Applying to Graduate School: A Guide and Timeline

Applying to Graduate School: A Guide and Timeline

INTRODUCTION

Table of Contents
2
2

MATERIALS YOU WILL NEED TO APPLY

WHAT IS GRADUATE SCHOOL? APPLICATION PROCESS TIMELINE

SOPHOMORE YEAR JUNIOR YEAR FALL JUNIOR YEAR SPRING SUMMER BEFORE SENIOR YEAR SENIOR YEAR FALL
SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER/DECEMBER

3 4
4 4 5 6 8
8 9 10

THE DECISION PROCESS

POSSIBLE DECISIONS

11
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RESOURCES SAMPLE MATERIALS

INITIAL EMAIL TO POI CURRICULUM VITAE
SAMPLE CV CV TIPS

12 13
13 13
14 14

SAMPLE FIT PARAGRAPH

GRADUATE APPLICATION CHECKLIST

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Applying to Graduate School: A Guide and Timeline

pplying to graduate school for history (or any discipline) is a long and, sometimes, complicated process. This timeline is designed to not only tell you when you should be doing something related to the application process, but also why and how you should be doing it. Whether pursuing an advanced degree in history makes sense is up to you, but you should pay close attention to the thoughts and opinions of your mentor/advisor on this subject. After all, they know what is required to earn a doctoral degree and they also know your work. However, if you have made an informed decision regarding graduate school, this timeline will, hopefully, make the application process, and all its little quirks, a bit less mysterious while also giving you enough direction to not feel overwhelmed from the start. The keys to the process are organization and preparation. The earlier you start, the better. Throughout, I also give tips on organizing your process. I cannot stress enough how much easier the process will be if you develop a way to see at-a-glance information about prospective schools, their application requirements, and, while youre applying, what materials have been requested, sent, and received. In addition to the timeline, I have included a page of internet resources followed by some sample materials.

Introduction

Materials You Will Need to Apply:

Statement of Purpose

A 500-1000 word essay about your academic interests, previous research experience, specific topic of interest, and fit with each specific department to which you are applying. Generally, a 15 to 25-page research essay based on primary sources and engaged with secondary sources. Three letters written by the professors most familiar with your work.

Writing Sample

Letters of Recommendation GRE Scores

The standard graduate school entrance test administered by ETS. It is not the most important aspect of your application, but not doing well can preclude you from fellowships and other sources of internal funding. Most applications will require transcripts from every post-secondary institution you have attended. Basically, a resume of your academic achievements.

Undergraduate Transcripts

Curriculum Vitae

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Applying to Graduate School: A Guide and Timeline

ow does graduate school differ from the average undergraduate experience? Well, for starters, classes generally meet once a week for anywhere from one-hour and forty- five minutes to three hours. The two main types of graduate courses are reading seminars and research seminars. The average reading load for a reading seminar, the most common graduate course, is one book per week sometimes accompanied by a journal article or two. Most graduate programs require students to take at least three, if not four, classes per semester. This means that you will be expected to read three to four books per week along with a similar number of journal articles and to discuss them intelligently for two or more hours each per week. You will also likely be required to produce a number of scholarly book reviews throughout the semester. In most seminars, a historiographical essay of around twenty pages is also required. A research seminar has a similar reading load, which usually lightens a bit as the semester goes on because you will be required to produce a research paper of publishable quality by the end of the semester. If this sounds like an impossible workload to you, perhaps you need to speak to your mentor about your expectations concerning graduate study. This type of coursework can last anywhere from two to three years in most programs. After you have completed your course requirements, you will also be expected to pass the required language exams. Usually these usually consist of a one or two-page selection that must be translated in a specified amount of time with the aid of a dictionary. Then, you are ready to prepare for your exams or comps. The format differs from school to school. Some have an oral examination administered by a committee (usually, three professors) and lasting around two hours. Some have a written exam. Some have both. In order to prepare, a list of books is drawn up in consultation with your committee, which can be anywhere from fifty to over one hundred books. You will then have a specific number of months to cover this material on your own. The exams usually test your primary field and either one or two other secondary fields. Once you have completed this rite of passage, you will be advanced to candidacy or A.B.D. (all but the dissertation) status. From there on out, your main task will be to complete your dissertation. How long this takes you will be determined by any number of factors, e.g. how much funding do you have? How many research trips will you need to take? How many courses are you teaching? If you do finish the dissertation, you will be expected to defend it before your dissertation committee before receiving your degree. Graduate school is unlike your undergraduate experience in many ways. Your workload will be heavier. You will be solely responsible for your own progress and work. Your relationships with your professors will be different than they were during your undergraduate days. Faculty will treat you like a junior colleague, but, in return, they will expect you to behave and produce like a junior colleague. If much of what I have written of here was unfamiliar to you, I suggest you talk about these things with your advisor/mentor and your other professors.

