Manana

This is if you have any other skill you want to add and you didn't have a box to do so. For example, a friend of mine worked as an editor before her PhD. I had job experience that I re-worded in this box. A colleague was in the film industry before his PhD. You can word all this to market your skills (project management, data management, etc etc etc). 
I don't think this box is going to be consequential. However, if you show an ability to recraft non-traditional research skills into research skills, then you can also learn research skills during your PhD to apply later on in other industries. In a very constrained job market, this is attractive. 

For the most part these tend to be a bit of a vibe check -- can this person work with you and are you relatively the same irl as you are on paper etc. Read through and think about your application materials again so that you can explain and/or expand on anything. Be keen to talk about what you find exciting in your field(s) at the moment. Have some questions to ask about the department, but make sure they're not extremely generic -- good questions might be things like, have students taken independent studies with you lately and what do those look like because once I get closer to exams I'd really love to do an independent study in x; (if you and the POI are more interdisciplinary) what kinds of networks are there across blah and blah department/field/institute etc etc (but don't make it sound like you would potentially be a better fit for the English/geography/whatever department). 

1) Sticking it will give it an imprimatur I'm not sure I want it to have.
2) We already have too many stuck threads in this subforum.

From my perspective, it seems like secondary education teaching is a great alternative to academia for PhDs. It offers decent pay (particularly if you're willing to move to certain cities and/or towns), unionization, and retirement plans. Not to mention, PhDs are treated exceptionally well in high schools, by faculty, admin, and students. Sure, it's not as glamorous, and it may feel like a bastardization of history, but nonetheless it's consistent -- and (potentially) rewarding. 
 
What are others thoughts on this? Perhaps those who considered this alternate path but opted not to? Would love to hear from folks who have completed their doctoral degrees.
 
- A high school teacher hoping to be admitted to a PhD program. 

To your last point, yes. Part of the withdrawal of history into ever-increasingly narrow and specialized niches has had the effect of making historical scholarship arcane, inaccessible, and generally not too useful to people outside of academia. That's not a criticism of any specialized field, for the record. I actually find some of that work fascinating (e.g. Andrew Warwick's work on mathematical physics education at Cambridge). But, speaking from my history of science/medicine perch, my subdiscipline has actively disengaged from its original mission and attempted to become more integrated with the historical community writ large.
It is extremely common now to see monographs with practically no engagement of the serious scientific issues at hand, especially in history of medicine. I'm not against the social turn at all; it was a good thing and it needed to happen. With that said, the issue is now that the field doesn't actually engage scientists. Instead, it turns its attention towards historians (and other humanities disciplines) that want to know something about the science.
Put more bluntly, a microhistory about the ontology of bodily fluids in 17th century Spain doesn't draw much interest outside of a very narrow crowd of academics.

How many careers are envisioned in the scenario above? 
https://www.kornferry.com/content/dam/kornferry/docs/article-migration/Briefings38_Nomad-Economy.pdf

