2026 Application thread

[Sigaba]

The purpose of this thread is for current and aspiring graduate students in history to collaborate and commiserate about the Fall 2026 application season.

When posting, please introduce yourself in terms of your areas of interest, fields, and periods (like "the concept of victory in warfare during the early / mid nineteenth century in East Asia.")  Try to write about topics and debates of interest/importance to you (what were the connections and policy implications between the "military revolution debate" and the "revolution in military affairs" and western military operations in the Middle East after 9/11) no matter how provisional. You want to show that you can expand existing historiographical debates. Understand that talking about "stats" (test scores, GPA, school ranking) are reflections of an undergraduate mindset. Successful applicants understand that the sooner one adopts the comportment of an aspiring professional, the better. 

Before asking questions, please consider the benefits of searching the fora for previous / existing conversations about the same / similar topics. The number of schools to apply, asking professors for LORs, application fee waivers, funding your education, great choices and ones to avoid, have all been discussed at great length over the years by individuals who have long since moved on to other media or gone silent altogether. Information about specific academics may be dated. Information about departments may still be relevant. Overall, the profession remains as it has been the last five, six...decades (Observation. Academic historians had known that some version of MAGA was coming for over a century but the AHA was still not ready for Project 2025. #notbitter) 

Please pay particular attention to the conversations centered around pursuing a career as a professional academic in the humanities in general and history in particular. While times have changed, circumstances haven't improved when it comes to the latter.

Penultimately, start working on your writing sample and SOP right now. Previous threads provide guidance on approaches. Make sure you consider the source of information before incorporating any guidance. If you're applying to Happyland University, bust hump on the book review. Understand that certain genres of history / historians are better received than others. Waiting until the day before its due to write it may not be an effective tactic. Or so I've heard.

Finally, the best sources of information for graduate school are professors and seasoned (post quals) graduate students at your current institution. Go to office hours as soon as possible and as often as necessary. Build rapport. Earn trust. Listen and think. History departments are collections of interlocked black boxes. Success and failure is often about luck / the politics of the profession/ departmental rivalries / and perception of a giving applicant as about ability and potential.  Know that what is not said can be as important to your future as what is actually said. Historians are going to let you figure things out for yourself, especially if you're screwing things up. (To learn the hidden language of the profession, read scores and scores of book reviews then revisit the comments on your exams and papers....)