WhaleshipEssex

I strongly co-sign CamScanner. Apart from the ability to group images into one pdf file, I find the increase contrast feature extremely helpful when it comes to readability.

@historygeek Coming out of my undergrad, I was in a somewhat similar boat to you. I knew I wanted to study history at the graduate level but struggled to really understand what it was that I wanted to research. I talked about this with one of my professors about this and the advise I got was to take something outside of history that I was passionate about (in my case it was watches), combine that with my interest in history, and see what came out the other end. I had no idea that there was anything to the history of watches and timekeeping, but as I dove into the existing literature I was able to find the answers to the questions that all of us have been asking about why you have the specific interests that you do. I know this approach doesn't work for everyone, and you may find that in following this advice you'll discover that your interests have no relation to your passions outside of history, but as someone who was in the same spot you were at one time, I think it's worth a shot.

I'm not sure I agree on this divide between flexibility and focus. If you're pursuing an MA with the goal of then reapplying to Ph.D programs you need some of both, realistically. For instance, I chose my MA program because I knew what, when, and where my interests were, but was still working out how I wanted to approach things. But I had also taken a year off between finishing my BA and applying to MA programs to answer those questions and it was only to my benefit, since it was quite different from the work I had done as an undergrad. I chose the program that I did because it has scholars who provide more focused direction on what my interests already were, but also would allow me to explore how I wanted to study these things. Focus and flexibility was what I needed in the program, but you also need time to really think about what you want to put your effort towards. I think it's ok to go into your MA with some uncertainty about what you want to do specifically, but you'll have to work that out fairly quickly since realistically you only have about a year of MA work before Ph.D applications are due (assuming you want to go right from one to the next). My advise would be to spend your first semester figuring those questions out while doing as much reading as you can, and then spend the spring and summer producing a real quality piece of research that you can use for applications that shows you're committed to what you say you are.

I'll echo the sentiments about doing a two year MA to nail down your languages. The type of language training required is a bit more specific than what you're typically exposed to in undergraduate language courses (at least in my experience). You'll need to show that you can read and engage with both the academic literature in those languages and the primary sources. Early modern French, like English, had different forms of spelling compared to the modern language and a part of your training should be nailing down those translations. This isn't to discourage, just to put a finer point on what is meant by 'language training'. Also note that when answering your 'why early modern France' question, understand that programs are really asking 'why specifically the early modern period and why specifically France?' Saying that you've always been interested in France, while it may be true, isn't going to cut it. I can sympathize with you if this comes across as daunting, but take it from someone currently going the MA route to their strengthen languages and with plans to work on early modern France, it's only going to make your application more appealing.

Figured I'd pop in to congratulate everyone on their acceptances. I remember the anxiety from last year's cycle and I'll be plunging back into next time around, I don't envy the stressful waiting period you all are going through.

