<p>I thought I would pose a couple questions for the sake of my wife. Her goal is: PhD in History (specializing in French Colonial issues in the Middle East/North Africa); ultimately to teach history at university</p>
<p>Her background:
-24 years old this June
-B.A. double major in History and French from a Georgia private college, 2002: 3.6 GPA
-M.A. in French from a Florida public university, 2004: 4.0 GPA
-SAT score 1590
-GRE score 1410
-Extensive undergraduate teaching experience of both French language and -French history as a TA and for private language training organizations
Fluent in French</p>
<p>2004: She was accepted into the History PhD programs at UVa and IU/Bloomington. She was not accepted to Princeton (her #1 school), Brown, or UPenn.</p>
<p>Her #2 school was UVa so we were pleased with that news but she opted not to begin school and instead took a job in D.C. working for a government agency dealing with bilateral/multilateral cooperation in Africa and the Middle East (her area of interest) in which she will be able to practice her French and Arabic. She will probably reapply for 2006. UVa history faculty told her before she declined acceptance that she would need to learn Arabic once she was in the program. I am currently teaching her the Arabic (I am fluent in Arabic) and she is beginning to take some classroom instruction and using it to a limited degree in her business trips to North Africa.</p>
<p>She will be retaking the GRE and will undoubtedly do much better than 1410 as she took it during a stressful time in 2002 within a week of my being deployed to a combat zone for the U.S. Army.</p>
<p>QUESTION 1: Would it be wise to pursue an M.A. in History here in D.C. and then reapply for PhD programs at UVa or other institutions? Would that help or hurt acceptance and do institutions usually honor the previous Master's work and apply that to the PhD? I have been encouraging her to do that since she will have plenty of time for evening classes and she is restless to be back in school - we have George Mason University close to us not to mention the plethora of DC institutions where this could be undertaken. She feels that it would be a waste of time - that the M.A. wouldn't "transfer" to shorten the PhD time. I have zero idea how the system works so I just wanted to make sure she was right. Or maybe she should pursue a second M.A. in a different field (International Relations, Anthropology?)</p>
<p>QUESTION 2: For kicks she will be reapplying to Princeton to see what happens. She is especially interested in Princeton due to individual History department faculty in her area of specialization. I wonder, with a substantially higher GRE score, adding competency in Arabic and extensive work experience in the Middle East and Africa (and possibly a 2nd M.A.) would she have a shot there? What would improve her chances (getting published, etc. ?)</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your comments.</p>