What is Graduate School?

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Applying to Graduate School: A Guide and Timeline

Application Process Timeline

Sophomore Year
1. Develop relationships with professors. Try to take multiple classes with the same professors. You will need 3 letters of recommendation and the better a professor knows you, the better letter they can write. Go to their office hours a few times during the semester to talk about your interests and the possibility of applying to graduate school. Let them know youre available if they or someone they know needs a research assistant. 2. If you have not already, begin language study as soon as possible. If you plan to apply for a field outside of American history, your language preparation will be a significant factor in your application. For example, if you are planning to study French history, you should be able to read French easily before applying. Medievalists will be expected to have two ready languages at least upon applying out of the required French, German, Latin, and Ancient Greek. Ancient historians, like classicists, will be expected to have more than 2 years of both Latin and Ancient Greek. The top programs will expect at least one, if not two, languages even for Americanists.

Junior Year Fall

1. Talk to your mentor/advisor about doing a primary source-based research paper in the spring. As a history applicant, your writing sample is quite possibly the single most important part of your application. Most schools have senior history majors do research papers, but that will be too late to use it as an application writing sample. Producing a paper in your junior year will also allow you ample revision time over the summer and fall of your senior year. Think about possible essay topics that interest you either on your own or from a class youve taken and run them by your advisor. If your department does not have a research, honors, or similar course, ask your mentor/advisor if you can do it as an independent study. Make sure you let the professor know that you hope to use the paper as your application's writing sample. - 4 -

Applying to Graduate School: A Guide and Timeline

1. Talk to your mentor/advisor about possible graduate programs. Your professors will know the reputations of programs and likely will have had personal and/or professional interaction with historians at other programs. Generally, it is not considered a good idea to pursue a graduate degree at the same school at which you received your undergraduate degree. Dont ask why . . . Thats just how it is. 2. Write a research paper that can be used as a writing sample. Remember to pick a manageable topic. This includes a topic for which you will have access to sources and wont require more time than you will have to complete the essay. Check your librarys archives and manuscript division to see what kind of primary sources are easily available. If you live in a metropolitan area, check the large public libraries nearby to see what they have in their collections. 3. Begin researching possible schools to which you might apply. Fit cannot be underestimated. The schools you choose should be based, in large part, on their faculty. No program will admit even the best student if no one on the faculty has similar interests. Your choice of schools should be a combination of fit, rank, and personal preference, in that order. Limiting your search geographically will seriously hamper your chances. The life of a professor can be a nomadic one and the state of the job market requires professors to be geographically mobile. Similarly, in choosing a graduate program, you must be willing to go to the best program to which you are accepted in order to maximize your future employability. This is definitely something worth discussing with your mentor/advisor. You should begin browsing the department websites at schools you might consider. You can start by browsing through them to get a feel for the department. Read their mission statements, look at current and previous graduate courses, look at their requirements for earning the degree (download their graduate student handbook, if available), and, most importantly, read the faculty bios and CVs. You would likely be surprised at the number of people who apply to schools without even having browsed through the departments websites in a thorough manner. You should not only look at the departments website, but also that of the graduate school as well. Pay special attention to the degree structure, i.e., How many courses does one need to take before exams? Are there tutorial courses for exams and/or dissertation prospectuses? When does the program expect students to take their exams? Are the exams oral, written, or both? By when must language exams be passed?

