Latin American History PhD Application

[mjl52]

Hi all,

I'm putting the final touches on my application for admission to PhD programs in Latin American History and was wondering if there wouldn't be someone out there kind enough to give me a sense of where I stand. I'm applying to most of the top programs in the field: Yale, Harvard, NYU, Columbia, UMich (in Anthropology & History joint program), UWisconsin, UChicago, Stanford and Berkeley. As for my background, I graduated from Yale in 2007 with a BA in History and Latin American Studies; my undergraduate GPA was 3.62 overall, 3.73 in history, and 3.71 in Latin American Studies. I also have a Graduate Certificate in Labor Studies from the Graduate Center at CUNY; my GPA there was 3.92.

I'm a bit concerned about my undergraduate GPA, but the real downer are my GRE scores: V 720 (98%), Q 670 (65%), and AW 4.5 (58%). I'm not a math guy and I'm applying to history programs in any case, so I'm perfectly happy with the math score; and I'd be an ass if I complained about my verbal. The writing really worries me, though -- I've heard its the most important part of the GRE for programs in the social sciences and humanities. The irony of all this, of course, is that I had an 800 on the writing portion of the PSAT and on the writing SAT II, won the prize for the best senior thesis in Latin American history my senior year at Yale, and now work as a professional journalist for a major labor union. Will this make up for the low AW score?

If someone who knows about this stuff or is in or applying to similar programs in Latin American History would respond, I'd very much appreciate it! Thanks!

[anese]

Your GPA is not a problem.

One thing I thought as I was reading your post, however, is where is your research? What exactly is your research interest? (specific topic) Do you know what scholars you would like to work with at the schools?

FYI-Based on your interests, I would recommend thinking of Saldana and Singh at NYU.

Really though, the most important determining factor in your admissions will be your research interests. Every single PhD student I have met thus far has a specific research interest that speaks to a specific faculty member in the program and starts day 1 working with that person and cultivating a pedigree as a future professor. Identifying your interest and capitalizing on it should be your top concern. (By research interest I mean: eg., the struggles of indigenous women in Hawaii during the post-colonial period and the legal aid movement)

[mjl52]

Thanks for the reply -- I needed the reassurance.

As for my research interests, I am interested in the historical, cultural, and ideological formation of 20th century social movements in Latin America. In terms of methodology, I am most interested in historical materialist and structuralist approaches. The senior thesis to which I referred in my previous post attempted to debunk Roger Burbach's thesis that the EZLN is a "postmodern" political movement which has broken with the dominant revolutionary paradigms of the 20th century.

I've given a fair bit of thought to professors with whom I would like to study. At NYU, I am particularly interested in Gregg Grandin, with whom I have met, as well as Sinclair Thomson. As far as Singh and Saldana are concerned, neither are in Latin American history, although I'm pretty sure I read Singh once on identity politics and US labor and it was pretty good stuff.

Are you in Latin American history? Or US? Also, any suggestions for the SoP? I think mine is fine, but I'm afraid I don't go into enough detail in some areas -- overall it has more breadth than depth.

Thanks again for the advice!

[anese]

Thanks for the reply -- I needed the reassurance.

As for my research interests, I am interested in the historical, cultural, and ideological formation of 20th century social movements in Latin America. In terms of methodology, I am most interested in historical materialist and structuralist approaches. The senior thesis to which I referred in my previous post attempted to debunk Roger Burbach's thesis that the EZLN is a "postmodern" political movement which has broken with the dominant revolutionary paradigms of the 20th century.

I've given a fair bit of thought to professors with whom I would like to study. At NYU, I am particularly interested in Gregg Grandin, with whom I have met, as well as Sinclair Thomson. As far as Singh and Saldana are concerned, neither are in Latin American history, although I'm pretty sure I read Singh once on identity politics and US labor and it was pretty good stuff.

Are you in Latin American history? Or US? Also, any suggestions for the SoP? I think mine is fine, but I'm afraid I don't go into enough detail in some areas -- overall it has more breadth than depth.

Thanks again for the advice!