American History R_Escobar (20th century, American Indian), crazedandinfused (antebellum, intellectual), hopin'-n-prayin' (southern, religious), stevemcn (transnational), Simple Twist of Fate (early American), zb642 (20th century, labor/working-class culture), BCEmory08 (19th-20th century Catholicism, labor), irvinchiva10 (20th century, immigration/immigration reform) natsteel (early American political culture and intellectual history) unforth (19th century US political and military history, US Civil War) hbeels (colonial, early national, 19th century, transappalachain west, historical memory of these eras/areas) thedig13 (20th century U.S.; built environment, modern consumer culture, race, and immigration) Weepsie (North American Mapping, Exploration and Trade, Anti-Communism/Socialism in Interwar period, bit of a mixed bag) lafayette (19th c. [with a dash of 20th], urban, intellectual) vtstevie (Revolutionary/Early Republic New England, infrastructure/economic) macmc (Feminist, gender, and LGBT history) HistThrift (early America, indigenous history) junotwest (19/20th century African-American, Cultural/Intellectual, Gender & Sexuality) calhoun&caffeine (19th cen. Southern [political]) tampopo ramen (19th-20th century capitalism/business) BookishVixen (late 18th-early 20th ce maritime communities, cultural, gender & sexuality) hardtack&coffee (19th Century American Social & Military History, American Civil War) spellbanisher (economic and cultural history of the gilded age, progressive era, and the 1920s) ThisGreatFolly (intellectual, religious, political violence, rhetoric) lily9 (Indigenous history, social history, public history) ashiepoo72 (Cold War foreign policy and intelligence agencies, decolonization, transnational history) European History Kelkel (Modern Germany, political), goldielocks (Britain), SapperDaddy (Eastern and Central Europe), kotov (Modern Romania, Holocaust, labor), RevolutionBlues (Modern Western Europe/France labor and leftist politics), theregalrenegade (18th/19th cent British Empire/environment), jrah822 (19th century Britain; emphasis on colonial relationship to India), grlu0701 (Intellectual & cultural history,fin de siecle Germany and Italy), naturalog (modern European [mostly German] intellectual and cultural/sexuality and gender/political radicalism), runaway (Eastern/Central, memorialization & visual culture), Sequi001 (Modern France, gender and sexuality, colonialism/imperialism) Abetheh (19th/early 20th century Germany and France, religious politics vs secularization) NeutralKate (Modern Russia, modern European economic history) Crackerjacktiming (Modern Germany, gender and sexuality) GloFish (USSR, Stalinism, Soviet-American Relations) jamc8383 (19th/20th century France, interwar culture, relationship between body, mind & place) Heimat Historian (19th/20th century Germany, migration, settler colonialism) AshleyJuneBug (Early Modern France and Britain, gender and sexuality) maelia8 (19th/early 20th century Germany, imperialism and colonialism, travel, exploration) BookishVixen (Victorian and Edwardian English imperialism/gender & sexiality) episkey (19th/20th century France, gender and sexuality, Holocaust) AngesRadieux (18th/early 19th century France, cultural history, music) ManifestMidwest (modern France, colonialism & imperialism, Pacific worlds) DGrayson (early modern Western Europe [focusing mostly on England right now], economic and religious history) Ziggysunshine (19th/20th century Belgium, architecture and urban planning, intellectual history) African History Oseirus (precolonial/early colonial West Africa), Singwaya18 (20th century East Africa), Safferz (20th century Horn/Northeast Africa), The People's Scholar (Spanish colonialim in Africa- i.e. middle/West Africa) Jogatoronto (Psychiatry in early colonial West Africa) ronwill06 (Social and political radical movements) Heimat Historian (German settlements in Southern Africa) thekatieladybird (Post-independence conflict and social histories in Central Africa) Latin American History CageFree RIP (20th century, Southern Cone) BH-history, The People's Scholar (18th-19th century Colombia) StrangeLight (20th century Central America) Heimat Historian (German settlements in Southern cone and Mexico) Mujereslibres (German informal colonization of Peru, Brazil, and Chile) AP East Asian History alleykat (Modern China) getitlow (Modern China: Republican, Women, Gender and Sexuality) kyjin (Pre-Modern Japan) aec09g (Modern Japan) pudewen (Late Imperial China) kdavid (Modern China; focus on the Republican period) Minion.banana (late imperial China, Islam, intellectual networks) qkhitai (Medieval China and Central Asia, literature and ethnicity) lordtiandao (Imperial China: political and fiscal) Near/Middle Eastern History uhohlemonster, (modern Israel, Iran, Palestine) oswic (modern Egypt, gender) Conmel (modern pan-Islamic thought/networks) Baloch (Oman) Atlantic World sandyvanb crazedandinfused Global/World History cooperstreet (Cold War) melissarose8585 Heimat Historian (German settlements throughout world) ashiepoo72 (Cold War foreign policy and intelligence agencies, decolonization, transnational history) Jewish History uhohlemonster, (modern Israel) hopin'-n-'prayin, kotov (Holocaust), naturalog (sometimes modern European/Holocaust), runaway (memorialization & visual culture), ticklemepink (20th c. Germany/U.S) awells27 (Late Antiquity: Roman Empire/Palestine/Byzantine) Science/Technology/Environment shaxmaty1848 (Cold War) StrangeLight (environmental history, ecological distribution conflicts) sukipower (20th c. forensic science & anthropology, 19th c. science and medicine) Neist (19th/20th c. biological sciences) seh0517 (scientific illustration, ancient egyptian science & medicine, astronomy, mortuary science) lily9 (Indigenous science and how it fit into architecture and urban planning (especially astronomy) WhaleshipEssex (18/19th c. horology, timekeeping, and temporality) Social annieca (Cold War and Post-Cold War East and Central Europe) BookishVixen (Spheres of influence, Progressive Era reforms affecting immigration) Classical and Medieval Hogs of War (Monastic Studies and Conflicts in Authority) telkanuru (high Medieval intellectual and social history, Cistercian studies) AbbeyRoad (Monastic History, Gender, Cistercians) Kirialax ("Dark Age" Byzantium; the Komnenoi) Cultural StrangeLight (gender, race, ethnicity, and religion) hbeels (race/ethnicity, religious, masculinity/feminimity, print/literature) crazedandinfused (race, nationalism, performance, rhetoric) alleykat (religion, race/ethnicity, cultural relativism) Heimat Historian (German culture in transnational context) nhhistorynut (20th century US, African American, race/racism, Black nationalism) Canadian History truthfinder (New France, religious) lily9 (Indigenous history) South Asia pakhistorian (Pakistan/Bangladesh,cultural, social, political, women, public history, digital history) Southeast Asia kxlx (early modern, colonialism, port cities, Islam)

My wintery vice of choice was mead but I think when PhD app season rolls around next year I might follow your lead.

Plagiarizing isn't a great way to demonstrate to departments that they should accept you into their program. First of all, as @pudewen has stated, it's completely unethical. It also signals that you're not interested in actually doing anything new in your field and not worth the funding.

If this is your response to @Sigaba's mild suggestion that you take a step back and reevaluate, then maybe they're not as off base with their comments as you want to think they are.

Those are all good starts.

I think there are more than a few who wish to have that 'problem'.

I'm alternating between The Discovery of Time by Toulmin and Goodfield and Champion's The Fullness of Time: Temporalities of the Fifteenth-Century Low Countries.

History grad programs place far more weight on your writing sample, statement of purpose, and letters of recommendation. That said, your Verbal and Writing scores need work.

I just saw that Tresch left Penn HSS for The Warburg Institute, gutting as he was on my shortlist for people to reach out to in a year when it comes time to think about PhD programs.

I wouldn't minimize that part about personalizing your SOP. If you're working off a base template and then plugging in a paragraph or so about each department, it will show.