Applications 2019

[Sigaba]

The purpose of this thread is for those who applied in 2015 to graduate programs in history to do some chalk talk. What would you do differently and why? What parts of the process did you nail? Did you take any risks and how did they pay off? Were you surprised by any hidden fees? What role did campus visits play in making decisions on where to apply or where to go? Did you apply to too many programs, too few, or just the right amount?

 

Because many are still learning where they've been accepted, if you post in this thread, please provide a "snap shot" of your current status. Perhaps the easiest way for many to provide this snap shot is to copy and paste the biographical information from your signature. Or, you could employ a short hand to indicate the number of schools to which you applied, the yesses, the nos, and the wait and sees.

 

Here's the deal. Year after year, many aspiring graduate students come to the history forum of the GradCafe and ask a lot of questions and provide a lot of blow by blow details of the process. Year after year, many aspiring graduate students stop posting soon after getting offers of admission and/or letters of rejection. When they leave, they take a treasure trove of useful information and invaluable experiences. The aim of this thread is to provide an opportunity for a cathartic "exit interview" of sorts so that future members of this BB can use it to build tool kits to use when they apply.

 

For those of you who have not had as much success as you would like, it may be especially difficult to share your experiences. But I say if you did the best that you could under the circumstances, you should be proud of the hard work you've done. Hold your heads high and tell us what you have learned.

 

If this concept has legs, perhaps down the line there will be additional lessons learned threads that will run almost hand in hand with other annual threads.

 

A caveat. Many of you may be emotionally raw right now after years of very hard work, months of highs and lows, and weeks of checking your email every five minutes. Please do what you can to manage those emotions if you post in this thread. Do not betray any confidences. Do not do too much venting. Do not post anything that you would not be willing to say to a DGS or any of the other Powers That Be at any institution you would like to attend as a graduate student.

 

Ideally, among the first respondents to this request for information will be the lurker

the highly respectable telkanuru.

[hbhowe]

Hi everybody! I'm jumping the gun a little bit because this thread for the 2018 cycle was born about two weeks from now last year, but I've had several cups of coffee/spent the day staring at grad admissions sites so what the heck.

I'm relatively (extremely) new to the forum but I'm looking forward to getting to know you through the next few grueling months! I'm a rising senior at NYU, applying to PhD programs in US History with an interest in the intersection of labor, immigration, and citizenship practices at the turn of the century. Currently I'm looking most closely at Columbia (Ngai, Katznelson), Wisconsin (Michels, Enstad maybe), Cornell (Glickman, though I've heard their placement is not great), and mayyyybe the University of Minnesota, because of Erika Lee and their Immigration History Research Center. Also dreaming about Princeton and UChicago.

I'm in the process of thinking heavily about my SoP, polishing my writing sample, and studying for the GRE. What about y'all?

Edited June 3, 2018 by hbhowe

[historygeek]

Hi hello! I’m a history and Italian double major at Saint Louis University.

My interests are also in immigration; I’m mostly interested in a transnational comparison between female agency of Italian women in the US and Italy, but I’m also interested in female agency in Italian- and Greek-American communities. 

My top is Columbia, but I’m also applying to Harvard, NYU, UCLA and Michigan in my top 5. I’m applying to BC, Georgetown, and George Washington too  

I’ve started (a little) on my SOPs, but I’m also trying to gather sources and things for my writing sample. I’m also PROCRASTINATING studying for the GRE. 

Edited June 3, 2018 by historygeek

[Balleu]

Hi folks! Thanks for starting this thread, hbhowe. It was the push I needed to move from lurking to posting. 

I'm a few years out of undergrad at a state school in the Pacific Northwest. My thesis was on Nigerian market women's resistance to an attempt by colonial authorities to impose price controls. My interests have evolved since then away from straight African history toward the Atlantic African diaspora;  chronologically I expect I'll end up working in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, geographically in the Caribbean, thematically in the overlap between environmental history (especially food) and social history. One of the POIs below put together a very helpful sample comps list for the Atlantic African diaspora, so I'm doing as much reading as possible before going into writing SOPs.

