2022 Application Thread

[wynntir]

Finalized all my application materials today  Now I just have to work up the nerve to hit submit!

[OutsideAgitator]

Hey all! This is my first post here after some good advice from a graduate friend. I'm finally getting around to putting my grad school apps together, very classic me to wait until the last minute like this.

I'm applying to Columbia, Cornell, and Rutgers, all for PhD's in History. I know this goes against pretty much all advice I've ever received but I'm trying anyway. I've got my CV put together, good letters of rec (one of which is a Columbia alum), and am still working on my statement of purpose. The one thing I'm most behind on is contacting potential faculty at my chosen schools, is that something I should be doing right now? If so, in what capacity? I have profs I'd like to work with chosen at each school and am putting that on my apps. Any advice would be super helpful on this. Thanks!

[Sigaba]

1 hour ago, OutsideAgitator said:

Any advice would be super helpful on this.

Hi, @OutsideAgitator. ICYMI, this topic was discussed earlier in this thread.

Something to keep in mind. If you're going "to wait until the last minute" and ask questions without having first done some research on your own, you're going to send the wrong message.

[hydro]

If my statement of purpose is a 30 words over the 1000 word limit will the department care? 

[Sigaba]

2 hours ago, hydro said:

If my statement of purpose is a 30 words over the 1000 word limit will the department care? 

I recommend you find a way to cut your SOP to the word limit. Find ways to reduce the use of prepositional phrases, streamline verbs by cutting participles and the use of the passive voice, and cut sentences to the bone.

You will never know if an admissions committee puts you in the "no" pile for "failure to follow simple instructions," or to lower the ranking of your application materials in other ways.

Please take a close look at your frame of mind during this process. In a handful of posts, you've indicated a preference for finding shortcuts by not taking the GRE, by not searching for information on how to phrase a self-introductory note to professors, by applying to "safety schools," by picking programs using a controversial definition of "fit," and now by disregarding instructions on word limits. To me, you're sending a mixed message about how hard you're willing to work as a graduate student.

IME, professional academic historians are very perceptive when it comes to reading between the lines, and, when among themselves, tend to speak candidly. It's a "buyers' market" when it comes to applying to history graduate programs. Do what you can to put your best foot forward in your use of the written word. Do not give readers a "wait a minute" moment. They may use that moment to move on to the next applicant.

Edited November 16, 2021 by Sigaba

[4everstudent]

Im struggling with a 500 word count for an SOP. It would clearly need to include my proposal project and my why that particular school, however I do not know if that leaves me with enough word count left to include background on my historical thought process through a previous work. Does trying to include the last part matter considering the word count? Im sort of stuck. Thanks!

[Sigaba]

14 hours ago, 4everstudent said:

Im struggling with a 500 word count for an SOP. It would clearly need to include my proposal project and my why that particular school, however I do not know if that leaves me with enough word count left to include background on my historical thought process through a previous work. Does trying to include the last part matter considering the word count? Im sort of stuck. Thanks!

@4everstudent writing with a word budget is hard. However, you may have more to work with than you realize. Consider the following. A double spaced page with one inch margin will have about 250 words and take two minutes to read aloud. So a 500 word SOP is basically the script for a four minute "elevator speech" for convincing your audience that you'd make a good addition to a program and to a department in the near term and to the historical profession in the future. 

The following paragraph has 48 words.

Imagine yourself listening to yourself talk about your aspirations for graduate school and beyond. What are the essential pieces of information that must remain? What elements would you like to keep, but don't necessarily need? What words simply don't belong? Are there ways to tell "the story" better? 

The following revised paragraph has 28 words.

Explain how the program will help you become a historian who will advance historiographical debates and serve the profession. Keep only essential sentences and words. Cut everything else.

[If you have Netflix, consider watching The West Wing, season 2, episode 9 for inspiration. The episode is ostensibly about NASA. It's also about the power of the well-written word.)

[4everstudent]

@Sigabathank you for your advice! I will have to check out that episode.

[QWERTYMNB97]

Hi Y'all anxious humans!

