2021 Application Thread

[TMP]

On 8/13/2020 at 11:00 AM, telkanuru said:

Just the one you want to supervise your diss.

At the same time, you can certainly frame your emails to ALL of them (individually!) along the lines of :

Dear X,

Blah, blah, blah.

The department appears to be a strong fit to me.  Professors Y and Z have research interests that complement mine.  Do the graduate students in South Asian history typically work with all three of you in one way or another? How does this field function the way of offering seminars and preparing reading lists? 

etc.

Then you can get a good sense ahead of  time how organized the field is.  Trust me, not all fields are organized, cohesive, and/or collegial.

[MotherofAllCorgis]

It has been years since I posted here asking for advice. Now I am finally doing it and getting ready to apply.

To reiterate, I'm interested in modern British history and I am looking to do a master's at Oxbridge primarily. But I am now also thinking about other schools like LSE, York, etc. as well since there are also faculty there I am interested in working with. Any suggestions for US schools with departments that have a good British history MA?

Anyway, since I last posted, I have:

• Raised my cGPA to over 3.90/4.00
• Gotten research experience as a research assistant for my prof and acknowledgements in her publications.
• Worked with digital databases as an RA and published online guides to the materials in those digital databases.
• Visited the archives at Oxford's Bodleian Library and used primary sources there for a paper
• Developed my French (I can read primary sources, enough that sometimes I don't even need a dictionary) I think I will work on German next.
• Received offers from three profs to write letters of recommendation (Nicest thing was that I didn't even ask them, they just assumed they would be the one to write it!)

 

I have emailed potential supervisors, briefly outlined my research interests, and they said they would be available to supervise.

Right now I just have a question regarding writing samples. I have a senior thesis I written. It is really nothing original in terms of what it shows, but I used a ton of primary sources in it and it is directly related to what I want to study in grad school. However, I have another piece of writing I am considering. In terms of writing, I feel like this piece is way more analytical and I like the writing slightly better. I also used primary sources in this one but not nearly as much as in my senior thesis.  Another thing I like about this piece is that it is the perfect length they want for a writing sample. Unlike an excerpt, they can see my entire analysis and argument from beginning to end. However, unlike my senior thesis, this paper's topic is not related to an area of history I wish to focus on.

 

Any advice for which I should pick? If anyone also has any general advice for me, please let me know. Applying is just making me so nervous.

 

 

Edited August 15, 2020 by MotherofAllCorgis

[AP]

On 8/14/2020 at 4:17 PM, TMP said:

At the same time, you can certainly frame your emails to ALL of them (individually!) along the lines of :

Dear X,

Blah, blah, blah.

The department appears to be a strong fit to me.  Professors Y and Z have research interests that complement mine.  Do the graduate students in South Asian history typically work with all three of you in one way or another? How does this field function the way of offering seminars and preparing reading lists? 

etc.

Then you can get a good sense ahead of  time how organized the field is.  Trust me, not all fields are organized, cohesive, and/or collegial.

 

On 8/14/2020 at 3:00 PM, Sigaba said:

 

I recommend that you do your due diligence on all three so that you have a sense of alternatives.

One can go to a specific program to work with a specific professor only learn the hard way that the professor really does not care about graduate students. At all. (Or so I've heard.)

#NOTBITTER.

 

On 8/13/2020 at 11:00 AM, telkanuru said:

Just the one you want to supervise your diss.

 

I agree with these three pieces of sound advice. I would also pay attention to rank. I did not know this when I applied, but there are three types of professors: Assistant (tenure-track), Associate, and Full (both these tenured).* 

If you write to the assistant professor, they will probably suggest you work with someone more senior, depending on their year. For example, I'm a second year assistant professor so I'm not accepting graduate students because when they will be writing the dissertation I will be going nuts finishing the book. However, I advice students that are already in the program. If someone wanted to work with me, I respond, they should apply to work with any of my wonderful senior colleagues and then include me in their comps or committees. A colleague of mine is going up for tenure this year, so he is accepting students for next year, when he will be tenured. 

At my previous institution, this was very common. Senior professors almost always encouraged the inclusion of junior faculty in students' committees, especially comprehensive exams. 

All I'm saying is be sensitive to these ranks as different people might be able to help you better when they are tenured. I was not aware of these until I applied for jobs. If you don't know who to write, always err on the full or associate professor (there are some caveats, I know! don't @ me) 

 

* There are other types of professors, like visiting professors, postdocs, lecturers, and adjuncts, and other types of temporary positions. It would be unwise to write to them as your POI because they won't probably be there the whole time you are and/or their positions are precarious, they are often underpaid and overworked, and they would probably LOVE to mentor graduate students but do not have the time to do it. In my department, we have these positions and protect them at all costs from anything besides their two courses. We want them to have a good research agenda coming out from our department. I know two of them advice masters thesis. 

[TMP]

Just a FYI, from the grapevines,

There *is* strong consideration by a number of PhD programs, including at private schools and Big 10, to suspend admissions for Fall 2021, and perhaps 2022, to focus on supporting the current graduate students and helping them finish.  Final decisions won't be made just right now but I'll expect to see them roll around October. 

Take this as you want in the way of how much effort you want to put in into writing your application materials between now and late October when most decisions should be made in time for December deadlines.

[coffeehum]

45 minutes ago, TMP said:

Just a FYI, from the grapevines,

There *is* strong consideration by a number of PhD programs, including at private schools and Big 10, to suspend admissions for Fall 2021, and perhaps 2022, to focus on supporting the current graduate students and helping them finish.  Final decisions won't be made just right now but I'll expect to see them roll around October. 

Take this as you want in the way of how much effort you want to put in into writing your application materials between now and late October when most decisions should be made in time for December deadlines.

Can anyone share more information on this front? I have received some very discouraging emails from prospective advisors in the past couple of weeks and everything I'm seeing from current students/higher ed news has been increasingly alarming.

Most of my programs have updated their pages for the 2021 admissions season, but a few have not. I'm especially wondering if anyone has heard much about Northwestern, Ohio State, and Rutgers. Any and all information would be appreciated. 

[AP]

12 hours ago, coffeehum said:

Can anyone share more information on this front? I have received some very discouraging emails from prospective advisors in the past couple of weeks and everything I'm seeing from current students/higher ed news has been increasingly alarming.

Most of my programs have updated their pages for the 2021 admissions season, but a few have not. I'm especially wondering if anyone has heard much about Northwestern, Ohio State, and Rutgers. Any and all information would be appreciated. 

As @TMP mentioned, PhD admission decisions are not being made now in many places. We are preparing for a very uncertain semester, we are all panicking that X university is going online and our campus is beginning to receive students. 

At my own UG-centered institution on the West Coast, we are kind of dealing other priorities. I'm sorry, but triage dictates that we cannot possibly think about our admissions to graduate degrees if we can BARELY make sense of the next two weeks. 

Remember also that in many programs, admissions and funding for graduate students depends in many cases from administration higher up. This is not a decision all programs can take unilaterally, especially if graduate students are TAs. 

Follow @TMP advice. Just decide how much time you want to invest. This is excellent advice and advice you will use over and over again. You will, at some point, be preparing for comps and writing grant applications. At another point you will be deep into your dissertation and applying for conferences. You will also be writing your dissertation and applying to any job that appears on H-Net. 

For now, be patient and trust the information you are given. If in doubt, contact by email the department administrator. At best, they will give you an answer. At worst, they will tell you there is not policy in place yet. 

[TMP]

17 hours ago, coffeehum said:

Can anyone share more information on this front? I have received some very discouraging emails from prospective advisors in the past couple of weeks and everything I'm seeing from current students/higher ed news has been increasingly alarming.

