thinking about fall 2011 applications...

[clairebella]

Hey all,

I'm currently at a top 10 law school and I've decided to apply for PhD programs this coming fall. By the time I apply, I'll be nearly done with my law degree. I'm interested in international/transregional/global/whatever they call it history, specifically the history of migration.

Basic info about me:

Graduated with honors in history from a top 10 university, wrote thesis, got honors for the thesis

GRE is 640 V / 710 M

I have research experience related to my field from a Fulbright between undergrad and law school. I also did independent research abroad for a summer in undergrad. I'm currently doing research that is vaguely historical (more political science/law) with a law prof and doing some research as a consultant for a nonprofit - all of this research is internationally-focused. I was also a research assistant for a business school prof during undergrad (which was social science-y but not history-related by any means).

I speak French and a Middle Eastern language fluently. I speak another Middle Eastern language conversationally + an Asian language conversationally.

Basically, my profs in undergrad told me over and over that I should be going for a PhD, but I thought law school was for me...now that I'm in law school (and taking legal history classes), I've realized that doing research is really my passion and I'd rather read/research history than work obscene hours for a gigantic law firm. I'm wondering how I should be proceeding here. I'm starting to talk to old professors/current professors about this plan, but I have absolutely no idea how competitive these programs are (I assume very competitive) to get into.

Schools I've thought about: Brandeis, Columbia, UNC, Harvard, UCLA, Texas, Chicago, Penn, Duke, Georgetown, Minnesota

Does anyone have any suggestions of other schools I should be looking at/when I should start contacting potential advisors/if I should retake the GRE/anything I can do between now and December to improve my application? I'd really appreciate any advice! Thanks!!

[rsldonk]

What field are you looking at? Finding a program that will let you blossom is more important than finding a place with a name.

[gradstudenthistory]

Clairebella,

It's hard to give you recommendations on where to apply without knowing more about your research interests. While looking into schools broadly at some level is important, you want to be honing in on specific faculty members you want to work with. To be honest, when I did this, I was still an undergrad and a little clueless, and I had a fabulous undergrad advisor (also working in my subfield) who gave me a list of names/schools to look into, and I more or less applied there. Even so, I did my research, which is what you'll want to be doing.

I would recommend contacting a few over the fall. When I did this, I think I was quite vague and it didn't end up being that helpful, but I think it can be. But make sure your emails aren't demanding too much. (I've heard complaints from faculty on this.) A couple general don'ts: 1) Don't ask them if they'll "be your advisor." You still have to apply to get in. A better way to word this is, "I'm interested in researching ____" or "I want to write a dissertation on ____ and I am trying to figure out if this would be a good program for me." Remember that you're courting them at this point. A similar question you might ask, "What kinds of projects have you supervised in the past?" 2) Another don't -- Don't show off. This is not the time to rave about your grades, the prizes your honors thesis got, or anything else that you will otherwise want to foreground on your application. You want to show that you are personable, interested, and generally engaged in the process. Go ahead and brag a *tiny* bit (indirectly) if you are mentioning past research experience as a means of establishing your background, but keep it brief.

The best you can do with the above process is get the professor aware of you, and get some name recognition out there before they've read your application. So think of it as that, not as selling yourself. The other reason this might prove helpful is that they might advise you not to apply (probably for reasons having nothing to do with you) because, for example, the professor in question is going on leave, or perhaps leaving the university permanently. Oh, another way to ask the "would you be my advisor?" question without putting it that way is, "Are you currently taking on PhD students?" Because they might not be!

Regarding your GRE scores, they can really only hurt you. If they're high enough, they pretty much don't help (other than not keeping you out). My feeling is that your verbal score is borderline. If you could get it to the upper 600s, I think that would be better. I'm sure it wouldn't "keep you out" or hurt you everywhere, but if you have the time to try to bring it up, I think it would be worth it. Manage to crack 700 and you're golden.

Another thing to look into is languages. You sound like you've done a lot, but what's your subfield? Look around at program requirements and see how your preparation stacks up. Consider doing language training this summer or next year if you need it. They will most likely let you get away with one outstanding language requirement if it's not essential to your main research, but the more qualified you are at the outset, the better.

The most important things you can do at this point are to: get great recs from professors whose names and opinions will matter; get a top-notch writing sample; and write a brilliant statement of purpose. If possible, have the SOP read critically by some of your professors. I got some indispensable advice on mine. (And again on the letters of rec: getting a well-known professor to write for you is huge. And by well known, I do think that it's more important for the professor to be well known in your subfield (even if s/he isn't a superstar) than to be generally famous. But this is another reason why it's a good idea to talk to some of your history professors about applying: their recommendations for where to apply are likely to coincide with some of the universities at which they have the most contacts.)

Best of luck!

Edited February 2, 2011 by gradstudenthistory