Humanities PhDs application advice
PhDs in America are highly sought after, and for good reason. World-leading academics, a large scale research framework, impressively funded departments, all located in a globally prestigious university system: little wonder more and more people are applying for PhDs at Ivy League institutions. Yet applications are only increasing in competitiveness and people are looking for guidance in what can be a long and complex process.
Having been awarded a fully-funded place on Stanford’s Art History PhD programme, I want to share my insights into how to apply for American PhDs, chiefly in the humanities. I’ve written another blog post for Doxa on how to approach the GRE, so here I’m going to discuss the other, crucial components of your application.
First and foremost, a PhD application requires a high degree of self-awareness. Why are you doing a PhD? What do you hope to achieve from it? You will, in essence, be writing a book over five or six years (or even longer); while your initial proposal can (and will) change, it’s important to think about why it truly interests you – you can’t fake engagement and enthusiasm for a topic.
Research your professors
Once you have an idea or a subject area that you want to work on, start researching potential professors who could supervise you. Look at university department lists and in the early autumn of the application cycle, start contacting them. See if you know anybody who can introduce you via email to your potential supervisors; some academics, especially heads of departments or ‘star’ professors, will likely receive dozens upon dozens of requests each year from students and it can help to be recommended by a professor who knows you. If that’s not possible, spend a little time on your email to your potential supervisor: keep it brief (they will be busy), explain who you are, what you’re interested in, how you think their academic research fits into yours, and end politely by asking to talk further.
Don’t be disheartened if they take weeks to respond; indeed, if after a month they haven’t got back to you, there’s nothing wrong in sending them a very short follow up asking if they saw your initial email. Don’t become too invested in every supervisor you contact. I emailed around two dozen: some were unresponsive, some were apathetic; some were enthusiastic but couldn’t take on more PhD students (or were going on sabbatical, or were retiring), and a few were very keen.
Living in Britain and applying to US universities meant I couldn’t meet them in person, so I either Skyped or had phone calls with them; during these conversations (they usually lasted around half an hour or so), be prepared to talk more broadly about your project, about their university and department, and have a good series of questions to ask. You shouldn’t stress too much about this – it’s not a formal interview and more about trying to see if this is someone you would want to work with over the next half decade or so.
Draft, redraft …and redraft your statement of purpose
Alongside finding a supervisor you will want to be putting together your application. All PhD programmes will ask for a Statement of Purpose and for written work. Submitting prior academic work should be straightforward – length requirements differ from department to department, so check carefully, but they will either ask for a long extract or for a complete research paper. I used my undergraduate dissertation, other people use coursework – ideally, it should not only be amongst your outstanding academic pieces of work, but reflect the area you want to work in for your PhD. However, for people who have been outside of academia for a few years and are now applying for a PhD, you may want to write a fresh paper to better reflect your talents and abilities (in which case, spend the summer before the application cycle researching and writing it).
The Statement of Purpose is perhaps the single most important part of your application and this should be reflected in the time you spend on writing it. What do you want to achieve in a comparatively short space (most SoPs will be around 800-1,000 words). Articulate your broad research area; why it is important to you and the discipline as a whole; why the university you are applying to and the supervisor you want to work with are a good ‘fit’ for this project; briefly show how your previous academic work will have prepared you for a PhD.
Ensure you’re a good fit for the department
A word on matching yourself to the department: you do not want to focus only on your potential supervisor, as the admissions committee will be made up of a variety of academics, so it’s important to show engagement with their work too. Look at what courses they’re teaching, examine how the themes of their research intersect with yours; show, in essence, how you will integrate into the department.
A great way to understand the department, going beyond their often dry websites, is to contact current PhD students. In my experience, they were always eager to talk and help and were very useful in getting unvarnished perspectives on different academics and the strengths and weaknesses of the university – it is also worth mentioning that you’ve talked to them in your SoP, as it demonstrates that you’ve been doing your due diligence.
Once you’ve drafted your SoP, show it to as many academics as possible. They may well give you contradictory advice, but it will be invaluable in building up a picture of how people are reading the SoP and what you need to emphasise or minimise. Then redraft, and redraft again. I went through thirteen drafts of my SoP before I was finally satisfied with it.
Letters of reference
Speaking to Stanford academics after my admission, it became clear that what helped me enormously were my letters of reference. Most US universities will ask for three references (and never less than two). Academics are a harried bunch, so make sure you ask your referees in good time before application deadlines; if your referees are European, it’s also important to explain to them the different expectations in America regarding references (as crude as it may sound, subtlety needs to fall by the wayside in their reference letters). In my experience, the most successful applicants are highly organised and research the application process thoroughly before embarking upon it. Understanding universities’ expectations beforehand will save you a lot of time, from writing your Statement of Purpose to contacting potential supervisors.
Once you’ve applied (deadlines can range from the beginning of December until the beginning of January), you can undoubtedly relax a little and whatever the outcome, feel proud of yourself! PhD applications are long and multifaceted: between starting to research how to apply to the US for graduate school and sending off my applications, six months and many long nights elapsed. Yet the wonderful opportunity US PhD programmes represent means that the time and effort is certainly worth it.
If you have any questions about this piece, or about graduate application process, please email us at support@doxa.co.uk
Author: Altair - Stanford
PhD History of Art
I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Oxford and graduated with a first class degree. I am currently studying for a master’s degree in art history. Beginning in September 2019, I will be begin my PhD in twentieth-century British art history.
