Application Process

• Admission to a primary field of study commits you to work toward your degree in that geographic area. We encourage you to select your primary field with care. Be sure to contact faculty to evaluate your fit for the program.
• If you would like to pursue training between two fields of study, you may enter “Individual Plan” followed by the two fields in which you would like to work (e.g., Individual Plan: European – modern/East Asian).

This section asks about your research interests. If you plan to pursue a thematic area (the Program in Gender and Women’s History, the Program in Jewish History, or the War in Society and Culture Program), indicate this here. You can also tell us about topical, chronological, or geographic interests, including the Bridge Program with African American Studies or a Joint PhD with another UW–Madison degree program.

Provide the names of the faculty with whom you would like to work (up to four). We encourage you to explore faculty research specializations.

• Language Preparation: We have no formal language requirements in order to qualify for admission. However, applicants should consider the requirements that they will need to meet as a graduate student. In some fields, such as medieval Europe and East Asia, prior language preparation is expected. We encourage you to discuss language preparation with the faculty before you submit the application.
• Writing Sample (pdf only): Provide a sample that best illustrates the quality of your written work (no more than 50 pages, double-spaced; max. file size 6 MB).
• Outside Sources of Support: If you plan to self-fund your graduate studies, this section asks you to describe any external funding sources to which you have applied (or will apply).

Upload an unofficial copy of your transcript(s) from all institutions attended, showing any undergraduate and graduate degrees awarded. If you are accepted, the Graduate School will request official transcripts from each institution.

English language proficiency is required for all international degree-seeking applicants. See the Graduate School requirements for more information.

The Statement of Purpose (2-3 pages, double-spaced, pdf file format) explains your reasons for graduate study. It may be the hardest part of the application to write, but it is also the most important. While you will likely include some autobiographical information, its primary purpose is to acquaint us with how your mind works. We want to know, for example, what kinds of intellectual problems and issues interest you, whose stories intrigue you, what sorts of analytical or narrative approaches you like to pursue, which historical writings you admire—and your reasons for these various preferences. Please help us understand your decision to enter the historical profession and how you see your own role in it. You can feel free to explain how your background and life experiences, including cultural, geographical, financial, educational, or other opportunities or challenges have motivated your decision to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Wisconsin.  There is no single right way to approach this part of the application, but we suggest that you bear in mind the usual cautions for personal writing: speak straightforwardly, in your own voice, and write as well as you know how.

This should highlight your accomplishments and qualifications including academic honors or distinctions; professional, research, and/or teaching experience; and any publications.

Provide contact information for the three people who will provide you with letters of recommendation. Your letter writers will receive an upload link by email.

The Graduate School offers a limited number of application fee waivers to make sure the application fee ($75) is not a barrier for applicants. Criteria for the fee waiver can be found here. For those not meeting the Graduate School’s criteria, the Department of History offers a limited number of fee waivers. These are granted on an individual basis by contacting the Graduate Admissions Coordinator. Please note that departmental application fee waivers were paused in fall 2025.

Refreshing the page in your browser or use a different browser to access the application. If you are still unsuccessful, send your documents in an email attachment to the Graduate Advisor and Admissions Coordinator.

After you submit your application, follow the instructions provided in the email sent to you from the Office of Graduate Admissions to check your application status. It will take us some time to process your materials. Please be patient!

Faculty members begin reviewing applicant materials after the December 1 due date. The Department of History will send letters of admission or refusal by mid-February.

• Diversity: the applicant would enhance the social and, therefore, the intellectual diversity of our graduate program.
• Fit: the applicant’s interests intersect with those of a cluster of faculty, the applicant shows awareness of the faculty’s specialties and the valuable resources that UW has to offer. There are indications that the applicant would be a collegial, community-oriented peer within the program.
• Creativity: Evidence of creative thinking, e.g., in framing research questions, in the choice of primary sources, in the use of primary sources, in interpreting evidence, and in engaging with their chosen historiographical field(s).
• Preparation: The applicant demonstrates the potential for intellectual growth and academic and career success (broadly defined), based on their overall preparations across such areas as: expertise in their chosen field(s) of study; research experience (within the context of their opportunities to do historical research up to this point); their (multi)disciplinary tool-kit (History and/or other disciplines); and appropriate language or travel experience.
• Commitment: The applicant demonstrates a commitment to graduate study, which can include signs of resilience and requisite work ethic; personal/academic trajectory (inclusive of applicants who are traveling less-/non-standard pathways).

As long as you have paid the application fee and submitted your application by December 1, your submission will be considered for admission. We understand that some items might arrive after the application due date. Please note that an incomplete application makes faculty consideration of applications difficult.

The Department of History receives 250-350 applications each year. Generally, we only admit students to whom we can offer a multi-year funding guarantee. In recent years, offers of admission have been extended to 10 -15 students.

The Graduate School requires a 3.0 undergraduate GPA. Most students admitted to the Department of History have an undergraduate GPA of 3.5 or higher in history-related courses.

The Graduate Programs in History and HSMT do not require the GRE.

Our programs are designed to meet the needs of the PhD students. Before you apply for an MA degree in History or HSMT, contact potential faculty advisors. We admit MA applicants on a very limited basis and the probability of admission is low. There is no funding guarantee for MA students and applicants must have external funding or be self-funded.

Maybe. If you have written an MA thesis or a longer research paper, our faculty will determine whether it satisfies our MA research seminar requirement. For specifics regarding your individual case, contact the Graduate Program Manager.