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/nlsoy.pdf
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED582350.pdf
IME, working in the private sector (three industries) is not without challenges and risks.
No one has tenure. No one. I'm currently in an industry that had two firms that bear the name of one of its founders. He is with neither. In a different industry, founders --and many others-- were tossed aside when corporate decided to change strategy. At will employees can be terminated with zero warning. Turn over your keys, sign this document, here's a live check. GTFO. "Exempt" employees can be required to work more than eight hours a day for weeks at a stretch without additional compensation. Non compete agreements can limit future opportunities. (Even if your pockets are deep enough to get you through the litigation.) Firms that practice "just in time" hiring will expect you to do the job with minimal to no training.  Your plans for a career path centered around areas of practice and types of clients make you the ideal candidate to on board the strategic hire. Raises, salary adjustment, and bonuses are not guaranteed. Sometimes, bosses want to get your attention. Other benefits can be offered on a use it or lose it basis and can be discontinued from one year to the next. Not every employer offers 401(k)s nor matches employee contributions. KPIs are generally centered around numerical metrics that don't always add up and sometimes work at cross purposes. The "grand strategy" of the Powers That Be can be unknown and ultimately at cross purposes of what bosses, middle managers, and worker bees are told.  The pace of work can be bone crushing. Imagine your busiest weeks as a teacher the slowest weeks of a year. Or two.  The paper you write days before it is due -- imagine it being worth tens thousands of dollars to your firm and hundreds, if not millions to a client, even though the client has gone for months without giving you information it said it would provide during the project kick off meeting. Undergraduates unhappy with your work? Try managing Teamsters. Uncooperative colleagues? Try getting members of private and public sector unions to see it your way when they know they damn well don't. "Toxic" work environments/coworkers/supervisors? Unless you get to HR first with clear and convincing documentation, STFU and get back to work. "Scope creep"==> project budget exhausted? Do the work on your own time. "One set of integrated comments" from the client? Here are ten sets of comments, some contradict others.  Disagree with how the work should be done on a project? That's nice. STFU and get back to work. Intellectual freedom? Ah, well, now that you've learned of the existence of that NDA, you may never again talk about it nor the project nor the client. Risk management is everyone's responsibility even if you've never been trained on how to manage risk.  Free and open exchange of information ==> email blast from the bosses after a project manager's POV is printed in a newspaper. Templates Time cards Morale check?

I really need to pitch my TV show Merovingians: LOL you thought GoT was Bloody and Confusing

Even though I was told by a professor that I might have gotten a job had I been born a decade earlier--"maybe"--I would never advise someone not to pursue a personal or professional goal. (The day I passed quals, the committee member who represented my outside field said Think of yourself as a teacher. By which he meant that it was my responsibility to give people information that enabled them to achieve their goals--my opinion of those goals notwithstanding.)
I would (and have) recommended doing a herculean amount of due diligence--including reading the OP again and again. There may be "nothing new" to some readers who are aware of some of the patterns that have been developing since the early 1990s. To many others, the post adds crucial nuance.
 I also recommend setting up job alerts in Linkedin and elsewhere so one understands how graduate degrees may or may not translate into requirements for job qualifications and professional experience. Some consultancies and government agencies require the kind of research experience that cannot quite be satisfied by a master's degree.
FWIW/Neither here nor there, I do take slight exception to the lumping together of the academic job market for professional academic historians as the most important key performance indicator of the profession's vitality or sustainability. 

For a long time, this paralleled my thoughts on the matter. But, as an adviser pointed out, a guaranteed 5-7 years making $30k with excellent health insurance coverage isn't nothing in this prepostapocalyptic hellscape. So I'm not so sure anymore.

Enjoying the differences in available prefixes for LoR writers at Grad-school application sites. Harvard Divinity: ''Mother'', ''Honorable'', ''Reverend Doctor''. Georgetown History: ''Lieutenant Colonel'', ''Ensign'', ''Midshipman''. 

@Manana, been there done that!  NBD.  Just say hello, remind them of who you are, offer any update on your progress since last year, and let them know you're interested in re-applying and ask how admissions will be handled. It's also worth emailing the DGS to inquire about re-using your transcripts and GRE scores so you don't have to shell out unnecessary amount of money for another set.
Somewhat good news from Ohio State: It looks like we will have a very small cohort for Fall 2021 after all. but it will be amazingly selective so be in touch with your POIs there about applying.  Any questions, feel free to be in touch with me too!

Dear Professor ________,
My name is ________ and last year we spoke about how my research interests of ____ could apply to your research on ______. In the past year, I have gained more experience in ______ while working on __________ .I am still very interested in working with you and am considering reapplying to your program. Are you accepting graduate applicants for the fall of 2021?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Manana
 
(I'm not sure how well that applies to a history program, but it's a start, anyway.)

So 3 of the 4 programs that were the best fits for me aren't accepting students this fall.  That's fantastic.  =( 

I am currently nervously trying to keep track of corona-related news from different universities. Something positive, however, is that my undergraduate research most likely will be published in an scholarly journal this October which I hope will boost my applications. Good luck to all! 

