Fall 2015 Applicants

[dr. t]

I know, this cycle hasn't finished yet, but I mentioned it in the other thread, so I'd just as well do it.

 

My current list (PhD, History, High Medieval Europe & Monasticism):

Brown, UChicago, Harvard, UC Berkeley, Columbia, Princeton, BC

 

Contemplating:

Penn State, Northwestern, UToronto, Notre Dame

[Jdealla]

Thanks telkanuru; I've been waiting for someone to start this thread.

 

PhD, History, Latin America, Nationalism and Social Memory in 18th and 19th century Colombia (second cycle; originally applied for Fall 2011).

 

Contemplating:

NYU, Yale, Minnesota, UT-Austin, Miami, Princeton, Columbia, Florida, Ohio State, WashU, Chicago, Penn.

[Fobe]

I'll be applying for PhD programs in Colonial North American/Aboriginal history, esp women's history. I'm considering applying to: York, McGill, Queen's, UWO, BC, UVic, Saskatoon.  I might apply to some American schools, too, I haven't decided yet.

Edited March 3, 2014 by Fobe

[DCguy]

I'll be applying for PhD programs in Colonial North American/Aboriginal history, esp women's history. I'm considering applying to: York, McGill, Queen's, UWO, BC, UVic, Saskatoon.  I might apply to some American schools, too, I haven't decided yet.

William and Mary is THE place to study colonial US in the States but it sounds like you might have a more Canadian-style approach, I think they only specialize in US.

[DCguy]

I'm on the waitlist at UNC-Greensboro. Haven't heard back from two others (so I assume the worst). If I can't get in Greensboro I'm going to have to expand my selections from 6 (2 cycles in a row now) to many more. I do twentieth century US national and local politics and civil rights and African-American history -  thats what I got my MA in

[L13]

The existence of this thread is stressing me out immensely, but I guess I might as well post on the first page.

 

I am going to be a college senior next year and am thinking of applying to history programs in the US and Europe.

 

Good luck to everyone!

[katiescarlett]

I am an English major and history minor, and will be applying to history programs in this next cycle as well.  I graduate this December.  I'm still not sure what schools I will be applying to yet, although Toronto is on my list and UNC Chapel Hill.  UNC is flying me down to visit the grad school this fall. 

[sankofa]

I'm here for round 2. This summer will be very interesting as I prep.

[Rogue856]

Yikes, I cannot believe this is here already. I'm in my first year of a MA program at the moment. My focus is on 20th Century U.S., history of capitalism and labor. Particularly interested in multilateral institutions. I have not compiled a serious list yet, but I am fairly certain that UCSB, Georgetown, and Yale will be on it.

[czesc]

Yikes, I cannot believe this is here already. I'm in my first year of a MA program at the moment. My focus is on 20th Century U.S., history of capitalism and labor. Particularly interested in multilateral institutions. I have not compiled a serious list yet, but I am fairly certain that UCSB, Georgetown, and Yale will be on it.

 

Add Cornell to your list; the university is building a program in the history of US capitalism. The history department made a new hire this year in the field and beyond the US historians in the department itself, there are several professors who work on the subject who are formally affiliated with the Cornell ILR School. Cornell also hosts a history of capitalism "camp" over the summer: https://sites.google.com/site/historyofcapitalismsummercamp/

 

You can find some of the relevant Cornell faculty members' names (and relevant faculty at some other schools) in this NYT article on the emerging history of capitalism field that came out last year:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/education/in-history-departments-its-up-with-capitalism.html?_r=0

[czesc]

Thanks telkanuru; I've been waiting for someone to start this thread.

 

PhD, History, Latin America, Nationalism and Social Memory in 18th and 19th century Colombia (second cycle; originally applied for Fall 2011).

 

Contemplating:

NYU, Yale, Minnesota, UT-Austin, Miami, Princeton, Columbia, Florida, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Penn.

 

You might also want to consider Cornell, especially if you're thinking of looking into how New Grenada/Colombia defined itself as part of (or vis-a-vis) the Caribbean; these are topics that Ernesto Bassi concentrates on (he's Colombian and is also good on Colombia in the Age of Revolutions in general). With Ray Craib, who's also a Latin Americanist who's done work on Pacific History, you could focus on Colombia's other coast, too. There's a growing community of Latin Americanists here who work with both of them. 

[kblooms]

Later Byzantine History (Post 1204)

 

Ohio State; Princeton; Harvard; Wisconsin; Michigan (maybe, profs are kinda old); Minnesota; Rutgers

[missmend]

This thread is serendipitous - I've just started planning out applications this week.

Looking at MA programs (lack of language skills keeping me from PhD) in modern Europe, focusing on Russian and Eastern Europe, and cultural memory. I'm coming from having been primarily a Germanist in undergrad.

Top list right now is Indiana University and Glasgow-Jagiellonian's Erasmus Mundus program.

Considering UMich, Yale, Boston College, and possibly Princeton's PhD program

[RevolutionBlues]

Yikes, I cannot believe this is here already. I'm in my first year of a MA program at the moment. My focus is on 20th Century U.S., history of capitalism and labor. Particularly interested in multilateral institutions. I have not compiled a serious list yet, but I am fairly certain that UCSB, Georgetown, and Yale will be on it.

Also look at Harvard's History of Capitalism program.

[Rogue856]

Add Cornell to your list; the university is building a program in the history of US capitalism. The history department made a new hire this year in the field and beyond the US historians in the department itself, there are several professors who work on the subject who are formally affiliated with the Cornell ILR School. Cornell also hosts a history of capitalism "camp" over the summer: https://sites.google.com/site/historyofcapitalismsummercamp/

 

You can find some of the relevant Cornell faculty members' names (and relevant faculty at some other schools) in this NYT article on the emerging history of capitalism field that came out last year:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/education/in-history-departments-its-up-with-capitalism.html?_r=0

 

Thanks for the suggestion, I will definitely add Cornell. I knew Jefferson Cowie was at their ILR program, and I certainly sympathize with his reservations about the field. So anyways, yes, great suggestion. It's now on my working list. If work was not on my agenda for the summer I might try for that camp!

 

Also look at Harvard's History of Capitalism program.

 

Can't hurt to dream big right? My debate here is whether or not I *really* want to waste the application fee just to get a piece of correspondence with Harvard letterhead.

[istoryk]

I'll be applying for PhD programs in Colonial North American/Aboriginal history, esp women's history. I'm considering applying to: York, McGill, Queen's, UWO, BC, UVic, Saskatoon.  I might apply to some American schools, too, I haven't decided yet.

 

If you have any questions about Queen's I just finished my MA there!

[Fobe]

Thanks, I actually did my first MA in history there though, finished in 2011! (I'm crazy - doing a second MA before I go on to PhD!)  I'm curious, who did you work with?

[bewilderedherd15]

Hi everyone! This is my first post here (though I have done some lurking--lots of great info on this forum!), but hopefully it won't bug people too much if I just immediately ask for advice.  I'm freaking out about putting together a decent application in time; I still haven't even finished up researching programs. I'm an undergrad in my third year right now.

 

I'm interested in Latin American history and particularly the relations between the US and Latin America in transnational perspective.  Most of the research work I've done as an undergrad has centered around American non-state actors in Latin America, but mainly because my Spanish isn't good for much other than newspaper articles yet. I'm also interested in relations between Latin American states and in borderlands and Latino history in the US, but I've had less experience with these topics, beyond a few lower-div Latina/o Studies classes and what makes it into Latin American history survey classes.

 

Anyway, I've been trying get my list of 8-10 universities to apply to together, but am coming up short.  Any advice? So far I'm definitely applying to these universities, unless POI's (whom I still haven't contacted at all) tell me otherwise:

 

NYU, UT Austin, SUNY Stony Brook, UC Davis, UC San Diego, UCLA, U-MASS Amherst

 

Also, how familiar with a professor's work should you be before you contact them? I don't want to come off as ignorant so I want to have  read at least an article or book chapter before I start emailing, but am also worried about waiting too late to get a hold of people.

[Whatishistoryanyway]

Bewildered, sounds like you have a great start. Have you looked at UNC, Rutgers, or Duke? They may be good places to add to your list. In addition to that, I suggest maybe taking a few more Latin American history courses as well. Write a good paper for a Latin Americanist so you will have a good letter and possibly a writing sample. As far as familiarity with work goes you're not expected to be an expert already, but reading more definitely won't hurt you. It's not a realistic expectation for you to have read books of 15-20 scholars as you're applying. But on the other hand, having read the key works in your field is pretty much a must. Be knowledgable enough to know how their work relates to yours. An article or book chapter from each would be great. Also, find out what their future research plans entail (from the department website or their personal website).

