DCguy

I went to the same school for my MA as I did my BA. It is a smaller school with no PhD programs. My courses cost as much as a grad and undergrad. maybe if you found a smaller school to do your MA you can find it cheaper?

Hello all. This is a new draft of my SOP. please critique it, offer any suggestions or tips. keep in mind that this is a very rough draft. I am not so concerned with word choice or grammar as much as content. I looks forward to your ideas. Thank you I write to apply to BLANK University's PhD. program in history. I became interested in Twentieth Century American political history and ideology in a seminar course at Salisbury University (SU). I was drawn to questions of the changing nature of the presidency, in particular I enjoy investigating the legacy that Franklin Roosevelt left on the office. While I am attracted to this topic, I should also stress that I am equally interested in exploring issues connecting politics and the changing nature of the office of the president to the American Civil Rights Movement on a national and a local level. Specifically, I would like to investigate the relationships between local and national leaders and how these relationships influenced policy. My decision to apply to BLANK is based on the belief that your program provides the optimum setting for me to refine my interests, my skills as a historian, and to prepare for a career of independent research and teaching at the post-secondary level. During my career at SU, I had a number of academic and research experiences that strengthened my desire to pursue a career in academic history. Perhaps the earliest and most formative experience was my pro-seminar research paper, entitled "A Non-Christian Republic: Thomas Jefferson on the Private Role of Religion in the New Republic," which, after refining, I was able to present at a conference and publish. In consultation with my undergraduate advisor, I investigated the idea of whether or not the United States was founded as a religious nation by comparing the views held by leading scholars on the topic. Specifically, I examined Thomas Jefferson's affirmation that Christianity was "a religion of all others most friendly to liberty, science, and the freest expansion of the human mind," but he was still determined to live by the idea that religion was a private matter. By considering the opposing views of historians, my study provided me with a model for my future research projects. I extended this comparative model that I used for all of my undergraduate research projects to my first historiographical essay as a Master of Arts candidate, entitled "Africans in the New World: A Diaspora or Creolization?" In this essay, I investigated the available literature on the topic to answer the question of whether or not a true Diaspora took place when Africans were brought to the Americas as slaves, or if these displaced African slaves created a Creole culture. I examined this question with a more interdisciplinary approach than I ever did as an undergraduate. I incorporated history with anthropological and sociological studies, always keeping the comparative model in mind. I seek admission to BLANK University's department of history because my interests in Twentieth Century American history would be matched by the department's strengths. I am particularly enthusiastic about working with Professor BLANK on Twentieth Century political topics from the national to the local level and with Professor BLANK on topics in high politics and political ideology. I understand BLANK University also has political scientists with interests that overlap my own I feel prepared to begin the life of an academic historian for a number of reasons. First, I have spent a year off as a student in which time, I am teaching my first world civilization courses. It can be daunting to teach an introductory level survey course to a group of students with little interest in the topic. I found that keeping classroom lectures on a conversational level with conviction and good humor, even a class of non-majors can become interested in ancient Persian history, for example. I am fortunate in that the Chair of the history department allowed me to develop my courses independently, giving me the opportunity to develop my own curricula drawing from my time as a student and my own research and reading.

