2020 application thread

[Sigaba]

The objective of this thread is to serve as a catch all for aspiring historians seeking graduate degrees.

IME/IMO, these annual threads work better when interested parties pose their questions in a single catch all thread rather than starting individual threads across multiple fora for each question, concern, complaint, and gripe.  YMMV.

For this year's thread, I am going to recommend two changes of pace. First, when you write your introductory post, focus on your areas of interest/fields of study, and language skills rather than your numbers.If you've written a senior thesis and/or honors thesis, share your findings either generally or specifically. Articulate what you want to do as a professional academic historian beyond where you want to work. That is, spend time writing about what kind of historian you want to be. (A way to accomplish this task is to write about the work or historians who have greatly influenced you.) If you've already identified historiographical trajectories you want to alter slightly, redirect, or shatter, let us know. 

The second recommendation is for those members of the BB who attend top schools and typically lurk throughout the season until after receiving notification of getting into all of one's programs of choice. Please consider the value of sharing the information you're receiving in person during office hours from professors and graduate students at your current institution. Do not violate any confidences. However, if you get a nugget on how to tackle a SOP or writing sample, you can do others a solid by passing that information along. (And you can be highly confident that sharing such tips isn't going to diminish your chances of going seven for seven.)

[BalkanItinerant]

I'll be applying for probably around ten PhD programs this December. I'm curious about the place of language comprehension on the applications. English is the only language I have fluency in, but I have beginner to intermediate level comprehension of a few other languages, and used French-language scholarship to write a paper in undergrad once. I understand the basics of grammar and a lot of vocab in these languages, but I don't have speaking fluency in them and often need a translator or dictionary to look up certain terms. Can I put languages like French, Russian, Irish, and Bulgarian on an application as languages I have some knowledge with, as long as I clarify that it's more a reading comprehension ability rather than a native-level fluency? I know one accomplished historian of Eastern Europe at my undergrad had about eight languages besides English on his CV, but he only professed speaking fluency in one of them (Romanian). My field of study is America in the late-19th to early 20th century with a tentative focus on immigration, labor, and politics.

Edited September 13, 2019 by BalkanItinerant

[psstein]

6 hours ago, BalkanItinerant said:

I'll be applying for probably around ten PhD programs this December. I'm curious about the place of language comprehension on the applications. English is the only language I have fluency in, but I have beginner to intermediate level comprehension of a few other languages, and used French-language scholarship to write a paper in undergrad once. I understand the basics of grammar and a lot of vocab in these languages, but I don't have speaking fluency in them and often need a translator or dictionary to look up certain terms. Can I put languages like French, Russian, Irish, and Bulgarian on an application as languages I have some knowledge with, as long as I clarify that it's more a reading comprehension ability rather than a native-level fluency? I know one accomplished historian of Eastern Europe at my undergrad had about eight languages besides English on his CV, but he only professed speaking fluency in one of them (Romanian). My field of study is America in the late-19th to early 20th century with a tentative focus on immigration, labor, and politics.

Reading proficiency is the major proficiency that matters, unless you're planning to do interviews. I would only list the languages that are relevant to your project, which you have the highest degree of proficiency in. For example, if Bulgarian is relevant, keep it on. If Russian isn't, then leave it on. It seems to me that French and Russian are probably the most relevant to your intended course of study. 

Which programs are you intending to apply to? Bluntly speaking, there aren't 10 programs worth attending in most given subfields. 

[michiganundergrad]

Do I have a chance??

I'm in the process of preparing to apply to history Ph.D. and MA programs like UCLA, Stanford, Michigan, etc. Ideally, I would like to go straight to Ph.D. but I don't think that will be a possibility without an MA to strengthen my application. Broadly, my interests are in medieval European women's and religious history. I have begun reaching out to potential advisors with more detailed research interests.

-Senior majoring in History and minoring in Women's and Gender Studies from a top 100 school

-Graduating from two honors programs (Departmental Honors and from an interdisciplinary honors program)

-GPA: 3.6 overall (unfortunately, not great but at least there is a very strong upward trend), 3.9 GPA in history courses

-Intermediate French and considering learning Latin this semester but it is difficult to find the time. I feel that with only one relevant language I may not get into any Ph.D. programs...