So far my list includes:

• NYU (Morgan, Gomez, Goetz)
• Brown (Ferreira, Cope, Jacobs)
• Cornell (Greene, Byfield, Bassi, Craib)
• UNC (Lindsay, Radding)
• Johns Hopkins (Morgan, Johnson)
• Columbia (Brown, Lightfoot)
• Princeton (This one is a maybe for me right now, but I can see how a combination of Adelman/Candiani/Kreike could get me where I want to be)
• U of Toronto and U of British Columbia for funded MAs. 
• I am very open to feedback on this list. Please, let me know who else I should consider.

GRE is over and done with! I actually just got my scores back today. Glad that hurdle is out of the way and that it was less onerous than I expected. I'm revising my thesis into a writing sample, which my thesis adviser graciously offered to read and workshop with me, so that's next on my to-do list.

Good luck to all and I look forward to getting to know you over the next year.

[TsarandProphet]

Hi guys!

I am applying to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Stanford to study Russian and East European History! I am mainly interested in modernity, intellectual history, and the history of the social sciences.

 

[TMP]

7 hours ago, TsarandProphet said:

Hi guys!

I am applying to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Stanford to study Russian and East European History! I am mainly interested in modernity, intellectual history, and the history of the social sciences.

 

You realize there are more PhD programs with Russian history, right?  Those are very, very competitive programs.  Most European/Russian history programs can only take in one student in Russian history per year if they're looking.  You'll want to look into universities with Title VIII area studies centers-- those are where you want to be because of resources and faculty.  Professors and students go where the money is.

[glycoprotein1]

Best of luck to y’all!!! 

[historygeek]

7 hours ago, Balleu said:

Hi folks! Thanks for starting this thread, hbhowe. It was the push I needed to move from lurking to posting. 

I'm a few years out of undergrad at a state school in the Pacific Northwest. My thesis was on Nigerian market women's resistance to an attempt by colonial authorities to impose price controls. My interests have evolved since then away from straight African history toward the Atlantic African diaspora;  chronologically I expect I'll end up working in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, geographically in the Caribbean, thematically in the overlap between environmental history (especially food) and social history. One of the POIs below put together a very helpful sample comps list for the Atlantic African diaspora, so I'm doing as much reading as possible before going into writing SOPs.

So far my list includes:

• NYU (Morgan, Gomez, Goetz)
• Brown (Ferreira, Cope, Jacobs)
• Cornell (Greene, Byfield, Bassi, Craib)
• UNC (Lindsay, Radding)
• Johns Hopkins (Morgan, Johnson)
• Columbia (Brown, Lightfoot)
• Princeton (This one is a maybe for me right now, but I can see how a combination of Adelman/Candiani/Kreike could get me where I want to be)
• U of Toronto and U of British Columbia for funded MAs. 
• I am very open to feedback on this list. Please, let me know who else I should consider.

GRE is over and done with! I actually just got my scores back today. Glad that hurdle is out of the way and that it was less onerous than I expected. I'm revising my thesis into a writing sample, which my thesis adviser graciously offered to read and workshop with me, so that's next on my to-do list.

Good luck to all and I look forward to getting to know you over the next year.

IIRC, Northwestern has plenty of African Diaspora historians. You might be interested in working with Sherwin Bryant, David Schoenbrun, maybe Helen Tilley?

[hbhowe]

11 hours ago, Balleu said:

NYU (Morgan, Gomez, Goetz)

I might PM you if you want to hear more about Goetz--she's currently the director of undergraduate studies in History here and I have some experience with her. Not as an advisor, obviously, but it might still come in handy.

Good planning to be done already with the GRE! I'm very jealous.

[psstein]

Anyone interested in Univ. of Wisconsin, feel free to PM me.

I may be reapplying in this coming application cycle (research/personal reasons), but the decision hasn't been finalized.

[AfricanusCrowther]

17 hours ago, Balleu said:

 

• I am very open to feedback on this list. Please, let me know who else I should consider.

I would suggest Wisconsin (Gómez, Sweet, Brown, Whiting) and Northwestern (Bryant, Hanretta, Ramírez, Molina, Harris, Liu) 

[dr. t]

17 hours ago, Balleu said:

Brown (Ferreira, Cope, Jacobs)

Let me know if you'd like to be put in touch with some grad students here.

