<p>I am currently a sophomore at an honors college in the midwest with a gpa of a 3.7 (honors). I am very involved around campus, and I hold leadership positions in two organizations. I am majoring in history, and I'm wondering what steps I can take in order to increase my chances of being admitted to a top graduate program for history. I am particularly aiming to attend Michigan, University of Chicago, or Northwestern. Other than research and publications, how can i stand out to an admissions committee?</p>
<p>I am going to be straight up with you. You haven’t exactly declared a major in history yet (yeah, I saw your other post- historians are detectives!). So I’m skeptical about how serious you are about this. Have you taken any history courses? What is it about history that interests you?</p>
<p>You need to understand that doing a doctoral program in history isn’t about facts, it’s about comparing historians’ arguments and finding gaps. </p>
<p>For any of your majors (of interest), you should be taking a foreign language, if not already, in your primary area of interest. Languages will always be seen as positive by admissions committee because it shows you can work with people and materials in that language.</p>
<p>Your involvement on campus won’t count for anything. They’ll want to see serious preparation for the degree itself, including researching, teaching, and languages (Did I say that already?). So you may want to get involved in tutoring or something of that sort.</p>
<p>Your choices of graduate school won’t be determined by location, rather by people who you want to work with who share common interests. Michigan is a big school but if you’re interested in, say, Bolivia, Michigan won’t do you much good as they don’t have anyone who is studying Bolivian history. Take a look at history books you’ve read (or will be reading) and see where those people teach and then check out the program itself.</p>
<p>Lastly, in your other post you asked about jobs, history PhDs are facing a terrible job market. You are doing the PhD because you want to give up 8 years of your life and study it for learning’s sake, not money or fame. So if you want security, choose another profession.</p>
<p>History grad programs care about 1. your writing sample/previous publications (don’t worry if you don’t have any, most people don’t) 2. your recommendations 3. your GPA in history. Other things, like leadership positions don’t matter at all, GRE only matters a little. So the best way you can stand out is to have good recs and to write a really stellar essay for your sample.</p>