Junior Year Spring

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Applying to Graduate School: A Guide and Timeline 4. Schedule an appointment to take the GRE for sometime in the summer. The GRE can be taken only once each calendar month. It is not uncommon to take the test twice, so try to schedule it toward the end of July, if possible. This way, if you do not do as well as you hoped, you can take it again in a few weeks before your senior year begins. Remember, you are advised to take the test no later than October to ensure your scores arrive in time.

Summer before Senior Year

1. Study for the GRE. Get a new prep book since the GRE changed in the summer of 2011. Pay special attention to strategies for the Verbal section. The Verbal section is by far the most important part of the test for history applicants. Study the most common GRE word lists that come with the book (or look them up online). Make flashcards or use a flashcard application. For a history applicant, the Quantitative section is largely irrelevant unless you plan to focus on economic or demographic history. Therefore, if you are short on time, dont waste time studying for the Quantitative section at the expense of the Verbal section. All the prep books show you the exact format which ETS expects in the Analytical Writing section. Familiarize yourself with their expectations. 2. Throughout the summer, you should be narrowing down your list of schools. How many schools you apply to is up to you. On average, it costs about $100 per school. Ideally, you should apply as widely as possible, i.e. to a few top programs, a few top 20-50, and a few others, as well. Generally, you should be applying to anywhere from 6-12 schools to give yourself the best chance of getting an acceptance and funding. Be sure to discuss this important decision with your mentor/advisor. Also, share your potential list of schools with your mentor/advisor and ask for feedback. Make a spreadsheet in which you can list potential programs and all relevant information such as school, application fee, language requirements, number of letters of recommendation, required possible advisors, personal statement instructions, etc. As you begin selecting schools, try to familiarize yourself with the work of the faculty member with whom you would most like to work so you can write intelligently about it in your personal statement. 4. Take the GRE. Before you take the test, try to have at least 4 of the schools to which you - 6 -

Applying to Graduate School: A Guide and Timeline will apply nailed down, since they let you specify 4 schools to send the results to at no charge. After those four, each one costs an additional fee ($23 as of December 31, 2010). 5. Begin drafting your personal statement or statement of purpose (or SOP). It is extremely important that you do not put this off until the last minute. It is the norm for even the best writers to go through many, many drafts before the statement is ready. Remember, this is not like an undergraduate admissions essay. Most schools will have specific things they would like you to address, but, in general, you will be expected to be specific about your field of interest, why you are interested in that field, what issues within the field you are most interested in, your previous research experience, and why you think you fit well with the department. To begin, just get a draft down on paper. You might want to treat each individual aspect above separately at first just to get your ideas down on paper. Do not write anything like, Ever since I was a little kid, I have always loved history... Ask your mentor/advisor and another professor who is familiar with your work if they would be willing to read your drafts and give feedback. The key to a good personal statement is that it is written clearly and concisely. Most schools will give you no more than 1000 words (or around 4 double-spaced pages) and some will limit you to less than 500. If you are applying to 10 programs, you likely do not need to write 10 different statements. However, at the very least, you should have a fit paragraph which addresses how your interests fit with the department and faculty for each school. For the fit paragraph (see Sample Materials), mention specific professors whose interests are similar to your own. Do the schools libraries have specific archival collections related to your field? If so, mention that. Does the department have colloquia, seminars, or centers related to your field? Mention them. Are there are other large archival repositories or professional organizations relevant to your field located nearby? Mention them. You want to show the department, if possible, that the Universitys resources will prove useful to you. Also, look at the way the degree is structured. Does anything about it strike you? If so, include that. You can also mention opportunities for teaching, if you are interested in pursuing an academic career. 6. Polish your writing sample. Many programs will have a maximum of 25-30 pages. So if your research paper goes over that, you will need to edit it down to an acceptable length.

