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Department of History
history@umn.edu
612-624-2800
history@umn.edu
612-624-2800
FAQ regarding the Admission Process
The Graduate Studies Office receives a high number of inquiries from prospective applicants on the list of questions below. Please take a few moments and read through these highlighted issues:
Do I need to apply to both the History Department and the Graduate School?
You apply only to the Graduate School, and that application asks you to submit materials that the History Department will use in the admissions decision.
Why do I need to submit my application for your program by the deadline of December 1st?
Incomplete applications may provide us with an inadequate basis for a positive decision. We have a small staff and a busy committee with many applications to read. Materials received by December 1 will be in your file when the committee members read them. If materials come in late, they will be filed as time permits. If they are in the file when we review it, we will read them, but we cannot guarantee consideration of any material not received by the deadline.
What semesters does your program admit for?
We admit students for Fall Admission only.
How do I get my supplemental application materials to your office?
We prefer that you upload your submission materials on the Graduate School application. If you need to get materials to us another way, please contact us for assistance at histdgs@umn.edu.
My email address might change over the course of the Admission Season (November-April), what do I do?
Please notify the Graduate Studies Office with any email or other address or phone number changes so that we have a current way of contacting you. Your email address is a critical identifier in our Departmental application process – be sure to include it and notify this office if it changes.
What if I want to get a M.A. degree only?
The History Department admits students to the Ph.D. program only. It is possible to get a M.A. degree as part of your preparation for the Ph.D., and some professors require that their advisees do so. However, we do not offer a “terminal M.A.” degree; we assume that everyone admitted intends to remain and get the Ph.D. (Continuation in the program, whether or not you get an M.A. along the way, is contingent on satisfactory progress.)
What are you mainly looking for in the application?
A demonstrated aptitude for history, as revealed in coursework, grades, GRE scores, your writing sample, your letters of recommendation, and your statement of purpose. All of these are discussed below.
What if I’m not sure exactly what area of specialization I’m interested in? Is it acceptable to note more than one Area of interest?
Yes, the form provides space for listing up to two Areas of Specialization. Please list two only if you are undecided or if you expect to do research that spans two Areas. If you have a clear primary and secondary interest, PLEASE LIST ONLY THE PRIMARY INTEREST on the form, although you may certainly discuss the secondary interest in your Statement of Purpose.
Is it appropriate to contact individual faculty members with whom I might be interested in working?
Certainly! Please feel free to do so. Email is generally the best method. You’ll find a list of our faculty members, their area of specialization and contact information on our website. Please note that if a faculty member is not listed in the drop-down list of potential advisors, this probably means that s/he is not accepting new PhD students at this time.
What do you expect in the Statement of Purpose?
This is a very important part of your application and should be carefully crafted. We use this to get a sense of what you are like as a historian, what issues engage your interest, how you see the direction of your scholarship developing. We do not expect that everyone will have a specific dissertation topic in mind at the time you apply to the program, although a few will, but we do expect you to have specific interests within the field and to discuss them in an informed and articulate manner. It should describe your interests, goals within the field of history, and preparation for and interest in pursuitng graduate study. Explain why this History Department in particular is a suitable place for you to pursue your studies. The statement should usually be around 500 words. If it is much shorter, you should consider carefully whether you have given a full enough picture of your scholarly interests; if it is much longer, you should consider carefully whether it might include irrelevant or repetitive material.
What do you expect in the Writing Sample?
We look for quality of analysis, research, and writing. Ideally it should be a paper in your area of specialization based on primary source research, but if one is not available, a research paper in another area is preferable to a non-research paper in your area of specialization. The sample should be 10-30 pages. If you send part of a long thesis, please explain how the part fits into the whole.
I have attended university in another country. May I send a writing sample in a language other than English?
No. While most of our faculty read a number of languages, and there is very likely at least one person in the department who can read your language, all applications are read by four to six faculty members, several of them outside your field, and they all need to be able to read your sample. We also need to be able to see the quality of your writing in English.
What do you expect in the Language Training section of the application?
We do not expect that all applicants will have met the language requirements by the time of admission, but if you wish to study an Area in which the sources are in another language your application is strengthened by a grounding in that language. Many of our students use their first two summers working on their language requirements (as dictated by their Area of study and research interests). We’d like you to list your foreign language training thus far. For a language, please note the competency (Basic, Competent, Fluent) for the Reading, Writing and Speaking skills in that particular language. Obviously, if the language is no longer spoken, we do not need you to self-evaluate your speaking skills.
What do you expect in the Diversity Statement?
We do not consider the Diversity Statement as part of the admission decision. We do seek a diverse entering class, both intellectually and in terms of background. You are given the opportunity elsewhere on the application to list your race, and to the extent your background is important to your scholarly work, you will discuss it in your Statement of Purpose. We ask you to submit a Diversity Statement only if you believe you qualify for the DOVE (Diversity of Views and Experiences) Fellowship or one of the ICGC (Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change) Fellowships. If you wish to be considered for nomination for one of those fellowships, please submit a Diversity Statement, and label it at the top “DOVE Statement” or “ICGC Statement.” If you think you qualify for both fellowships, please combine the two statements into one document (one after the other, even if they are nearly identical) and we will separate them after we print them out.