-Strong letters of recommendations with faculty that I have worked closely with

-Haven't taken the GRE but feeling confident in my verbal abilities and pretty concerned about my math score lol

-Involved in many extracurriculars and work as an undergraduate grader in my school's English department

[historygeek]

39 minutes ago, history45678 said:

Do I have a chance??

I'm in the process of preparing to apply to history Ph.D. and MA programs like UCLA, Stanford, Michigan, etc. Ideally, I would like to go straight to Ph.D. but I don't think that will be a possibility without an MA to strengthen my application. Broadly, my interests are in medieval European women's and religious history. I have begun reaching out to potential advisors with more detailed research interests.

-Senior majoring in History and minoring in Women's and Gender Studies from a top 100 school

-Graduating from two honors programs (Departmental Honors and from an interdisciplinary honors program)

-GPA: 3.6 overall (unfortunately, not great but at least there is a very strong upward trend), 3.9 GPA in history courses

-Intermediate French and considering learning Latin this semester but it is difficult to find the time. I feel that with only one relevant language I may not get into any Ph.D. programs...

-Strong letters of recommendations with faculty that I have worked closely with

- Honors thesis in history and anthropology based on a find from a medieval castle complex I helped excavate during study abroad in Europe

-Haven't taken the GRE but feeling confident in my verbal abilities and pretty concerned about my math score lol

-Involved in many extracurriculars and work as an undergraduate grader in my school's English department

Shameless plug: have you looked into Villanova? Our Medievalist is phenomenal, and the program offers funding. 

[MARTINt]

1 hour ago, history45678 said:

-Intermediate French and considering learning Latin this semester but it is difficult to find the time. I feel that with only one relevant language I may not get into any Ph.D. programs...

If you're interested in the actual Middle Ages (c. 600-1500) - and not the Middle Ages as in "everything before 1789" -  I find it hard to believe that a top program will admit a student without a decent knowledge of Latin. It's basically impossible to start doing research without it. French could maybe get you through the sixteenth. seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries,  not before that.

Edited September 14, 2019 by MARTINt

[dr. t]

9 hours ago, history45678 said:

history Ph.D. and MA programs like UCLA, Stanford, Michigan, etc

Who, specifically, do you want to work with?

 

8 hours ago, MARTINt said:

I find it hard to believe that a top program will admit a student without a decent knowledge of Latin.

It's definitely possible if you have a great deal of strength in other unusual or hard to learn languages (e.g. Arabic, Greek, fluent in German, etc.). But with just middling French, yes, I'd say impossible. Most of your competitors will be fluent in French and have a full 4 years of Latin, using both in their undergraduate thesis. 

[michiganundergrad]

30 minutes ago, telkanuru said:

Who, specifically, do you want to work with?

 

It's definitely possible if you have a great deal of strength in other unusual or hard to learn languages (e.g. Arabic, Greek, fluent in German, etc.). But with just middling French, yes, I'd say impossible. Most of your competitors will be fluent in French and have a full 4 years of Latin, using both in their undergraduate thesis. 

Fiona Griffiths, Lisa Bitel, and Katherine French are currently my top choices but I'm narrowing down my other options. I'll probably apply to half PhD programs and half MA programs. 

My medieval history professors have told me that my French would likely be enough since I would be getting an MA on my way to the PhD. However, I started worrying that even with two more semesters of French that wouldn't be enough. I guess the best I can do is start dedicating a few hours a day to Latin. One of my top choice advisors told me that my application looks strong and that she thinks I can pick up enough Latin within the next year. 

[dr. t]

2 hours ago, history45678 said:

I guess the best I can do is start dedicating a few hours a day to Latin. One of my top choice advisors told me that my application looks strong and that she thinks I can pick up enough Latin within the next year. 

This will get you into a graduate program. It will not get you into a top graduate program. An MA is a bad place to pick up a new language.

 

2 hours ago, history45678 said:

Fiona Griffiths, Lisa Bitel, and Katherine French

Ah, so later and Insular history. All three are quality scholars, but have you looked at where they currently have students placed?

