Admissions

Applications are submitted to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and can be obtained (and even submitted) via the Web. Applications must include a personal statement explaining your reasons for wishing to enter graduate school and outlining your scholarly interests; GRE scores; academic transcripts; letters of recommendations, ideally from faculty members with whom you have worked; and a writing sample—an undergraduate essay or thesis, a masters’ essay, or some other work of scholarship. The writing sample should not be more than 20 pages long. Decisions on admissions are made by the history department faculty, and candidates usually receive notification early in March.

We are often asked what we consider important in reviewing applications. First and foremost, we are looking for evidence of scholarly talent and achievement. Grades and GRE scores are, of course, helpful in locating such evidence, but they are not the only things we consider. What you say in your personal statement can be very important, and your writing sample is often the decisive factor in our decision.

Our program is designed for students who seek the Ph.D. Although students entering without a Master's degree earn an M.A. in History in the course of their study here, we do not admit full-time students who wish only to earn a Master's degree. We do however, admit a small number (no more than one or two a year) of candidates to a part-time Master's program who, because of other commitments, cannot attend school full time. Occasionally, these students move into our Ph.D. program on completion of their Master's.