Fall 2016 Applicants

[TMP]

Hi guys.  I'm planning on applying to programs this fall. I have a relatively low GPA (3.6-3.7 range, curse you core curriculum), but a good major GPA (3.9-4.0 range) and a number of academic accomplishments, including my (top ranking) department's prize for best thesis as well as a number of other thesis awards and competition prizes. Do these academic awards and my major GPA help mitigate or cancel out my low GPA? If this were law admissions, the answer would be a clear and obvious "no," but surely PhD applications are less number driven.

That's NOT a low GPA.

 

A low GPA would be 3.0, which is the minimum requirement for admissions into the graduate school.

 

Focus more on your writing sample and personal statement as you've already cleared that bar.  With ease.

[AfricanusCrowther]

Thanks for the replies. I'm honestly surprised and relieved that my GPA isn't too low. I feel like I read about more qualified candidates who get rejected from every school they apply to.

[gsc]

I feel like I read about more qualified candidates who get rejected from every school they apply to.

 

They seem more qualified, sure. But the things that actually decide whether or not someone is "more" or "less" qualified are things that you can't actually know just by reading their posts. Somebody with a 4.0 GPA and a perfect GRE score can be rejected from everywhere if they submit a sloppy writing sample or don't have a good grasp of their interests, or just apply to all the wrong schools (too many, not enough, or not good fits). And sometimes good candidates get rejected for reasons entirely out of their control and not at all related to their "qualifications." 

[lelick1234]

Just quit my job teaching social studies in Egypt.  I will be returning to the US in a week.  So excited because I am one step closer to being able to apply to graduate school.  

[nevermind]

Hi everyone,

I've started my applications and take the GRE on October 17th (ugh...). I'm not a "history" purist (if they even exist), but I am applying to History of Science programs (and a mix of cultural geography, since they overlap significantly, especially with an STS focus). For HS programs, I'm applying to Harvard, Yale, U Penn, and UCSD. Broadly speaking, my focus is on agricultural practice/policy/political ecology, and tracing narratives of collective memory and how it influences agricultural policy (and conceptions of how the body is transformed through agricultural work). 

Any other History of Science people out there?

[emperor norton]

tmt503, you might also want to look at MIT's HASTS program. It takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of science with a number of well regarded historians located there.

[nevermind]

Hi emperor Norton,

Thanks for mentioning MIT's HASTS program...I had it on my list for awhile, but eliminated due to the fact that it is just insanely competitive.

Although I believe I'm a strong candidate in many respects and they certainly support my research with the history of  agriculture and STS, I suspect many strong candidates will be rejected just based on the number of applications (isn't that what all rejection letters say anyway?). At this point, I feel like I have chosen really great programs (in the top 20 for my interests) that, although competitive, also are hovering around a 20% acceptance rate (MIT's rate is x<10%). They're also all programs I'm totally psyched to attend--if I get in. I guess I'm choosing to save $100+ on an unlikely possibility :-)

[stillalivetui]

Finally finalized my list. Can't wait for December to roll around for this to be over.

[L13]

Hey, guys! You may have discussed this already, but what is everyone's position on applying to UW-Madison in light of the political attacks the university is weathering? It's a great place for my interests on paper, but I'm afraid that if I apply, get in, and end up there, the people I'm interested in working with might leave halfway through my degree.

Apart from UW-Madison, I'll be applying to Harvard (again), Princeton, Johns Hopkins, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, St. Louis University, several master's programs in Europe, and possibly Monash in Australia. Medieval history everywhere. I may yet add one or two PhD programs to my list.

Good luck everyone!

Edited August 22, 2015 by L13

[dr. t]

Hey L13, what's your specific interest again?

The first thing you should check with Madison is how that tin-pot dictator of a governor they have has impacted internal grants. It is simply impossible to work if you cannot travel to European archives.

[TMP]

Hey, guys! You may have discussed this already, but what is everyone's position on applying to UW-Madison in light of the political attacks the university is weathering? It's a great place for my interests on paper, but I'm afraid that if I apply, get in, and end up there, the people I'm interested in working with might leave halfway through my degree.

Apart from UW-Madison, I'll be applying to Harvard (again), Princeton, Johns Hopkins, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, St. Louis University, several master's programs in Europe, and possibly Monash in Australia. Medieval history everywhere. I may yet add one or two PhD programs to my list.

Good luck everyone!

Apply anyway.  You don't know what's going to happen over the next 6ish months.  See what the battlefield looks like come March when you have a chance to visit Madison if admitted.  Don't shut the door before you have a chance to take a peek.

