Admissions

Program in History

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The deadline for submission of the application for the History graduate program is December 1.  Please note that the History Department no longer requires GRE scores from applicants.  Please do not self-report scores or have electronic scores sent to the Graduate School.  Scores will not be reviewed. (The Program in History of Science & Medicine still requires GRE scores.)

The department requires a short book review (maximum 1,000 words) to accompany the application.  It should cover the book that has most shaped the applicant’s understanding of the kind of work he or she would like to do as a historian.

In addition, the department requires an academic writing sample of not more than twenty-five pages, double spaced, to be submitted.  Normally, the writing sample should be based on research in primary source materials.

Students are admitted to graduate study by the Graduate School on the recommendation of the Department. First year classes have averaged 22 students in the Ph.D. program. Although the vast majority of recent applicants have been undergraduate History majors, the Department encourages applications from those who, while now intending a professional career in History, majored in other subjects as undergraduates.

The Graduate School does not award transfer credit. In recognition of graduate work completed before matriculation at Yale, the Dean may, however, waive a portion of the course requirements for the Ph.D. Any such waiver is ordinarily not granted until the completion of the first semester’s work in the History Department. Graduate courses completed elsewhere will not appear on the Graduate School transcript.

Application is via the online application of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. For more information about the admissions process, go to the Graduate School Admissions page.

Prospective applicants may direct questions about minority student recruitment to the Diversity Liaison coordinator at history.dgs@yale.edu.

Program in History of Science and Medicine

The Program in the History of Science and Medicine is a semi-autonomous graduate track within the Department of History. HSHM students are awarded degrees in History with a concentration in the History of Science and Medicine, and they are fully fledged members of the History Department. First year classes have averaged 4 students in the History of Science and Medicine Ph.D. Program, in addition to the roughly 22 students in the History program.