Applying to the Program

Please upload unofficial transcripts through the application portal, as unofficial transcripts tend to upload better and are easier to view. If you are admitted, you will need to submit your official transcript to the UNC Graduate School following admission.

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 MA degree you should submit your thesis if it is complete at the time of your application.

Your statement of purpose is a crucial component of your application. First, the statement should describe the academic training and other experiences that have prepared you to undertake graduate work in history. If relevant, this section might also describe your language skills. Second, the statement should describe your specific research interests and the wider significance of your proposed topic, keeping in mind that this is a provisional statement of intent. Third, the statement should describe why attending the graduate program at UNC would help you reach your professional goals. Here you might state the faculty members who might be interested in mentoring you or working with you in another capacity. The statement should be no more than five pages in length, single-spaced, and in 12-point font.

At least three letters of recommendation from persons qualified to evaluate your academic and professional qualifications are required. At least 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 that speak in generalities, however glowingly.

The most helpful letters are those written by faculty who know you well and take the time to assess carefully your 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 an honors thesis adviser, 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.

Area of Interest is a required field via the Area of Interest/Specialization drop-down box within your application.  Please select all that apply to your application.  For example, a geographic area like European or Global and a thematic area like Gender and Women or Military.

The department does not require that applicants take the standard GRE.

We do not offer an online PhD program. Our program is a full-time program on-site.

We do not admit students for a terminal MA. If you seek to obtain an MA degree only, be sure to consider the excellent MA programs offered at North Carolina Central University (NCCU), UNC–Charlotte, UNC–Greensboro, NCSU, and elsewhere. You might also consider the excellent MA programs offered by the Center for European Studies and Global Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. Our expectation is that all our students, even those who enter with a bachelor’s degree, are working towards doctoral degrees.

Not every faculty member takes on new students every year. Here you will find a list of faculty members who will be considering new students this application cycle. Please keep this in mind when listing potential faculty advisors in your Statement of Purpose.

 The History Department at UNC-Chapel Hill is committed to offering financial aid to as many as possible of the graduate students in our program. Almost all entering History PhD students are recipients of five years of financial support. These packages include tuition, health insurance, and an annual stipend set by the graduate school. The department also tries to supplement this financial support with summer research funding.

Additional funding opportunities are available through recruitment fellowships and grants from the UNC Graduate School. These fellowships either supplement the base stipend or provide full stipend support at a higher level than the base stipends. The admissions committee nominates exceptional applicants for these prestigious fellowships and no additional application is required. 

The department does not require that applicants take the standard GRE.

The deadline for the Fall 2023 Admissions cycle is Tuesday, December 13, 2022. The application portal closes at 11:59 PM EST on the posted deadline date. Our department highly suggests submitting your application two weeks in advance of the posted deadline.

In fairness to all of our applicants, we do not accept late applications.

Admissions decisions will be communicated at least by the first part of April.