Application Procedures

The application fee is $60 for domestic (U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents) and $75 for international (non-U.S. Citizens). This fee is non-refundable and subject to change. The firm deadline for each Fall term admission is December 1. Please see Apply for Admisson for more information. Requirements for admission are:

• BA/BS degree or equivalent
• Distinguished undergraduate record
• Competence in the reading of a foreign language appropriate to the applicant's field

The five-digit numeric code for U-M History is 00224. Applicants should be specific when designating their geographic/temporal field of interest (subplan). For example: "18th Century United States," or "Modern Germany."

Supporting Documents                back to top

Supporting documents are due by the December 1 application deadline. This is a firm deadline. In reviewing your application, the department will only use what you have provided by December 1 (this includes letters of recommendation). All of your supporting documents can be uploaded to the online application. Remember to plan for the GRE or TOEFL so that results will be received by U-M in time for the application deadline. Important: Processing can take 3-5 weeks before the university receives the electronic submission from ETS. All materials (including transcripts and credentials) submitted for admission consideration become the property of the University of Michigan and will not be returned in original or copy form.

In addition to the online application, the following documents are necessary for a complete admissions file:

• Academic Statement of Purpose Cover Sheet (part of online application)
• Academic Statement of Purpose (upload to the online application)
• Personal Statement (upload to the online application)
• Writing Sample (upload to the online application)
• Three letters of recommendation (register recommenders during the online application process)
• Official degree transcripts (scan and upload to the online application and mail one official copy to Rackham Graduate School and one copy to the History Department)
• Curriculum Vitae (CV) or Résumé (upload to the online application)

Academic Statement of Purpose Cover Sheet
The cover sheet should be used as a guide to outline your specific research interests, encapsulating the information provided in more detail in your Statement of Purpose. It is strongly recommended that you familiarize yourself with the teaching and research interests of our faculty. (Emeritus faculty and faculty with courtesy appointments typically do not read files). List the History faculty members with whom you would like to work and indicate your geographical and topical fields of interest. This information allows the appropriate History faculty to review your application and make admissions recommendations. The Academic Statement of Purpose Cover Sheet is part of the online application.

Academic Statement of Purpose
It is extremely helpful to the Admission and Fellowship Committees, as well as to faculty and staff, to have the clearest idea possible of your interests. The Statement of Purpose should demonstrate the match between the research and teaching interests of the faculty and the applicant. Be as precise as possible in describing your research interests, including area, period, topic or approach, as well as the intellectual issues and historical subjects to be explored at the University of Michigan. Brief background information may also be included. This statement should also indicate current foreign language competence. There is no specific page limit, but most applicants provide a 2-3 page SOP. Please be sure to upload the Statement of Purpose to the online application.

Personal Statement
How have your background and life experiences, including cultural, geographical, financial, educational or other opportunities or challenges, motivated your decision to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Michigan? For example, if you grew up in a community where educational, cultural, or other opportunities were either especially plentiful or especially lacking, you might discuss the impact this had on your development and interests. This should be a discussion of the journey that has led to your decision to seek a graduate degree. Please do not repeat your Statement of Purpose. Please upload your personal statement to the online application.

Writing Sample
Your writing sample should be a research paper that demonstrates your research interests and academic capabilities—a term paper (ideally, but not necessarily, from a history class) or an excerpt from a thesis. Writing samples should be no more than 35 double-spaced pages. Please upload your writing sample to the online application. The writing sample field can accept documents up to 2 MB in size. If your document won't fit, that is an indication that you are sending more material than the program is prepared to review. In that case, please adjust the volume accordingly.

Recommendation Letters
Three letters of recommendation are required for a complete application. Please register your recommenders during the online application process in order to allow them to submit their letters online. This will permit you to monitor receipt of the letters in a timely fashion, making it possible to remind individuals about missing letters or to substitute letter writers if that becomes necessary. Occasionally a recommender prefers to mail the letter to the department and, although that is strongly discouraged, we will accept it. In that case, please make certain this individual also encloses the letter form. All letters, whether submitted online or sent through the mail, must be received no later than December 1. Paper letters may be mailed directly to the program using the following address: Graduate Admissions, UM Department of History, 1029 Tisch Hall, Ann Arbor MI 48109-1003.