[psstein]

12 hours ago, telkanuru said:

It's definitely possible if you have a great deal of strength in other unusual or hard to learn languages (e.g. Arabic, Greek, fluent in German, etc.). But with just middling French, yes, I'd say impossible. Most of your competitors will be fluent in French and have a full 4 years of Latin, using both in their undergraduate thesis. 

I can vouch for this. I applied originally as an early modernist, though without Latin. I did, however, have a good background in Greek and an excellent one in French (near fluency). The lack of Latin was still an obstacle, to the extent that somewhere I applied wondered why I wanted to work on early modern science without knowing Latin.

Latin is basically a barrier to entry for medieval and early modern programs. I wouldn't advise going somewhere that didn't require it.

[michiganundergrad]

16 minutes ago, psstein said:

I can vouch for this. I applied originally as an early modernist, though without Latin. I did, however, have a good background in Greek and an excellent one in French (near fluency). The lack of Latin was still an obstacle, to the extent that somewhere I applied wondered why I wanted to work on early modern science without knowing Latin.

Latin is basically a barrier to entry for medieval and early modern programs. I wouldn't advise going somewhere that didn't require it.

I reached out to one of my LOR writers about learning Latin and he is directing me to a professor that might be able to help me. Either way, I'll start dedicating at least an hour a day to Latin and look into post-bacc programs for it. 

[michiganundergrad]

13 hours ago, telkanuru said:

This will get you into a graduate program. It will not get you into a top graduate program. An MA is a bad place to pick up a new language.

 

Ah, so later and Insular history. All three are quality scholars, but have you looked at where they currently have students placed?

Unfortunately, I may have to take a year or two off to properly study the necessary languages. While I am willing to do this, I am saddened that I would have to put a pause on my research.

While I am still in the process of researching programs, I am placing a high value on placements. 

[dr. t]

20 minutes ago, history45678 said:

Unfortunately, I may have to take a year or two off to properly study the necessary languages. While I am willing to do this, I am saddened that I would have to put a pause on my research.

I don't think this is unfortunate, I think this is quite wise! I know that, coming straight from undergraduate, there is an sense of immediacy with respect to every part of your life. As someone who started his MA at 27 before continuing to the PhD, please believe me when I say this is not the case with grad school. This is even more true if you look at the current horrible no good very bad state of the academic job market. 

Something that's not precisely on topic, but which I should state at some point: were I considering doing a PhD now, I would under no circumstances do it, regardless of the quality of the  program that accepted me or my enthusiasm and interests. And I am not burned out on graduate school. I love graduate school; it is the best experience of my life. There is just no hope on the job market. It is worse than it was in 2009-2011. In a decade, SLCs, which formed the overwhelming majority of job listings, will almost certainly cease to exist as a concept. R1s will persist, but academia is going to be unrecognizable. That's not a thing to dive into.

[psstein]

27 minutes ago, telkanuru said:

Something that's not precisely on topic, but which I should state at some point: were I considering doing a PhD now, I would under no circumstances do it, regardless of the quality of the  program that accepted me or my enthusiasm and interests. And I am not burned out on graduate school. I love graduate school; it is the best experience of my life. There is just no hope on the job market. It is worse than it was in 2009-2011. In a decade, SLCs, which formed the overwhelming majority of job listings, will almost certainly cease to exist as a concept. R1s will persist, but academia is going to be unrecognizable. That's not a thing to dive into.

I partly agree with you. I think the demise of the SLAC has been greatly exaggerated; the oft-quoted figure of "50% of colleges will close in the next 10 years," based on speaking with SLAC faculty and staff, just doesn't seem true. What will happen, IMO, is that colleges with fewer than 1000 students will encounter significant issues. It's tough enough for those colleges to keep the lights on/pay faculty/pensions/etc. as it currently stands. I don't see SLACs, writ large "ceasing to exist as a concept."

As for the meat of your post, yes. One of the major reasons I left Wisconsin was the vanishing job market. I couldn't justify 7+ years for a degree with dubious value outside of academia. (Yes, yes, I know about alt-ac jobs, but I have a very strong, probably idiosyncratic belief about the whole "alt-ac" push). I do agree that the job market is bad, and I'd add that students at 90% of programs have no chance at TT academic jobs. Even in the top 10% of programs, you probably have a 50% chance at best.

