OHSP

Yeah, I might have overstated the "put your specific project plan aside" line because it's SO concerning to see SoP drafts that do not foreground the questions. Have a project, sure. But make sure the plan you lay out is an enquiry into something -- some SoP drafts are borderline telling us what the author intends to find, and that's a mistake. Tell profs what you want to ASK not what you plan to illustrate. 

Don't start your SoP this way -- decenter yourself. I do not know how many times ppl have to stress that an SoP is about demonstrating that you can ask robust, interesting, historical questions. Do that. Start with the questions. Do NOT begin with a bunch of vague stuff about how you identify, what you might be interested in working on, even what your senior thesis was -- professors are not going to read "I am open to a variety of topics" and think "well that's the kind of exciting work I want to be involved with". Sorry to be blunt but it needs to be said. In order to get into a program you need to write a very clear, very strong SoP. It might help to just write down (in very clear, plain English, without any frills) exactly what it is that you are hoping to ask in grad school (in coursework, research, and maybe, eventually your dissertation). A quasi-prospectus is not going to impress professors -- your project will change (and needs to) and that's the point of coursework and early years spent in conversations with profs. 

**If you DM me I will send you my SoP from 2017. I'm not sure you've seen enough examples and that might help. 

Yeah, I might have overstated the "put your specific project plan aside" line because it's SO concerning to see SoP drafts that do not foreground the questions. Have a project, sure. But make sure the plan you lay out is an enquiry into something -- some SoP drafts are borderline telling us what the author intends to find, and that's a mistake. Tell profs what you want to ASK not what you plan to illustrate. 

Don't start your SoP this way -- decenter yourself. I do not know how many times ppl have to stress that an SoP is about demonstrating that you can ask robust, interesting, historical questions. Do that. Start with the questions. Do NOT begin with a bunch of vague stuff about how you identify, what you might be interested in working on, even what your senior thesis was -- professors are not going to read "I am open to a variety of topics" and think "well that's the kind of exciting work I want to be involved with". Sorry to be blunt but it needs to be said. In order to get into a program you need to write a very clear, very strong SoP. It might help to just write down (in very clear, plain English, without any frills) exactly what it is that you are hoping to ask in grad school (in coursework, research, and maybe, eventually your dissertation). A quasi-prospectus is not going to impress professors -- your project will change (and needs to) and that's the point of coursework and early years spent in conversations with profs. 

**If you DM me I will send you my SoP from 2017. I'm not sure you've seen enough examples and that might help. 

I should clarify! Your regional position matters (when you apply). Departments still group applications into regional categories, for one. I was responding to your concern about the "type" of historian you would be -- "the cultural/religious/economic/etc labels don't matter as much as your ability to show you have a well thought out project". I.e. don't spend too much energy trying to work out if you're a cultural historian. 

Ditto everyone else saying no. But -- I have a law degree and my diss is partly legal (and involves legal ethnography). I can't say for certain but I strongly believe this has given me an advantage in terms of getting grants (reviewers frequently mention it as a +). If at the end of a phd you want to apply for legal history jobs (of which there are approx. zero [kind of joking, kind of not]), then I bet it would help. I wouldn't call it a significant hiring advantage at least in history depts. One thing I like about having a law degree = the knowledge that when I tank on the job market I have another option. 

Ditto everyone else saying no. But -- I have a law degree and my diss is partly legal (and involves legal ethnography). I can't say for certain but I strongly believe this has given me an advantage in terms of getting grants (reviewers frequently mention it as a +). If at the end of a phd you want to apply for legal history jobs (of which there are approx. zero [kind of joking, kind of not]), then I bet it would help. I wouldn't call it a significant hiring advantage at least in history depts. One thing I like about having a law degree = the knowledge that when I tank on the job market I have another option. 

The quality of a research question depends on how well you motivate it historiographically. So, here's a question you'll get a lot in grad school: why should anyone care about how public health discourse represented the Midwest?