Transcripts
Official transcripts are required for all institutions from which you have received a degree. We require applicants to submit transcripts in two ways: 1) Upload a scanned copy of your transcripts to the online application using instructions provided with the application; and 2) Arrange for your institutions to mail two copies of each transcript: one copy to Rackham Graduate School and one copy to the History Department. Detailed instructions about transcripts are provided on Rackham's website. We realize that many students apply to graduate school before receiving a final degree. In that case, if you are accepted to the program, your status will be conditional until a final transcript is received from your institution with the posted degree. In order to be considered official, transcripts must bear a seal and a signature in ink of an authorized official of the institution (such as the Registrar or Recorder of Records). Academic records certified by notary publics are not official.

Educational and English Testing (GRE, TOEFL, IELTS & MELAB)
U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents, as well as Canadian Citizens, are required to take and submit scores (up to five years old) for the general test of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). There is no waiver of this requirement. More information on this test can be found at the Educational Testing Service website..

The institution code for the University of Michigan is 1839. You do not need to specifiy a department code.

International students must submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) (up to two years old) for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). The Michigan English Language Battery (MELAB) is also accepted, however it is only offered in the U.S. and Canada. It is strongly recommended that applicants use the iBT version of the TOEFL; we no longer accept the computer-based TOEFL. International applicants who have earned a degree from an institution where the language of instruction is English (e.g., U.S., United Kingdom, Australia) are exempt from submitting a TOEFL, IELTS or MELAB score, but instead are required to take the GRE. There is no waiver of this requirement.

The minimum requirements for each test are as follows:

• TOEFL:   560 (paper-based) or 84 (internet-based)
• IELTS:     6.5
• MELAB:   80

More information on these tests can be found at their respective websites: TOEFL http://www.toefl.org; IELTS http://www.ielts.org; and MELAB http://www.lsa.umich.edu/eli.

We recommend that you take the relevant tests no later than November so the score report can be available by our December 1 application deadline. To avoid possible delays, be sure to record your test scores in the appropriate section of the online application.

CV or Résumé
The U-M History program receives hundreds of applications every year. We find a student's CV or résumé to be an extremely effective aid in evaluating the admissions file. Please list the colleges and universities you have attended plus teaching experience, research, special programs, honors and awards and any other information that you feel is applicable to your application.Please upload your CV to the online application

Affidavit of Financial Support (for international students only)
To obtain an F-1 or J-1 visa, admitted international applicants must provide documentation of adequate financial resources. Although Rackham requires that all international students submit this form, the letter of admissions from the History Department, which offers tuition, fees, health insurance, and living expenses for an admitted student without dependents, will satisfy this requirement. Therefore, the Affidavit is not required.

Tuition                back to top

Tuition for Rackham Graduate School (and LSA) students information may be obtained from the Registrar's Office website. The funding package for admitted students includes tuition.

CIC, IRT, McNair Scholars & Project 1000 Applicants

Applicants applying through one of these programs must complete a Rackham online application. There is a provision in this online application to note that the application is being submitted through one of these programs. All supporting documents should uploaded to the online application whenever possible. Applications received from the program after January 1 may not be considered.

Application Timeline                back to top

September 1 - December 1
Apply through Rackham's web application. Take required exams and arrange for supporting documents to arrive by the December 1 deadline. Please note this is a firm deadline.

December 2 - January 8
Applications are being processed and prepared for review by faculty. Applicants are encouraged to consult Rackham Web App Status to verify submitted data, update contact information, etc.

December 24 - January 1
History Office closed for holidays.

January 9 - February 28
Faculty members and the fellowship and admission committees are reviewing applications.

March 3 - March 10
Applicants are notified with the department's admission decision. You will receive an email notification.

April 15
Applicants who have been accepted for admission must notify the History Department and Rackham Graduate School of their decision by this date.