<p>I'm a high school senior, and I was wondering, what are some schools with quality history programs for undergraduate studies? My ultimate goal is to receive my Ph.D, and become a history professor. I have a particular interest in Middle Eastern history, though European is a very, very close second. My grades are average-ish, with my weighted GPA being somewhere in the range of 3.8,and unweighted, 3.6. I presently have a 28 on the ACT, though I will be retaking the ACT ASAP.</p>
<p>Look at LACs that traditionally produce PHDs. Check out schools such as Earlham, Wooster, NCF, plus the typical top 50 LACs (Kenyon, Hamilton, Gettysburg…) which would be reaches for you.</p>
<p>History is absolutely flooded with PhDs looking for jobs, and many tenure-track jobs are being replaced by poorly paid adjunct positions. Regardless of your interest, be aware that your career path may change. What do you want in a college other than a good history program?
[ul][<em>]What can you afford? How much merit or financial aid will you need?
[</em>]Small (<3000 students), small-medium (3000-7000), medium (7000-12,000), medium-large (12-20,000), or large (20,000+)?
[<em>]Big city, small city, suburban, rural…?
[</em>]Which part(s) of the country? (Pacific Northwest? Northeast? California? Southeast?)
[li]Any other factors you deem important - offers LD support, has gender-neutral housing, big Greek scene or no Greek scene, DI or DIII athletics, etc.[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>A lack of language prep will get a PhD application tossed aside without a second thought. Some liberal arts colleges will have Arabic programs (some mediocre, some quite good), but you’ll only find Turkish, Persian, Armenian, and the like at universities. </p>
<p>LACs are a bit better with European languages – they’ll have common languages like French, German, Russian, Italian, etc. even though they won’t have the more obscure languages (Celtic languages, Balto-Slavic languages, etc.). </p>
<p>^Warblersrule is absolutely correct. In addition, polish your language skills to AP level in HS and plan on continuing in college, hopefully you picked a language relevant to the area you’re interested in, and plan on taking classes in another one. Plan to study abroad (doing history research). Keep other outcomes than PHD in mind (law school, med school if you’re able to take the science core and get A’s) and get involved in research and/or with the career center during freshman year if possible - plan do have internships to explore professions where your skills will be appreciated.</p>
<p>Warbler:
I’d ideally like to keep the tuition below 30K. I’m going to most likely be financially independent of my parents, and I will have a lower paying job (restaurant industry), if that’s of any help. I don’t mind going into debt a little bit if it means I’ll be more likely to successfully enter academia.
The size doesn’t matter much to me, though if I had to be specific, and ideal would be in the medium range you gave.
I’d be content with anything in a town larger than 100,000.
The location of the college really doesn’t mean very much to me, though I would like for it to be a very liberal area.
Ideally, I’d like it if there was little Greek Life, though that isn’t a big deal. I’d prefer it if the school didn’t have a large sports program, as I’ve had enough experience with that to know I don’t enjoy it when a school has that. </p>
<p>The only way you can be legally independent from your parents for financial aid purposes is if you’re been emancipated before your 18th birthday or placed in foster care or are homeless.
If your parents are still legally your parents, you’re not homeless or in foster care or legally emancipated, are you saying they won’t contribute to your college costs? or that you’ve got a college fund or a trust fund you can use?</p>