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Applying to Graduate School: A Guide and Timeline Some programs will have even smaller page limits, such as 10 or 15 pages. So you many need to prepare 2-3 different length writing samples. It is important that your writing sample is formatted correctly in Chicago style. If you are not already familiar with this formatting style, get a copy of A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Kate Turabian. Formatting your paper and citations correctly shows that you are conscientious, pay attention to small details, and are aware of the standards of the field. Simply put, it makes you look more professional. 7. Begin preparing a Curriculum Vitae (or CV). A CV (see Sample Materials) is your academic resume. Include sections for academic-related employment only, schooling/degrees, Honors/Awards, Research Interests, and References. Also include publications or conference presentations, if any. 8. Have your working list of schools. Before the summer is over, you should pretty much have your list of schools. It may not be the absolute final list, but you should start bookmarking the sites of the departments to which you will be applying. Also bookmark their application pages, since you will refer to them often. It is best to get this out of the way before the fall semester begins. Once again, ask your mentor/advisor if they will look at your writing sample and give you feedback.

Senior Year Fall

September
1. Ask for letters of recommendation (or LORs) in early September. By now, your advisor/mentor and possibly another professor know you are applying to graduate school. Ask them if they will write you a letter of recommendation. Also, immediately upon your return begin looking for a third letter-writer, if you do not yet have one. Generally, it is best to ask in person rather than through email. Go to their office hours and ask if they would be willing to write you a letter of recommendation. You want to ask professors with whom you have taken more than one class, so they are familiar enough with your work to write a detailed letter. Be prepared to give any professor you ask for an LOR a copy of your most- recent SOP draft, graded copies of your best work in their classes, and, perhaps, a copy of your CV. The more information a professor has, the better the LOR will be. If a professor does not seem very enthusiastic about writing for you or appears to hedge or be hesitant, find someone else. A brief, terse, unenthusiastic

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Applying to Graduate School: A Guide and Timeline letter will actually harm your application. This is why it is important to develop relationships with professors starting as early as possible. 2. Begin contacting potential advisors (or POIs, persons of interest) in early September. Send a very brief email (see Sample Materials) in which you: introduce yourself, school, and advisor in one sentence, mention your research interest in one sentence, inquire as to whether they will be accepting new students, describe your research paper thesis in one sentence, and reference work of theirs that is similar to yours. The pretense of your email will be to ask if they are accepting new students, though it does not hurt to get your name in front of them. Though this may seem a bit forward to some, it really has become standard practice. Not everyone does it, but most do. Of course, it is important to not overdo it. Emailing potential advisors is the final step in finalizing your list of schools. Some may already have too many students. Some may be retiring soon and unable to take on new students. DO NOT attach anything to the email such as your writing sample or CV. Like most people, professors will not open emails with attachments from unknown senders. Simply use re: Prospective Student as your subject line. Some professors may ask if youd like to speak over the phone. Others will ask you for more information or if you have any questions. DO NOT ask professors general questions the answers to which can be found on the website.

October
3. Begin filling out the online applications as soon as they become available, usually in early October. Make sure to start early since the online applications will ask you to submit your recommenders email addresses and you want to give them as much time as possible. Most systems will send them an email with instructions for logging in and uploading the letter. Most will also send you an email to let you know that a letter has been uploaded by your recommender. Even if your personal statement and writing sample are not done yet, begin filling out all your personal information for all the applications. Keep a spreadsheet so you can see what you have submitted for each application. Make columns for School, Application Fee, GRE, LORs, SOP. 4. Order transcripts from your Registrars office. Pay attention to instructions on both the graduate school and individual

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Applying to Graduate School: A Guide and Timeline departments websites. Some will ask that you have two copies sent, one to the Graduate School and one to the department. Also, some may not require that they be official transcripts. Remember that you will be required to send transcripts from each post- secondary school you have attended so factor that into your cost and time preparations. Also, remember that receipt of the transcripts is your responsibility, NOT that of your colleges Registrar. Always get a receipt and mark down the day you requested the transcripts. Follow up by checking your online application status to make sure they have been received.