My solution is simple: 75% of all graduate programs should suspend admissions. The remaining 25% should cut intake in half. There's also a more targeted, less brutal way to do this, but it would require having the AHA serve as an accreditation agency.

[dr. t]

40 minutes ago, psstein said:

I think the demise of the SLAC has been greatly exaggerated

Well I for one hope you're right and I'm wrong ?

[AP]

Hello new applicants! 

I used TGC when applying for graduate school back in the day and now I hold a TT position. I'm not serving in committees yet, but I am working "on the other side". I hope you find my insight useful. 

On 9/13/2019 at 2:15 PM, BalkanItinerant said:

I'll be applying for probably around ten PhD programs this December. I'm curious about the place of language comprehension on the applications. English is the only language I have fluency in, but I have beginner to intermediate level comprehension of a few other languages, and used French-language scholarship to write a paper in undergrad once. I understand the basics of grammar and a lot of vocab in these languages, but I don't have speaking fluency in them and often need a translator or dictionary to look up certain terms. Can I put languages like French, Russian, Irish, and Bulgarian on an application as languages I have some knowledge with, as long as I clarify that it's more a reading comprehension ability rather than a native-level fluency? I know one accomplished historian of Eastern Europe at my undergrad had about eight languages besides English on his CV, but he only professed speaking fluency in one of them (Romanian). My field of study is America in the late-19th to early 20th century with a tentative focus on immigration, labor, and politics.

In addition to the sound advice you've already receive, I'd recommend planning your field with a global perspective. Even if you focus on 19th century US, what would your research bring to the discipline as a whole? You don't need to answer this, but the fact that you are asking these questions might entice the AdComm (conformed not only of US historians) to make you an offer. In addition, more and more US history courses are being taught in relation to global issues. 

 

On 9/14/2019 at 1:36 PM, history45678 said:

Do I have a chance??

I'm in the process of preparing to apply to history Ph.D. and MA programs like UCLA, Stanford, Michigan, etc. Ideally, I would like to go straight to Ph.D. but I don't think that will be a possibility without an MA to strengthen my application. Broadly, my interests are in medieval European women's and religious history. I have begun reaching out to potential advisors with more detailed research interests.

-Senior majoring in History and minoring in Women's and Gender Studies from a top 100 school

-Graduating from two honors programs (Departmental Honors and from an interdisciplinary honors program)

-GPA: 3.6 overall (unfortunately, not great but at least there is a very strong upward trend), 3.9 GPA in history courses

-Intermediate French and considering learning Latin this semester but it is difficult to find the time. I feel that with only one relevant language I may not get into any Ph.D. programs...

-Strong letters of recommendations with faculty that I have worked closely with

- Honors thesis in history and anthropology based on a find from a medieval castle complex I helped excavate during study abroad in Europe

-Haven't taken the GRE but feeling confident in my verbal abilities and pretty concerned about my math score lol

-Involved in many extracurriculars and work as an undergraduate grader in my school's English department

I often sit back and listen to what @telkanuru says in these cases as the semi-official resident medievalist. In addition to the language comment, which is not minor, I'd steer away of lists like this. Admission to history programs goes beyond the numbers you provide, it's about the questions you ask, the insight that you offer, and your potential to develop those questions and those insights professionally. 

[petit-chou]

On 9/12/2019 at 5:50 PM, Sigaba said:

The objective of this thread is to serve as a catch all for aspiring historians seeking graduate degrees.

IME/IMO, these annual threads work better when interested parties pose their questions in a single catch all thread rather than starting individual threads across multiple fora for each question, concern, complaint, and gripe.  YMMV.

For this year's thread, I am going to recommend two changes of pace. First, when you write your introductory post, focus on your areas of interest/fields of study, and language skills rather than your numbers.If you've written a senior thesis and/or honors thesis, share your findings either generally or specifically. Articulate what you want to do as a professional academic historian beyond where you want to work. That is, spend time writing about what kind of historian you want to be. (A way to accomplish this task is to write about the work or historians who have greatly influenced you.) If you've already identified historiographical trajectories you want to alter slightly, redirect, or shatter, let us know. 

