如何写一篇饱含学术生命力（又不显得用力过猛）的历史PS

                
                
申请文科和社会科学，硬性成绩相对次要。最重要的一般是PS／SOP，推荐信，writing sample。如何能在ps里面尽量展现自己的学术实力，并且有针对性的表示对对方项目的向往之情？从美国文化和知识产权的历史学家Paul Boyer的文章中，有心的申请人能找到自己的答案。
Together with the academic transcript and (in some cases) GRE scores, the most important components of an application for graduate study in history are, for many history departments, the student's own statement of purpose and the supporting letters of recommendation. This essay offers some suggestions for avoiding common pitfalls in the preparation of these components, and for making them as strong and persuasive as possible.
In brief, the most effective statements of purpose are those that are specific, well written, professional in tone, scrupulously accurate in spelling and grammar, and tailored to the particular institution to which the application is addressed. The statement should avoid sweeping philosophical generalizations, avowals of political or other ideology, or ruminations about the nature of historical knowledge and its essential role in bettering the human condition. No matter how earnestly intended or passionately felt, such lofty rhetoric all too easily descends to the level of cliché, especially when offered in a necessarily compressed form, suggesting an immature and jejune outlook rather than the intended profundity. Summaries of extra-curricular activities and achievements, no matter how outstanding, are usually best confined to those having a direct bearing on the professional field to which you are seeking entry.
While it is certainly appropriate to discuss how you became interested in history, and to include something about your long-range career goals, such matters should be kept brief and to the point. Remember that your application is one of many being read by busy faculty members who have numerous other time-consuming obligations as well. Keep your tendencies toward loquaciousness well in check, and observe word limits strictly.
The strongest essay is one that sums up your scholarly interests and immediate academic objectives in a clear and straightforward fashion. Your statement should be quite precise about the time period, geographic region, or kind of history you want to study, and perhaps even the specific topic you wish ultimately to investigate. You should briefly indicate how your undergraduate reading, research, and course work have shaped your particular interests and have prepared you to pursue them further. At the same time, bear in mind that the earlier phases of graduate education involve primarily general training rather than research on a specific topic. Therefore, your statement should convey an openness to the acquisition of a wide range of historical knowledge and research skills rather than an obsessive fixation on a single narrow topic. (An application from a college senior whose sole purpose in life is to study the Battle of Antietam or the fall of Malacca to the Portuguese in 1511 would probably raise warning signals for most graduate admissions committees.)
It is entirely appropriate, indeed desirable, to tailor your statement of purpose to the institution to which you are applying. Feel free, for example, to mention professors with whom you would like to work or specific strengths<197>such as particular manuscript holdings or degree programs—that make the institution attractive to you. Such specificity should avoid elaborate praise or flattery and a fawning, excessively deferential tone is likely to be counterproductive.
The statement of purpose is also the place for you to address briefly any anomalies or ambiguities in your record that might give an admissions committee pause, such as a non-standard grading system or courses whose content is not clear from the transcript (e.g., "Independent Study"). If your undergraduate background in history is weak, it might be advisable for you to describe in more detail than would otherwise be necessary the evolution of your academic interests, and to make plain that your commitment to the discipline is now firm.