Fall 22 applicant here. Looking to meet n greet fellow applicants!

[CoffeeCatsCorgis]

On 11/16/2021 at 12:53 PM, hydro said:

If my statement of purpose is a 30 words over the 1000 word limit will the department care? 

For what it's worth, and to offer a different opinion, my thesis advisor told me that admissions committees don't have the time to care about a minimal overage like that, and it's more important to make sure that your SOP and writing sample are your best possible work. By all means, if you can cut the SOP down and it is better, do that, but I am under the impression that our applications will be judged by their actual content, as opposed to precise adherence to word count guidelines. It might be a more productive use of your time to get more opinions on the SOP from people in the field than to try and cut 30 words. 

I am, of course, just an MA student and not a faculty member, so take that with a grain of salt.

[QWERTYMNB97]

On 11/16/2021 at 3:53 PM, hydro said:

If my statement of purpose is a 30 words over the 1000 word limit will the department care? 

Well, Nope. For many reasons.

A 1000 word limit is an approximation of 1.5 pages SOP with Times New Roman 12 pt font. An excess of 30 words will have a negligible change in the size of the content.

Admission committee / PI looking at your SOP will be keen on getting to know you, rather than your word limit. Many universities vaguely say 1.5-2 pages or even no word limit for SOPs.

To arrive at a decision whether to accept or reject an applicant, many factors play a significant role, and a 30 word excess MOST PROBABLY WON'T!

Edited November 18, 2021 by QWERTYMNB97

[Sigaba]

When you start taking graduate level classes in a history department, you will have professors who can summarize 800-page books in one sentence. Some will add a sentence like "this book could have been an article."

Is staying under a word limit about counting beans? Or is it about being concise in a discipline in which decision-makers increasingly value brevity? "Sometimes less is more," is how an Americanist who has an award named after him put it to me.

[CoffeeCatsCorgis]

3 hours ago, Sigaba said:

When you start taking graduate level classes in a history department, you will have professors who can summarize 800-page books in one sentence. Some will add a sentence like "this book could have been an article."

Is staying under a word limit about counting beans? Or is it about being concise in a discipline in which decision-makers increasingly value brevity? "Sometimes less is more," is how an Americanist who has an award named after him put it to me.

I'm sorry, is this aimed at me? I am in graduate level classes in a history department. 

 

Edited this because it's not worth my time to argue with a PhD candidate who is working in the private sector and enjoys gatekeeping passive aggressively at undergrads for fun. Enjoy your life, I hope you find your peace.

Edited November 19, 2021 by CoffeeCatsCorgis

[QWERTYMNB97]

Any Biological / Biomedical 2022 applicants here? Looking to connect

 

[parallaxview]

Quick q: I have a forthcoming journal article that I'm using as my writing sample. Would uploading the proofs from the journal be uncouth? I was planning to reformat it in Word and remove all journal-affiliated text, but am second-guessing whether it really matters. 

[jpc34]

1 hour ago, QWERTYMNB97 said:

Any Biological / Biomedical 2022 applicants here? Looking to connect

 

This is history, look here:

https://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/29-biology/

[wluhist16]

10 minutes ago, parallaxview said:

Quick q: I have a forthcoming journal article that I'm using as my writing sample. Would uploading the proofs from the journal be uncouth? I was planning to reformat it in Word and remove all journal-affiliated text, but am second-guessing whether it really matters. 

Use the version that you submitted to the article (or rather, the copy-edited version). Add a line at the top with something like "Forthcoming in Blank, please do not circulate."

 

Source: I used a forthcoming article for early job apps. 

[parallaxview]

1 minute ago, wluhist16 said:

Use the version that you submitted to the article (or rather, the copy-edited version). Add a line at the top with something like "Forthcoming in Blank, please do not circulate."

 

Source: I used a forthcoming article for early job apps. 

That makes sense. Thanks!

[Sigaba]

15 hours ago, CoffeeCatsCorgis said:

I'm sorry, is this aimed at me? I am in graduate level classes in a history department. 

