<p>Hello - I am applying to PhD programs in history, and this is my not-so-good record.</p>
<p>Undergrad Last Two Years: 3.07
Undergrad History Major: 3.17
MA Degree Middle East Studies: 3.73</p>
<p>I feel that this record will keep me out of many of the schools that I wish to apply to. I am retaking the GRE's, hoping to score high enough to 'overcome' my undergraduate record. On top of that, I have language background in Arabic and Turkish, and my writing sample shows use of Arabic. Should I address my weak undergrad (and grad?) record in my SOP? If so, how? Thanks!</p>
<p>Where is the BA and the MA from?</p>
<p>BA = UCSD
MA = University of Arizona</p>
<p>You are going to need some good GREs and it would probably help if you had some conference papers or a published work to make you stand out from the pack and overcome the UG GPA. 3.73 in an MA is good but grad schools are going to be expecting high GPAs in your MA program (its a subject you are interested in and are good at). The language skills are good but they are going to expect that if you are applying to a program focusing on the Middle East. Great LORs and a SOP explaining the GPA will help too. It would help in the SOP if you showed dramatic improvement in your last 2 years of UG, that would show that the first two years may have been a fluke or that you had to mature a little.</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply. What would be considered a good GRE score, given my situation? I believe that I will have very good LORs. But I am not sure how to explain my UG GPA without making excuses. The real reason was that I made the mistake of taking four classes while working two jobs. I’m not sure adcoms will have much sympathy for that.</p>
<p>Don’t get discouraged. Go for it, especially that you have shown a drastic improvement in your MA grades (although graduate school grades can be inflated in such a way that the actual range is much narrower than in undergrad, given that anything below a B is a warning sign, as opposed to a C for undergrad). My professors at Michigan hardly blinked at my course grades and it bothered me… until I got the results from my PhD programs- waitlisted at 2 places, both top-20! I asked the DGS at both places if there were any issues, they said no. The GPA is just one factor.</p>
<p>While the GPA is important, the history adcoms look much more closely at the SOP, writing sample, and LORs from professors to find evidence of a strong potential scholar. Your use of languages will be an asset- be sure to include passages in which you used Arabic in your writing sample. How much Arabic and Turkish do you actually have?</p>
<p>Do make sure your GRE verbal is 650 or higher in order to stay in the corral.</p>
<p>Since your field is in Middle East, be sure to apply widely and find more than one professors whom you can work with on thematic issues, besides the “adviser” in the geographical field. Be sure to apply for FLAS to help with funding. Yes, it’ll be a hot field but right now there aren’t just enough professors around, so, once again, apply widely.</p>
<p>While history programs don’t expect conference presentations or publications, I would try to make an effort to polish up your strongest paper and submit for publication review.</p>
<p>I would NOT even explain your GPA. Focus on your strengths and ideas, especially if you don’t have a lot of room. Let your LOR writers do it, especially anyone from your undergrad (this person can be the extra- have the first three LORs come from your MA programs)</p>
<p>A Verbal in the top tenth percentile would help, as would a Analytical Writing at least 4.5 and at least a 550 Quantitative. Quantitative is not as important for history, but it would be good for you to show all-around strength. On the SOP you can’t make something up, so just tell them what happened, maybe you had a financial need to work 2 jobs and it interfered with school. But you resolved to do better with the MA. Do your research on the schools you want to apply to and the professors you want to work with and put it in your SOP, that with let the adcom know you are serious. They need to know you are not just seeking refuge from the job market and that you have a passion for academia…best of luck.</p>
<p>Maybe ticklemepink is right…just don’t mention the UG GPA in the SOP</p>
<p>Thank you ticklemepink. I appreciate your feedback very much. It has been encouraging.</p>
<p>I have four years of Arabic, and three years of Turkish. I will be applying for FLAS in Turkish. My writing sample includes Arabic primary sources, but lack of access to Turkish sources meant that I could not incorporate those. Maybe, I should include some secondary Turkish literature. </p>
<p>I was thinking of not explaining my GPA as well, since I don’t really have a good excuse, but my main concern is making sure that I pass the initial screening based on GREs and GPA. I hadn’t realized that most schools have ‘cut-offs.’</p>
<p>I have no publications, but have presented once. I am hopefully going to meet a potential advisor at a conference in November. Perhaps, that might help, especially since my undergrad advisor is on the same discussion panel as the Professor I want to meet. What is your field and academic background, ticklemepink? </p>
<p>Again, thank you for your help.</p>
<p>Thanks, JR, as well! Your reply has been helpful.</p>
<p>I think you’re fine and sounds like you’ll be highly competitive given that my app is, in some ways, similar to yours. Definitely be at the conference and stick with your adviser as to give him/her an excuse to introduce you to a potential adviser… and try to ask a legit question at the panel! 
Networking is definitely the key.</p>
<p>If that is your excuse for a low GPA, then do NOT mention anything. If the rest of your app is strong, they might presume that you were very busy doing something like… working that prevented you from doing really well. (For me, it was heavy involvement in student ECs in undergrad and working in grad…I had too much of good time :)). But they’ll see from my LORs and writing sample that my research took priority over anything else, including classes.</p>
<p>There are no hard-and-fast cut-offs in PhD programs. The numbers <em>might</em> indicate your place on the waitlist if department politics get in the way and there’s no other way to settle applicants’ places. Professors do seriously read each and every application, starting with the SOP and the LORs, which don’t take them more than 3-5 minutes tops to decide whether to read the rest of your app or not. It has been suggested, however, that departments who do actually put GRE averages on their websites do care <em>a bit</em> and use it in some way- we just don’t know exactly where in the process they actually take a look at it. It could be the first round. It could be down to the last 25 applications, we don’t know.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about including Turkish on purpose- the adcoms will see it in your transcript and decide for themselves if you have enough proficient. For many, it will be fine.</p>
<p>I’d rather not say exactly what field and my background as there aren’t too many people like me on the boards. But I’ll be applying either for US or European (modern Germany) history, depending on the group of professors I want to work with.</p>