November/December
5. Finish applications. Upload your SOPs and writing samples carefully naming each file with the proper school name. Double-check this, then double-check it again. Pay your application fees. Many schools offer fee waivers requiring either your most recent tax return or a letter from your schools Financial Aid Office. Be sure to search websites carefully for this information since many do not make it easy to find. Throughout December and into January you should be checking the online applications regularly to make sure they received your GRE scores and transcripts, and that your professors have uploaded all your LORs. If the end of November is coming and one of your professors has not uploaded their letter yet, send them a very polite email or stop by their office to remind them about the letter and offer to have the online application send them another email (since they do so sometimes get caught by spam/junk filters). 6. Submit applications. For most schools, you do not have to wait for all your materials to arrive before actually submitting your application. LORs, transcripts, and GRE scores can arrive after the application has been officially submitted. As soon as you have completed the application and uploaded your own supplementary materials, you may press SUBMIT. However, double- check and triple-check the application and your supplementary materials, because these will be unchangeable after you press, SUBMIT. Depending on the tone of your email conversations with specific professors, you may want to send them a very brief email just after the deadline to say that you have submitted your application and thank them for their assistance. 7. Continue checking your application status at each school through the winter break.

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Applying to Graduate School: A Guide and Timeline

The Decision Process

s a potential applicant, the decision process can seem a bit mysterious. In fact, many schools and their admission committees go about different parts of the process in different ways. However, the process, in general, is pretty standard. Many of the top programs will receive upwards of 400 applications and even the biggest of these admits only around 20 students in any given year. Less prestigious programs can receive anywhere from 100 to 300 applications per year and admit 5 to 15 students. Remember, what follows is only a generalization to give you an idea of the process. Generally, many admissions committees have unwritten (and, perhaps, even unspoken) cut-offs designed to cut the pile of applications down to a manageable size. For example, they may pull out all applications with GRE Verbal scores below 550 and/or GPAs under 3.0 (these numbers will vary according to the reputation of the program). Not all admissions committees do this, but many do. Once they have a smaller pile, applications are divided among committee members to be read. Many committees have each application read by more than one member. At that point, applications are flagged as either rejects or possible admits and the latter are ranked in some way. They may then be sent to the POI mentioned in the application for further review. This is why contacting POIs in advance can be beneficial. The committees usually meet sometime in late January and early February. Generally speaking, the committees top choices will be notified first. Then straight rejections are notified followed by other admits and waitlists. Some top programs notify their top choices in the second week of February, but the majority of applicants will be notified between late-February and late-March.
Possible Decisions 1. Admitted with full funding For PhD programs, this generally means the student is awarded full tuition remission, a living stipend, and, usually, health insurance. Generally, the first year or two is covered by a fellowship while the remaining years are covered by teaching and/or research assistantships. 2. Admitted with partial funding This type of offer is more common in mid-ranked PhD programs. It usually offers full or partial tuition remission and the possibility of a research or teaching assistantship. 3. Admitted with no funding Only you can make the choice, but it is usually not a smart financial decision to take out loans for a PhD in the Humanities due to the incredibly tough job market that awaits graduates. Some schools will give you a chance to earn future funding depending on your performance in the first year. However, it is important that you seriously discuss the possibility of accepting an admission with no funding with your mentor/advisor. 4. Waitlisted You may be admitted later if enough people do not accept offers. 5. Rejected Because the competition gets increasingly tough with each year, there no shame in not receiving admission offers. Many good candidates have been forced to re-apply the next year. Take that time to strengthen your application by improving your language proficiency or producing a better writing sample.