The second recommendation is for those members of the BB who attend top schools and typically lurk throughout the season until after receiving notification of getting into all of one's programs of choice. Please consider the value of sharing the information you're receiving in person during office hours from professors and graduate students at your current institution. Do not violate any confidences. However, if you get a nugget on how to tackle a SOP or writing sample, you can do others a solid by passing that information along. (And you can be highly confident that sharing such tips isn't going to diminish your chances of going seven for seven.)

Howdy folks! I just graduated with my M.A. over the summer and am now beginning the process of sending out emails to potential advisers for Ph.D. programs for Fall 2020. I forgot how soul-sucking and stressful this process can be. I wrote my thesis on Witchcraft in early modern France and Colonial Southeast Asia. I am looking to study early modern France (open to Global and Atlantic World as well) but more focused on religion, gender/sexuality. I am still very interested in magic and witches but they are not at the top of my must haves in a mentor.   

I speak, write, and read french at an intermediate to advanced level (have studied it since high school). My MA thesis did use early french archival sources and I am confident I can eventually pick up Latin as well. I plan on spending an hour or two a day on it when I am not teaching.

Speaking what I want to focus on - research- I want to be able to research as much as I can as an academic historian. I enjoy teaching, but not as much as I enjoy research. I am very much inspired by historians such as Keith Thomas, Howard Zinn, Margaret Jacobs (all very different from one another). I also am very interested in public history and I've done quite a few PH projects over my M.A. including a historical marker. That being said, It would be plus to find programs that incorporated PH or Digital Humanities. 

I know older members have advised against anything less than a top 20 but I am a trailing spouse...my husband will be finishing his PhD in the sciences this year and is applying to the job market right now as well. Still trying to aim for great schools but not saying no to smaller names as well. 

