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urbanhistorynerd

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Everything posted by urbanhistorynerd

  1. Congratulations to all who have been accepted to programs! I hope to join you with similar good news this time next year.
  2. What about the money granted? A total of $4,500 is pretty substantial, especially for an undergraduate. Unlike STEM departments, humanities usually don't bring in huge grants, so I was hoping that the grants, and especially the amount of money (my department receives a separate grant because I was awarded the university grant) would showcase my ability to bring in renegotiation to a department. Stellar LOR's and a good writing sample will/has come out of this. Alternatively, how can I showcase these grants in a SOP?
  3. She is incredible! The Progressive Era IMO is one of the most fascinating periods of American history.
  4. I haven't! I do have a book that is a collection of articles from Mother Earth.
  5. It's built of completely primary sources. I really felt like a historian when I scoured the archives, sifted through boxes, files, and photographs. It is a substantial piece of work that I'm using to write my honors thesis. I'm hoping it'll show to the committee that I'm capable of performing independent historical research.
  6. I found that reading (or even skimming) through the writings of a professor that you're interested in working with helps out. That way by introducing yourself you'll not only be familiar with their work, but also show that you are legitimately interested and serious.
  7. Currently at the coffee shop with Bread and Roses: Mills, Migrants, and the Struggle for the American Dream, and Rethinking the American Labor Movement. Currently taking American Labor History, so I'm getting my fair share of the labor movement from 1870-1920.
  8. Hey guys, My CV is filled with numerous presentations & awards for my undergraduate research. Most notably a $3,000 grant from my university, and a $1,500 one from the history department. How helpful are these when it comes to applying to graduate school? Do committees look into these deeply or do they brush them aside? Same question about presenting at undergrad conferences, colloquiums, and the such. How important is undergraduate research in applying to Ph.D. programs?
  9. Good luck everyone! May you all find a good program with funding! Although I'm applying next fall, I just wanted to add my tidbit in here. I'm studying nineteenth and twentieth century United States history, specifically the intersection of politics, urban planning, violence, race, and capitalism, in urban settings. On my list so far (I have revised it many times...) is NYU, CUNY, Uchicago MAPSS and PhD., University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, and University of Wisconsin at Madison. I plan to apply to a minimum of 8, but hopefully 10+ programs. I'm taking advantage of a program I'm in that pays for application fees. University of Chicago is my top choice. It's faculty directly corresponds with my desired studies. Kathleen Belew study's violence in modern American history, Jonathan Levy is one of my favorite scholars in the history of American capitalism, and Destin Jenkins (newly hired) also does a good job researching race in urban history. I've been reading their books and articles, and slowly working up the confidence to email them (I'll probably do this come fall this year). I've also spoken to five different students there, and have met up with one and discussed the program, advice for getting in, etc. I'm also applying to the MAPSS program as well. Now my question is, to those who know much more than I do: what else can I do? Uchicago is very competitive, and although being my top choice, is certainly not the only one. But, I am confident to say that my research will flourish there, and living in Chicago is also a huge plus for me (I have family there).
  10. Harvard is 6% (higher than I thought). https://history.fas.harvard.edu/admissions Uchicago said they admit 30 students annually- and a Ph.D. student I've talked to has confirmed this.
  11. Hey everybody, I'm a big fan of long lists of books to read, and as the holidays approach, I think we all need to sit back and read some books. Any reading lists on any topics are welcome on this thread. Old biblos for class, research, anything of the like.
  12. As I've learned from my own thread on here - it is dependent, as the person above my post said, on your SOP, LORs, and WS. Good GPA and GRE are important, but when it comes down to acceptance - fit, research abilities/experience, and all that jazz is what matters the most. Honors are important, from the professors and grad students I've talked to, and a good honors thesis demonstrates your independent research ability. It seems like you have good language abilities as well. GPA is very low for those two. But, again, it is all about the SOP, LORs, and WS. Also, as you probably know, admission to those programs are cutthroat. I think I remember reading that Harvard accepts something like 4-5% of applicants. Uchicago is a little higher, 10% or something. I don't remember where I read those, but if they are wrong, the actual rates are somewhere along those numbers. If you don't get accepted, it is certainly not a reflection of you as a scholar, but a reflection of the intense competition. I hope you applied to other school as well. A Ph.D. at a school like University of Minnesota or some other mid-tier program is still a Ph.D.