The quality of the essay is probably more important than its substantive content. The members of the admissions committee who pass upon your application will evaluate your statement for the evidence it offers about the quality, clarity, and originality of your mind; your maturity and sense of direction; your skills as a writer; and your capacity for careful attention to detail. A thoughtful, well-crafted, coherently organized essay can go a long way toward favorably disposing a committee on your behalf. Conversely, a shallow, formulaic, hastily written statement marred by poor organization, awkwardness of expression, or (even worse) outright grammatical errors or misspellings, can seriously undermine an otherwise strong application. I have seen application essays where misspelled words or grammatical errors had been heavily circled or underlined by previous readers, with an exclamation point in the margin. Such lapses of detail are not necessarily fatal in themselves, particularly if the admissions committee convinces itself that the applicant is "a diamond in the rough." But they are sufficiently damaging, especially in borderline cases, that every effort to avoid them is strongly recommended.
The letters of recommendation are highly important as well. You should select with great care the professors you ask to write on your behalf. While you obviously cannot quiz a professor in detail about what he or she will say in a letter of recommendation, it is in order for you to ask an instructor in advance whether he or she feels able to write a reasonably positive letter for you. If possible, select instructors whose scholarly work might be known to those who will be reading the letters. (Admissions committees evaluate the writers of recommendation letters, as well as the subjects of those letters!) Sometimes, particularly at large institutions, it is junior faculty members, or even graduate teaching assistants, who know the applicant best and who write the most useful and perceptive letters. Where feasible, however, try to supplement letters from beginning or relatively unknown instructors with others from more established scholars.
Generally speaking, try to secure a letter of recommendation as soon as possible after you have completed a course or an independent study project, when you and your work are still fresh in the instructor's consciousness. If you wish to obtain a letter from a professor with whom you studied a year or so in the past, or who taught you in a large lecture course, spend a little time talking with that individual about your work in the course, your general undergraduate program, and your scholarly interests, to refresh his or her memory and fix yourself more precisely in his or her mind. The more specific a letter of recommendation, the greater the weight it tends to carry.
Clearly, no single "formula" can guarantee admission to graduate school in history or any other discipline. Each admissions decision reflects a variety of factors and subjective judgments by fallible human beings. But the tips offered above should help maximize your chances. Good luck!
By Paul Boyer（作者于2012年去世）
尤其需要注意的两点是：
1. 文章的写作水平，在有些时候甚至比文章的具体内容更加有说服力。行家一出手，便知有没有。行文的流畅性、用词搭配，句型结构、逻辑层次，都是学术写作不可缺少的一部分（和平时的英语写作差别不小）。练好非一日之功。招生委员会也敏锐的在行文中能很快判断申请人的学术能力。与其反复强调自己的research experience，好的文章自身就是强大research积累的绝好证明。
2. 写research interest的时候，一定不要泛泛而谈，说general的大家都认同的知识点，或者试图告诉招生委员会：历史是什么？文化史是什么？法律是什么？对方想看到你如何从一个narrow的点说起，research interest也是迷你版的research proposal，可以体现你的具体专业积累（一定是具体有针对性）和选题破题的能力。是否要和faculty的兴趣和专长丝丝入扣？博士申请很需要，硕士申请可以酌情放宽。当然，申请一所项目之前，也要做好充分的homework，真正确定里面是你想要的资源（包括导师和课程）。
与大家共勉。
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小鹿14年硕士毕业于美国东部的达特茅斯学院，本科于美国文理学院读历史政治。在招生办公室工作过两年，也在几家留学咨询公司工作过五年，辅导过的童鞋里面有被几家常青藤录取的，也有被伦敦政经，帝国理工，多所美国top50录取的，其中不乏获得大额奖学金的学生（小鹿本人读书的时候拿着一年6.5w刀的奖学金，深知奖学金申请的重要和关键）。现在独立出来创办小鹿撞兔留学申请教室（DeerDream），为有梦想有热忱想申请美国、英国、香港、本科，研究生，法学院，商学院的童鞋们提供留学申请的服务。
 
所有申请由小鹿本人亲力亲为。客观来说，小鹿比国内绝大部分中介或者留学咨询公司要专业到位，一是她对学校录取学生的理解比较深（在两所学校的招生办公室工作过，做留学咨询从09年开始积累各种案例经验）。二是小鹿为人谨慎认真，把每位学生的申请当作自己的大事情对待，指导和反馈鞭策及时到位。三是在综合规划申请策略之余，辅导学生的写作能力很强，不仅仅是最终辅导修改的文书状态好能打动AO，学生在这样的过程中本身的academic writing水平也会有层次的提高，为大学生活打好基础。
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