Unsure About Where to Go and How to Get There

[OldIronsides]

 I’m having something of a freak out in advance of applying for Fall 2016 PhD programs, and I was hoping I could get some advice on a number of issues I have, both relating to the application process and graduate school in general.

 To begin, let me clarify some things about my background/academic career thus far. I graduated last year with my Bachelor’s in History and Philosophy, Cum Laude, and am currently in the process of completing my Master’s. Due to a number of issues, including the death of one of my LoR writers and my own struggles with the SoI, I ended up attending the same university where I received my undergrad degree. While that was not where I envisioned myself getting my MA, it has been very rewarding. I’ve maintained a 4.0 GPA in the program, attended four conferences my first year, received a (relatively) prestigious award and a fellowship, worked as a teaching assistant and a research assistant, and did very well on my qualitative and writing GRE (94^th percentile on both). I have studied French, Spanish, Swedish, Hindi, and Latin, though only my French is where it needs to be for a PhD program. I also was part of an exchange program with QMUL in the UK. Lastly, I am the co-editor of a book that will be published next month. 

 That said, I do have a number of concerns. While I received Cum Laude on the Bachelor’s, my undergrad career was not as stellar as I would have liked it to be. In addition, my university is a no-name school in the middle of the Midwest. Should I get into a PhD program, I’ll be the second to do so in a decade. In addition, while I respect most of my professors, none of them are particularly notable in their field and don’t have the kind of reputations that would wow someone on an admitting committee.

 I’m giving this background because I’m concerned about what my prospects actually are in regards to university rankings. I have no real frame of reference to determine how good or bad I am, or how good/bad my record actually is. As a result, my first question is, broadly, what level of programs is realistic (Using, for instance, US News or QS rankings)? I can only apply to so many programs, and I want to avoid both tilting at windmills and selling myself short, and trying to identify a range has really hampered my ability to narrow in on fit.

 Another issue I am having is that I am really struggling with narrowing down the focus of my historical studies. While I would generally identify as a social/intellectual historian, my thesis brought me into such areas as commodity history, medical history, and cultural history. Likewise, I have a range of geographic areas of interest.

 These leads to a series of questions:

 - When writing a Statement of Intent (and related documents), would it be better to focus in on one of these areas or present myself as a student with a broad methodological background?

 - When looking at fit, how snug does said fit need to be? Do you look at broad similarities (geographic and temporal) or narrow similarities (shepherding records in nineteenth century Lancaster, for example)? How important is personality to this process?

 - How have you gone about narrowing broad research interests into your ultimate focus? I am having some difficulty navigating this process?  

 - When submitting a writing sample, should it be in the field you are applying too? I ask this as the paper I plan on submitting, while (in my opinion) good and based in primary source research, is unlikely to have any relation to what I would like to do long-term as a historian.

- How specific should your research interests be in your SoI? Do you need to propose a dissertation right then and there or are professors fairly lenient about a student not being sure on where they want to go? 

 Thanks in advance guys, and apologies for the wall of text/barrage of questions. 

Edited July 31, 2015 by OldIronsides

[ashiepoo72]

First of all, I wouldn't worry about your "no name" university at all. I went to a "no name" MA program--with a wonderful and supportive faculty that provided me many opportunities--and managed to get accepted into 10 programs, 8 of which offered me full (4-5 years) funding. I did my undergrad at UCSC, which is more prestigious than my MA program but a "middle of the pack" UC if you look at rankings. My grades were spotty--I didn't even make a 3.5 but did manage about a 3.7 in history which is more important. I didn't have a 4.0 in my MA program, and I certainly wasn't co-editor of a published work.

 

I'm glad you're asking a lot of questions about the most important components of your application, the statement of purpose and writing sample. I'm going to try to answer some of your questions, but I hope some others fill in more of the blanks.