[scirefaciat]

Hey, guys! You may have discussed this already, but what is everyone's position on applying to UW-Madison in light of the political attacks the university is weathering? It's a great place for my interests on paper, but I'm afraid that if I apply, get in, and end up there, the people I'm interested in working with might leave halfway through my degree.

Apart from UW-Madison, I'll be applying to Harvard (again), Princeton, Johns Hopkins, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, St. Louis University, several master's programs in Europe, and possibly Monash in Australia. Medieval history everywhere. I may yet add one or two PhD programs to my list.

Good luck everyone!

Hey there,

As a new medievalist at Madison, I can tell you that as far as I know, neither Shoemaker nor Lapina have any plans to leave, and the medieval community seems to be as robust as ever. Walker's policy changes won't affect funding, because the department has scaled back its acceptances and begun funding for five years as of my app year. Feel free to send me a PM - I would be happy to answer any questions you have!

Good luck!

[dr. t]

the department has scaled back its acceptances and begun funding for five years as of my app year.

Huh. Is that retroactive? If not, how do the current grad students feel about that?

[L13]

Thank you all for your responses, especially scirefaciat! I will take you up on your offer and message you privately to talk about the program, if you don't mind! (I'll do it at some point in the next couple of days.) Thank you very much!

And telkanuru, my interests lie in the cultural and intellectual history of Europe in the 12th-13th centuries, with emphases on historical reasoning, Christian eschatology & cultural encounter. Sorry, my interests are more thematic than geographical or chronological, so it's a bit hard to describe them concisely without coming across as vague. I'm interested in the crusading movement, though, among other things.

Anyway. Thanks again, everyone! I think I'll be applying to Madison for sure, but I appreciate telkanuru's specific warning about grant money. It's good to know what things I should be looking out for, should I find myself in a position to choose between Madison and another school. (A distant possibility at this point )

Edited August 24, 2015 by L13

[Neist]

Hi everyone,

I've started my applications and take the GRE on October 17th (ugh...). I'm not a "history" purist (if they even exist), but I am applying to History of Science programs (and a mix of cultural geography, since they overlap significantly, especially with an STS focus). For HS programs, I'm applying to Harvard, Yale, U Penn, and UCSD. Broadly speaking, my focus is on agricultural practice/policy/political ecology, and tracing narratives of collective memory and how it influences agricultural policy (and conceptions of how the body is transformed through agricultural work). 

Any other History of Science people out there?

I'm a history of science person applying this winter (for fall 2016). I'm currently at the University of Oklahoma in their undergraduate program.

I'm actually pretty split on which programs I'm applying to. My interests can swing towards either STS or HoS. Unfortunately, most of the top STS/HoS programs would not support my research interests, so I'm just applying to where the best learning environment will be. It's sort of an odd situation when you want to study something that no one else studies, or at least no one studies in the discipline you study within. I'm interested in representation and identity in the 20th century US for the technical professions.

So far I'm leaning towards RPI (for ethnomath, actually), Drexel (from a strong recommendation from Dr. Moon here at OU), Cornell, OU (for their MLIS/HoS combo program), and Mississippi State. It's an eclectic blend of schools, some far more prestigious than others, but, like I said, I'm going where I believe my interests will be supported. I'd very much be a black sheep in most of the top programs, although I could study exactly what I want to here at OU, but I know it's typically not the best career decision to get one's PhD at the same institution as their undergrad.

If you haven't looked into OU, you might. We're surprisingly well regarded in the HoS community; a top 10 program, even. It's not her direct focus, but Suzanne Moon (the aforementioned one) teaches an undergrad course that might delve into some of your interests. She's mostly an Asianist. The section I took dedicated a significant period of study to the green revolution and its politics. Here's an older syllabus from the course (not the exact semester I took it):

http://cas.ou.edu/Websites/oucas/images/hsci/HSCI 3483 Fall 2011 Moon.pdf

Also, hello! I think this might be my first post here. I've lingered for a while, but application time is quickly approaching.

Edited August 24, 2015 by Neist

[dr. t]

On 8/24/2015 at 2:35 PM, L13 said:

And telkanuru, my interests lie in the cultural and intellectual history of Europe in the 12th-13th centuries, with emphases on historical reasoning, Christian eschatology & cultural encounter. Sorry, my interests are more thematic than geographical or chronological, so it's a bit hard to describe them concisely without coming across as vague. I'm interested in the crusading movement, though, among other things.

I would honestly drop UTenn (for ranking reasons) and maybe Princeton (I expect Jordan to retire soon). Do look at Berkeley (Maureen Miller), UChicago (Jonathan Lyon), Columbia (Adam Kosto), Notre Dame (Daniel Hobbins), UToronto (Isabelle Cochline), and OSU (Alison Beach). I would also be remiss if I didn't add Brown (Amy Remensnyder)!