Very nice to meet you all and good luck to everyone this application season!!

~~~petit-chou

Edited September 17, 2019 by petit-chou

[WhaleshipEssex]

Currently in the process of apply to Ph.D programs for both history and HoS (depending on the department), my focus being the relationship of watchmaking and politics in 18th century Europe. Looking at Northwestern, Yale HSHM, Chicago, Berkeley, Stanford,  and, on the recommendation of one of my advisors, St. Andrews. 

[psstein]

3 hours ago, WhaleshipEssex said:

Currently in the process of apply to Ph.D programs for both history and HoS (depending on the department), my focus being the relationship of watchmaking and politics in 18th century Europe. Looking at Northwestern, Yale HSHM, Chicago, Berkeley, Stanford,  and, on the recommendation of one of my advisors, St. Andrews. 

If you're going to apply to St. Andrews, you ought to know that, while getting in will be easier than most top programs, getting a funded position will be damn near impossible as a non-UK/EU citizen, and is about equivalent to an Ivy. I also can't imagine that the outcomes from St. Andrews are all that great.

I'd normally recommend you apply to Cambridge instead, but my understanding is that Schaffer is ailing and preparing to retire.

Edited September 18, 2019 by psstein

[norellehannah]

Hi all! Very happy to have stumbled upon this thread. I just graduated college in May, and am applying to PhD programs for Fall 2020. I'm very glad I took the year to prepare - I never thought just sending emails could be so stressful! I wrote my honors thesis on the voices of midwives in seventeenth-century London, focusing on the ways they held authority outside of the birthing room through an analysis of their presences in popular print and criminal trials. I'm hoping to focus in my grad work on women, gender, and sexuality as they relate to medicine and science in early modern Europe (and I'm open to Atlantic World as well).

I'm proficient in Spanish and have taken a year of Latin, and will have completed a year of Italian as well by the time I (hopefully!) enter grad school. For all those of you on the thread planning to learn Latin on your own, www.magistrula.com is a great resource for practicing all those nasty declensions

In terms of research, I'm very inspired by the work of people like Katharine Park, Paula Findlen, Mary Fissell, Carlo Ginzburg, and Londa Schiebinger in particular. I'm applying to 8 programs as of now, I would say about 4 of which feel like a really great fit. Currently, I'm trying to figure out how to email potential advisors whose work I find very interesting but divergent enough from my experience/immediate interests that I have to explain why I'm emailing them, lol.

Very happy to have some virtual people along for the ride with me! Best of luck everyone  

-Han

[psstein]

24 minutes ago, norellehannah said:

Hi all! Very happy to have stumbled upon this thread. I just graduated college in May, and am applying to PhD programs for Fall 2020. I'm very glad I took the year to prepare - I never thought just sending emails could be so stressful! I wrote my honors thesis on the voices of midwives in seventeenth-century London, focusing on the ways they held authority outside of the birthing room through an analysis of their presences in popular print and criminal trials. I'm hoping to focus in my grad work on women, gender, and sexuality as they relate to medicine and science in early modern Europe (and I'm open to Atlantic World as well).

I'm proficient in Spanish and have taken a year of Latin, and will have completed a year of Italian as well by the time I (hopefully!) enter grad school. For all those of you on the thread planning to learn Latin on your own, www.magistrula.com is a great resource for practicing all those nasty declensions

In terms of research, I'm very inspired by the work of people like Katharine Park, Paula Findlen, Mary Fissell, Carlo Ginzburg, and Londa Schiebinger in particular. I'm applying to 8 programs as of now, I would say about 4 of which feel like a really great fit. Currently, I'm trying to figure out how to email potential advisors whose work I find very interesting but divergent enough from my experience/immediate interests that I have to explain why I'm emailing them, lol.

Very happy to have some virtual people along for the ride with me! Best of luck everyone  

-Han

Good to see some other history of science folks! What programs do you think are a good fit? 

[norellehannah]

10 minutes ago, psstein said:

Good to see some other history of science folks! What programs do you think are a good fit? 

Haha hi!! Always happy to meet more HistSci friends!

Stanford, Brown, Johns Hopkins, and USC are the schools I'm most excited about - there are at least 2 profs in the dept at each school who feel like perfect matches for me. The other schools I'm applying to are UCSB, Yale, UPenn, and UW-Madison, where there are profs whose work/methods line up with mine but aren't as perfect a fit as the others. Still very excited about them though, of course!

[psstein]

51 minutes ago, norellehannah said:

Haha hi!! Always happy to meet more HistSci friends!

Stanford, Brown, Johns Hopkins, and USC are the schools I'm most excited about - there are at least 2 profs in the dept at each school who feel like perfect matches for me. The other schools I'm applying to are UCSB, Yale, UPenn, and UW-Madison, where there are profs whose work/methods line up with mine but aren't as perfect a fit as the others. Still very excited about them though, of course!

Stanford, Brown, and Hopkins are all outstanding choices with great faculty. I'd recommend re-evaluating USC and UCSB with reference to their placement histories. HoS is a very small field, and as with all other historical sub-fields, Ivies and public equivalents are disproportionately represented.

[WhaleshipEssex]

3 hours ago, psstein said:

If you're going to apply to St. Andrews, you ought to know that, while getting in will be easier than most top programs, getting a funded position will be damn near impossible as a non-UK/EU citizen, and is about equivalent to an Ivy. I also can't imagine that the outcomes from St. Andrews are all that great.

I'd normally recommend you apply to Cambridge instead, but my understanding is that Schaffer is ailing and preparing to retire.

I've heard similar things about the difficulties both in securing funding and job prospects due the emphasis on research, the worries are certainly there. The big draw for me is Richard Whatmore as he's done quite important work (for my purposes) with regards to incorporating Geneva into broader conversations about the 18th century.

[OHSP]

1 hour ago, norellehannah said:

Haha hi!! Always happy to meet more HistSci friends!

Stanford, Brown, Johns Hopkins, and USC are the schools I'm most excited about - there are at least 2 profs in the dept at each school who feel like perfect matches for me. The other schools I'm applying to are UCSB, Yale, UPenn, and UW-Madison, where there are profs whose work/methods line up with mine but aren't as perfect a fit as the others. Still very excited about them though, of course!

This might sound like an odd suggestion but have you considered NYU -- it may not obvious from their profiles but there are a lot of profs there who interests intersect with yours... maybe look into Julie Livingston and everyone connected to the Atlantic worlds program.