[Assotto]

18 hours ago, Balleu said:

Hi folks! Thanks for starting this thread, hbhowe. It was the push I needed to move from lurking to posting. 

I'm a few years out of undergrad at a state school in the Pacific Northwest. My thesis was on Nigerian market women's resistance to an attempt by colonial authorities to impose price controls. My interests have evolved since then away from straight African history toward the Atlantic African diaspora;  chronologically I expect I'll end up working in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, geographically in the Caribbean, thematically in the overlap between environmental history (especially food) and social history. One of the POIs below put together a very helpful sample comps list for the Atlantic African diaspora, so I'm doing as much reading as possible before going into writing SOPs.

So far my list includes:

• NYU (Morgan, Gomez, Goetz)
• Brown (Ferreira, Cope, Jacobs)
• Cornell (Greene, Byfield, Bassi, Craib)
• UNC (Lindsay, Radding)
• Johns Hopkins (Morgan, Johnson)
• Columbia (Brown, Lightfoot)
• Princeton (This one is a maybe for me right now, but I can see how a combination of Adelman/Candiani/Kreike could get me where I want to be)
• U of Toronto and U of British Columbia for funded MAs. 
• I am very open to feedback on this list. Please, let me know who else I should consider.

GRE is over and done with! I actually just got my scores back today. Glad that hurdle is out of the way and that it was less onerous than I expected. I'm revising my thesis into a writing sample, which my thesis adviser graciously offered to read and workshop with me, so that's next on my to-do list.

Good luck to all and I look forward to getting to know you over the next year.

Happy to answer any specific questions about Cornell.

[psstein]

2 hours ago, AfricanusCrowther said:

I would suggest Wisconsin (Gómez, Sweet, Brown, Whiting) and Northwestern (Bryant, Hanretta, Ramírez, Molina, Harris, Liu) 

Sweet took a student last year and I believe Whiting is about to go on leave, just so @Balleu knows.

[Balleu]

 

4 hours ago, telkanuru said:

Let me know if you'd like to be put in touch with some grad students here [at Brown].

3 hours ago, Assotto said:

Happy to answer any specific questions about Cornell.

7 hours ago, psstein said:

Anyone interested in Univ. of Wisconsin, feel free to PM me.

I may be reapplying in this coming application cycle (research/personal reasons), but the decision hasn't been finalized.

Excellent, thanks all! Sending PMs. 

4 hours ago, AfricanusCrowther said:

I would suggest Wisconsin (Gómez, Sweet, Brown, Whiting) and Northwestern (Bryant, Hanretta, Ramírez, Molina, Harris, Liu) 

Thank you! Both of those are on my spreadsheet, but I wasn't sure how highly to prioritize them. I've received conflicting information (the nature of grad school, I know) on how many schools to apply to. Assuming my final list ends up more like 10-12, Wisconsin and Northwestern are definitely on there. I also appreciate the heads up on who may not be accepting new students this cycle. 

 

[AP]

Welcome new cohort! Rising sixth year here. I found the forum very helpful when I was applying so I'm happy to pay it forward. If may, let me give you the single piece of advice I wished someone had told me (or at least had made it super clear): as you prepare your applications, stop thinking as an undergraduate (if you come straight from undergrad or have graduated in the past two years); start thinking like a professional, grad student. 

I understand this is very vague advice, but it's so because it applies differently to all us. In my case, it meant to stop worrying about stupid things (like GRE) and worry about the important ones (the SoP, for example). If you set your mind to the application process being already part of graduate school (you will be applying for stuff for the next 6-7 years at least), if you think of this as a specialization of your work, as a way to further your career, believe me, it will transpire into your application materials. 

All the best!!!!!!!

[Tigla]

It is time to throw my hat back into the ring. Last year, I was accepted into two UK universities (one of which I deferred for a year) and was waitlisted on my three US applications. Hopefully, this round will be the one!