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Applying to Graduate School: A Guide and Timeline

Resources

his is just a collection of resources which I found especially helpful during the application process. Of course, there are hundreds of websites devoted to applying to graduate school from personal blogs to university and department pages. It is worth spending some time browsing through these sites as well as finding others. 1. Gregory Colon Semenza, Graduate Study in the Twenty-First Century The best book, by far, on what it is like to be a graduate student. This book should be required reading for anyone even considering applying to graduate school in the Humanities. It has replaced the outdated but still useful, Getting What You Came For: The Smart Students Guide to Earning an MA or PhD by Robert Peters. It does not contain application advice. Rather, it lets you know exactly what to expect as a graduate student and even includes a fantastic appendix with samples of documents useful for all graduate students like a CV, teaching statement, conference proposal, etc. 2. American Historical Association (http://historians.org/grads/index.cfm) The AHA website has many informative articles on all aspects of graduate education from the application process to writing a dissertation. It also collects information about all the doctoral programs in history in the country at: http://historians.org/projects/cge/PhD/intro.cfm. 3. The Grad Caf (http://thegradcafe.com) The Grad Caf hosts many blogs by fellow students applying to graduate school and a very helpful forum in which you can find many thoughtful answers to any questions which might arise during the process. They also host a Results page on which you can see when specific programs began notifying students in previous years and keep track of which programs are sending out notifications in the current application season. 4. Chronicle of Higher Education (http://chronicle.com) CHE is the foremost magazine and news source regarding academia in general. They also host a forum populated by professors. There are many interesting stories and threads about life in academia. 5. Graduate School Tips (http://www.gradschooltips.com/) This is a general site that breaks down the process. 6. Graduate School Application Advice (http://sites.google.com/site/gradappadvice/home) A very informative site, though, it is over five years old. If there is conflicting advice between this guide and the website, I suggest you follow this guide.

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Applying to Graduate School: A Guide and Timeline

Sample Materials

hese materials are just samples. Their purpose is to give you an idea of the proper forms for these types of documents and communications. It is not necessary, or even advisable, that you copy them word for word.

1. Initial email to POI.

The goals of the email are to introduce yourself to the professor, find out if they are accepting students, and show you are familiar with their work and conscientious in choosing potential programs. Anything more than one brief paragraph will be considered presumptive on your part. If the professor wants to carry on the conversation and offer assistance, they will. If not, they will not. Do not send them multiple emails without a response. Do not reveal or discuss anything of a personal nature. Do not send any attachments. And do not use anything even approximating text-speak, i.e., word abbreviations, emoticons, etc.... Remember, you want to come across as professional as possible.
Subject: re: Prospective Student Professor Lastname, My name is <your name>. I am a senior at the City College of New York where my advisor is <Firstname Lastname>. I am planning to apply to the doctoral program at <college> and wanted to inquire as to whether you are currently accepting new students. I am primarily interested in <your broad field>, particularly in <your subfield>. My previous research explored <your research papers thesis> in a similar manner to your work on <POIs research interest>. Thank you very much for your time. Regards, Firstname Lastname student@college.edu

2. Curriculum Vitae.
The purpose of the CV is to show your accomplishments and qualifications in a simple format. The most important feature of a CV is its readability. DO NOT use non-standard or fancy fonts or layouts. DO NOT use any graphics. The simplest is best. Also, DO NOT try to pad your CV if it seems somewhat bare. Remember, you are still an undergraduate and no program will be expecting you to have publications, conference presentations, or a long string of awards just yet.

