for a PhD in the US these days and long-term that pits me against those same people again when it comes to jobs, but I'm not committed to academia and am absolutely willing to work in other fields. Academia would be cool and all, teaching is something I enjoy, but my heart isn't set on it and I know I can educate people in other, less traditional positions. And worst case I can get back into my current job with little trouble - they are almost constantly hiring for what I do, I just happen to hate it and find no joy whatsoever in my work. All that said, I do have some concerns with the application process.
My concern with applications is twofold - when I took the GRE four years ago, I did reasonably well and with minimal prep, so I'm wondering if I should re-take the GRE before applying this fall? I'm sure if I actually took the time to focus and prep, I'd see improvement on those scores but those are also (from what I can tell) pretty decent scores so would it even be worth doing? I'm gathering that GRE scores are more applicable to stipend values and while I would love to get more money, I'm also not fretting too much about that aspect since my husband will be making enough money to cover us. But I also don't want to end up in the circular file because my scores don't meet some magical threshold. I'm also coming at this from the land of law school admissions where stats are everything so if a magical threshold doesn't exist then great, fantastic, that's a few hundred dollars I can save for a rainy day. My other concern is letters of recommendation. I'm quite confident I can get one really good letter from my professor who taught my senior research seminar course, but because of the time that has passed I'm concerned that other academic letters of recommendation will be less valuable, and professional letters of recommendation will be virtually useless because my current career field doesn't intersect history and historic research at all. Any suggestions? I feel like if I reach out to former professors and they do remember me, that's a great sign because it's been at least 3.5 years since I was in their class, they've had god knows how many students since then, yet I still stand out. But I'm still concerned about the alternative. What do I do if/when they're unwilling or unable to write a letter of recommendation?
Bottom line is I know the job market is grim (to put it kindly...), this is something I'm still willing to pursue despite the challenges I know I'll face, at this point I'm just trying to figure out the most strategic path forward through the application process. Any and all advice on the matter is welcome though.
My advice -- see if you can find a funded MA program that suits your interests. I don't see a clear project here and (speaking as someone in year 5 of the phd, who has had insight into admissions) you'd be much more competitive if you had a recent, non-undergrad piece of research-centered writing + a clear research area. The "top 30 state school" doesn't mean that much, the GRE is not really worth worrying about either. Admissions are about the quality of your research questions and evidence that you have a bit of a stake in the research you want to do (not talking about an identity-centered stake, just a desire to intervene in or contribute to some trend that's happening in your field atm). Can you give us a clearer sense of what you want to work on/what you'd be proposing to work on in the SoP?
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20 minutes ago, d1389jjch said:
Although it is usually from graduate schools of arts and science instead of history departments.
Information on the websites can be misleading -- try to work out what the dept wants. It's extremely likely that the adcom will be entirely unaware of what GSAS has asked for on their website, and I don't know of schools where a non-dept member reads your application.
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2 hours ago, d1389jjch said:
But I'm not sure if US universities would want to commit resources to someone who decides to leave the US after graduation.
Why? I was always very open about not wanting to go on the US job market as an international student and no one has ever batted an eyelid. But I also did not mention this in my SoP, because I dedicated that piece of writing to current historiographical questions/project + past work + why i would be a good fit for x school. My advice for the SoP is that given you have very few words to play with, it's a waste of space to talk about your current career goals for any more than a sentence or two. Profs want to know about your project, your questions, your ideas etc because that tells them about your potential in their program. If the program is renowned for producing museum curators and you've been working towards being a museum curator for the past five years then that's the sort of thing you would mention, but imo it's not worth mentioning that you do/do not want to be a prof.
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31 minutes ago, scarletwitch said:
In regards to the second part, I definitely get what you’re saying, this was just a piece of advice I received from someone else. I think it’s still important to get in touch as quite a lot of the places I want to apply to encourage contacting faculty before submitting the application, but I won’t rule a place out if I don’t hear from a POI.
Yup, contact them, but be aware that when you write stuff like "the main thing will be seeing who responds to my introductory emails when I send them in June," you're potentially giving the many lurkers on this thread the incorrect impression that a response from a POI (or a lack of response) is an indicator of something. I use to think people on this thread who were further along in their phds, especially towards the end of them, were super harsh. Now I'm towards the end of my PhD and I see the importance of being blunt.
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On 2/12/2021 at 4:55 AM, scarletwitch said:
I don't want to apply to as many as 20 places but more like 12-15. Is it worth applying to some of these smaller places? I read that there's no point doing a History PhD unless you get into one of the top programs so am a bit wary but still open to applying.
Would it be best to submit the MA-level essay or a section of the dissertation for the writing sample? Or simply perhaps adapt based on the required page length for each institution?
In answer to the first question -- what are the "smaller schools" on your list, in your opinion? And what are you thinking of as the "top programs". The top programs on a ranked list are not going to be the same as the top programs for you personally given your interests, personality, field, advisor etc. I attend the "lowest ranked" school that I was accepted to when I applied (5 acceptances, including an ivy league school and two in the "top ten") and four years into the phd I have no regrets about the decision and, importantly, have been able to win the kinds of major grants that can be just as important for getting a job as the school you attend. I definitely attribute the success with grants to having the right advisor. A friend who just completed at a very "low ranked" school (but with an advisor who is basically the leader in my friend's field) has secured a TT position. Others might disagree with me but imo advisor > school.
Re the writing sample -- submit your best writing. Without having read the samples no one can really tell you which one you should use. There are plenty of undergrad essays that outshine "MA level" essays.On 2/12/2021 at 5:51 AM, scarletwitch said:I think the main thing will be seeing who responds to my introductory emails when I send them in June, and that will give me a good idea of which departments are interested in my project!
Noooooo!!! To be blunt, that's a terrible terrible terrible basis on which to rule out schools. Don't think like this! There are so many reasons a potentially excellent advisor might not reply to your June email. They might be having a bad summer, they might be traveling, they might have family stuff going on, they might just miss your email because their inbox is being flooded. If a POI responds, cool; they don't reply, you have no idea why and it likely has nothing to do with you.
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4 hours ago, 2545 said:
Im also trying to delude myself into thinking there’s hope for US History at Yale. I do know that admissions for each subfield is independent so admissions to Europe would have no bearing on admissions to US history. I spoke to a professor for an interview the second week of January. He told me that I should hear back by the second week of feb regarding decisions. As long as I don’t know of anyone in US history that’s been admitted, I think there still might be some hope for us
Yale doesn't usually release acceptances sub-field by sub-field, not many schools do. I feel like I keep chiming in and being a bummer but it's just good to get a sense early on of how brutal these processes are.
2024 Application Thread
in History
Posted · Edited by OHSP
You were admitted into elite programs. I am going to be extremely blunt and tell you right now to get over the ivy thing. It might sound harsh but you need this reality check.
I got into an ivy, I chose NYU instead because I based my decisions on advisors and fit. I have a TT-equivalent job (we don't have the tenure system but full-time, permanent, "assistant prof", 50% research, 40% teaching etc etc) in my own country (I always intended to move home after the PhD). Recent graduates of NYU have had very good success on the job market. During the PhD the program supported me and many of my peers to apply for and receive significant external funding. Why would you do a MA when you have funded options for elite, fully funded PhD programs?
If you need to go to an ivy then tell the other schools ASAP so that waitlisted candidates aren't waiting until April.
Others might beat around the bush and provide replies that are worded more sensitively, but here's a straight answer for you.