Prospective Graduate Students

The Corcoran Department of History graduate program at the University of Virginia offers a terminal M.A. degree in addition to the combined M.A.-Ph.D sequence. Students pursuing a J.D. in the Law School are also able to apply to receive an M.A. in Legal History, through our joint degree program with the Law School. We also encourage the terminal M.A. degree program to serving military officers who need an M.A. but not a Ph.D. in order to teach at the service academies. However, in no case is UVA financial aid available to students seeking a terminal M.A.

Students cannot enter the program on a part-time basis. Classes are offered only on-site at the university, and there are no distance-learning options. Students are expected, by the terms of their fellowships, to be in residence in or near Charlottesville during coursework and graduate teaching assistantships.

Pursuing graduate study in history normally begins with a discussion of your aspirations with history professors you already know, typically those from your undergraduate institution. You will need to request letters of recommendation (see below) from such mentors for your application. Also, if one of them has a Ph.D. in your specific field of interest, there may be a wealth of information this person can share with you regarding the programs and faculty at different universities as well as the nature and state of the field.

In addition to discussing with your advisors how to develop enough background in your field of interest to submit a strong application to do graduate work in history, pay special attention to training you may need in fields outside of history. Most typically this means developing proficiency in foreign languages. You do not necessarily need to be fully proficient in every relevant language at the time of application, but it should be clear to a specialist that you are well on your way to proficiency in at least the primary language. Foreign language requirements are detailed in the descriptions of specific academic programs in the Guide to Graduate Study in History. For applicants to fields not requiring foreign languages for research, previous language study is not required for admission. But if you anticipate difficulty in fulfilling the language requirement in your intended academic program, you are advised to begin learning or re-learning a language as early as possible.

Graduate study in history is specialized, and your experience in graduate school may depend largely on the mentorship of a principal advisor. Familiarize yourself with the department's faculty in your intended field of study, both geographical and thematic. (You will find profiles of the faculty members and relevant fields of study here.) Feel free to contact faculty members individually to discuss your interest and the professor's expectations for graduate students and applicants. By investigating the university web site or contacting department faculty, you might also discover resources or people at UVA of interest to you outside of the History Department.

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences has put together an excellent guide to life at the University of Virginia and in Charlottesville. 

Applications to the graduate program should be submitted using the University of Virginia's online application system. For more information, visit the admissions page for the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. After receiving and processing applications, the Graduate Admissions office then turns them over to the Department of History for review. Though admissions decisions are made primarily at the department level, the Graduate School holds ultimate authority over them.

The Graduate School's admission deadline is December 15 (for PhD) and May 1 (for MA).  Admitted students enroll in August of the following year.

The three-page application form that you submit through the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences contains important data that the History Department needs in order to consider your application. These forms are more or less self-explanatory, but please contact us if you have any questions.

This is the same statement also referred to on the Graduate Admissions page as the “Personal Essay” or the “Statement of Purpose.” You should pay special attention to composing it. Though fairly short (one or two pages), it must provide us with a concise intellectual portrait of you and the kind of graduate student and historian you are likely to be. 

Every statement is individual, so you should follow your own instincts and use your own style. But do try to address the following: your interests within History and how they have developed in the context of your overall education and life experience; your progress in getting to know existing scholarship in your field of interest, and where you would most like to make a contribution (which approaches or sub-topics appeal to you most and least?); key academic or personal experiences that distinguish you (esp. original research-based work such as a thesis; work you have published; teaching experience, etc.); explanation of any special circumstances (such as a major change in direction or career); and finally, why you feel UVA's History Department is well suited to your interests and needs. Applicants should mention progress in relevant language study, and, if applicable, living or travel experience in the place of interest.

The Writing Sample will show us not only the quality of your writing in stylistic terms but also your historical thinking and research experience. If possible, it should be from a course in History or a closely related discipline, and in your primary field of interest. If you have completed (or are currently preparing) an undergraduate thesis or other major paper in History, you are welcome to submit it in its entirety or in part (with an attached introduction or description of the whole thesis)—depending on what you feel is most suitable. Those applying with M.A. degrees, in any field, or are currently completing M.A. programs must also complete a Research Statement (see below).

