site_n_blindness272

Makes total sense! Thanks for the insight

Glad I'm not alone lol! My subfield is early modern European gender and disability with an emphasis on the German-speaking world and the Reformation. Seems they haven't responded to many across the board!

Hey there! I have a BA and MA in History from a public university, and I was accepted to Harvard's HoS PhD program starting Fall 2024! If I can accomplish this then you most definitely have a chance to gain applicable HoS skills. For more background - I study disability history and completed an MA thesis on this topic in my traditional History MA program. My advisor with a traditional History PhD has moved into disability history within the last few years and was able to provide me with a plethora of feedback, guidance, and readings to do well in the topic. I also had a minor in Political Science on my BA degree, which I used in my application to express my ability to succeed in an interdisciplinary HoS environment. Do the programs you were accepted into offer cross-course listings with other departments, or certificates in a topic related to your interests? If they are willing to offer this kind of flexibility (which many traditional History programs oft do to increase your skillset) then I don't see this being an issue! Graduate programs are a great place to network, research, and increase your theoretical background, so I think a program might be a better place to improve your credentials than on your own! I am, of course, just an internet stranger Do what feels best based on your path! I hope my two cents may help ease any anxieties though.

I currently have all my decisions in except for one! Has anyone heard from Rutgers? lol

Hi all! I'm still so jittery and shaky and can't believe it's real - but I just got notification from my POI that I've been admitted to Harvard's History of Science PhD program!! I study premodern disability so it was applicable to the program but my BA and MA are just History degrees so I was absolutely convinced I didn't have enough experience or knowledge of History of Science to even be considered. What a day!!

I applied to both Stanford and Rutgers and also have yet to hear anything back!

This is what my previous advisor and mentor emphasized when he recommended to me what programs to apply to. He focused on faculty fit and placement history - this resulted in a list that was about half Ivy and half public universities. Additionally, subfield and focus are major players. I am lucky in that my subfield and thematic focus are experiencing a surge of interest - which provides funding opportunities - but it is also not flooded at the moment. There are other subfields though like the_geographer mentioned where this is currently not the case. It's unfortunately a bit of a crapshoot, as I don't think your historical studies should be chosen based on what could make you more steady income but rather interest and passion, but it's the state of the market right now. When choosing a program, I recommend inquiring about where their recent students have been placed. If there hasn't been much success for them, maybe consider elsewhere. There are also a lot of grad history programs that are shifting their focus to non-traditional tracks and have adjusted how their programs function based on this, such as comps. They also tend to have more crossover with Public Scholarship and Library Sciences programs and encourage certificates in these areas. Asking current students their career goals and how their current program has assisted in developing them with this career in mind might also assist in considering what programs you might consider. These factors will matter more in the long run than prestige, as your competitiveness and skillset will more likely than not get you a placement.