Starting applications late

[AshDarling]

Hello all! I've been looking into graduate programs (MFA, MA, etc) for a while now and I've finally decided to pursue my life-long love: history. 

I know I'm starting the process REALLY late. I'm applying to one or two schools, tops. I know its a long shot, and I know that my chances are slim. But I'm applying anyway, even if its only for the practice.

The school I'm really drawn to is Ohio State. I LOVE their Constellations Initiative; the thematic study of history through certain focus areas (women's history, military, etc). I love that its interdisciplinary, too. 

I have two recommenders lined up and need to get my third. I took my GRE in 2010 and may have to take it again, which I'm prepared to do.

I'm having trouble writing my SOP, though. I haven't done much academics-wise since I graduated with my masters in teaching in 2012. I substitute taught that year and had my own classroom 2013-2014. I loved teaching, but thought my efforts would be better suited to college teaching. I have done tutoring in history and English/writing, I am a freelance editor for novels, and I'm writing my own novel right now (not sure that's relevant). I have also served on an organizational event committee to benefit a literacy council in my town. And I have been working at a veterinary clinic as a receptionist and inventory manager.

I guess my issue is combining everything I've done since 2012 into a coherent SOP. I know why I want to go to OSU - the academic culture, the Constellations, the research opportunities - but I'm having issues trying to piece my experiences together to say WHY I want to go to grad school to begin with.

I also don't know what I want to study, specifically. My obsession has been Tudor England (esp. Henry VIII), but I'm also interested in women's and military history. I love studying the power of politics and how people can create shifts of power within court. An idea I had the other day included studying the dynamic of royal mistresses and how their shadow courts of Tudor England (Anne Boleyn while Katherine of Aragon was still queen; Jane Seymour during Anne's decline; etc.) influenced policy / the king's rulings. 

Anyway! Not exactly sure why I'm posting. Maybe to get ideas on how to organize my SOP, or how to approach what I may want to study (since its fluid right now). Thanks for reading this jumbled mess.

Edited November 1, 2015 by AshDarling

[Solidarity]

AshDarling,

First off, congrats on making this decision.  It sounds like you're informed of the current state of the profession and know the pros and cons.  I'm including a few tips and thoughts below, in no specific order, to help you along your way.

- make sure to contact your potential advisors for each program you apply to.  Last year, I wanted to apply to OSU but was waived off by one of the professors, saying the state of Ohio budget cuts, uncertainty in graduate education, etc., would make it difficult to get accepted.  Things may have changed since then.  Key is to start a discussion with two to three potential profs at each school.

- you're experience, life activities, etc., sound great and I think would make a great SOP.  Do you have a mentor from when you were going to school?  I would suggest contacting them to help review your SOP. 

- As far as the SOP, the only great suggestion I have is to make it concise, to the point, and direct.  Stay away from the "when I was little i decided to become a teacher" type opening.  Those work for undergraduate admissions essays, but not for grad school (at least in my opinion).  If possible, reach out for colleagues or graduate students at other programs - after a bit of dialogue, you can ask them for copies of their SOp.

- As far as the actual SOP, I would suggest to make sure an include two the three potential professor names, why you wish to work with them, a few ideas of research while making sure to show you're flexible.  Keep in mind that Admin committees use this information to see what field you'd most likely be accepted in.

- depending on the program, your volunteer and community work will be a benefit and should be included.  You'll know after talking/emailing with professors, grad students, and DGSs.  

If you have any other questions, feel free to email me at edenby@gmail.com.  I'd be more than happy to offer more tips off forum.

 

Best,
Eric

[TMP]

On 10/31/2015, 9:01:11, AshDarling said:

Hello all! I've been looking into graduate programs (MFA, MA, etc) for a while now and I've finally decided to pursue my life-long love: history. 

I know I'm starting the process REALLY late. I'm applying to one or two schools, tops. I know its a long shot, and I know that my chances are slim. But I'm applying anyway, even if its only for the practice.

The school I'm really drawn to is Ohio State. I LOVE their Constellations Initiative; the thematic study of history through certain focus areas (women's history, military, etc). I love that its interdisciplinary, too. 

I have two recommenders lined up and need to get my third. I took my GRE in 2010 and may have to take it again, which I'm prepared to do.

I'm having trouble writing my SOP, though. I haven't done much academics-wise since I graduated with my masters in teaching in 2012. I substitute taught that year and had my own classroom 2013-2014. I loved teaching, but thought my efforts would be better suited to college teaching. I have done tutoring in history and English/writing, I am a freelance editor for novels, and I'm writing my own novel right now (not sure that's relevant). I have also served on an organizational event committee to benefit a literacy council in my town. And I have been working at a veterinary clinic as a receptionist and inventory manager.

I guess my issue is combining everything I've done since 2012 into a coherent SOP. I know why I want to go to OSU - the academic culture, the Constellations, the research opportunities - but I'm having issues trying to piece my experiences together to say WHY I want to go to grad school to begin with.

I also don't know what I want to study, specifically. My obsession has been Tudor England (esp. Henry VIII), but I'm also interested in women's and military history. I love studying the power of politics and how people can create shifts of power within court. An idea I had the other day included studying the dynamic of royal mistresses and how their shadow courts of Tudor England (Anne Boleyn while Katherine of Aragon was still queen; Jane Seymour during Anne's decline; etc.) influenced policy / the king's rulings. 

Anyway! Not exactly sure why I'm posting. Maybe to get ideas on how to organize my SOP, or how to approach what I may want to study (since its fluid right now). Thanks for reading this jumbled mess.