Applicants should upload complete transcripts of their grades for all work in institutions of higher education to their online application. If offered admission, final confirmation of admission cannot be formally completed without the final transcript of undergraduate grades indicating a satisfactory record in the final year and award of the undergraduate degree.

GRE scores are not required for graduate study in the Department of History. 

However, many international applicants may be required to take the TOEFL exam. Please see the International Applicants section below for more information about TOEFL requirements. 

Applicants should request letters of recommendation from AT LEAST TWO history professors who are well acquainted with recent work; if possible, at least one of these should be submitted by a professor in your intended field of specialization. Letters from instructors in departments other than History are less valuable (unless the writer has a Ph.D. in History), and letters from non-academic sources are seldom of use. However, if you have been out of school for some time and have acquired job skills relevant to graduate work in history, the recommendation of a supervisor can be useful. It is still advisable, if at all possible, to get at least one recommendation from a history professor (either from one's undergraduate years, or from more recent history courses taken on a non-degree basis). 

The department expects an applicant to the Ph.D program holding an M.A. degree to have a sophisticated sense of his or her field of study as well as clear research goals. Applicants to the program who are in the process of earning or already hold an M.A. degree must submit, in addition to the Personal Statement, a 300-word Research Statement describing their work to date and ideas and intentions for doctoral dissertation research. For the Writing Sample, such applicants should submit the M.A. thesis (in whole if it is finished) or a graduate seminar paper based on original research. Such applicants also should submit at least THREE letters of recommendation, including at least one (and preferably two) from an instructor familiar with their graduate work. Applicants with M.A. degrees who are admitted to the program must complete the same coursework requirements as those admitted with a B.A. or B.S. degree, and there is no provision for transferring graduate credits from another institution or accelerating the coursework phase of the program.

All international applicants should be sure to follow all instructions on the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Admissions Requirements web page regarding additional documents required with the application.

Applicants may receive communication from the Department or from the Graduate School indicating that parts of the application are missing, but it is ultimately up the applicant to make sure that the university has received your complete application. This can be done online using the account that you will establish when you file your application.

The Director of Graduate Admissions for the History Department begins reviewing each application as soon as it is complete. However, since all applications must be reviewed further by specialists on the faculty, and since additional time is required for the Dean of Graduate Admissions to consider and act upon the department's recommendations in each case, applicants should not expect to be notified of a decision immediately. Admitted applicants will typically be sent formal offers of admission from the Graduate School in early-to-mid February. Those not admitted will receive notification that their applications have been denied, or will be added to a waiting list. Applicants placed on the waiting list will be admitted on a rolling basis if and when spaces become available in the program. In some instances, such offers are made immediately prior to, and sometimes after, the April 15 acceptance deadline.

The deadline for successful candidates to accept or decline the Graduate School’s offers of admission and financial support is April 15. This is a universal deadline to which all signatories to the Council of Graduate Schools resolution, which includes over 350 institutions in the U.S., have agreed to. If you are considering an offer from another program and are asked to accept an offer of financial support before April 15, it is likely that this deadline was imposed in error or in ignorance of this resolution. You are perfectly within your rights to insist on the April 15 deadline. If you have concerns about an early deadline from another program, please contact our department’s Director of Graduate Admissions.

The History department does not typically allow admitted student to defer enrollment, unless there are extreme extenuating circumstances.  Applicants who do not accept offers of admission for the upcoming Fall semester, but are interested in entering the program in the future, will be encouraged to reapply without any special guarantee of admission.

Candidates not accepted for admission may reapply in subsequent years. Although the Graduate Admissions Office keeps all supporting documents for applications on file for two years, keep in mind that your chances of admission are not likely to be improved by resubmission of all the same documents. In the event that you begin an M.A. program elsewhere and apply to UVA. from there, normally the Department expects the personal statement, letters of recommendation, and writing sample to reflect the new circumstances and additional training (see section on Applicants with or Completing M.A. degrees). New GRE scores must be submitted if the previous ones are more than four years out of date, and in any case some applications may be substantially improved by retaking the GRE and obtaining higher scores.