I work with Saldana and Singh. Saldana is in the AS dept but is a latin american scholar, I'd take a look at her work too...if nothing else she could be another person you branch out too once accepted (if you choose to go there) Identifying some more specific details would be worth your while, I'm not in your field, but I can tell you that many of the students here might make much deeper connections than the ideological, cultural, and historical formations of 20th century social movements. This still feels a bit vague to me, but I'm also about 3 months into my program already and a more specific feel for an area may seem more natural to me. As it stands, your thesis is very broad but sounds like a nice foundation for your first year.

[Minnesotan]

Moved to Humanities>History

[misterpat]

Isn't Texas the best Latin American program?

[anese]

Isn't Texas the best Latin American program?

I think you are right, U-Texas Austin.

[TMP]

I second that. I had a professor who recently got his PhD from there and loved his experience. He felt that he got very good support there with a well-known professor (not super famous) who was an excellent teacher/mentor/advisor to him.

[mjl52]

It's a good program, but conservative.

[Minnesotan]

It's a good program, but conservative.

I love when people call history programs conservative; it tickles my irony bone.

[mjl52]

[jz83]

Hey everyone,

I graduated from the University of Wisconsin last Spring also with degrees in Latin American studies and history and I'm planning on applying to Latin American history programs in the fall of '09. I wrote an undergrad thesis on European colonization in early 20th century Chile where I looked at the interrelations and conflicts between the central and local governments, the indigenous Mapuche population, Chilean settlers, large landowners and the European colonists. I'm not necessarily wedded to this topic for an MA thesis or PhD and I'm not sure what my exact research interest is. Is this a big problem for applying for a Master's or combined MA/PhD program?

And by the way, mjl52, you might definitely consider working with Florencia Mallon at Wisconsin. She advised my undergrad thesis and is really amazing.

[StrangeLight]

Hey everyone,

I graduated from the University of Wisconsin last Spring also with degrees in Latin American studies and history and I'm planning on applying to Latin American history programs in the fall of '09. I wrote an undergrad thesis on European colonization in early 20th century Chile where I looked at the interrelations and conflicts between the central and local governments, the indigenous Mapuche population, Chilean settlers, large landowners and the European colonists. I'm not necessarily wedded to this topic for an MA thesis or PhD and I'm not sure what my exact research interest is. Is this a big problem for applying for a Master's or combined MA/PhD program?

And by the way, mjl52, you might definitely consider working with Florencia Mallon at Wisconsin. She advised my undergrad thesis and is really amazing.

i've found that most professors will tell you it's not a big deal to know exactly what you want to do for your research, that your ideas will change and that that's okay. but i've found that admissions committees want something concrete out of your statement of purpose, and if you don't know at the very least the country, time period, and thematic interests you want to study, they'll probably overlook your application. they're very much about fit with faculty when it comes to the admissions process.

my suggestion would be to come up with two or three potential thesis/dissertation topics that may interest you. look for schools that have one faculty member who does almost exactly that (i.e. 20th century chilean labour history), but also have other faculty members in the field that study other topics that interest you. apply as though you know what you want to study, and once you get there you can always change topics and advisers. you're not obligated to study whatever topic(s) you include in your statement, but you should definitely have something concrete in there. one professor told me that if the "fit" with the faculty isn't obvious, the admissions committee won't work to make the connection for you.

[thepoorstockinger]

i've found that most professors will tell you it's not a big deal to know exactly what you want to do for your research, that your ideas will change and that that's okay. but i've found that admissions committees want something concrete out of your statement of purpose, and if you don't know at the very least the country, time period, and thematic interests you want to study, they'll probably overlook your application. they're very much about fit with faculty when it comes to the admissions process.

The other thing that people are looking for is your ability to identify a historical problem and what you would need to answer said problem. If you can't formulate and articulate a research project clearly (even if you end up changing it later) then it's a red flag. For example, if you wrote that you're "interested in writing a thesis which describes the history of Spanish colonization of Latin America from first contact to 1956" it shows that you have no comprehension of how narrow or broad a precise a PhD thesis needs to be.

[yurodivy]

Hi all, I'm looking for PhD programs in Latin American History from schools in the East Coast area. My research interests are related to cultural and social history -17th-18th centuries in South-America, specifically-. I'm planning on applying in the fall of '10. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance