Fall 2015 Applicants

[dr. t]

But how am I going to win the Bulwyer-Lytton contest with fit and trim prose?

 

(Great website, thanks!)

Edited July 29, 2014 by telkanuru

[ashiepoo72]

That's so funny thedig13-- I got the same score on my draft! I think us history majors love using nouns and prepositions

Telkanuru - lol

[aka4567]

Hi everyone! It's great to join this thread as I will be applying next year as a MA applicant. I just took the GRE  and I got a 313 (V 155 M 158). I plan to apply to several schools in the top 10 and mostly schools in top 30 (except for William and Mary which is currently ranked 36 based on the US News ranking). I have been really troubled by this score because I originally aimed to score higher. I know that GRE is not everything in the application, but do you guys think I should retake the test with this score? or should I just let it go and work on perfecting other parts of my application? Many thanks!  

[C&C]

Hi everyone! It's great to join this thread as I will be applying next year as a MA applicant. I just took the GRE  and I got a 313 (V 155 M 158). I plan to apply to several schools in the top 10 and mostly schools in top 30 (except for William and Mary which is currently ranked 36 based on the US News ranking). I have been really troubled by this score because I originally aimed to score higher. I know that GRE is not everything in the application, but do you guys think I should retake the test with this score? or should I just let it go and work on perfecting other parts of my application? Many thanks!  

 

Kudos on taking the GRE so early in the application process!

 

While you're spot on about the GRE not being the most important part of your application, I recommend retaking it. Your first scores are strong, but since you're applying to top ten programs and you're a history student I think your verbal should be higher than the quant. However, I don't think you should be troubled by these scores (as I said they're already strong)---you have plenty of time to study, retake, and improve. I think you can easily crack the 160s in both sections!

 

Best of luck!   

[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

 

Just curious if czesc (or anyone on the forum generally) knows what the relationship between the History Dept. and ILR at Cornell is? Jefferson Cowie, for example, is listed as a member of the field in history, but it's not entirely clear what that means so far as dissertation work/fields goes. The Cornell website strongly suggests contacting potential faculty so I am unsure if I should stick to faculty members in the Dept. for that as well as for the SOP. For what it's worth I did not see anyone in ILR listed as an advisor for current students, but that does not necessarily mean it's not done...

[Heimat Historian]

Hi all,

  I'm graduating with my MA in history from University of Texas at San Antonio this month.  I will be applying to PhD programs in history, focusing on German immigration and German cultural celebrations/institutions in other contexts.  For example, my major seminar paper (didn't do a thesis) was on German Turnvereins (gymnastic societies) in Texas from both an ethnicity perspective and masculinity/athletic body. 

 

So far I have a pretty extensive list of schools that I'm still whittling down. I'll probably end up applying to between 10 and 15.  Top of the list currently are Iowa, WashU, Tulane, Rice and UT Austin for American studies.  Happy to have any advice.  Thanks!

[czesc]

Just curious if czesc (or anyone on the forum generally) knows what the relationship between the History Dept. and ILR at Cornell is? Jefferson Cowie, for example, is listed as a member of the field in history, but it's not entirely clear what that means so far as dissertation work/fields goes. The Cornell website strongly suggests contacting potential faculty so I am unsure if I should stick to faculty members in the Dept. for that as well as for the SOP. For what it's worth I did not see anyone in ILR listed as an advisor for current students, but that does not necessarily mean it's not done...

 

Okay, let me try to clear this up. Cornell is a highly interdisciplinary school - its various departments tend to work better together than at other universities. It's relatively common to have members of a committee from another department or from units ILR, and both encouraged and easy when those people are members of the "field" of history, which essentially means they've been pre-approved to work together with the history department on committees by virtue of the affinity of their work to the discipline of history. People in the "field" come from various departments all over the university where you might expect historical work to be done - ILR, STS, Near Eastern Studies, etc. - and it's basically just a convenient way to acknowledge that history as a discipline sometimes spills outside the department walls and facilitate easy working relationships with other units (conversely, members of the history department are sometimes members of fields like South Asian Studies, etc.)

[czesc]

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? 

 

I assume you've looked at History of Science departments - have you looked at Science and Technology Studies departments as well? Suman Seth in Cornell STS works on both medical history and gender studies, and the history department offers historians versed in British and British women's history generally too.

[Rogue856]

Okay, let me try to clear this up. Cornell is a highly interdisciplinary school - its various departments tend to work better together than at other universities. It's relatively common to have members of a committee from another department or from units ILR, and both encouraged and easy when those people are members of the "field" of history, which essentially means they've been pre-approved to work together with the history department on committees by virtue of the affinity of their work to the discipline of history. People in the "field" come from various departments all over the university where you might expect historical work to be done - ILR, STS, Near Eastern Studies, etc. - and it's basically just a convenient way to acknowledge that history as a discipline sometimes spills outside the department walls and facilitate easy working relationships with other units (conversely, members of the history department are sometimes members of fields like South Asian Studies, etc.)

Thanks for the response! That was very helpful. Cornell is quickly moving to the top of my list of programs.

[gsc]

I assume you've looked at History of Science departments - have you looked at Science and Technology Studies departments as well? Suman Seth in Cornell STS works on both medical history and gender studies, and the history department offers historians versed in British and British women's history generally too.

 

I haven't looked into STS, or Cornell for that matter, so thanks for the tip!

 

To be honest, though, I've been trying for more straight-up history departments with medical historians on the faculty (or an associated history of science/medicine department), if only because I'm fairly new to medical history and wanted some more flexibility. 

[czesc]

I haven't looked into STS, or Cornell for that matter, so thanks for the tip!

 

To be honest, though, I've been trying for more straight-up history departments with medical historians on the faculty (or an associated history of science/medicine department), if only because I'm fairly new to medical history and wanted some more flexibility. 

 

It would still be very easy for you to integrate the medical/science historians in Cornell STS if you were to apply directly to the history department here, too, since they're in the "field" of history, even though they're outside the department - see my response to Rogue856 above for more clarification.

[gsc]

It would still be very easy for you to integrate the medical/science historians in Cornell STS if you were to apply directly to the history department here, too, since they're in the "field" of history, even though they're outside the department - see my response to Rogue856 above for more clarification.

 

Oh, I didn't see your early reply! My mistake.

 

Another question -- are you expected to send GRE scores to the department as well as the actual university? Is that something I could call and ask about? I thought I had read somewhere that it wasn't necessary (I think at my current institution they forward scores to the department), but then I looked again at Indiana and found this: "For electronic scores, the codes are “1324” for Indiana University and “2799” for the Department of History."

 

Am I going to have to shell out another $27 (times 8 schools) to send the scores to the departments? 

Edited August 28, 2014 by girlscoutcookies

[sankofa]

Oh, I didn't see your early reply! My mistake.

Another question -- are you expected to send GRE scores to the department as well as the actual university? Is that something I could call and ask about? I thought I had read somewhere that it wasn't necessary (I think at my current institution they forward scores to the department), but then I looked again at Indiana and found this: "For electronic scores, the codes are “1324” for Indiana University and “2799” for the Department of History."

Am I going to have to shell out another $27 (times 8 schools) to send the scores to the departments?

I am no expert, but I believe you only send them once and they put them in your file. No need to send twice. I have only been through one application round but do not see where this is necessary. Hope that helps

[Deadwing0608]

Another sort of technical application question...When I applied to MA programs I had to pay the application fees/submit the applications before the schools I applied to sent out their requests to my recommenders. It was not a problem then because I had my SOP/writing sample ready quite early. This year I anticipate wanting to tweak both until the last possible second...

 

My question is can I pay the application fees/submit the applications early so those requests go out and then go back and upload my SOP/writing sample closer to the deadline? I do not want my recommenders to have their inboxes flooded at the last second...I'm sure this will vary by school, but any feedback from those who have already survived an application season would be much appreciated!

Edited August 30, 2014 by Deadwing0608

[maelia8]

In my experience, the part of the application where you could enter email addresses for LOR requests was in no way linked to the part where you had to submit fees, so it was possible to send out those requests as soon as you'd filled in your preliminary personal data on the first couple of pages of the application. I spent a lot of time revising my SOP and writing sample up until the last 24 hours before the submission date, and this is perfectly normal. I'm surprised that schools previously required you to completely submit the application before allowing the system to send out the LOR requests … sounds odd to me.