 

One of the best advice I got for writing the statement was to go broad and then narrow. What I mean by this is, state your interests broadly so the adcomm can see where your research fits in the broader study of history (for me, it was something like where social, political and transnational history intersect in U.S. conflicts in the 20th century) and then narrow in to show your "niche" (my project has since changed, but in my statement I talked about how I'm interested in how the government, military and public construct and manipulate how conflict is understood during the latter half of the 20th century...I went into more specifics but won't bore you here).

 

Talk about your research and experience--A LOT. I think I had 2-3 paragraphs on this alone. My structure was like this: "grabbing" introduction related to my research interests, broad outline of interests, questions I want to explore and why, research experience, more research experience, narrowed in on research interests, fit fit fit throughout but especially in the conclusion.

 

As to fit, I think you should look beyond your POI. Your POI doesn't need to be a perfect fit...just someone who knows enough about your broad interests to help guide you through a dissertation. Your POI may very well change, and you will have many mentors in your career. Think about how the entire department fits you. I didn't apply anywhere that didn't have at least 2 people I could work with, most had 3. Maybe one person had a methodological approach that interested me, another studied the same period but looked at it a different angle, another more closely fit my interests. Look at what centers and archival material the university offers--often times, department websites will list affiliated centers. I applied to UCSB in part because of the Center for Cold War Studies and International History, for example. Look at the university as a whole, then look at the surrounding area. The University of Maryland is walking distance from Archives II, one of the reasons I applied there. These are all things to note in your statement and will show you know exactly what fit means--it's not just fit with an adviser...you need to choose a place that fits you, a place you fit as well.

 

Your writing sample should be your best piece of written work utilizing extensive primary source material. I would use a historically-based paper, but others haven't and were successful in getting into programs. My paper was very close to my proposed research, but if I had a better paper outside my field I would've submitted that. I am a firm believer in the historiographical review, and I think most adcomms will be too, which is why I think a history paper is best. You also want to show you know how to write historically. That's just my opinion, though.

 

Your research will change and POIs know this. One of the first question one of my would-be advisers asked me when I met him was: "so how have your ideas changed from when you wrote your statement? What new directions are you looking?" <--true story. I haven't even started classes yet and my adviser at Davis already knows I'm thinking in a different research vein from what I said in my statement. The statement isn't a contract, it's meant to show that you know what grad school entails, that you have the preparation to undertake a dissertation and that you can frame a scholarly research project.

 

Last thought--I would contact POIs ahead of applications, but once you're getting acceptances and visiting programs, you'll have a prime opportunity to gauge your fit personality-wise with your potential advisers and departments. It's hard to get that before you actually visit campuses, although some people I contacted me gave me helpful insight that stopped me from applying to their program (like all the people in my field are near retirement, or there is literally no funding, etc). I can tell you visiting advisers in person made my decision extremely difficult and incredibly easy at the same time, and it completely changed my mind about which program to choose. 

 

Good luck!

[serenade]

Yep, I second all of the above. I also got my MA from the same no name school where I got my BA. I was terrified that this would ruin my PhD apps...but it didn't (unless you have your mind set on super elite schools...then you might have a problem). I still got into top 30-40 schools (based on US News rankings). Like you, my undergrad career was pretty mediocre (good grades but nothing else), but I made up for it in my MA and filled up my CV like it sounds like you have as well. That will go a long way. None of my recommenders were important people, but it didn't hurt my apps. 

 

As to your questions, I second everything the above poster said. I will add in regard to the writing sample, the adcomm is mainly looking for quality, not specific fit with what you propose to study, so I would pick your strongest paper, regardless of what historical period it's in. But, as the above poster mentioned, I would definitely pick a historical paper.  

 

Don't sweat the no-name school thing. Some schools do weed apps out because of pedigree, but not all. If you're a competent student, you're a competent student regardless of where your degrees are from. 

 

Bonne chance!

[OldIronsides]

 Thanks so much for your input, guys. It's really taken a load off my mind.