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Applying to Graduate School: A Guide and Timeline

SAMPLE CV

Firstname Lastname 123 Main Street Anywhere, NY 10101 Email: student@college.edu Phone: (212) 555-1212 Education Bachelor of Arts in History, City College of New York, June 2011 (expected). Associate of Arts, LaGuardia Community College, June 2009. Employment Research Assistant to Professor Firstname Lastname, City College of New York, Summer 2010. Library Assistant, City College of New York, Summer 2009. Intern, Museum of the City of New York, Summer 2008. Honors Deans List, City College of New York, Fall 2010. Joe Q. Smith Essay Award, History Department, City College of New York, Spring 2009. Deans List, City College of New York, Spring 2009. Phi Alpha Theta, Spring 2009. Deans List, City College of New York, Fall 2008. Phi Theta Kappa, Spring 2008. Research Interests 20th-century American history, political history, social history, World War II, radicalism, gender studies, intellectual history, political culture. References 1. Firstname Lastname, Professor of History, College, professorX@college.edu. 2. Firstname Lastname, Assistant Professor of History, College, professorY@college.edu. 3. Firstname Lastname, Associate Professor of History, College, professorZ@college.edu.

CV Tips
1. Only include academic-related positions under the Employment heading. 2. Generally, your research interests should not be more than two lines. 3. Only include academic honors or service under the Honors heading. For example, do not include non-academic volunteer positions or clubs of which you were a member. At your own discretion, you may include your schools history club if you were an officer and that section is a bit bare. 4. Your three references are likely to be the writers of your LORs.

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Applying to Graduate School: A Guide and Timeline

3. Sample Fit Paragraph

f course, this is just a sample fit paragraph. Do not copy it word for word. This sample is meant to give you an idea of what may be included in a fit paragraph as well as one possible way to structure it. To write an effective fit paragraph, you must be very familiar with the faculty in and around your field and their work. You should also be familiar with specific centers or seminars in and around your field that are sponsored by the department. Finally, if the school is in or near a big city, you should be aware of its available academic resources such as large public libraries or academic societies and their holdings. Researching these things and including them in your fit paragraph is important because it shows the admissions committee that you have thoroughly researched their school and city and that you have taken your school selection very seriously.
I firmly believe the department at [school] would be an excellent fit for me. I have been in contact with [POI], who confirmed the similarity of our interests. Also, while I would plan to work primarily with [POI], the presence of numerous other scholars such as [Firstname Lastname] and [Firstname Lastname] would be highly beneficial as well. [Professor Lastnames Book or Article] influenced my approach to [specific topic], as reflected in my honors essay, and [Professor Lastnames Book or Article] introduced the concept of [specific topic], which I would like to pursue going forward. The Universitys location provides the added benefit of access to the many resources of [big city], such as the [society or library] and the [society or library]. Also, I would look forward to taking advantage of the departments valuable relationships with such external organizations as the [department-affiliated Center]. I am also attracted by the structure of the PhD curriculum, in which courses such as [specific exam or dissertation prospectus course] encourage and provide significant interaction between students and their advisors. I believe [school] has the resources, in both faculty and material, to allow me to achieve my maximum potential.

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Graduate Application Checklist

Sophomore Year Develop relationships with professors. Begin language study. Junior Year Fall Talk to your mentor about doing a primary source based research paper in the spring. Junior Year Spring Talk to your mentor about possible graduate programs. Write a primary source based research paper that can be used as a writing sample. Begin researching possible schools to which you might apply. Schedule an appointment to take the GRE sometime in the summer. Summer before Senior Year Study for the GRE. Take the GRE. Begin drafting your SOP. Polish your writing sample. Begin preparing your CV. Create a working list of schools. Senior Year Fall September Ask professors for LORs. Begin contacting POIs. October Finalize your list of schools. Begin filling out online applications. Order transcripts from your Registrars office. November/December Finish applications. Submit applications. Senior Year Spring Continue checking your application status at each school.

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Applying to Graduate School: A Guide and Timeline

About the Author

As of the writing of this guide, I am an entering first-year PhD student in History at Yale University. I received my B.A. in History from the CUNY Baccalaureate Program for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies via The City College of New York. I began preparing to apply to graduate school in my second year by gathering as much information as I could about the process. I read books and dozens of websites and garnered a lot of information from fellow students and faculty who had recently gone through the process. I also experienced a fair amount of trial-and-error during my own application season. This guide is the result. I hope this information will prove as useful to you as it did to me.

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