Graduate
Information for Prospective Students
We are now accepting applications for Fall 2016 entry.
Application deadline is January 15. 2016 (all documents).
General Admission Requirements
Admission to our programs is highly competitive. Successful applicants typically have qualifications higher than the minimum listed.
Special foreign language capabilities are required for admission to certain areas of training within the Department.
Applicants whose native language is not English and who graduated from a university where the language of instruction was not English must submit an English language test score. The minimums accepted by the Department of History are: Paper-based TOEFL score – 600 overall, with a TWE score of 5.0; Internet-based TOEFL score – 100 overall, with a 22 in Writing and Speaking; IELTS – 7.0.
M.A. Minimum Requirements
Applicants:
- an appropriate bachelor’s degree, or its equivalent, with a final year average of at least mid-B from a recognized university
- must have attained a B+ standing (GPA of 3.3) or its equivalent in the final 5.0 full credits of the B.A.
- must have successfully completed at least 6.0 full credits in History with a B+ average
NOTE: These are minimum requirements and do not, in themselves, guarantee admission.
Part-time M.A. applicants must meet the same admission standards as full-time applicants.
Ph.D. Minimum Requirements
Applicants:
- must hold the M.A. degree in history or its equivalent
- must have attained at least an A- (3.7 GPA) standing in the M.A.
- must satisfy the Department of their ability to do independent research at an advanced level
Exceptional students will be admitted directly to the Ph.D. program from the B.A. These applicants must have attained at least an A- (3.7 GPA) in their undergrad program.
Current M.A. students who are planning to apply to Ph.D. programs are strongly encouraged to apply for SSHRC and OGS awards through their current university in preparation for first-year doctoral studies.
Application Procedures
NOTE: All application instructions and materials for both the School of Graduate Studies and the Department of History are only available online. Follow this link for a list of Frequently Asked Questions.
The application consists of two main parts:
- filling out the various sections of the SGS on-line application
- a number of Supplemental Forms that can be uploaded after the Application Fee is paid.
The SGS system will ask you for Personal and Contact Information, Academic Background (e.g. previous degrees), English Proficiency, and Program Selection. For information on the Fields of Study section under Program Selection, see Fields of Study below.
After you complete the SGS application and pay the Application Fee, you can upload the four supplemental documents:
- Statement of interest: use the form provided. In 500 words, please specify your research proposal, outline a precise field and area of historical investigation.
- Applicant Information Form: use the form provided. There are different forms for PhD, PhD-Direct Entry, and MA.
- Sample of writing: upload a sample of writing (maximum 3000 words for MA applicant and 6000 word maximum for PhD applicant including footnotes, bibliography, etc).
- 1-2 page CV (include such information as Education; Awards, Scholarships and Distinctions; Conference Presentations; Professional and/or Work Experience; and/or Volunteer Experience)
Adjudication process
Applications are judged by an Admissions Committee drawn from across different historical fields, with input from all members of the graduate faculty. Academic merit and fit with the program are the key criteria. There are no quotas for specific fields.
Fields of Study: Important Information for Applicants
As you work through the Program Selection section of the application, you will be asked to indicate Graduate unit, Program, Collaborative Programs (if applicable), and other information.
Under Fields of Study/Concentration, three boxes will be available.
Applicants are now permitted to indicate up to three fields. These should be entered in the Fields of Study/ Concentration boxes under Program Selection in the SGS system and on the Applicant Information Form in the supplementary documents section (available after you pay the Application Fee).
Note that this is not an either/or choice. We are asking you to indicate the different fields or clusters into which your research program or topic (as laid out in detail in your statement of interest) fits. A student studying American food history, for example, might attract the interest of our American historians and a broader group of food historians working on other parts of the world. We find that the option of more than one field provides a richer sense of a student’s interests and research proposal.
Many of our applicants indicate one geographic and one thematic field. You are permitted to enter up to three fields and you are not required to indicate more than one. No matter how many fields you enter, your application will be judged according to academic merit.
See the list of Fields of Study under Graduate Fields of Study on the History web page.
Examples
- Example One: A student proposing to study in the political activism among indigenous peoples of the Caribbean could select Caribbean and Latin American History as the first field and Empire, Colonialism, and Indigeneity as the second field. These field choices identify the file as of interest to historians of the Caribbean region and to a trans-national cluster of faculty interested in the history of Empire, Colonialism and Indigeneity.
- Example Two: A student proposing a study of American empire through the prism of food could select History of the United States as the first field and indicate thematic interest in food and in empire as the second and third fields.
- Example Three: A student proposing a trans-national study of sex workers moving between Europe and Africa could select: Gender, Sex, and Sexuality; European History; and African History.
- Example Four: A student proposing a study of the Catholic Church’s approach to poverty in early modern Italy could choose to select only two fields: European history and the History of Religion and Society.
These choices do not determine admission. They are meant to flag your file as of interest to members of faculty in each field. In the end, it is academic merit not field of study that determines admission to the program.
If you have difficulty accessing the forms or need further information about application procedures please contact the Graduate Assistant at 416-978-5800.