[scrivere]

I'm curious about how all of you dealt with/are dealing with a few (probably pretty insignificant) issues:

1. After emailing professors to find out if they're taking students, if you get back a fairly stock response ("Thank you for contacting me. I am taking new students. I look forward to reading your application."), do you respond with a quick "thanks," or nothing at all? I haven't been responding to those kinds of emails because clearly they're busy and I don't want to unnecessarily clog their inbox. But is that impolite?

2. What is the appropriate time to send your recommenders the material they ask for (SOP, writing sample, transcript, etc.)? If most applications are due Dec. 1, is Nov. 1 suitable?

3. How extensive should the historiography in your writing sample be?

I have more questions, but I'll leave it there for now. Thanks!

[dr. t]

1) I did not reply back.

2) I tried to get mine to my profs by the end of September. These were of course not final drafts of anything, and I made sure to update them if I changed anything substantial.

3) As much as you need to prove your point, but not so much as to make it seem like you're just showing off/ticking that box.

Edited August 24, 2015 by telkanuru

[scrivere]

So helpful, telkanuru, thank you!

[Neist]

I can't comment on #2 or #3, but I haven't been replying, like telkanuru did. Of course, if they've remotely seemed interested in further correspondence, I've stayed in touch.

[scirefaciat]

Huh. Is that retroactive? If not, how do the current grad students feel about that?

It is not, no. I think they were made aware of it well in advance, and no one I've met seems to hold any negative feelings about it.  From what I have gathered, Madison puts a lot of emphasis on applying for all the outside funding sources possible. It seems that a significant number of the students have been - and likely will continue to be - successful in those applications.  Someone noted somewhere that he was surprised that UW grads placed as well as they did, without funding - I think this may come into play there as well.

[TMP]

I'm curious about how all of you dealt with/are dealing with a few (probably pretty insignificant) issues:

1. After emailing professors to find out if they're taking students, if you get back a fairly stock response ("Thank you for contacting me. I am taking new students. I look forward to reading your application."), do you respond with a quick "thanks," or nothing at all? I haven't been responding to those kinds of emails because clearly they're busy and I don't want to unnecessarily clog their inbox. But is that impolite?

2. What is the appropriate time to send your recommenders the material they ask for (SOP, writing sample, transcript, etc.)? If most applications are due Dec. 1, is Nov. 1 suitable?

3. How extensive should the historiography in your writing sample be?

I have more questions, but I'll leave it there for now. Thanks!

1) Let it go.  It's their message acknowledging that they got your message.  You reply only if they have questions.

2) Ask your recommenders!!!  Most will say about a month before the materials are due.  Ask them what they would like in their recommendation package-- most will want your CV, writing sample, and SOP.

3) Keep your writing sample within limits-- make sure you do a good balance between the text and your historiography.  Use a good judgment and it's okay to "cut off" as long as you note that in the text.

[knp]

On the topic of Wisconsin, I am almost definitely not applying to UNC-CH because of that state's own self-immolating war against education. I wouldn't recommend that as general advice, but one of my letter-writers told me that the chaos has made my POI start seriously trying to leave. It's a shame, because she's great, but perhaps if I get shut out this cycle and she finds a new job, being able to apply to work with her would be one silver lining.

[Whistful]

I'm curious about how all of you dealt with/are dealing with a few (probably pretty insignificant) issues:

1. After emailing professors to find out if they're taking students, if you get back a fairly stock response ("Thank you for contacting me. I am taking new students. I look forward to reading your application."), do you respond with a quick "thanks," or nothing at all? I haven't been responding to those kinds of emails because clearly they're busy and I don't want to unnecessarily clog their inbox. But is that impolite?

When do people usually reach out to potential advisors? What do you include in the email? Do you ask to meet? I have a few people in mind, but am feeling nervous and don't want to make a poor first impression.

[stillalivetui]

When do people usually reach out to potential advisors? What do you include in the email? Do you ask to meet? I have a few people in mind, but am feeling nervous and don't want to make a poor first impression.

I've emailed POIs to make sure they are taking on new students. I included my research interests, as well as my tentative project to get some feedback from them.Think of the email as an introduction. I wouldn't ask to meet unless the POI suggests it.

In any case, reaching out is helpful for you as it can help prevent wasted money and effort. For instance, I discovered that one of my POIs is retiring, thus not taking on new students, while another notified me he is moving to Columbia from UT Austin, and invited me to apply there.