advice regarding schools

[soleprovider14]

I'm currently a history major at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, it's a large school (>25,000) with a decent reputation but nothing like UW-Madison or Marquette. I'm a junior majoring in history and minoring in the comparative study of religion. I've done plenty of research on both MA and PhD programs in history but would like some opinions/advice.

My "stats" (so far):

3.5 overall gpa

3.7 major gpa

internships (will do an internship at the public museum this summer), worked with archives at a historical society

fluent in Hebrew, Russian, almost fluent in French, taking German

Working on a research project with a professor right now (will most likely do some more research over the summer and in Fall)

Will be doing a senior thesis starting next Fall

somewhat good relationships/networking with professors who have some influence on the colleges I will be applying to

My focus/interest is modern European/German history mainly focusing on the Nazi period, developing a focus/interest in the influence/role of religion in the Third Reich and Germany at the time (I recently researched and wrote a fairly substantial research paper on the topic).

Here are the schools I am considering:

Boston University

Boston College

UMass Amherst

UC-Davis

UCSB

U of Oregon

Michigan State University

Georgetown

I was told by a few professors to apply mainly to PhD programs but with fear that I won't get in to any, I will also apply to a few MA programs. The list above is obviously not final and I will include a few more schools before I begin the application process next semester. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the schools I mentioned, any advice? What are my chances of getting into any of these programs? Am I not being realistic with my choices, should I apply to other, less renowned schools?

I'd appreciate any advice.

[brinswan]

Have you looked at UNC-Chapel Hill?

[Izimbra_]

It's pretty well impossible to assess anyone's chances of getting into programs on the basis of quick dossiers like yours, because no one can really give an informed opinion without looking at your writing sample, letters and statement of purpose. Even then assessments are still a crapshoot and highly subjective. But if you're asking whether or not your GPA and undergraduate institution are "competitive" for those schools, I'd say yes. Your GPA probably won't induce any eyeball popping, but it will get you in the door and give you a chance to impress committees with your writing sample, letters, etc., which are the most critical parts of your application. Your language experience also seems excellent for your research interests.

Modern Germany is also my field, so I might also suggest that you look at Friedlander at UCLA or Jaraush at UNC-CH. I think your interests would probably congeal well with those Profs./programs. Those will be reaches for you (as they are for everybody), but it's worth a shot.

MA programs. Yes, that is a good idea, especially given how competitive it was to get into funded PhD programs now as evidenced in this very forum. I didn't apply to any MA programs this cycle for my own reasons and so can't offer up any specific suggestions, but as you might already know, a lot of higher ranked programs either don't offer terminal MAs or don't fund MAs. Therefore you might be best to look at lower ranked schools (probably lower than the ones you listed) to find somewhere that will give you funding. Lots of people have great experiences with lesser-known funded MA programs that give them a chance to write a great thesis and get into really excellent PhD programs.

Sorry if that's kind of a wishy-washy response, but I don't think anyone can really tell you for sure what your chances are until you take the plunge yourself. Best of luck to you.

[misterpat]

It's pretty well impossible to assess anyone's chances of getting into programs on the basis of quick dossiers like yours, because no one can really give an informed opinion without looking at your writing sample, letters and statement of purpose. Even then assessments are still a crapshoot and highly subjective. But if you're asking whether or not your GPA and undergraduate institution are "competitive" for those schools, I'd say yes. Your GPA probably won't induce any eyeball popping, but it will get you in the door and give you a chance to impress committees with your writing sample, letters, etc., which are the most critical parts of your application. Your language experience also seems excellent for your research interests.

Well put.

Your GPA is surprisingly low for someone with your other, more achievatron-like credentials. (I'm not knocking your GPA, mine is almost identical.)

I would say you might want to take a chance on at least a couple top-ranked programs, but if you follow the advice of the previous posters and check out Chapel Hill and UCLA, you'll have that covered.

[feisty]

My advice would be to look very closely at faculty research interests, beyond being in your subfield. I didn't, but by chance it ended up being what got me into grad school.

My GPA was the same as yours (went up to a 3.6 my final semester). I got into only 1 school out of 7, which happened to be (arguably) the best one I applied to for my field. The individual professors I will be working with have almost identical current research interests as I do, which I honestly didn't know until I visited (their work on it is still mostly not published). I had a middling GPA, bad GRE scores, and my application totally rested on the substance of my SOP, writing sample, and recommendations; and I think that the project I presented in my SOP and my previous research are what got me into that one school during an extra competitive year, and what kept me out of lower-ranked schools that I was quantitatively qualified for.

[sansa]

I'm an undergraduate at the University of Oregon and I took a Holocaust class with Prof. David Luebke some time ago. He's an excellent professor and I think it would be a pleasure to work with him. Although his primary area of expertise is early modern Germany, he's definitely knowledgeable about the modern German history and the Third Reich. After his PhD at Yale he worked as a researcher in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. I don't know much about the funding issues, but it seems that many graduate students in History get funding through GTFships.

[gimlet]

Have you looked at Northwestern? I met Peter Hayes a few years ago and was very impressed with him, and I know a few German historians from my undergrad wound up there. I would also second UNC-CH, Chris Browning is kind of a "doy" in that field even though he's probably pushing retirement. Take a good hard look at the books in your field that you like and find out where the authors are-- and if the authors are a bit young, find out where they went to school. Variety is key; the schools will decide if they are a good fit for you.

