Undergraduate Research

[urbanhistorynerd]

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?  

  

[DGrayson]

12 minutes ago, kenalyass said:

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?  

  

My guess is that it depends on the kind of research it is. Does the paper contain majority primary sources or at least in depth primary source analysis? Is it done in the native language or are you using a translation? But research is a significant part of becoming a professional and so demonstrating success in that field can only really help you. Worst comes worst just put it in your resume, that's what I did. 

[urbanhistorynerd]

8 minutes ago, DGrayson said:

My guess is that it depends on the kind of research it is. Does the paper contain majority primary sources or at least in depth primary source analysis? Is it done in the native language or are you using a translation? But research is a significant part of becoming a professional and so demonstrating success in that field can only really help you. Worst comes worst just put it in your resume, that's what I did. 

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.

[fuzzylogician]

This is one of those cases where it depends on what you do with what you've got. Undergraduate conferences aren't in and of themselves terribly impressive; you'll probably want to remove them from your CV at some early point in your graduate career. Awards are nice, but it's hard to know how competitive they were. Likewise, it's hard to judge a paper we haven't seen. But if they lead to glowing LORs and a strong writing sample, and if they allow you write a detailed and carefully crafted SOP, and if they allow you to target the right schools with the right fit for your proposed research, then these accomplishments can get you very far. 

[AP]

"Deeply"?

Nobody calls your university/department and asks about them, if that is what you mean. Awards show that you were recognized for your research and in a PhD application that doesn't hurt. But if you are applying to a R1 PhD, most people have those too. 

Again, it is your SOP, LORs, and WS that counts, awards are not the final say. 

[urbanhistorynerd]

7 hours ago, AP said:

"Deeply"?

Nobody calls your university/department and asks about them, if that is what you mean. Awards show that you were recognized for your research and in a PhD application that doesn't hurt. But if you are applying to a R1 PhD, most people have those too. 

Again, it is your SOP, LORs, and WS that counts, awards are not the final say. 

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?

[glycoprotein1]

23 minutes ago, kenalyass said:

Alternatively, how can I showcase these grants in a SOP?

Whether or not it was effective still remains to be seen, but I also was fortunate to earn a number of grants for my research and was selected to present my work at a couple of conferences, so I showcased these awards if you will in my SOP by mentioning that my work had already gained interest from the larger scholarly community.  I subsequently listed the grants & sponsors and conferences so the reader(s) would have some idea of what I was talking about.  Hopefully I'm interpreting your question correctly.  Please let me know if not.  

[fuzzylogician]

1 hour ago, kenalyass said:

Alternatively, how can I showcase these grants in a SOP?

I don't know what you mean by "showcase". Is there anything more to it than listing your accomplishments? There isn't really much for you to discuss (you can discuss the project, findings, its broader contribution to your field, etc. That's more important than having had a conference presentation, btw. Communicating the science and your understanding of it is what schools will be looking for.). It'd be more effective to have LOR writers contextualize these grants and their noteworthiness ("this is our more prestigious award", "only one person in Field has won this grant in the past 150 years", "other students in our department who've won this award are XYZ, and they have gone on to do awesome things ABC", etc). You can't really do that yourself. This is precisely why your application is evaluated holistically -- some things are best communicated by the authority figures that support you, not by you directly. 

[TMP]

All of those awards are helpful, especially if you can provide evidence of how you used those funds (i.e. research trip to another city or abroad) in your (eventual) writing sample. I would leave the amount to your thesis adviser to discuss in his/her letter, although I'll say $4,500 is nothing to sneeze at for an undergraduate. You simply list those awards and conference presentations in your vita, which the admissions committee will look at.  If these papers serve as springboards for your interests in the subject for graduate study, the adcoms can make the connections.

It is going to be your research interests, statement of purpose (SOP), writing sample, and LOR that will matter the most to the admissions committee for the final evaluation.

[dr. t]

$4500 is a lot, but it's internal grants, which don't count for much in general. 

Will it help? Maybe? It won't hurt, at least.

[AP]

18 hours ago, kenalyass said:

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?

Absolutely, showcase the amount. It should read something like:

2017   Undergraduate Research Award, Department of History, University of my State - $4,500