In a broad sense, I focus on global development programs during the Cold War. A lot of work has been done on American and Soviet programs, the role of international organizations, and the effects of 'development' on the 'Third World.' Following the literature from the Global Cold War, my plan is to attempt to look at how European countries, specifically the Germanys, justified their programs and the decision-making process once the decision was made to aid a country. Through my work, I hope to be able to combine the growing political and international histories of the Global Cold War with the economic and intellectual histories of development aid programs. Then, apply these frameworks back into Europe to figure out why European countries actively engaged in these programs.

• UNC-Chapel Hill: Klaus Larres and Karen Hagemann (Need to go through the faculty again)
• Princeton: Harold James, Christina Davis, Helen Miller, Andrew Moravcsik
• Northwestern: Daniel Immerwahr, Lauren Stokes, Kyle Burke
• Brandeis: David Engermann and Shameel Ahmad
• Columbia: Matthew Connelly, Anders Stephanson, Adam Tooze, and Paul Thomas Chamberlin
• NYU: Stephen Gross and Mary Nolan (still a maybe)
• TAM: Hoi-eun Kim, Jason Parker, and Adam Seipp
• Stony Brook: Young-Sun Hong, Larry Fordham, Michael Barnhart (another maybe)
• Harvard: Erez Manela, Charles S Maier, Arne Westad
• Indiana: Nick Cullather and Stephen Macekura

I'm still expanding my list and trying to cast my net fairly wide before starting to cut universities. The rest of my application will be mostly edited from last year's one. My writing sample, however, will be a chapter from my MA thesis which used exclusively German sources. As for my recommendations, they will change because 2 of my writers are leaving academia for the private sector.

[AnUglyBoringNerd]

31 minutes ago, AP said:

as you prepare your applications, stop thinking as an undergraduate (if you come straight from undergrad or have graduated in the past two years); start thinking like a professional, grad student. 

I second this - I was actually lucky enough to receive this piece of advice from @AP last year when I was applying and it helped me a lot! 

[AfricanusCrowther]

8 hours ago, Balleu said:

 

Excellent, thanks all! Sending PMs. 

Thank you! Both of those are on my spreadsheet, but I wasn't sure how highly to prioritize them. I've received conflicting information (the nature of grad school, I know) on how many schools to apply to. Assuming my final list ends up more like 10-12, Wisconsin and Northwestern are definitely on there. I also appreciate the heads up on who may not be accepting new students this cycle. 

 

IMHO, I would be wary of locking yourself into a ranked list right now. I would also strongly suggest you consider Duke (Dubois, Gaspar, Glymph, Lentz-Smith, Peck). 

[OHSP]

1 hour ago, Tigla said:

It is time to throw my hat back into the ring. Last year, I was accepted into two UK universities (one of which I deferred for a year) and was waitlisted on my three US applications. Hopefully, this round will be the one!

In a broad sense, I focus on global development programs during the Cold War. A lot of work has been done on American and Soviet programs, the role of international organizations, and the effects of 'development' on the 'Third World.' Following the literature from the Global Cold War, my plan is to attempt to look at how European countries, specifically the Germanys, justified their programs and the decision-making process once the decision was made to aid a country. Through my work, I hope to be able to combine the growing political and international histories of the Global Cold War with the economic and intellectual histories of development aid programs. Then, apply these frameworks back into Europe to figure out why European countries actively engaged in these programs.

• UNC-Chapel Hill: Klaus Larres and Karen Hagemann (Need to go through the faculty again)
• Princeton: Harold James, Christina Davis, Helen Miller, Andrew Moravcsik
• Northwestern: Daniel Immerwahr, Lauren Stokes, Kyle Burke
• Brandeis: David Engermann and Shameel Ahmad
• Columbia: Matthew Connelly, Anders Stephanson, Adam Tooze, and Paul Thomas Chamberlin
• NYU: Stephen Gross and Mary Nolan (still a maybe)
• TAM: Hoi-eun Kim, Jason Parker, and Adam Seipp
• Stony Brook: Young-Sun Hong, Larry Fordham, Michael Barnhart (another maybe)
• Harvard: Erez Manela, Charles S Maier, Arne Westad
• Indiana: Nick Cullather and Stephen Macekura

I'm still expanding my list and trying to cast my net fairly wide before starting to cut universities. The rest of my application will be mostly edited from last year's one. My writing sample, however, will be a chapter from my MA thesis which used exclusively German sources. As for my recommendations, they will change because 2 of my writers are leaving academia for the private sector.

