Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The application dates are set by the Admissions Office, with the online application ordinarily opening in mid-September and closing in mid-December.  Please consult the Admissions Office website to verify specific dates. 

The Admissions Office will not accept or forward materials after deadline.  

No, we only accept students who can begin the program in the Fall semester.

Submission of GRE test results is optional, as we do not require the GRE examination for consideration for admissions. Applicants will not be penalized if they choose not to submit a score, and the GRE will not be used as a benchmark to compare applicants. 

The department does not have a minimum score for the TOEFL and all applications will be considered.  Please note that the TOEFL scores expire and the submission of these scores is a requirement of the GSAS Admissions Office.  They will still send the incomplete application to the History Department and all applications are considered, but is it worthwhile for applicants to plan ahead when it comes to the submission of these scores.  Per the Admissions Office’s requirement, students for whom English is a second language are only able to waive the TOEFL requirement if they received a bachelor’s degree from a University where English is the main language of instruction.

There is no formal requirement when it comes to the length of either.  Students are encouraged to keep in mind that all applications are read and an overlong writing sample is not recommended.  Most Statements of Purpose are around 3-5 pages.  Most writing samples are around 20-25 pages.  If you are submitting a sample that is part of a larger work (a chapter from a thesis, for instance) you may include a brief abstract situating the piece in the larger work.

Generally around two to three percent of applicants are accepted into the History PhD program.

Yes, students can apply to GSAS up to three times.  This means that you can apply to just one department three years in a row, or you can apply different departments.

Q: Do I need two applications if applying to two different departments?

Yes, if you apply to more than one department, you will need to fill out an application for each.  You will also need to create two separate accounts with the Admissions Office.

Harvard’s History department does not offer a Terminal MA.

Can I apply to the PhD program if I don’t have a Master’s Degree?  Will it hurt my application to not have a MA?
Many of our students are coming straight from a BA and their application is not hurt by the lack of an AM.

What if I’m not yet finished with my BA, will it hurt my application to not have my Spring grades in before applying?
The Admissions Committee understands that most applicants applying in their senior year of college will not have grades for a few semesters.  As stated in the previous response, many of our students come straight from their BA and we only ask that they provide their grades when they are available.

The department has until March 15^th to communicate admissions decisions to the Admissions Office and they communicate with students via postal mail.  

Realistically, the offers of admission go out earlier than March 15^th, but it is the latest date by which we can get the information to Admissions.  You will have until April 15^th to respond to an offer of admission.

To check on the status of your application, you can call  617-496-6100 between 2 pm and 5 pm EST.

Our students receive a very competitive funding package, the specifics of which can be seen on the Financial Aid Office website.

The Harvard University Health Services has complete student health and insurance coverage information. Their main offices are located at 75 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge , MA 02138 (phone: (617) 495-5711.

Please note: Withdrawn candidates covered by student health insurance will receive a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) letter from Blue Cross / Blue Shield indicating the termination date of group coverage. The letter may be used to obtain non-group coverage in Massachusetts or other states.

Applications are read and discussed in multiple rounds of review.  In the first instance, your file will be read by all faculty members whom you identify as “Faculty of Interest” as well as additional faculty who specialize in the “Area of Study” or primary geographic, temporal, or thematic field you identify on your application.  You can determine who participates in admissions in these areas of study by using the filters on the Faculty Page of the Department website.  The faculty members who participate in these subfields discuss the files, consulting with faculty of interest outside the field (if any), and select a small number of top candidates to be considered by the graduate admissions committee. 

The graduate admissions committee, composed of faculty members from a range of fields, then reads the applications on the short list and makes a recommendation for admissions and inclusion on the waitlist.  Anyone who makes it to the short list has enthusiastic support from the faculty members in their areas of study and is highly qualified and prepared for success in our program.  To arrive at the admissions list and the waitlist, the committee considers many factors including balance among geographic, temporal, and thematic fields, the fit between students and potential advising teams, and diversity of trajectories and perspectives.

The strongest applications to our program typically identify more than one member of the faculty in the Department of History whose interests or expertise align well with the proposed course of study.  Usually, an applicant will use the “Faculty of Interest” fields to indicate a preferred primary advisor or preferred co-advisors as well as two additional faculty, including faculty outside the subfield whose work resonates with the applicant. In some instances, an applicant may wish to include a faculty member outside the Department of History.

Students who are admitted into the program are not locked into working with any advisor(s) named in their applications. Students build and continue to refine their advising team after they arrive on campus.

Your answer to this question determines which group of faculty members will consider your file and decide whether to forward it to the admissions committee as a finalist.  To learn which faculty members participate in which admissions fields, filter by “primary admissions field” on the people page of this website. Once admitted, students sometimes change their primary field of study as their interests develop.

For many successful applications, there is an obvious answer to the question of which geographical, temporal, or thematic subfield to choose.

In other successful applications, students propose to do transnational or comparative work.  In this case, the “International” category may be an appropriate alternative, or students may use their statement of purpose to express a plan to receive training simultaneously in two subfields.

Our graduate admissions committee works to make sure that no files “fall through the cracks,” by forwarding files to faculty members who may find them interesting, independent of which field the applicant has identified. 

It is in no way necessary to write to potential committee members or advisors before submitting your application.  We give every submitted application equal consideration. That said, there is no harm in sending an email to the professors you hope to work with expressing your admiration, interest, and enthusiasm. If you do, you might indicate that you do not expect a reply.

Individual faculty members do not have the power to accept students to our program.  The Department has a collective process for reviewing files and making admissions decisions.  That said, there are times when an individual member of the faculty will not be available to advise a student, because of a research leave, an administrative assignment, an impending retirement, or similar circumstances.  The Department will typically choose not to admit students who would be primarily advised by a member of the faculty who will not be available. 

As a general rule, faculty members are not able to meet with you individually to discuss your application before you submit it.  The few faculty members who prefer to hear from students before receiving an application will indicate this preference on their faculty profiles. Carefully check the faculty profile of the professor you are interested in contacting and follow the guidance there.

In no case is it appropriate to ask to share drafts of your application materials or request feedback or advice on your application before the submission deadline.

It is generally not appropriate to ask faculty members to tell you if they are interested in your proposal, to tell you if you are a “good fit” for the department, or to comment on your chances of getting in.

If you have general questions about the program and would like to speak with someone face-to-face, please contact the Graduate Program Coordinator. 

There is no difference between the course of study for students who already hold an MA degree and those enter our program directly after undergraduate study (or after undergraduate study and a period spent outside the university).  During the first two years of our program, students complete coursework and prepare for an examination that qualifies them to undertake the dissertation.  They are encouraged to continue exploring and refining potential dissertation projects as their interests develop.  A formal prospectus, outlining a well-defined dissertation project, is not expected until the third year of study.

In contrast to some doctoral programs in other countries, which are built on the expectation of prior MA studies, applicants to our program are not expected to submit fully articulated dissertation projects in their statements of purpose.