It's still a little unclear to me why you would apply with four different projects (which will require four different SOPs). I would highly recommend working on one solid SOP that emphasizes your research questions--this is an opportunity to show profs that you can ask incisive and interesting questions. What are your research questions, out of interest? I don't think it's necessarily that important to "position yourself" -- for sure show that you are engaged with your field and you understand how your project relates to the concerns of the field, but the cultural/religious/economic/etc labels don't matter as much as your ability to show you have a well thought out project. From what you've written above it's not clear to me what you want to do in grad school for the next 5-7 years, so you want to avoid writing like this in your SOP. I'd advise beginning with the two-three pressing questions that are driving your project--and those should a) indicate to profs in your field that you know what's happening in current debates; b) indicate to profs in and beyond your field that you know what a research question looks like; c) be compelling and interesting (and you sort of need to think about how you are going to make your SOP questions more compelling and interesting than the questions that other applicants are going to pose). 

It's still a little unclear to me why you would apply with four different projects (which will require four different SOPs). I would highly recommend working on one solid SOP that emphasizes your research questions--this is an opportunity to show profs that you can ask incisive and interesting questions. What are your research questions, out of interest? I don't think it's necessarily that important to "position yourself" -- for sure show that you are engaged with your field and you understand how your project relates to the concerns of the field, but the cultural/religious/economic/etc labels don't matter as much as your ability to show you have a well thought out project. From what you've written above it's not clear to me what you want to do in grad school for the next 5-7 years, so you want to avoid writing like this in your SOP. I'd advise beginning with the two-three pressing questions that are driving your project--and those should a) indicate to profs in your field that you know what's happening in current debates; b) indicate to profs in and beyond your field that you know what a research question looks like; c) be compelling and interesting (and you sort of need to think about how you are going to make your SOP questions more compelling and interesting than the questions that other applicants are going to pose). 

Hi all, current ABD student at Penn State popping in. We just heard from our department head that we will be taking on new students, but that the university is shrinking our cohort size to about 5 per year. TBH, I came in with a cohort of 7, so our program has always been on the small side. All incoming students are guaranteed 5 years of funding. 
I also imagine preference will be given to people expressing interest in the dual-title PhD program (in WGSS, AfAm Studies, and Asian Studies), because that will help with funding. I'm dual in WGSS and History, happy to answer any questions about that. 
Also, the History department (not university-wide) has been wonderful during covid. All teaching duties were moved online, we were given a relief stipend in April, and we were just informed that all funding contracts will be extended one year. Obviously it sucks that a lot of timelines are being extended because research is delayed, but in the current climate I'm happy to have a stable trajectory for the next couple of years. 

It's still a little unclear to me why you would apply with four different projects (which will require four different SOPs). I would highly recommend working on one solid SOP that emphasizes your research questions--this is an opportunity to show profs that you can ask incisive and interesting questions. What are your research questions, out of interest? I don't think it's necessarily that important to "position yourself" -- for sure show that you are engaged with your field and you understand how your project relates to the concerns of the field, but the cultural/religious/economic/etc labels don't matter as much as your ability to show you have a well thought out project. From what you've written above it's not clear to me what you want to do in grad school for the next 5-7 years, so you want to avoid writing like this in your SOP. I'd advise beginning with the two-three pressing questions that are driving your project--and those should a) indicate to profs in your field that you know what's happening in current debates; b) indicate to profs in and beyond your field that you know what a research question looks like; c) be compelling and interesting (and you sort of need to think about how you are going to make your SOP questions more compelling and interesting than the questions that other applicants are going to pose). 