  13. I'll have to check that one out! My class topic was on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The professor was fantastic and a highly distinguished Japanese scholar. It was setup where every two weeks we look at a different historical approach to the bombings. One unit was cultural history, the other economic, and what not. We didn't learn too much historiography, which disappointed me. The class was mean't to teach original historical researching and writing. Do you have the reading list for that capstone? The next history of the West course won't be taught until after I graduate. State school with a shrinking history department budget problems I guess. Are you applying for programs next year in the fall? If so, lets be friends! I'm applying next year too.
  14. That is great! For my freshman historical seminar we only had to read Benjammin's guide to history or something like that. Interesting introduction to history theory, but man, his explanation on writing history was terrible. I didn't realize my mistakes until I read those two.
  15. I don't think your sentences over overly complex or too long. Your excerpt reads fine to me. Check out The Elements of Style and Writing History. Both helped me better formulate my writing.
  16. @psstein Paul Stone, Barbara Welke, and Steven Ruggles.
  17. @TMP At most I would be okay with taking out $20,000 to $30,000 in loans. I completed an early college program in high school, so half my credits my high school paid for, and the rest of my expenses I am lucky enough to have my parents pay for my education -- so I don't have any loans out right now. The MAPSS alumni I've spoken to (some are Ph.D. students now) told me they applied a year after graduating. In the interim they worked for Uchicago in clerical and administration positions. I wouldn't mind a gap like that if I were able to stay in the realm of academia, like work as a secretary, something similar to that. But you do raise good questions, and I am weary of the 1 year program -- so is my faculty mentor as well.
  18. Incredibly sorry for the late reply. I was not trying to be disrespectful. I'm been finishing end-of-the-semester papers, and I traveled to Chicago with my girlfriends family last week. First, I cannot fathom how great the advice all of you have given me. It has made me ask vital questions that otherwise I would not have thought were pertinent to my situation. I'll attempt to reply to all your posts now. @OHSP MAPSS is the only masters program I am applying to. There a few professors at Uchicago (Jonathan Levy in particular) that I would like to work with. The 1 year journey also fits my need to engage in more historical work with my field. I definitely agree that I need more time soaking in an academic environment. But, regardless of my intellectual insecurities, I am still applying to Ph.D. programs. I'll list the ones I want to apply to below: University of Chicago University of Illinois-Chicago Northwestern University of Maryland University of Michigan New York University University of Wisconsin-Madison University of Pennsylvania I love Tom Sugrue. Origins is the book that inspires me the most. It is the book that made me think about urban history in a systematic combination of race relations, and political economy. Heather Ann Thompson also is a favorite of mine. Her book Whose Detroit? and Blood in the Water, influenced my perspective on race relations in the city. @Banzailizard I don't want to audit courses (although, I have thought about it). I want to engage with the school in coursework settings. @Sigaba What do you mean by "not necessarily well informed,"? My interest of study is the intersection between race, politics, and economics in urban history. I call myself an urban historian. I'm interested in the way deindustrialization shaped urban politics and race relations in the 1960s-80s. @Tigla Thank you for those questions. Do you have any recommendations on books regarding historiography of deindustrialization?
  19. I started college my junior year of high school in an early college program. I took 50 credits at a local community college for the next three years, afterwards I transferred to university where I took all my history credits at. I've only spent two years at university. My goal with MAPSS is to give me more time in academic surroundings. A chance to get to know my field of history better, and be able to conduct more research, write more papers, meet more professors. What I'm trying to get it is, I don't feel like I am ready, intellectually, for a Ph.D. program. I need more time to study the historiography, the trends, the prominent ideas in my field, etc. More time to study is what I need. You're right, I could just spent this time reading, etc., but I want to take courses with professors, and at Uchicago there are a couple of professors that have done research in my field. My goal, intellectually, is to conduct research in 20th century American economic history, in specific the de-industrialization of America in the 1970s and 1980s, with a focus on urban history and race relations.
  20. I feel like I need a little more time studying history before I embark upon a phd. Do you think I should apply to phd programs too?
  21. Hello, I am applying to MAPSS at the University of Chicago with a specialization in history. I want you guys to tell me how my application looks. I am majoring in history with departmental honors, and minoring in political philosophy. I have a 3.91 GPA, 8 400+ level courses, and my GRE scores are 167/154/5.5. My LORs are extremely good. I've had classes with all three professors, two of which are in my field of study, and I have done research under one of them. I recieved a $3,000 grant for undergraduate research from my university, and a $1,500 from my department. I wrote a 25 page research paper over the summer and published it in an undergraduate research journal. I've also written non-academic work for various websites. I am currently writing my honors thesis as well.
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