Just a reminder to everyone who is applying this year.
You had a difficult first half of 2020. We, faculty, did too. Grad students did too (many lost summer stipends, many doing international research saw their projects disappear). Staff did too. Admin, believe or not, did too. Our situations are all different, some with kids, some with visas, some with racial justice concerns, some with loneliness, some with illness. 
This year, you are anxious about applying, but also anxious about applying in the middle of a pandemic. You have many questions for which there are no answers. We have many questions for which there are no answers. I have no idea how I will teach in the Fall. I have no idea how I can re-structure my book project so that I push going to the archive. 
All this is to say that in the same way the pandemic is making you anxious about the unknown, it is making us worried. This might translate into people taking longer to respond to your emails as some folks are WFH with kids or caring for others, or they are simply just taking some time off. People might not have an answer for all of you questions or that answer being contingent on many variables. People might understand your concerns but might regrettably not be able to do anything about it (I really wish I could unilaterally abolish GREs). 
In other words, be patient. While the summer is usually a good time to write to faculty because we don't have any meetings or deadlines (we are just out in the field going to archives), this summer is way different. 
( @coffeehum this is not to you specifically, but you made me think about how I would react if a student sent me an email this week to discuss admissions. So, thank you for the inspiration!)

Sure, but suddenly having to homeschool your kid, for example, is somewhat different that what came before. That new burden disproportionately affects women (in this example) - from the available evidence, it affects them all the way up the food chain.
So this is new, and if you find yourself able to be productive, as I have, it's one small blessing in a large shitpile.

Hi all,
I'm graduating from a MFA program in Architectural History next year (spring 2021) and have been seriously considering applying to PhD history programs, most likely for admission in fall 2021. I'm an older student (late 30s) and my career has been focused in architectural history up to this point. I love research and writing, and have done a significant amount of it in my career, but I've lost my interest in the built environment. I've always been an amateur social and cultural historian and want to focus on that in a professional capacity. It seems that going on for my PhD is a means of achieving that. I do have a strong desire to educate; I'm very into public history (researched and developed my own historic walking tour, started a history podcast, etc.) as I feel it is integral to making a traditionally stuffy topic more accessible to the general public. To that end, I'm flexible about how my future career takes shape. I understand that history teaching positions are drying up, so I would be equally happy in a museum setting.
I'd like my primary field to be women's history (late 19th and early 20th century America and Britain), with secondary fields in social and cultural history (American, British, European). Primarily, I've been looking at schools with women's history faculty. I have a running list of programs and the professors that I would want to work with, and general idea of the requirements. But am I wrong to assume that getting into a top 25 program is an absolute necessity for obtaining a teaching job (if I were to pursue that route)? I've been using US News' list of top history PhD programs to do my research--is that list valid? Right now, my top choices are Johns Hopkins (my professor "spirit animal" is there) and UNC-Chapel Hill (all around strong women's history program). I know University of Wisconsin is known for its women's history program, but I have been a little reticent about that due to the location. I'm on the east coast would prefer to stay there or at least be able to fly back and forth regularly. Are there other programs I should be considering?
Now that I've read some threads on here, I'm definitely more nervous about applying. The only way for me to do this is to be fully funded (tuition waiver and stipend). My undergrad GPA was 3.45 (3.8 major), which I thought was good, until I read on here that it might not be? So far, my GPA in my masters program is 4.0. I should note that the school that I'm doing my MFA at is an arts school that is well regarded...but it's an arts school. I haven't taken the GRE yet (it wasn't required for admission for my MFA) and I'm terrified. Honestly, I'm a terrible test taker and know that my math scores will stink because there is a giant black hole in my brain where anything beyond basic math skills should be. My verbal should be good. I hope to take and pass the reading exam for French before applying. I've presented a paper at one conference and am applying for others--will that help my application? Any other suggestions for ways to improve my chances at acceptance? Do I need to start reaching out to the professors that I would like to work with? It seems that gaining their favor also improves acceptance chances?
I feel like I'm very prepared for all this but then some days, I feel like I've got a blindfold on. Any advice and/or suggestions are appreciated.
 