It's still a little unclear to me why you would apply with four different projects (which will require four different SOPs). I would highly recommend working on one solid SOP that emphasizes your research questions--this is an opportunity to show profs that you can ask incisive and interesting questions. What are your research questions, out of interest? I don't think it's necessarily that important to "position yourself" -- for sure show that you are engaged with your field and you understand how your project relates to the concerns of the field, but the cultural/religious/economic/etc labels don't matter as much as your ability to show you have a well thought out project. From what you've written above it's not clear to me what you want to do in grad school for the next 5-7 years, so you want to avoid writing like this in your SOP. I'd advise beginning with the two-three pressing questions that are driving your project--and those should a) indicate to profs in your field that you know what's happening in current debates; b) indicate to profs in and beyond your field that you know what a research question looks like; c) be compelling and interesting (and you sort of need to think about how you are going to make your SOP questions more compelling and interesting than the questions that other applicants are going to pose). 

I mean this to be a constructive question, but I'm also a little confused so maybe you can clarify -- why are you applying with four different potential projects?

Would highly recommend trying to find one of Fein's students to talk to first -- they are not an active prof in the dept. Also NYU isn't going to take applications (read this as "rumor" if you like). 

Would highly recommend trying to find one of Fein's students to talk to first -- they are not an active prof in the dept. Also NYU isn't going to take applications (read this as "rumor" if you like). 

For a long time, anthropology has been an extremely reflexive discipline, and the ethics of fieldwork are a major topic of scholarship. It would surprise me if this applicant aroused any suspicion for discussing this.

They're *almost certainly* not accepting a Fall 2021 cohort. They've been very open about it within the dept (we're not talking about whispers, they have told us this at DGS mtgs) and I expect other NYU depts will do the same. 

I wouldn't rule yourself out based on your GPA -- people understand that non-US systems grade differently, and grade inflation in wild in the US. I'd email advisors you might like to work with and ask for their thoughts--your experience and publications might speak louder than a gpa number (in general put less emphasis on stats, the phd application process can be much more personal if you make the right connections). 

An ivy MA does not equal a high quality MA!! Don't think you need to go somewhere prestigious and fancy in order to do the work that will help you to get into top phd programs. Look for good potential MA advisors at low cost or funded MA programs. It's a little "alarm bells" to hear this stuff about top 15 programs blah blah blah--if you're in hist of sci, you need a good hist of sci advisor not an ivy stamp (and debt load). 

An ivy MA does not equal a high quality MA!! Don't think you need to go somewhere prestigious and fancy in order to do the work that will help you to get into top phd programs. Look for good potential MA advisors at low cost or funded MA programs. It's a little "alarm bells" to hear this stuff about top 15 programs blah blah blah--if you're in hist of sci, you need a good hist of sci advisor not an ivy stamp (and debt load). 

An ivy MA does not equal a high quality MA!! Don't think you need to go somewhere prestigious and fancy in order to do the work that will help you to get into top phd programs. Look for good potential MA advisors at low cost or funded MA programs. It's a little "alarm bells" to hear this stuff about top 15 programs blah blah blah--if you're in hist of sci, you need a good hist of sci advisor not an ivy stamp (and debt load). 

An ivy MA does not equal a high quality MA!! Don't think you need to go somewhere prestigious and fancy in order to do the work that will help you to get into top phd programs. Look for good potential MA advisors at low cost or funded MA programs. It's a little "alarm bells" to hear this stuff about top 15 programs blah blah blah--if you're in hist of sci, you need a good hist of sci advisor not an ivy stamp (and debt load). 

Seconding @telkanuru. You also can't predict the relationship you'll have with your cohort, no matter its size. I get on well with my cohort but, tbh, rarely see them. Most of the people I consider friends and colleagues (and the people who are doing work that's most closely aligned with my own) are in other cohorts and/or departments. Cohorts also tend to part ways for research, which comes sooner than you realize, and then if you're still hanging about you'll need more of those "vertical" relationships to draw on anyway. 

Seconding @telkanuru. You also can't predict the relationship you'll have with your cohort, no matter its size. I get on well with my cohort but, tbh, rarely see them. Most of the people I consider friends and colleagues (and the people who are doing work that's most closely aligned with my own) are in other cohorts and/or departments. Cohorts also tend to part ways for research, which comes sooner than you realize, and then if you're still hanging about you'll need more of those "vertical" relationships to draw on anyway.