thank you for the tips. I have rewritten most of my statement again. please keep in mind that this is a very rough draft, so i am not as concerned about word choice and grammar so much as content. i look forward to your critiques. I will also post a new thread, so maybe you will see it there I write to apply to BLANK University's PhD. program in history. I became interested in Twentieth Century American political history and ideology in a seminar course at Salisbury University (SU). I was drawn to questions of the changing nature of the presidency, in particular I enjoy investigating the legacy that Franklin Roosevelt left on the office. While I am attracted to this topic, I should also stress that I am equally interested in exploring issues connecting politics and the changing nature of the office of the president to the American Civil Rights Movement on a national and a local level. Specifically, I would like to investigate the relationships between local and national leaders and how these relationships influenced policy. My decision to apply to BLANK is based on the belief that your program provides the optimum setting for me to refine my interests, my skills as a historian, and to prepare for a career of independent research and teaching at the post-secondary level. During my career at SU, I had a number of academic and research experiences that strengthened my desire to pursue a career in academic history. Perhaps the earliest and most formative experience was my pro-seminar research paper, entitled "A Non-Christian Republic: Thomas Jefferson on the Private Role of Religion in the New Republic," which, after refining, I was able to present at a conference and publish. In consultation with my undergraduate advisor, I investigated the idea of whether or not the United States was founded as a religious nation by comparing the views held by leading scholars on the topic. Specifically, I examined Thomas Jefferson's affirmation that Christianity was "a religion of all others most friendly to liberty, science, and the freest expansion of the human mind," but he was still determined to live by the idea that religion was a private matter. By considering the opposing views of historians, my study provided me with a model for my future research projects. I extended this comparative model that I used for all of my undergraduate research projects to my first historiographical essay as a Master of Arts candidate, entitled "Africans in the New World: A Diaspora or Creolization?" In this essay, I investigated the available literature on the topic to answer the question of whether or not a true Diaspora took place when Africans were brought to the Americas as slaves, or if these displaced African slaves created a Creole culture. I examined this question with a more interdisciplinary approach than I ever did as an undergraduate. I incorporated history with anthropological and sociological studies, always keeping the comparative model in mind. I seek admission to BLANK University's department of history because my interests in Twentieth Century American history would be matched by the department's strengths. I am particularly enthusiastic about working with Professor BLANK on Twentieth Century political topics from the national to the local level and with Professor BLANK on topics in high politics and political ideology. I understand BLANK University also has political scientists with interests that overlap my own I feel prepared to begin the life of an academic historian for a number of reasons. First, I have spent a year off as a student in which time, I am teaching my first world civilization courses. It can be daunting to teach an introductory level survey course to a group of students with little interest in the topic. I found that keeping classroom lectures on a conversational level with conviction and good humor, even a class of non-majors can become interested in ancient Persian history, for example. I am fortunate in that the Chair of the history department allowed me to develop my courses independently, giving me the opportunity to develop my own curricula drawing from my time as a student and my own research and reading.

I don't know how to open a statement like this - that's why I have the bit about the presentation and teaching that feels, even to me, shallow. I mention the books because they are well known to professors that would supervise a topic in the area. Is this still a bad idea? I could add plenty more titles but I thought one of the well known books in the area showed that I know the basic literature. As to the specificity - what I gather from the internet, I shouldn't be too willing to commit to any one topic on my statement. Just that I should have an idea of the area I want to study. I think it's different in the sciences but most of the suggestion sites I read said they would view this as a bad thing because I'm not open to change. I can be more specific I just thought it was bad. Thanks for your help

I'm looking for any tips or ideas. If you think any of this is too general or not general enough, please let me know. this is not finished. it's my third rewrite. I have left out the school specific final paragraph. thanks everyone. To the graduate chair and admissions committee at WHEREVER, In the late Spring of 2011, I had the opportunity to present a research project concerning Thomas Jefferson and early national religion at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR). The conference subsequently published my research in the NCUR Proceedings. This presentation solidified my preliminary commitment to the research and writing of history. It was my first taste of being a professional historian and I began my plans to pursue a career in academic history. I completed my Master of Arts degree in American History at BLANK University last spring and I now face a year off as a student during the 2013-2014 academic year. This year off has given me an opportunity to explore teaching. I am teaching my first world civilization survey courses this fall and in the coming spring semester. This time teaching has given me the ability to see the academic world from the other side of scholarly life. I had a degree of uncertainty concerning the teaching aspect of becoming a professional scholar. I worried that I would not be a good teacher or I may not enjoy teaching but this semester had dispelled any uncertainty, as I love it. I was exposed to Twentieth Century American politics in a seminar with Dr. BLANK as a graduate student.. I enjoy exploring the changing nature of the presidency and what the office of the president means in recent American politics. Most of my interest concerns mid-Twentieth Century presidents (Franklin Roosevelt up to Reagan). My "go-to" book during classroom discussions was always William Leuchtenburg's In the Shadow of FDR. I also have enthusiasm for outside of political history. As a second area of major interest, I have always been drawn to the American Civil Rights Movement and African-American history. I enjoy exploring the meaning of equality in recent American history. Mary Dudziak's Cold War Civil Rights first opened my eyes to the possibilities for combining political and civil rights history. However, I would like to take more reading and research seminars before I commit to any one topic.