<p>I am a rising senior history major trying to decide on the next step and would appreciate any incite regarding the following.....</p>
<p>1) does one recommend applying directly a phd program (knowing that is what I ultimately wish to puruse) or are my chances better by getting a masters first</p>
<p>2) time off - good life experience or blatent display of indecision to admissions (this of course varies regarding how I spend my time off, but for financial reasons it would mean I would be working regularly in some respect)</p>
<p>3) any other tips, suggestions, warnings, moments of enlightenment regarding graduate study in history (e.g. schools known for graduate study in history, undergrad stats of those in phd programs)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If you want to go to a top school, you will probably have to apply for a Ph.D, most don't even have or have a very limited masters program. (And you want to go to the best program you can get into if you want to ever get a job as a professor.) In any case, if you intend to get a Ph.D, apply for that, even if you aren't sure, apply and you can drop out with your masters part way through if you so desire.</p></li>
<li><p>Usually for history Ph.D programs, people go straight from undergrad. It take a long time to complete the degree. Ph.D programs give nice financial packages in part for this reason. But I don't think working for a few years if that is a financial necessity will necessarily seriously hurt your chances. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>3.Ah, you have hit a bitter spot with me. A year ago I was standing where you are and applied to a number of top Ph.D programs. Maybe I overshot but my stats were quite good, okay GREs (math being my one weak point), a 4.0 GPA, great recommendations (as far as I know), etc., (although I had a rather unconventional undergrad trajectory.) Anyway, I get rejected from all six schools I applied to. It hurt, it really did. The upside is I am entering grad school in a different (but somewhat related) field in the fall. However, beware, it is hard to get into graduate school and top history programs don't take many students. Also your chances depend on your field, there may be more people applying for a particular area of history than for others, also admissions is in part about fit, whether there is a professor there who fits with your interests and goals, and whether said professor is taking students a given year. I am a Europeanist which is an out of favor area of history right now so that certainly made it much more difficult for me. I don't mean to scare you but I do wish someone had told me what I was up against, everyone told me I would get in and was shocked when I didn't.
Good luck.</p>
<p>p.s. if you want recommendations for programs, I can certainly provide that.</p>
<p>Im in the same boat as you but I just got my BA in history from UC Santa Cruz and have no intention of applying immediatly into a graduate program. I felt burnt out after earning my degree and really wanted to take a year off, work at a job to earn money and get some life experiance outside of school, then return the following year.</p>
<p>I have decent grades (3.3) and can apply with having a shot of getting into a grad program. As for the whole masters / PhD thing, it depends on what you want to do with it. A masters will take a fraction of the time, help you earn more money at some jobs, you'll become an exellent writer, a higher paid teacher, you could still go on to get a PhD and transfer those credits towards the doctorate.
I would go Masters first myself because it would boost my chances of getting a PhD due to my undergrad GPA.</p>
<p>A PhD program is designed to be intense, and its a huge commitment. Ask yourself why you want one? Would you use it or have it simply because you wanted the personal fufillment? Ask your professors, especially the ones that you like, ask other history majors what they are doing, get some ideas.</p>
<p>A masters would only help you get a PhD.</p>
<p>As for me? Im planning on going to Law school or getting a minimum of a masters in history and going on to become a teacher at a high school / community college.</p>
<p>At that point the option of a PhD will always be there, but do I need one?....I'll find out later.</p>
<p>bargon, i think your name is. i'm in a very similar position.</p>
<p>I graduated majoring in history and minoring in business. I've spent the last year working at a law firm with the intention of going to law school in the fall of 2007 (I'm taking the LSAT this september). I'm still leaving open the possibility of teaching high school history.</p>
<p>is it helpful to get a high school history teaching position with a masters in history?</p>
<p>I would much rather receive my masters in history than education. but I need certification. so i'm in a tough position. </p>
<p>is it possible to recieve both a masters in education and history in a reasonable amount of time?</p>
<p>Ive had the intention of becoming a teacher but I have recently been considering law school. Im still leaning more to the teaching side.
I want to teach high school history and get a Masters in History to boost the salary and because I really want one. But yeah, in CA you need a credential which takes a year extra to get so Id be looking at three years total. By getting an MA in eduacation, Id get a credential and a masters in two, but a masters in a field I dont really want one in.</p>
<p>One benefit about getting a masters in history is that it would open the door for you to teach at junior college.</p>
<p>Over the next year Im gonna apply for a little bit of everything and decide when the time comes. Its comforting to know that Im not the only one who is going through the same thing as I am.</p>
<p>It depends on what you consider reasonable, I suppose. You would have to do each separately, which is about two years each (not one year). There are, I believe, a few combined programs that exist, which would be shorter. But there are other considerations...</p>
<p>Don't do a MA in ed just to teach a couple years. It's a waste of time and money, as there is no way you'll recoup that tuition in just a couple years with teacher salaries being what they are. An MA doesn't boost your salary that much - you can look at salary schedules online at district websites generally. Plus, and I've mentioned this before, good luck getting a teaching job in history. It's a totally oversaturated field, there being anywhere from 40-300 applicants for each position (and that's information directly from hiring administrators). I taught high school history for 5 years, with great test scores, GPA (yes, schools look at that for hiring purposes), and letters of recommendation, plus an awesome portfolio. And every year I struggled to get a job, and was even unemployed one year.</p>
<p>If your intent is to get a PhD, why? Do you want to teach college - because that's pretty much all you can do with that degree. If you want to teach college, go do your MA in history at a place that will give you a teaching assistanship if you want the experience. Otherwise, PhD programs train their TAs as well. If you're concerned about your undergrad GPA, go MA in history first - if you do well, it will increase your ability to get funding for your PhD.</p>
<p>I specialize in medieval ecclesiastical history, particularly in Ireland and the British Isles, but also very early Christianity as a sub-sub field.</p>
<p>I couldn't recommend a program without knowing what you're specifically interested in - although my best advice would be to look at the tier of programs you're interested in and look at the professors' research interests and classes offered.</p>
<p>I spent this summer asking around for advice and suggestions for grad schools in terms of getting a PhD in History. I want to get one so I can come back and work as a researcher or have one of the higher-level jobs at a museum (I'm a lowly intern right now...).</p>
<p>Here's what I've learned so far:
1) Minimum GPA of 3.3 and GRE Verbal of 700 to at least be qualifed for any PhD program- high GRE scores tell the admissions that you're very likely to stick out with the program.
