Doctor of Philosophy in History

The graduate program in history is designed to provide professional training in history, with the expectation that most of its Ph.D. graduates will take teaching positions in colleges and universities. In recent years our graduates have accepted appointments at Brown, Cornell, Duke, Princeton, Rutgers, Texas, Utah, the University of Wisconsin, Yale, and the University of Michigan, as well as at smaller colleges such as Davidson, Reed, Kenyon, William and Mary, and Williams and at regional universities such as Alabama, Florida State, North Carolina at Greensboro, and Texas A&M. Some of our graduates take non-academic positions: in recent years these jobs have included positions in banking and business firms, university libraries, government agencies, congressional staffs, and the Foreign Service. The department has a Placement Officer who helps Ph.D. candidates secure academic positions and cooperates with University Career Services to direct graduates to opportunities in other fields.
The Corcoran Department of History offers courses of study leading to M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. Students can earn a terminal M.A. or an M.A. degree en route to the Ph.D after the second year in the program. In addition, the department offers, in collaboration with the University of Virginia School of Law, a joint J.D./M.A.program in legal history. Approximately forty history graduate students are in residence in Charlottesville each year, of whom ten to twelve are in their first year of graduate work.

This is the same statement also referred to on the Graduate Admissions page as the Personal Essay or the 'Statement of Purpose.
The Writing Sample is required by the History Department, not by the Office of Graduate Admissions. Ideally it will show us not only the quality of your writing in stylistic terms but also your historical thinking and (possibly) research skills.

Applicants should upload complete transcripts of their grades for all work in institutions of higher education to their online application.
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.

The minimum internet-based (iBT) TOEFL score requirement is 90 (including sectional minimums of 22 in speaking, 22 in writing, 23 in reading and 23 in listening). The minimum paper-based TOEFL score requirement is 600. Applicants may submit scores from the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) as an alternative to the TOEFL exam. The minimum IELTS score requirement is 7.0 in each section.

Applicants must upload unofficial transcripts of their entire post-secondary academic record to the online application, including all undergraduate- and graduate-level coursework. Applicants are expected to have achieved a minimum GPA of 3.0 in their undergraduate programs.