Echoing Izimbra, don't discount MA programs. There are plenty of great people to work with at schools that don't offer PhDs and MA programs that might offer you funding when PhD programs won't. Success in an MA program can put you into a much better school than if you just had a BA. I am grateful for the training I got doing my MA and think I am so much better prepared for my PhD than I would have been otherwise. An MA gives you more time to define your interests, find opportunities to present at conferences and get published, and generally focus on bulking up that CV. I also appreciate that I am able to change schools during the process-- knowing a lot more about graduate school now and its politics, I can see that the school I did my MA at would not be a good fit for my PhD, even though it was fine for the MA.

I have a friend in UC-Davis' program doing US and the world and he loves it.

[advice]

What's your goal? To be in the academy? To work in a museum?

[soleprovider14]

^

My ultimate goal is to work in academia as a history professor.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I've researched some more schools and came up with a list of about 11. As far as my GPA, I had a pretty bad first semester in college (3.1) which has crippled my GPA ever since.

Any advice regarding which MA programs might be worth looking at? If I end up going for an MA (not being accepted to any PhD programs) I don't want to have to pay 30K in tuition and insanely high living costs in a big city. Any schools that offer good funding for MA?

[misterpat]

^

My ultimate goal is to work in academia as a history professor.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I've researched some more schools and came up with a list of about 11. As far as my GPA, I had a pretty bad first semester in college (3.1) which has crippled my GPA ever since.

Any advice regarding which MA programs might be worth looking at? If I end up going for an MA (not being accepted to any PhD programs) I don't want to have to pay 30K in tuition and insanely high living costs in a big city. Any schools that offer good funding for MA?

Someone in another thread mentioned Delaware as being a well-funded MA option.

Maybe check out Tufts, if they have faculty with interests similar to yours.

[soleprovider14]

Instead of starting a new post, I thought I'd just update this one with my new "question".

I'm closing in on a complete list of schools (for both PhD and MA) that I will be applying to in the Fall, and would like any insight/criticism/advice regarding what my potential chances are, and if I should add "lower ranked" schools (which fit me of course) to my list.

I've contacted professors at all of the below schools and was told that my interests would fit (at some, I was told they would be a tremendous fit):

Boston College (for a PhD)

UC-Davis (for a PhD)

USC (for a PhD)

UNC-CH (for a PhD)

UVM (Vermont) (for an MA)

Kent State University (not sure about this one yet, for an MA)

UIUC (for a PhD)

U of Chicago (for a PhD)

UCLA (for a PhD)

U of Oregon (for a PhD)

As you can see, I need to find a few more MA programs in case I am not able to gain admission to a PhD programs. However, realistically (with the stats I provided above), what are my chances of being admitted to some of these programs? I find it tremendously difficult to be able to identify which schools to apply to due to rankings, tiers, etc. I understand that fit is much more important than many credentials, but after all, I do not want to be wasting my time applying to programs which are simply out of reach for me.

With that said (sorry for the paranoia again), any insight into my situation? Is the list above a reasonable one, should I look for more "safeties"?

Thanks again.

[Nofia]

No one here can hazard a guess about anyone else's chances. This process is a crap shoot in so many ways...stories abound of people getting rejected by their supposed 'safeties' but accepted by their dream school. There are uncontrollable variables, like whether or not the advisor you fit best with at the school is taking any new students, or if the school has any funding available for people in your particular discipline this year. The best thing you can do for yourself is to apply as widely as you can. Forget about the whole idea of reach and safety...pick as many schools as you can where you feel you'd be a good fit, and apply. Don't cross anything off the list because you think its a "reach" for you, let the adcom decide that. Write a focused personal statement, submit a killer piece of written work, and get great letters of rec. Then sit tight and try not to drive yourself crazy (I mean, you will of course, we all did/do, but try at least)...but try keep it all in perspective. It's all part of the process. And if you don't get in anywhere, it sucks, but you can apply again. It's often beneficial to do something else between undergrad and gad school anyway.

[futurePhD]

OP, Nofia's advice is golden, and probably should be required reading for all prospective applicants.

That being said, remember that this really is a crap shoot. For example, I came from an undergrad institution comparable to yours, had a perfect GPA and 99th Percentile Verbal GRE score, but was flat out rejected from 7 of the 8 schools I applied to... including the two schools that I thought were absolute locks. Cast as wide a net as possible, and get as much advice as possible from the Professors at your undergrad institution. Good luck....

[Minnesotan]

An opportunity to repeat myself has arisen, and I shall, of course, take it:

Washington State has a top-ranked American Studies program that has quite a few people working on similar topics. Also, I believe some folks in History and Comparative Ethnic Studies would be helpful for you, too. I'd check the program out and contact some professors.

As fr general advice, definitely use the shotgun approach when applying to grad school. Put out lots of applications to a variety of programs -- some ranked high, some medium, some low; some for PhD, some for MA; some in cities, some in inexpensive college towns. The important thing is finding an advisor and department that fits well with your needs. Beyond that, make sure you're not limiting yourself by paying too much attention to college rankings guides, or other trivial matters.