PhD in Modern European History

[Isaac Freeman]

Hello everyone,

I would like to hear your thoughts and advises on my upcoming application for a PhD in the US. Please share your thoughts, and if there are relevant any links to other discussions on some of the matters I will ask here, please feel free to attach them (and I thank you in advance for doing so).

Due to financial reasons, I plan on applying to only 5 grad schools: NYU, Columbia, Princeton, Penn and Cornell. I chose these schools due to their location, on the east coast, and since I will have better chances to have a place to live in, for the first few weeks at least, as I have family living nearby to most of them (except Cornell).

My BA (history, 91) and MA (European studies, 95) are both from the University of Haifa in Israel. My first question is: How, if at all, the fact I am coming from a less known university, would influence my chances to be admitted to any?

In addition, I wrote a thesis, which was graded 95 (so the total degree score is 95), and I've graduated with honors. Is this fact has any influence on my chances of getting into one of these schools?

I got an advice from one of my history professors, that contacting the future professors who may teach me, could be a good tactic. Would you agree, and if you do - how long should my letter/email be? I thought that about 3/4 of a Word document, double spaced, telling about myself and why I want to work with the addressed professor, should be sufficient. Is it too long? Too short?

The same professor, mentioned above, told me that he had heard these schools prefer to read recommendations from their own graduates. One of the people who read and graded my thesis did her PhD at Princeton. Would that be an advantage to ask her to write me a recommendation?

The person who directed me to this forum, told me there is a place where I can get information on how much each of these institutions gives grants to its graduate students. Where can I find it? This information could seriously affect my application.

Last question: Where could I find a template of the right form to write the CV? I've prepared it based on something I saw online, but I'm not sure if this form is correct.

 

That's all for now.

Thanks again to anyone who would answer.

[AP]

Definitely start by contacting professors by e-mail.

• Introduce yourself 
• Give reason for writing
• Lay out your research interests 
• say that you would like to discuss your application to X University with them

I am not an expert in contacting professors. I think I made many mistakes. Yet, professors tend to be sympathetic with our international awkwardness... 

 

 

[AnUglyBoringNerd]

1. There is a History forum here: https://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/38-history/ Definitely check it out! 

2. Regarding funding, sometimes you can find detailed information on the website of each programs. Also, you can use this thread as reference: (somewhere in this thread there is a link to a google sheet where people post info of the funding packages they got from different programs)

 3. I was also an international applicant though the universities I attended are probably not "less known" in my field. That said, I don't think your grades or the university you studied at would play against you. (None of my recommendation letter writers got their degree in the U.S. and I don't have a degree in History. Still, I got offers from 4 out of the 7 PhD programs I applied to, including my top choice) Also, I was repeatedly reminded that what matter most in one's application are SOP and writing sample. Don't worry much about your grades (or other factors, such as GRE and TOEFL) if they are already decent (and cannot be easily changed). You may want to focus on something that's "up to you".  

4. I would also recommend that you read through this thread: 

I found it highly helpful when I was applying (last year), somewhere in this thread some good advice were given re: how to choose programs. And personally speaking, I would encourage you to prioritize programs based on your research interests and the strengths of programs (= the "fit"), not on geographic location, unless you have to, e.g. family obligations. 

5. I second AP's advice. Contacting POIs are very important and can be quite helpful - you may also ask if (given your background and research interests) they can give you any advice on how to improve your application/further develop your research interests. I did this and most of the POIs I contacted replied with detailed advice. (I revised my SOP based on their advice, as you can imagine)

Best of luck!

[Isaac Freeman]

@AP, yes, that is exactly what I had in mind. A general template of self introduction, and then a personal reason for writing, research interests and reason for contacting a professor specifically, based on the information I have on each etc. Thanks.

@AnUglyBoringNerd thank you on the very thorough reply. I will review the links later today. And it's good to hear what I'm doing so far is a step in the right direction.