Preparing to apply for history Ph.D programs

Graduate School
1

<p>So as the title implies, I'm beginning to prepare to apply for a Ph.D program in history. I'm not actually planning on applying for a couple of years, but considering that most reputable programs are quite competitive, I'm looking to do whatever I can in the meantime to increase my chances.</p>

<p>I graduated this past year with a B.A. in History and a B.S. in Education from a state school. I graduated magna cum laude with a 3.791 GPA. Member of Phi Alpha Theta (history honors), ran three campus organizations, multiple on-campus jobs (including "real" ones) etc.</p>

<p>I was accepted into Teach For America, currently teaching 8th grade US history in a low-income community. I'm planning on finishing my corps term here and completing an additional year before going back to grad school.</p>

<p>I'm looking to study 19th century Russian history for my doctorate. I'm currently tossing around a few potential dissertation topics (Circassian genocide, Caucasian War, comparative imperialism). I did a decent amount of research in this area during my undergrad, and presented at local, regional, and even one national conference. I've been keeping in contact with my European history professor and a few others in the department.</p>

<p>Ultimately, I'm trying to see what I can do to improve my chances of admission into solid programs. While I believe that my grades and campus record are solid, I'm hoping that the lack of a "prestigious" undergrad institution on my transcript won't hinder any chances. Here are some things I'm doing to prepare:</p>

<ul>
<li>Learning Russian. I already speak/read fluent French and can get around in Spanish. I'm planning on taking Russian courses at a local community college beginning this summer, but I've begun on the basics of the language.</li>
<li>Continuing research. I've got a decent library of Russian history titles going, and I've been trying to narrow my focus within the realm of 19th century Russian history.</li>
<li>GRE. I haven't taken it yet, but I've got a few people I'll be studying with. I'm not terribly concerned about the verbal or writing portions, but the quantitative reasoning one may become a challenge</li>
</ul>

<p>And lastly, here are the programs I'm currently looking at (in relative order of preference): McGill, Yale, UNC Chapel Hill, Brandeis, UMass Amherst, UC San Diego, UM Ann Arbor, University of Oklahoma, Boston College, Queen's University, University of Ottawa. I'll be narrowing this down with further research.</p>

<p>Thanks to anyone who has advice on how I can further prepare (and took the time to read this, hah).</p>

2

<p>Maybe one more modern reading language? Russian and French are great and probably great enough to get into PhD programs in history, but Spanish doesn’t seem like a particularly useful language to study Russian history. Is German or another European language more appropriate? Of course, Russian should be the first priority - you should have basic reading proficiency if 19th century Russian history is your interest area.</p>

<p>Other than that, it looks like you are already on the right track. I suppose you could try to revise one of your existing papers for publication as a monograph in a history journal or something.</p>

<p>And for any other grad school hopefuls stumbling across this, this is a perfect example of why taking time off before applying is not at all a bad thing and in many cases is desirable. OP has already settled on an area that they KNOW they are interested in and can now take the time to develop a dissertation interest area (which can potentially help them graduate faster!), learn languages needed, refine papers and practice for the GRE.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the reply. I’m well aware that Spanish won’t be incredibly useful, I’m only learning it because I teach in a largely latino school. Most programs I’ve come across only require two foreign languages. German could potentially be useful, but I may end up having to learn a bit of a Caucasian language (i.e. Georgian, Chechen, Circassian) depending on the topic of my dissertation. Not sure I can swing another language, especially one as different as German, on top of that. I can read a little Dutch (and wouldn’t have a difficult time picking that up), how useful do you think that would be?</p>

<p>I neglected to mention it, but I have some undergrad research, completed during my senior year, that is in the works of being published. I’ll certainly be revising my 19th century Russian research for my writing sample on applications.</p>

4

<p>History, much less Russian history, is not my field - so you would know better than I do how useful Dutch is to studying Russian history. I’m guessing not very, but I don’t know.</p>

<p>Besides, I was just tossing it in as something that you could potentially do if you really were looking for other things. Honestly, with the things you’ve already done and plan to do (including reading knowledge of French and Russian), you’ll already be a competitive applicant for grad school.</p>

5

<p>Ah, I see. Yeah, talking to some other people, I think the main focus should be getting a solid foundation in Russian. But thanks for the other input!</p>

6

<p>History, much less Russian history, is not my field - so you would know better than I do how useful Dutch is to studying Russian history. I’m guessing not very, but I don’t know.</p>

<p>Besides, I was just tossing it in as something that you could potentially do if you really were looking for other things. Honestly, with the things you’ve already done and plan to do (including reading knowledge of French and Russian), you’ll already be a competitive applicant for grad school.</p>