Hi everyone. So with quarantine going strong, I was wondering, how about sharing some historical film/series recommendations?
Either fiction or nonfiction are welcome. (sorry I am not absolutely sure about the English terms)

Hi,  I'm also an international student waiting for a good news! got my offer 3-4 weeks ago but heard nothing regarding the college allocation & funding. Fingers crossed for you as well!

Thank you so much! I am currently in the finishing stages of my masters and looking into PhD programs.

As far as I know, you can get EU tuition fees for the Netherlands (2k per year instead of 15k or so). My friend has EU citizenship but didn't live in the EU and could get the cheaper tuition fees in the Netherlands. There are lots of Master programs in English and the education is solid! I did my undergrad there. 
In Schweden/Norway tuition should be almost free for EU students, but not sure if you have to be an EU resident.
In Germany there are 13 Begabtenförderungswerke where you can apply for monthly stipend scholarship (up to 700 Euros per month). Maybe that is something you can consider but not sure if you have to speak German for that. You can just google it. Are you planning to do a PhD after your Masters? 

Well, that's not entirely true. Anecdotally, I know of a person who did a terminal master's in classics there and enrolled in their PhD program immediately afterwards. From what I understand, the faculty got to know them as a master's student and that gave them a (potentially unfair?) advantage in admissions. Not sure if their rec letters were from the faculty there, but they might have been. I imagine there are other cases like this across the humanities.
That said, I agree you shouldn't do a master's if you can't afford it comfortably, and second the observation that top graduate programs that offer terminal master's degrees tend to assign them secondary importance, which puts the students in a strange position in terms of social and professional networks. But, as I said above, that can be overcome.

Hi, I was awarded an Ertegun scholarship. They notified me through email around mid-day GMT on Friday the 6th. I'm studying in a history-related field (though I guess that's not very specific given that it's a humanities scholarship). I have a friend who is doing the Ertegun right now. 

I would like to add that it seems some schools are fine with a denied applicant reaching out. In my rejection, University of Washington specifically said that they would be happy to give advice after April 15. This may be a rare occurrence, but I was happy to see that. 

The short answer: No. 
I don't know if the people you said asked for feedback actually got feedback, but I'd advise against it.
It would be inappropriate because there are several moving parts in an application to graduate school. Some of these moving parts have absolutely nothing to do with you or your application, they have to do with department politics, budget, needs, and previous cohorts. In addition, unlike some grants, faculty that see your application do not prepare feedback reports so you'd be asking faculty to put even more labor in providing personalized feedback. Although it may seem like a tiny task, I can assure you, it is not. Further, several people see your application, who would you ask? Finally, faculty don't know you so it would be hard for them to provide substantive feedback. Unlike UG admissions, PhD admissions is not only about your SoP or your LoRs. 
Let me point out, however, that this system of course benefits the privileged. Those who have the connections of a mentor to look over their application materials or those who can rely on a network of peers. It is incredibly unfair, I know, but I don't think that necessarily means that it's ok to ask for feedback. The AdComm is not the best position to provide feedback. 
Now, when you say you don't "really have a mentor/anyone to get advice/feedback from", what do you mean? How did you decide to apply to PhD programs? Who wrote your letters? Who read your SoP? Something you can do between now and the next cycle is try to attend (free) talks/events and mingle. Ask questions, introduce yourself, etc. This of course depends on where you are. However, if no school/museum/library in your area host interesting events, do sign up for newsletters and keep tabs on what's going on elsewhere. Sometimes some talks are videotaped (especially those of big-name scholars) and you can find them on YouTube. Additionally, consider listening to podcasts about research in history. My favorite is the New Books Network, but there are many others. Finally, I'd also venture keeping the conversation open with graduate students in the programs you are applying. Sometimes they are more helpful than faculty. (In my case, I met one of them when they were doing research in my city. They introduced me to a friend of theirs also doing research in the city. This friend met with me and tutored me during my application, so you never know where you'll find readers!). 
Good luck!