 

Edited this because it's not worth my time to argue with a PhD candidate who is working in the private sector and enjoys gatekeeping passive aggressively at undergrads for fun. Enjoy your life, I hope you find your peace.

I sent you a PM.

[Sigaba]

On 11/10/2021 at 10:23 AM, CoffeeCatsCorgis said:

Hey everyone - I've had mixed feedback on this so I was wondering if I could get your two cents. After I submit applications, is it a good idea to email faculty I've had positive contact/informal meetings with to thank them once again for their time and let them know that I've applied? My contacts were all in the late summer and I'd like to remind people about our discussions, but I do not want to come across as annoying/disrespectful of faculty time.

 

On 11/10/2021 at 4:16 PM, AP said:

As long as you are not expecting a reply, it doesn't matter.

Also, a thank you email will never be annoying/disrespectful. But it won't be responded. 

 

On 11/11/2021 at 5:29 PM, TMP said:

Even if you get a response something like "Thanks for letting me know. I look forward to reading your application" or "Thanks for your note, it was delightful to speak with you as well." or any version of that.... keep your expectations low. You don't know what the application pool looks like and a lot of  times it's beyond, beyond your control.

IRT "thank you" notes and email messages, give some thought to including brief comment in which you share an additional thought about something the professor said about the process or the discipline or a subject.

While writing such a comment can require one to step outside one's comfort zone and may end up leading to one spending several hours to write one sentence, it's a good way to remind the professor of the conversation and to indicate that you think like a historian.

[sonnybunny]

Where is everyone applying this year? I'm in post-1945 British history and my top two choices are University of Vermont and University of New Mexico, both M.A. programs.

[Sigaba]

44 minutes ago, sonnybunny said:

Where is everyone applying this year? I'm in post-1945 British history and my top two choices are University of Vermont and University of New Mexico, both M.A. programs.

Have you considered the University of Texas at Austin?

If you can stand withering heat, debilitating cedar pollen, grackles, and a research library shaped like the Lone Star State, you may find what you're looking for in Phillipa Levine <<link>>. 

The master's program includes a thesis option and a report option.

[Jibrananand]

Hi, another quick question about sop word limits. I've managed to cut down my sop for other schools to within the word limit. But with Harvard there seems to be some contradictory information. GSAS recommends 1000 words but the FAQ on the History Department's website says 3-5 pages. Does that mean I am allowed a bit of extra room assuming Times New Roman and 1.5 spacing? I do understand and value a concise proposal, but I was wondering if the recommended word count indicated the preference for a longer form SOP? Something like 1300 words or so? Thanks in advance and good luck to everyone applying.  

[killerbunny]

Art history PhD student here, but I feel compelled to weigh in on the matter of word limits. Based on applying to MA and then PhD programs with widely varying word restrictions on the SOP (from no limit whatsoever to 300 words!), I noticed that cutting down my statements invariably improved them. It helped declutter and streamline my thoughts and gave the impression of confidence. The same goes for writing in general.  I'll add that the need for brevity continues throughout grad school while you're submitting abstracts for conferences or other calls for papers and applying for various opportunities and grants. 

My top tips for reducing words is use active voice and be stingy with adjectives and *especially* adverbs (most of the time, there's a better verb or noun that eliminates the need for modifiers). 

[Sigaba]

6 hours ago, Jibrananand said:

Hi, another quick question about sop word limits. I've managed to cut down my sop for other schools to within the word limit. But with Harvard there seems to be some contradictory information. GSAS recommends 1000 words but the FAQ on the History Department's website says 3-5 pages. Does that mean I am allowed a bit of extra room assuming Times New Roman and 1.5 spacing? I do understand and value a concise proposal, but I was wondering if the recommended word count indicated the preference for a longer form SOP? Something like 1300 words or so? Thanks in advance and good luck to everyone applying.  

This kind of conflicting guidance bothers the heck out of me. (But I'm not #OCD.)

FWIW, I would aim for 1k words.

As @killerbunny points out, cutting down SOPs can help one feel better about the result. Cutting is painful.