2) DON'T GO to grad school if you can think other ways to work with your interests- like working in the library or teach at a high school. Or law school- those take less time.
4)Take a year off ONLY to earn money or to study language (as a Europeanist- you'd need to know French or German)
5) Learn your languages over the summer, NOT during school year so you can focus more and won't kill your GPA (well, it does for me)
6) Press hard to convince the professor of your choice to admit you
7) Pick a dissertation topic that you have a personal connection with and really love- that kind of connection will make the whole research and writing process easier
8) Try to get a killer fin-aid package for the first two years- you shouldn't work so you can really focus on your studies</p>
<p>Things were emphasized that definitely gets you in and through grad school- knowledge of languages, good match with a professor, and your natural drive.</p>
<p>Having a natural drive is essential- I've asked how did they just keep going after they considered dropping out. They all said that it was their natural drive that kept them going- not much they could really do about it. Having that gets you through burn-outs and tough times- I've been there... it's just really weird how you got over the other side of the fence when you thought things were impossible to accomplish!</p>
<p>Good luck- start talking to your professors for program suggestions. Networking is a HUGE key- take advantage of their suggestions to increase your chances of being accepted at certain PhD programs.</p>
<p>I'm Modern European, German history and 18/19th century French mostly. </p>
<p>As for recommendations, it does depend on your area of interest, also on your GPA, GRE, etc. Obviously, there are top programs at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Stanford, UPenn etc. Two others that I looked at might be Wisconsin-Madison and U. Michigan. But all these are Ph.D only programs and they range from difficult to near impossible to get into. </p>
<p>If you tell me your focus and stats I can better advise.</p>
<p>Brian, yeah, I think there are lot of history majors in our position. </p>
<p>Its pretty much a given that we will have more education (law or graduate school) in our future. </p>
<p>I wonder if its an option to get a masters in history, then try to enroll in some accreditation program like "teach 4 america", i think. or something like that. </p>
<p>I really want to get a masters in history and start teaching.</p>
<p>If you really want to teach, then you do NEED to get a MA in Education. States require that it must be completed within 5 years since your first day of teaching. It's also easier to get a teaching job without a MA so schools don't have to be forced to pay higher salary for the time being. So start teaching and see if you like it before forcing yourself to get a MA in Education. I think there's a MA in Social Studies education too.</p>
<p>
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5) Learn your languages over the summer, NOT during school year so you can focus more and won't kill your GPA (well, it does for me)
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<p>Hi ticklemepink, about this, I'm also thinking of applying for a Ph.D program in History. The problem is I don't really know any foreign language, nor do I have an immediate interest in learning one. Is it possible to gain admittance to a MA/PH.D program without any knowledge of a foreign language? Would it be possible to start learning another language once accepted into a graduate school? Thanks for the help.</p>
<p>Bruin4life, what is your area of history? For something like european, yes you probably need languages to get into a good program, for US, not so much. Also, I doubt you would have much time once you began the program to learn a language. To have a good shot at getting in to a history graduate program (which is hard enough anyway) you should think about learning a language.</p>
<p>If you're going for U.S. field, then that doesn't matter too much. If you're going for any other field, you'll NEED to know at least one language at intermediate level (for reading compentency/exams). For example, if you want to do Europe, then you need to know French or German (though Harvard requires both...). Africa is French... Latin America requires both Spanish and Portugese... you get the idea. You'll need to know at least two languages for any field except for U.S. For me, I'd need to know Yiddish and Hebrew, and possibly French (Jewish history either in western Europe or U.S.). </p>
<p>I, too, don't love learning languages because they're so hard for me, which is why I'm looking to take a language class next summer so it doesn't bring down my GPA.</p>
<p>Lacking languages might hurt your chances of gaining admittance into a PhD program, probably not MA. If you're serious about getting a PhD, they'll expect that you'll master the language of your chosen field so you can do research in that language. Knowing another language can really open up more sources for you. If you want to get really good funding, language is practically a requirement. Having a language or two shows how serious you are.</p>
<p>As once you're in grad school and you find yourself needing to learn another language, they'll enroll you into a language class to help you pass the exam- some programs will pay for your summer courses.</p>
<p>Very hard. I applied to Stanford and didn't get in despite excellent stats. But your area of history can help or hurt, they want to have a balance of different areas so if you are in a popular or not in demand area (or perhaps if you are in a rare area that the university doesn't have a professor in) then you will have a more difficult time.</p>
<p>Ticklemepink:
States do not require an MA in Ed, unless you live in California. They're the only one, as far as I know, and in looking into where we might move, I looked at a majority of the states.</p>
<p>I think I'm going into Middle Eastern history. I actually understand Farsi quite well and can read very little, but I'm far from fluent. I could take a few classes to improve my speaking and reading. Unfortunately (like ticklemepink said), taking language courses interferes with earning a good GPA and thus might lessen my chances of getting into grad school. If all else fails, I'll probably end up applying for a political science or sociology MA/Ph.D, although history is the subject I really want to study.</p>