Most of my programs have updated their pages for the 2021 admissions season, but a few have not. I'm especially wondering if anyone has heard much about Northwestern, Ohio State, and Rutgers. Any and all information would be appreciated. 

I know it sounds really discouraging.  But honestly, do you want to enter in a PhD program when departments are fighting for funds to help people finish their degrees once those people have exhausted their 4-5 year funding packages? Departments do want to be able to commit to their PhD students to the fullest extent, thus not abandoning those further along. To do that, they would prefer not to admit (w/ blessing of the Powers to Be) new students who they cannot provide the same amount of support for the next 5-8 years. They are also freaking out about graduate students who have recently passed their exams and now need to travel to archives. Those students are supposed to be able to travel to the archives but because of travel restrictions (mostly imposed by the universities), they can't go anywhere to get going on their research.  Instead, those students are using up a semester (or two!) of their guaranteed funding packages and working as TAs and doing what they can with online archives.  Essentially, they are losing out a semester or two of guaranteed funding to the pandemic and no one knows if they will be granted extensions later on to make up for that kind of loss.  Current students come first, not any considerations for next year's cohort.

[Sigaba]

17 hours ago, coffeehum said:

I'm especially wondering if anyone has heard much about Northwestern, Ohio State, and Rutgers. Any and all information would be appreciated. 

@coffeehum, the ability to read between the lines will be pivotal to your success in graduate school.

 

[coffeehum]

51 minutes ago, Sigaba said:

@coffeehum, the ability to read between the lines will be pivotal to your success in graduate school.

 

I am doing quite a bit of reading between the lines and am still curious (and anxious) to hear what other prospective applicants are hearing from current students or programs. Beyond my own situation, I care about what this means for the future of the field. 

Additionally, I certainly feel for current students and understand that admissions are not of utmost concern at the moment. I am simply inquiring here because this thread is frequented by prospective applicants who likely share similar concerns, have been in contact with programs, and are entering the admissions cycle with their own pandemic-related challenges, job insecurity and otherwise. I understand that we ultimately need to be patient and make our own decisions. 

[Sigaba]

2 hours ago, coffeehum said:

I am doing quite a bit of reading between the lines and am still curious (and anxious) to hear what other prospective applicants are hearing from current students or programs. Beyond my own situation, I care about what this means for the future of the field. 

Additionally, I certainly feel for current students and understand that admissions are not of utmost concern at the moment. I am simply inquiring here because this thread is frequented by prospective applicants who likely share similar concerns, have been in contact with programs, and are entering the admissions cycle with their own pandemic-related challenges, job insecurity and otherwise. I understand that we ultimately need to be patient and make our own decisions. 

The picture in my reply did not survive posting. My point is that when you posted your query, you had already heard from OSU ("Location: Buckeyeland").  
 

[automatic_peas]

Does anyone have any words of wisdom for the Yale book review? I've read some earlier forum posts that said to treat it as an academic book review rather than discussing why the book is meaningful to you, but would love any other tips. I have chosen to write about a fairly recent book in my thematic field (environmental history) but outside my regional focus. 

Edited August 27, 2020 by automatic_peas

[exitiumax]

On 8/18/2020 at 10:38 PM, TMP said:

Just a FYI, from the grapevines,

There *is* strong consideration by a number of PhD programs, including at private schools and Big 10, to suspend admissions for Fall 2021, and perhaps 2022, to focus on supporting the current graduate students and helping them finish.  Final decisions won't be made just right now but I'll expect to see them roll around October. 

Take this as you want in the way of how much effort you want to put in into writing your application materials between now and late October when most decisions should be made in time for December deadlines.

I just heard directly from a potential advisor that Brown will not be admitting a 2021 cohort. 

[dr. t]

7 hours ago, exitiumax said:

I just heard directly from a potential advisor that Brown will not be admitting a 2021 cohort. 

Hmmm. This is news to me. The cohort was supposed to be very small, but extant. Perhaps things have moved on and they haven't bothered to tell us. 