[ashiepoo72]

Hello everyone! The excitement (and dread) are beginning for me. I'll be applying in December 2014/January 2015 for the fall 2015 season, I'm currently finishing up my MA at a local state school, and trying to fit in some conferences during summer. 

 

My area of interest is 20th century U.S. History, with a focus on World War II and the Cold War. I want to look at social, political and transnational implications of propaganda and political spin during World War II and in the "hot" periods of the Cold War. I'm a native Portuguese speaker, but less fluent in writing and reading (although I feel like Portuguese is kind of a random language for my focus...but hey, I'll take it!)

 

I've put together a rather impressive spreadsheet of potential schools and scholars, and I'm whittling away at those between studying for the GRE and writing a 30 page research paper that I'm hoping to get published over the summer.

 

Definitely applying to: UW-Madison, NYU, Rutgers, Ohio State University, UC Davis, SUNY at Binghamton, UC Santa Barbara, and CUNY, but will probably choose between 3-5 more schools. As of now, UW-M is my top choice.

 

Best of luck to you fellow prospective grad students!

[karatcake89]

Hi everyone! So glad to see that I'm not the only one gearing up for the 2015 application cycle. I have a pretty odd undergraduate background- I have a BS in History and Accounting- and after 2 years working as an accountant and paying off some of my student loans, I've decided it's time to pursue my passions. My area of focus is Early Middle Ages, specifically Anglo-Scandinavian history, literature, art, and languages. At this point, I'm mostly looking at MA programs because my interests are still fairly interdisciplinary and my language background probably isn't strong enough to get into PhD programs.

 

So far, I'm considering applying to University of Connecticut, Fordham University, Boston College, Western Michigan University, Columbia, Catholic University of America, and University College of London. 

 

Good luck to everyone! 

Edited March 30, 2014 by karatcake89

[gsc]

Hi guys!  I'm finishing up my undergrad in history and anthropology right now, hoping to apply to PhD programs this next cycle!

 

I'm interested in women's history as well as medical history, mostly in Britain, but I'm interested in the US too. So far I'm thinking Rutgers, Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa, Washington, OSU, Wisconsin, and possibly Yale (but probably not) -- do you guys know of any other programs I might've overlooked? 

[Aruna]

Hi all! So pumped to be part of this forum.

I am interested in studying South Asian history, with a focus on colonialism in North India. I will be studying Hindi and taking the GRE this summer. I majored in Government and Religious Studies as an undergrad and I am not south asian.

 

Here is my list of potential grad schools: 

UCLA, U Wisconsin, U Michigan, Columbia, William and Mary

Maybes: Princeton & U Chicago

[kblooms]

What's everyone's writing sample on? Are you going with something a bit bold or more conventional?

[marte108]

What's everyone's writing sample on? Are you going with something a bit bold or more conventional?

Hello to everyone on the this thread (this is my first post ever) and congrats to all of us for being bold/brilliant/insane enough to apply to MA/PhD programs in History!

In response to your question kblooms, my own writing sample is going to be a section/condensed version of my senior thesis which focused on a particular art dealer in Switzerland who traded on the Nazi looted art market during WWII. My theoretical/methodological interest is in microhistory therefore my thesis focused on this Swiss art dealer between 1939-1949 as a way to approach the place of Swiss neutrality and national identity during the international shift towards moral diplomacy in the early/mid 20th century. The topic is a bit bold because the paper suggests current scholarship on the matter is misguided in its condemnation of the Swiss as Nazi collaborators.

 

I recently presented a version of it at a conference and got very positive feedback so sometimes bold is better. I would love to hear what everyone else is thinking about using for their writing sample! I also wanted to pose a question to all of you out there:

 

I would like some advice on LORs as I have two professors who I know will write strong LORs for me, but I recently had a minor falling out/growing apart with my third prospective LOR professor, I still think this professor would write a somewhat good LOR for me, but I worry that in this competitive application process, "good" is not good enough, but I also feel that any other professor I have strong relations with does not know me well enough as a student (i.e I have not taken enough classes with them recently) to write a LOR that speaks to my abilities as an academic. Should I try patching things over with this third LOR writer or try and build a new relationship with another professor through some other channel such as possibly assisting them in research over the summer etc.?

 

Thanks for the advice!