What do you expect in the Extenuating Circumstances statement?
This is the place where you can tell us about factors (illness, work, family responsibilities) that may have interrupted your education or affected your grades. If you don’t have special circumstances that you need to tell us about, you don’t need to submit this statement.
What do you expect in the CV (Curriculum Vitae)?
The Graduate School gives you the opportunity to upload your CV as part of your application. The History Department does not require this and we do not have special criteria for it. You are free to submit it or not, as you wish, but important parts of your record should be discussed in the Statement of Purpose or listed on the “History Department Application Information” page under “Honors, Awards, or Scholastic Distinctions.”
What do you expect on the transcript?
We normally require the completion of general undergraduate survey courses in two or three broad areas of history, e.g. African, Asian, European, Latin American, Middle East United States; two years of advanced undergraduate work in two of the named areas; and training in a foreign language. We expect an overall average of at least B+ or higher in History and related social sciences and humanities subjects; this is a minimum, and most (not all) students we admit have GPAs at 3.7 or above. Grades in unrelated courses do not matter as much as grades in History and related subjects, and grades early in your academic career do not matter as much as more recent ones.
Should I send in copies of official transcripts or should I request original transcripts?
Copies of your transcripts are acceptable for the application process. Should you be accepted, however, official transcripts (sent directly from the institution) will be required. Most people find it easiest to request these official transcripts from the beginning.
Are you firm on applicants needing three (3) letters of recommendation on file with the History Department?
Yes, three (3) letters of recommendation are part of the History Department application requirements. Be sure all 3 arrive to us by the December 1st deadline.
Do my letters of recommendation have to be from history professors? Does my writing sample have to be from a history class? What if I wasn’t a history major?
The department looks for intellectual ability and promise as well as background in the particular subject area. The letters and writing sample that best display that ability and promise are the best ones to send. If you weren’t a history major (or even if you were!) it’s a good idea for your personal essay to demonstrate that you know what the study of history entails and that you have sound intellectual reasons for wanting to do it. Recommendations from professors who have taught you often do a better job of speaking to your potential as a historian than recommendations from employers outside academia, even if the latter are warm and positive.
Do I need to take the GRE test? The TOEFL?
I don’t have my test scores yet. What should I do?
If you have taken the test but have not yet received an official score report you may self-report your scores. Enter them on the History Department Application Information form or email them to us at histdgs@umn.edu as soon as you know them. We can make an admissions decision based on the self-reported scores. You will still need to have an official report sent as soon as it is available. We cannot admit students without test scores.
What test scores do you expect?
We do not have a set cut-off for GRE scores. The median verbal GRE percentiles for our admitted applicants and our admitted students for the last few years have been in the low-to-mid 90s. The quantitative portion is important mainly for students who wish to do quantitative history. We understand that there are individual learning styles as well as social and cultural factors that may affect GRE scores, and we consider these scores as one part of an overall application.
For the TOEFL the minimum requirement is a score of at least 79 on the Internet based TOEFL with section scores of 21 on writing and 19 on reading (213 on the computer based TOEFL, 550 on the paper based TOEFL), or a score of 6.5 on the IELTS or 80 on the MELAB.
My grades and test scores are in the range you indicate is typical of your entering class; does that mean I will be admitted?
Not necessarily. Last year we admitted fewer than 20% of our applicants, and many of those we turned down had grades and test scores as good as those we accepted. We have to make a selection among many strong applicants, and we look for an accomplished writing sample, a compelling personal statement, and strong recommendations based on a detailed knowledge of your potential as a historian. We consider whether our faculty are a good fit with your interests, and the diversity and balance of the entering class as a whole.
Graduate Features
Graduate Studies
Rachel Ayers
1130 Heller Hall
271 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Phone: 612-624-5840
Email: histdgs@umn.edu
'Best Dissertation' Arts and Humanities
Congratulations to Nicole Phelps for winning this year's 'Best Dissertation" Award in the Arts and Humanities for her dissertation, "Sovereignty, Citizenship, and the New Liberal Order: US-Habsburg Relations and the Transformation of International Politics, 1880-1924."
Nicole will receive an honorarium of $1,000 and a special certificate. She will also be honored during a luncheon and ceremony at the Campus Club in early June.
May 14th, 20082007-08 Fulbright Scholarships
Tovah Bender (Italy), Aeleah Soine (Germany), and Elizabeth Swedo (Iceland) were awarded Fulbright scholarships to support their dissertation research abroad during this academic year. Congratulations!
To read more, visit the Graduate School Announcement.
January 25th, 2008