[Sleepless in skellefteå]

I am currently nervously trying to keep track of corona-related news from different universities. Something positive, however, is that my undergraduate research most likely will be published in an scholarly journal this October which I hope will boost my applications. Good luck to all! 

[sciencehistorian]

There is a reddit thread compiling programs that are not accepting applicants that many of you will find useful:

https://www.reddit.com/r/gradadmissions/comments/iekjt5/updated_list_of_programs_not_accepting_applicants/

Edited September 4, 2020 by sciencehistorian

[AnUglyBoringNerd]

https://history.columbia.edu/graduate/doctoral-program/admissions/

It seems that the Dual Degree MA in International and World History is still accepting. Also, Columbia's PhD program in History-East Asia is a joint program between History and EALAC, and some students can enter the program by applying to the latter. Not trying to make the situation better than it is, I guess I am just trying to be a duck on water by performing calmness.

Edited September 5, 2020 by AnUglyBoringNerd

[dr. t]

With that many high-quality programs not accepting applicants this year, it's also a good idea to contemplate the fact that others are, and why that might be the case. 

[AfricanusCrowther]

21 hours ago, sciencehistorian said:

There is a reddit thread compiling programs that are not accepting applicants that many of you will find useful:

https://www.reddit.com/r/gradadmissions/comments/iekjt5/updated_list_of_programs_not_accepting_applicants/

Good to have a collection of public statements, but please, applicants: don’t get your hopes up about any other top programs not listed here. 

[norellehannah]

On 8/27/2020 at 7:28 AM, automatic_peas said:

Does anyone have any words of wisdom for the Yale book review? I've read some earlier forum posts that said to treat it as an academic book review rather than discussing why the book is meaningful to you, but would love any other tips. I have chosen to write about a fairly recent book in my thematic field (environmental history) but outside my regional focus. 

I had 0 experience w/ academic book reviews when I applied last fall and found it really helpful to read reviews for other books in my field (I kind of thought reading reviews for the book I was reviewing would muddy my perspective/sort of felt wrong but not sure? But do what feels right to you on that front)! It gave me a good sense of how reviews are written and what scholars in my field tend to comment on when they review. I also think that keeping in mind (though not writing about directly) why the book is meaningful to you can actually be useful! If aspects of the work shaped your understanding of the field or changed your perspective, those things are definitely worth bringing up in the review. Just shift the perspective from your personal understanding to the growth of the field (e.g. "this work centers women in the history of anatomy" rather than "this work made me realize how central women were to the history of anatomy"). Good luck!

[MtrlHstryGrl]

Is anyone else applying for a Fulbright? I'm wondering if we could have a small group chat of historians applying this cycle. 

[automatic_peas]

4 minutes ago, MtrlHstryGrl said:

Is anyone else applying for a Fulbright? I'm wondering if we could have a small group chat of historians applying this cycle. 

I'm applying again (alongside apps to PhD programs). I am a current finalist for the 2020-2021 cycle, but thinking it's unlikely that will go out this year... 

[MtrlHstryGrl]

1 hour ago, automatic_peas said:

I'm applying again (alongside apps to PhD programs). I am a current finalist for the 2020-2021 cycle, but thinking it's unlikely that will go out this year... 

Yeah, I heard they were trying to send people in January, but... we'll see. Where are you applying?

[fortsibut]

On 9/4/2020 at 5:13 PM, sciencehistorian said:

There is a reddit thread compiling programs that are not accepting applicants that many of you will find useful:

https://www.reddit.com/r/gradadmissions/comments/iekjt5/updated_list_of_programs_not_accepting_applicants/

So 3 of the 4 programs that were the best fits for me aren't accepting students this fall.  That's fantastic.  =( 

[TMP]

News: UNC is not accepting students for fall 2021.  Except a real trend here.

[AP]

3 hours ago, TMP said:

News: UNC is not accepting students for fall 2021.  Except a real trend here.

I think neither is Pitt. Read something on twitter.