griffie

I do not have experience with Johns Hopkins, but I applied for several grad school programs last year. English is also my second language. I think all of the schools I applied for required English proficiency but I did not take the TOEFL. I took the GRE and got a decent score on the verbal section. My undergraduate program was in English as well and I was never asked to even take the TOEFL even though they stated something similar on their website. I was accepted at several schools (including my top choice). They will probably not immediately disregard your application with your TOEFL score. But you do have to keep in mind that graduate students in history are expected to be fluent in English and they will not be easier on you because you're not a native speaker. As long as you show your proficiency in English in other parts of the application there is no reason why they would reject you only based upon your TOEFL score. But they will pay closer attention to your English. I think it is more important you show your potential as a graduate student in your writing sample and SOP, but the least you can do is double- and triple-check for spelling and grammatical errors. It would help if you could explain or compromise for your lower TOEFL score in other parts of your application. I don't think it would help you if you take the test again unless there was a reason why you might have scored lower than expected (like illness). But really focus on your SOP and writing sample as they are considered the most important parts of your application anyway. Good luck

I've just turned down Brandeis and will be attending NYU instead (both were MA programs).

I'm pretty sure I'll be at NYU next year for an MA in History of Women and Gender.

I'm waiting for NYU as well. They're taking so long I don't even care any more... I even no longer obsessively check my email every two minutes! I don't want to call them because I remember when at work we were behind with things, a lot to do and all we did all day was answering emails and phone calls from people asking when they would hear something so I guess that's why NYU doesn't even bother to reply. I keep telling myself I don't actually want to attend NYU. But I do. I just hate waiting.

@ willemvanoranje: I am into American history. No way I'm going to do a masters in NL. I got into Brandeis! And still waiting for NYU... but we're stealing goldilocks' topic so if you want to know/talk more just shoot me a message

slighty off-topic... but willemvanoranje, which UC did you attend? I'm in my last semester of RA I should probably apply for a PhD for fall 2011, since I'm going to get a 1-year MA. But seriously, I'm so exhausted I cannot handle another cycle yet... I started preparing over the summer, doing research and working on writing samples. Internships or summer school might be helpful, but I just work and travel during the summer so I used that as a strong point. "I love to travel and learn about other cultures" and gave some examples about how traveling has shaped my interest in and knowledge of history. Good luck anyway, you can never start too early!

I got in the MA program. But I live in Europe so I won't go to the open house thing... I'm excited, my first acceptance at a university in the US. I had actually already given up... My interests are cultural history, gender history and 20th century American history, especially the 1950s and 1960s.