PhD History Student at Michigan State University

Written in: January 2001
By Stuart Willis (stuart1776@hotmail.com )
Please note that Stuart may take a while to respond to personal enquiries, as he is busy with his PhD coursework!

The single best piece of advice I received concerning the application process was to make contact with professors at the institutions you intend to apply to before you submit your application. Making yourself known to an institution and those professors it is possible you will be working with is very important in getting your name known to the people who are likely to be evaluating your application.

One tutor at Cornell told me that when your application is received it is seen by a committee and those who have expertise in the area you are interested in pursuing are asked to evaluate it. Thus it makes sense to contact these people beforehand, thus giving them prior knowledge of you.

Most websites will list faculty and their email addresses. If not you can usually find a contact address, if not there is usually a contact email address that can point you in the right direction.

This done you need to decide what you are going to ask. Bearing in mind the volume of mail they get you have to be concise and to the point. Briefly introduce yourself and your purpose in writing; explain what it is you are interested in and where you wish to go with it. Ask if they would be interested in advising on such a project and any other relevant questions. Many of the tutors I contacted were happy to talk about such issues and international students are generally welcomed with open arms. Some don't respond. Others, however, will give advice and even recommendations of other institutions to try if they feel you would not be able to pursue your studies with them.

The application process, and the equally important funding allocation process, is very competitive. Getting yourself known helps - your name and purpose will be known to the people who are evaluating your application, and by corresponding with them you will be more than just a name on a sheet of paper.

At the point when acceptance decisions have been sent it is worth bearing in mind the financial aid side of the equation again. Fees in the US are high, you pay for everything and sponsorship money from this side of the Atlantic is hard to come by.

Being America though, the discussion of money is less of a social taboo than it is over here. If accepted by a department it is worthwhile writing back and thanking them, saying that acceptance is much appreciated, but reminding them that receipt of financial aid from the university is important too. If the department really wants you then they will make the extra effort to secure said financial aid for you. The same applications committee that evaluates your application will also decide on the allocation of financial aid, which is often allocated not on need but on merit. I did this and had my scholarship upped from a quarter-time for two years, to a half-time for four. It's worth a try!