The part were you say that you don't know what to study-- makes me pause and think that you should wait another year.  It's really helpful to have a clear sense of what your intellectual/historiographical questions are.  You'll want to do some reading in your areas of interest and see what's out there, including what's been done and not.  I'm in my fourth year and I've seen my fair share of people.  Very few ever come into my program have a vague idea.  Most people come in with a focus and a good sense of what kind of questions they're interested in exploring.  You'll be asked to write historiographical papers in nearly every class you take at OSU.  Yes, some people bounce around but good advisers will buckle them down if they haven't gotten their stuff together by the end of their 2nd or 3rd year.

If you are interested in early modern Europe, you'd MOST definitely need languages.  Do you at least have Latin?  French?  German?

As for your work experiences, those are nice.  You can put those in your CV/resume in your application but they do NOT belong in your SOP.  Your SOP is meant to be a research proposal with a bit of "job letter" element to it (that's when you bring in "why" OSU and your fit).

I also agree with Eric above.  You'll need to contact Professor Alison Beach, who is our primary person for Early Modern Europe to get a sense of whether or not this year is a good year to apply.  Hopefully she'll give you necessary insights.  I've heard nothing but great things about her.

[AshDarling]

5 hours ago, TMP said:

The part were you say that you don't know what to study-- makes me pause and think that you should wait another year.  It's really helpful to have a clear sense of what your intellectual/historiographical questions are.  You'll want to do some reading in your areas of interest and see what's out there, including what's been done and not.  I'm in my fourth year and I've seen my fair share of people.  Very few ever come into my program have a vague idea.  Most people come in with a focus and a good sense of what kind of questions they're interested in exploring.  You'll be asked to write historiographical papers in nearly every class you take at OSU.  Yes, some people bounce around but good advisers will buckle them down if they haven't gotten their stuff together by the end of their 2nd or 3rd year.

If you are interested in early modern Europe, you'd MOST definitely need languages.  Do you at least have Latin?  French?  German?

As for your work experiences, those are nice.  You can put those in your CV/resume in your application but they do NOT belong in your SOP.  Your SOP is meant to be a research proposal with a bit of "job letter" element to it (that's when you bring in "why" OSU and your fit).

I also agree with Eric above.  You'll need to contact Professor Alison Beach, who is our primary person for Early Modern Europe to get a sense of whether or not this year is a good year to apply.  Hopefully she'll give you necessary insights.  I've heard nothing but great things about her.

The problem with what I want to study is I have so many interests, but many of them do lie within early modern Europe / England. I definitely need to narrow it down, but I also don't want to waste another year. I could, but its not ideal.

Would this be a reason to go masters vs. PhD? I don't even know of any masters program I'd want to pursue, at least not off the cuff. I'd have to do some digging.

I took 5 years of German between high school and college, and a year of Spanish. I know a little Latin, but not formally or enough to be comfortable with it.

I haven't mentioned my current job(s) in my SOP extensively, just a line about how I didn't envision myself doing what I do now when I started my BA.

I looked into Alison Beach - she seems more medieval than early modern. But it never hurts to contact people in departments I want to join. 

Thank you both for your feedback. I appreciate it! 

[rising_star]

@AshDarling, if you know you need to narrow down your interests, why are you so set on applying now? If your interests are vague and you don't have the relevant language preparation, it's highly unlikely that you'll get a funded slot in a PhD program. So, in that sense, the year might be "wasted" anyway. Why not wait until you can put forward a strong, competitive application?

[AshDarling]

4 minutes ago, rising_star said:

@AshDarling, if you know you need to narrow down your interests, why are you so set on applying now? If your interests are vague and you don't have the relevant language preparation, it's highly unlikely that you'll get a funded slot in a PhD program. So, in that sense, the year might be "wasted" anyway. Why not wait until you can put forward a strong, competitive application?

I'm ready to move out of my small town and do something worthwhile, interesting, and intellectually stimulating. I could take the year to learn Latin and freshen up my German, so in that sense it wouldn't be wasted. But I'd likely have to wait 2 years to "get on" with my life, if I applied next season and got in.

Thank you for your insight. I'm not 100% opposed to waiting, though I'd rather be starting my masters/doctorate sooner rather than later.

[TMP]

For OSU's history, we tend to group periodization into 3-- ancient, early modern and modern.  Our medievalists tend to gravitate toward ancient or early modern, depending where their teaching/research interests lie.  For you, you'd be doing medieval and early modern.  Our faculty for that period is relatively small right now as we had some retirements in the last five years or so.  It's unlikely that we'll be able to get another person unless s/he comes to us as a spousal hire or another special route that don't involve a national search.  Right now, Alison Beach has been doing most of the advising, which is why I suggested that you talk to her.

As for languages, Rising_star is right.  It is a tremendous challenge (but not impossible!) to be studying a whole new language while starting a PhD program for the first time.  It sounds like a master's might be the best route for you right now-- getting more specific with your questions and picking up Latin.  Could you take a year to study in England?  One of our early modernists did that and she loved her year studying in London.  

Honestly, your reasons for not waiting makes the PhD sound like the only option but it's one of many options for you.  One would be to pack up and move into a city like New York or Chicago where there is indeed an intellectual environment.  Go to a place where there are several universities/colleges that will have events and scholarly presentations that you can attend.  Immersing yourself in the local intellectual community is one of the things that academics do when they're doing their fieldwork and writing away from their home campuses.  Your job might suck (or great!) but it pays the bills and keep you in a place that's intellectually stimulating and it's... only temporary   Been there, done that.