NYU-wise Mary Nolan has just retired--if you're interested in global development broadly construed you should think about Sara Pursley and Monica Kim, also Stef Geroulanos. 

[historygeek]

2 hours ago, AP said:

Welcome new cohort! Rising sixth year here. I found the forum very helpful when I was applying so I'm happy to pay it forward. If may, let me give you the single piece of advice I wished someone had told me (or at least had made it super clear): as you prepare your applications, stop thinking as an undergraduate (if you come straight from undergrad or have graduated in the past two years); start thinking like a professional, grad student. 

I understand this is very vague advice, but it's so because it applies differently to all us. In my case, it meant to stop worrying about stupid things (like GRE) and worry about the important ones (the SoP, for example). If you set your mind to the application process being already part of graduate school (you will be applying for stuff for the next 6-7 years at least), if you think of this as a specialization of your work, as a way to further your career, believe me, it will transpire into your application materials. 

All the best!!!!!!!

I needed this advice, honestly. It’s hard for me to stop putting so much weight on the GRE!

[hbhowe]

On 6/3/2018 at 5:25 PM, hbhowe said:

Currently I'm looking most closely at Columbia (Ngai, Katznelson), Wisconsin (Michels, Enstad maybe), Cornell (Glickman, though I've heard their placement is not great), and mayyyybe the University of Minnesota, because of Erika Lee and their Immigration History Research Center. Also dreaming about Princeton and UChicago.

Upon further thought, I'm adding to this a little--anybody have any thoughts on Georgetown, Kazin/Benton-Cohen/McCartin?

[TMP]

6 hours ago, Tigla said:

It is time to throw my hat back into the ring. Last year, I was accepted into two UK universities (one of which I deferred for a year) and was waitlisted on my three US applications. Hopefully, this round will be the one!

In a broad sense, I focus on global development programs during the Cold War. A lot of work has been done on American and Soviet programs, the role of international organizations, and the effects of 'development' on the 'Third World.' Following the literature from the Global Cold War, my plan is to attempt to look at how European countries, specifically the Germanys, justified their programs and the decision-making process once the decision was made to aid a country. Through my work, I hope to be able to combine the growing political and international histories of the Global Cold War with the economic and intellectual histories of development aid programs. Then, apply these frameworks back into Europe to figure out why European countries actively engaged in these programs.

• UNC-Chapel Hill: Klaus Larres and Karen Hagemann (Need to go through the faculty again)
• Princeton: Harold James, Christina Davis, Helen Miller, Andrew Moravcsik
• Northwestern: Daniel Immerwahr, Lauren Stokes, Kyle Burke
• Brandeis: David Engermann and Shameel Ahmad
• Columbia: Matthew Connelly, Anders Stephanson, Adam Tooze, and Paul Thomas Chamberlin
• NYU: Stephen Gross and Mary Nolan (still a maybe)
• TAM: Hoi-eun Kim, Jason Parker, and Adam Seipp
• Stony Brook: Young-Sun Hong, Larry Fordham, Michael Barnhart (another maybe)
• Harvard: Erez Manela, Charles S Maier, Arne Westad
• Indiana: Nick Cullather and Stephen Macekura

I'm still expanding my list and trying to cast my net fairly wide before starting to cut universities. The rest of my application will be mostly edited from last year's one. My writing sample, however, will be a chapter from my MA thesis which used exclusively German sources. As for my recommendations, they will change because 2 of my writers are leaving academia for the private sector.

Oh there was a short piece by William Glenn Gray in the latest anniversary issue of Central European History on thinking about Germany's economic development contributions.  I someone said that Mary Nolan is retiring from NYU.  

[Tigla]

@TMP Thanks for the article! I must have missed it through my literature review. @OHSP Thank you for the possible advisors. It is a shame Nolan is retiring; I really enjoyed reading her insights into post-WWII Germany.

[Imenol]

Maier is retiring!