[C&C]

In my experience, due to the beauty of computers, the applications usually will not let you 'submit' unless all of the required fields are 'filled.' Perhaps you could ask the programs if you could send what you have now for the writing sample (maybe an introduction and first chapter?), and then send in the finished product at the end of the semester.

 

The programs I applied to had no issue with this method, but as you noted, each program varies.

 

Best of luck! 

[catsandscarves]

Oh, I didn't see your early reply! My mistake.

 

Another question -- are you expected to send GRE scores to the department as well as the actual university? Is that something I could call and ask about? I thought I had read somewhere that it wasn't necessary (I think at my current institution they forward scores to the department), but then I looked again at Indiana and found this: "For electronic scores, the codes are “1324” for Indiana University and “2799” for the Department of History."

 

Am I going to have to shell out another $27 (times 8 schools) to send the scores to the departments? 

 

 

You just send one. When you go through the process on the GRE website it will ask for the school then a specific department code. PS message me if you have any questions or anything about IU or if you are visiting! I just started here and am really enjoying it.

[gsc]

You just send one. When you go through the process on the GRE website it will ask for the school then a specific department code. PS message me if you have any questions or anything about IU or if you are visiting! I just started here and am really enjoying it.

 

Right, but when I sent out all the score reports a few weeks ago, I skipped the section for departmental codes, thinking they weren't necessary. 

 

And if you don't mind I think I will send you a message! Thanks!

[thedig13]

Oh, I didn't see your early reply! My mistake.

 

Another question -- are you expected to send GRE scores to the department as well as the actual university? Is that something I could call and ask about? I thought I had read somewhere that it wasn't necessary (I think at my current institution they forward scores to the department), but then I looked again at Indiana and found this: "For electronic scores, the codes are “1324” for Indiana University and “2799” for the Department of History."

 

Am I going to have to shell out another $27 (times 8 schools) to send the scores to the departments? 

 

IIRC, it varies based on the school. The best thing you can do is scour the department's webpage and the application for instructions on what to do, and (if you can't find anything) contacting the department directly.

[ashiepoo72]

Not that I stalk the old threads or anything (hah!), but does this topic seem to be getting less traffic this year? Seems like in other years it picked up by now. I spoke with the graduate advisor at a highly respected program and was told that in less than five years they have seen the number of applicants drop by nearly half. I'm sure some programs continue to get incredibly high numbers each year no matter what, but I wonder if, in general, less people are applying.

 

Anywho, I just scanned all my transcripts for programs that don't want official copies...it's amazing how accomplished I feel with each piece of the application I complete. I'm sending the first draft of my SOP (written for my top choice program) to one of my old professors. Even though she's read my work many times, I'm nervous! I feel like the SOP is totally me and represents my interests but I have an irrational fear that she's going to tell me I'm terrible haha

 

How is everyone else doing?

[TMP]

@ashiepoo

 

There are several reasons for the drop in applications over the last few years.  First, the economy has improved so people are finding jobs and thereby not going to graduate school to "kill time."  Second, BIG DATA.  There have been efforts to create crowd-sourcing hard data on job placements and loans that PhD students graduate with that aspiring applicants can examine to determine if it's worth getting the PhD with loans averaging $20K-$30K (this is only from the PhD program, not including from previous degrees) and less than 40% chance of getting a tenure-track job.  The PhD, unfortunately, tends to favor those of upper-middle class background and single with no children. 

 

Though applications are dropping, it doesn't mean the programs aren't slashing.  They are slashing the number of acceptances as it is really necessary to balance out the supply/demand history job market and the 2008 crash was exactly what the department needed to make that happen.

[ashiepoo72]

I kind of figured the economy had something to do with it, but the hard data aspect makes complete sense.

At least at my program, professors are brutally honest about the state of the profession because they feel it is a moral obligation to their students--although this does not discourage everyone, I know several people who have chosen not to apply to doctoral programs in part because of this honesty (which isn't a bad thing...I believe there should be transparency so people can make educated decisions). And even if applications are dropping, that by no means indicates that the quality of applicants is as well, so of course it's still incredibly competitive even if programs haven't severely slashed acceptances--which, as you point out, many have.

Anyway, thank you for your insight, TMP.

[nighttiming]

Hi all,

Graduated with a BA in history and international relations from Tulane, currently participating in a fellowship in Taiwan for a year. Applying to Stanford, Chicago, and UC Santa Cruz, possibly adding Brown, Wisconsin, and/or UC Berkeley. Looking to focus on women, gender, sexuality, ethnography, and identity in modern China. Also looking into scholarships and fellowships for language study in China or Taiwan in the event that no school accepts me this cycle.

Cheers and good luck to everyone!

Edited September 15, 2014 by nighttiming

[L13]

Hello, world!

 

I was roaming the internet in search for an explanation of my recently acquired GRE scores and their importance in the admission process, and found this blog post from 2012:

 

http://www.historiann.com/2012/11/03/great-scores-or-egregious-scores-who-gives-a-crap-hint-we-do-sorta/

 

One of the comments under the post, which invites discussion of the place of GRE scores in graduate admissions, is by Anthony Grafton, who gives insight into the procedure at Princeton. I feel a little creepy reposting it here, but it's a very informative post and he signed it with his real name in a public forum, so I figure he meant it to be of wider use and I wouldn't be violating his privacy if I quoted him.

 

So I'm quoting him:

 

We receive something like 400 applications a year these days. I haven’t been on the committee in a long time, and don’t know the exact number. But the procedure is this: the committee members read all of the applications and reject about half of them. In my experience they pay most attention to the recommendations, the personal statement and grades in history courses. The GRE is a further useful indicator, nothing more. As Brian says, it’s most helpful in cases where we’re not sure what a GPA means on its own. Then the applications that survive the first scrutiny are divided by fields, and all faculty in each field read them and agree on a unified ranking.

 

In that second process, the writing sample is the most important single part of the file. A fair number of applicants are not native English speakers, and a fair number come from systems that don’t use GRE-like tests. We try to identify those cases and ignore part or all of the GRE if the other evidence is strong. Finally, the applications and the field committee evaluations go back to the admissions committee, which determines the order of admission, and then to the graduate school, which tells us how many we may admit. The graduate school has been known to raise questions about low GREs, but I can’t remember the deans turning someone down on that ground.

 

Whenever a prospective student visits–and many do–I ask if his or her adviser has described conditions in grad school and after. Usually the student has been informed, but if the answer is no, I do my best to fill in the gaps. I do the same, of course, for my own undergraduate advisees.

 

Note that although he denies the overall importance of the GRE, the second paragraph implies that native, US-based speakers of English won't get a pass on it as easily as foreigners. I'd speculate that Grafton, like other academics, feels some distaste for the GRE, but circumstances force him to take it into consideration during the selection process.

 

Anyway. You can find more academics' opinions on the GRE in the discussion under the post. I quoted Grafton's comment specifically because it sheds light on the admission process at Princeton, which is one of the most selective history departments in the US (and probably the world). I'm sure there are people here who're applying to Princeton and/or its peer schools; they might find Grafton's words interesting.

 

(I'm not a native English speaker, I don't really have a reason to worry about my GRE scores and I'm not applying to Princeton. I have no idea why I sought out this discussion or why I'm wasting my time pasting from it here now. My procrastination better help someone!)

Edited October 3, 2014 by L13

[gsc]

How short is too short for a writing sample? I'm planning on submitting a portion of my undergrad thesis, but it's not feasible for me to have the entire thesis done and polished and ready to go by November 15 (which is when I'm trying to submit the applications so that my recommenders have enough time to submit their letters electronically).

 

I have the first half finished -- it's a case study that stands up well enough on its own, so I figured I could work to polish that section and just send that in with a little note outlining the rest of the paper. But it's a shorter section than I had anticipated, and it only clocks in at 17 pages (it might be more like 18 or 19 with some more writing and editing). I'm applying to one school that says no more than 20 pages, so I'm okay there; another school wants the entire thesis, but their application isn't due until January, and it'll be ready by then. But what about the ones that say "most applicants submit approx. 20 to 30 pages" or "no more than 25 pages" or "no more than 30 pages" or don't even specify a limit at all? Will 17 pages (and some change) look pithy?

 

I'd really like to stop at the first half; I don't want to send them just part of the second half if I can't send the entire thing, if that makes sense? 

 

thanks!