Details about Department Materials

SUBMIT TO THE HISTORY DEPARTMENT:

1. Official Transcripts. (to be sent both to the Graduate School and to the Department of History) While the vast majority of applicants accepted into the program majored in history as undergraduates, a history undergraduate major is not a prerequisite for admission into our program. Many successful applicants have previously received degrees in area studies or in complementary disciplines.  Careful attention is given to what history courses applicants have taken and how well they have done in them. The average grade point average of both applicants and admitted students is about 3.6 on a 4‑point scale.  Applicants should notify the department if their transcript is in a different name.
2. Writing Sample. Your writing sample should be a representative paper; it should be analytical rather than creative in content.  Readers will look for the lucidity of your thought and expression, your ability to analyze historical topics in a sophisticated manner, your ability to incorporate and enlarge upon previous critical work, and your demonstration of research skills. We ask that each applicant submit a writing sample to assess her or his abilities at historical research, writing, and analysis. Writing samples on historical subjects are preferable, but not required. There is no page limit to the writing sample, although it is understood that faculty reviewers may read only a portion of the longer submissions.  Writing samples that involve original research and analysis are preferable to essays that are mere syntheses.  We are especially interested in an applicant's ability to formulate and make an original historical argument.  If you have the M.A. degree you should submit your thesis if it is complete at the time of your application. 
3. Statement of Purpose. Your statement of purpose should provide readers of your application with a strong sense of your skill in, and commitment to, advanced graduate study in History.  Although your statement of purpose should not offer general biographical details about your life thus far, you should include any relevant details about your academic experiences, background, qualifications, or goals not already evident in other parts of the application.  If you have already had the opportunity to pursue independent research at an advanced level, either inside or outside of an academic setting, you should describe the nature of this work as well as its relation (if any) to your future scholarly and professional goals.

   Each applicant should submit a statement that explains his or her interests in the study of history. You may describe your specific research interests in your statement; if your ideas remain inchoate you nevertheless should provide us with a clear idea of the historical questions that interest you.  Faculty read these statements closely to ascertain an applicant's aptitude for graduate study in history and to determine whether the program at UNC‑CH would be a good place for the applicant to pursue his or her goals.

   This statement of purpose should specify clearly which specific field of History you wish to work in and with whom you would like to work if you attend UNC-CH.

4. Letters of Recommendation. At least three letters of recommendation from persons qualified to evaluate your academic and professional qualifications are required.  No fewer than two of these letters should come from professors or instructors who have had the opportunity to observe your scholarly skills in History or in related fields.  Recommendation letters should testify to your intellectual maturity and your preparedness to undertake graduate study.  Letters that speak in detail about your academic work and your scholarly promise are more persuasive and useful than those which speak in generalities, however glowingly.

   The most helpful letters are those written by faculty who know the student well and take the time to assess carefully his or her aptitude for graduate education.  We especially value letters that discuss the applicant's demonstrated skills at and experience with sustained historical research.  (A letter from a professor of an undergraduate seminar or from a honors thesis advisor, for example, is likely to be more influential than a letter from a professor in a large lecture course.)  Letters from employers are acceptable, but generally address issues of secondary importance in the admissions process.

5. Supplemental form to designate secondary fields of research interest if applicable.  Click Here.
   
6. Send department materials to: UNC-CH, History Department, CB# 3195, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3195

7. GREs. The department requires only the standard GRE, not the "subject" test in history.  The department does not have a "cutoff" score for the GREs. The median scores for students admitted over the last three years are as follows: