<p>So I am a current oral history major at CSU Monterey Bay who will be graduating next fall. I have a 3.9 gpa at the moment (may fall just a bit this semester) and I have been an RA for almost 3 years, I volunteer in the community and all that jazz.</p>
<p>I don't know how much the ECs mean in the grad world. I'm assuming admission is all about your coursework, gpa, GREs, and letter of recommendations.</p>
<p>I want to go on to get into either a PhD or MA in History after I graduate here. I was wondering what my chances would be at a school like UC Berkeley or some of the better CSUs like Cal Poly or SJSU?</p>
<p>With a good GRE and good prof recs you would certainly have a shot.</p>
<p>One thing I would consider is what you plan to do with the degree. If it’s teach, I’d encourage you to talk to recent grads as there are few teaching slots in the humanities and lots of unemployed PhDs. A close friend is a history prof and it’s been rough.</p>
<p>I think you have a good shot. But I would recommend that you go for the Phd for 2 reasons.</p>
<p>1) MA in history is really neither here nor there, especially for a career in academia
2) Phd is free and it is funded by the university
3) As a Phd student, you will also get paid a stipend for teaching</p>
<p>You have a strong GPA, I would suggest you shoot for Cal or better universities. A MA in history from Cal Poly is not going cut it for you professionally.</p>
<p>Yes I’ve heard it is a rough market for history professors, which is what I’d like to be, but since I’m also in student housing that would be my fall back. Those positions have some great benefits (like room and board, plus not a bad paycheck when you get to the professional level).</p>
<p>I definitely agree that going straight to the PhD programs is the way to go. I was more or less just worried that since I’m at such a small/new school that I might be looked down upon.</p>