[OldIronsides]

 Operating on the advice in this thread, I narrowed myself down to fourteen universities:

Northwestern University
University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign 
(The above are more along the lines of dream programs - I am highly skeptical of my ability to get into either of them)
Ohio State University
Vanderbilt University
University of Florida
Emory University
University of Washington
University of Notre Dame
University of California-Santa Barbara
University of Illinois-Chicago
Boston University
University of Pennsylvania-University Park
University of Southern California
Boston College

Does this seem like a reasonable list? Obviously I'm not asking for anyone to do any in-depth research on my behalf, but just as a cursory thing.

[gsc]

14 schools is a lot of schools to apply to. It can be done, but the sheer logistics and the expense of it all make it very difficult - by the time you've put together 14 versions of your SOP for each school, figured out 14 different application websites (all with different requirements!), and paid 14 application fees, you're exhausted. It's only August, so I think your next step is to narrow down this list further. Even if you do decide to apply to all 14, the process of figuring out which schools are better fits and why will help you nail down your own interests better. 

 

Also, as my advisor at my undergrad once told me: if you don't apply to a school because you think you won't get in, you've basically rejected yourself. 

[OldIronsides]

 Naturally the list will be narrowed down further (and I am currently talking to the graduate directors of said programs to further that process). This is more of a short list to help me narrow down the quality range.

[dr. t]

 Operating on the advice in this thread, I narrowed myself down to fourteen universities:

Northwestern University

University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign 

(The above are more along the lines of dream programs - I am highly skeptical of my ability to get into either of them)

Ohio State University

Vanderbilt University

University of Florida

Emory University

University of Washington

University of Notre Dame

University of California-Santa Barbara

University of Illinois-Chicago

Boston University

University of Pennsylvania-University Park

University of Southern California

Boston College

Does this seem like a reasonable list? Obviously I'm not asking for anyone to do any in-depth research on my behalf, but just as a cursory thing.

 

As GSC just said, apply to where you want to go, not to where you think you'll get in. For example, are there are no professors at any Ivy or similar (Stanford, UChicago) who study what you want to study?

[Riotbeard]

If you want to pursue History of Medicine, you should also consider history of medicine/science programs.  In particular, if you are a U.S. historian, the job market is a blood bath, and history of medicine/science could help you stand out from the rest of the field.  We are by no means a history of science oriented program, but of our last two U.S. hires, one was history of medicine and one was environmental history.  Moreover, it's a much less crowded arena of U.S. history than general social history or virtually any other subfield.  Plus there will be jobs open to you that are not available to a more standard U.S. historian, and you are also applicable to general U.S. history jobs.  Your research will stand out from the crowd of say slavery studies, 20th century social movements, or American imperialism, just by nature of the fact that you are in a field general U.S. historians are only just beginning to pay attention to.  Just some food for thought, if you are enjoying history of medicine.

[TMP]

Can you be a bit more specific what your present interests  are?

The key thing you'll want to demonstrate is that you have a particular question that keeps you preoccupied and you want to explore its history.  It'll take a bit of soul-searching to do this but you'll be glad that you did.  Keeping that question in mind will actually drive your curiosity as you explore different topics throughout your coursework before settling on a dissertation topic.  Think about your intellectual trajectory: what was the central question that you had that got you interested in history and the paper topics you've chosen for your coursework?

[OldIronsides]

Telkanuru: I am sure that there are, and that they would be more impressive than most of the profs that I am looking at. That said, I do have some self-esteem issues (essentially major-league impostor syndrome) that make it very difficult for me to even consider throwing my stuff at one of the Ivies. It's just a difficult psychological hurdle, and one that I doubt I will overcome by the time September rolls around. 

Riotbeard: I am looking heavily into history of medicine. I'll address that issue with the next response. 

TMP: I actually have a broad range of interests. As I alluded to in my first post, my thesis relied heavily on a number of distinct methodologies and thematic approaches. I would say that my great love is intellectual history, though I recognize the job market for that is very bad at the moment. The second tier interests would be imperialism, religion, cultural, labor, science, medical, political, and commodity. Geographically I tend to operate best in the Atlantic world, specifically France, UK, and the US - that said, I've also had a growing love affair with Ireland since I started down this path. Chronologically I tend to do Modern, though I dip into Early Modern with France and the UK. If it seems like my interests are too broad, I have absolutely zero interest in military history, ethnic history, or hard economic history. 

 Thanks for all of your input, guys. It is very much appreciated. 

[serenade]

I applied to 16 schools (got into 8, got rejected from 8). Yes, it's a pain in the @$$ and expensive. However, if you have the money and time, your list of 14 looks like good and realistic choices.

[Riotbeard]

Telkanuru: I am sure that there are, and that they would be more impressive than most of the profs that I am looking at. That said, I do have some self-esteem issues (essentially major-league impostor syndrome) that make it very difficult for me to even consider throwing my stuff at one of the Ivies. It's just a difficult psychological hurdle, and one that I doubt I will overcome by the time September rolls around. 

Riotbeard: I am looking heavily into history of medicine. I'll address that issue with the next response. 

TMP: I actually have a broad range of interests. As I alluded to in my first post, my thesis relied heavily on a number of distinct methodologies and thematic approaches. I would say that my great love is intellectual history, though I recognize the job market for that is very bad at the moment. The second tier interests would be imperialism, religion, cultural, labor, science, medical, political, and commodity. Geographically I tend to operate best in the Atlantic world, specifically France, UK, and the US - that said, I've also had a growing love affair with Ireland since I started down this path. Chronologically I tend to do Modern, though I dip into Early Modern with France and the UK. If it seems like my interests are too broad, I have absolutely zero interest in military history, ethnic history, or hard economic history. 

 Thanks for all of your input, guys. It is very much appreciated. 

 

 

This might be a bit of a cheet, but my dissertation is masked intellectual history, but I am able to couch it as cultural history, because I use a lot of non-traditional sources that takes it out of the realm traditional intellectual history.  I have also been advised by people to make sure to refer to my diss. as cultural history when talking to presses.  This is the same with microhistory and biography.  A lot of microhistory is closer to biography, but it sounds less old fashioned to call it micro-history (not say all micro-history is this, and I love micro-history).

[OldIronsides]

-dp-

Edited August 13, 2015 by OldIronsides

[OldIronsides]

Somewhat unrelated topic, but you guys have been so helpful thus far:

It was a non-academic, non-charitable thing, but I ended up spending a long time living in the slums of South Asia (as a white American). Would that kind of thing give me a few points, or should it be avoided? I could see it going both ways.

[mvlchicago]

think about it this way. For every personal experience you've had and are thinking about slipping into your SOP, ask: is this A ) relevant to my interests that I've so clearly stated so far or B ) does this show me as the sort of person who finishes projects I start? 

Edited August 13, 2015 by mvlchicago

[dr. t]

Telkanuru: I am sure that there are, and that they would be more impressive than most of the profs that I am looking at. That said, I do have some self-esteem issues (essentially major-league impostor syndrome) that make it very difficult for me to even consider throwing my stuff at one of the Ivies. It's just a difficult psychological hurdle, and one that I doubt I will overcome by the time September rolls around. 

 

To be blunt, this is not a great answer. I'm not a psychologist, so I can't help you over that hurdle. However, given the job market, not to mention the fact that some of the professors might well be a better fit and that very few of the schools on your current list have strong funding packages, it's a hurdle you really need to get over.

[TMP]

Somewhat unrelated topic, but you guys have been so helpful thus far:

It was a non-academic, non-charitable thing, but I ended up spending a long time living in the slums of South Asia (as a white American). Would that kind of thing give me a few points, or should it be avoided? I could see it going both ways.

No.  Unless you're interested in race or South Asian history.  Focus on your research interests, the scholarly side of you.

 

As for imposter syndrome, it will always be there.  You need to change your pattern of thinking in order to get yourself to believe that you are deserving of a shot at working with professors in top-notch programs who are great fit.