I’ll be a 5th year senior this fall and when I start applying to grad schools I’ll have a 3.1 cumulative GPA and a 3.95 in my History major. When I graduate, my cumulative may at most reach a 3.2 - 3.3-ish. I will be taking the GRE soon, and while I know it matters hence my studying hard, I figure my GPA matters more.
Are my GPAs high enough to take the shot an Ivy League or should I not even bother?
I really want to go to Columbia since it both has a few professors who specialize exactly in or in the ballpark of what I want to study and it’s location is perfect for said study since New York is where the heart of my study lies.
I would go ahead. Your major GPA is very high, and if your cumulative is lower because of some particular reason it may not matter. For example, your cumulative might be lower because you were pre-med in the first two years of college and dropped it later - the history department doesn’t care so much about your grades in chem and bio, though.
So go ahead and try. I’d apply selectively, and if you are trying for PhD programs, apply for a few MA programs as well.
Have you reached out to the professors in Columbia’s history department? Granted the apprenticeship nature of grad school, it might make a big difference for you to do that. Think about sending a writing sample as well with your application, it won’t hurt your chances since you mostly want to prove a superior level of academic competency (relevant for Ivies especially) as a fledgling historian.
Columbia’s Teacher’s College has a program in History and Education that could be a back-up if you don’t get into Columbia. It is not very selective and it probably won’t offer much FA.
You can still enroll in Columbia courses for access to the professor’s you mentioned.
Give it a try and see what happens. Grad school is a lot about fit with your advisor so if there are professors that are especially relevant to your future professional plans, reach out to them. In your letter of intent be sure to address how Columbia’s program is a good fit for your scholarly interests.
The quality of your writing sample and your letters of recommendation are also very important. Make sure that your letter writers know you well and are genuinely supportive.
The grad school application process is very holistic, so it’s sometimes okay to have one weak part of an otherwise strong application. For me it was the GRE (I did AWFUL but didn’t have time to retake it), but I still got in to schools (MA programs) that required it because, presumably, the rest of my application was strong and they felt that I “fit into” their programs.
Also, I’m not sure what it’s like for history programs, but at least in my area (English/Comp Rhet), sometimes the Ivies aren’t actually the Ivies in the field. Some of the best programs in my field are actually at public universities. You mentioned that Columbia had some professors specializing in your area and that New York is where the heart of your study is, but are there any other good programs at other schools? The one thing I learned from this entire process was just to expand my grad school search based on faculty, department reputation, and grad student placement and be open to schools I normally wouldn’t consider “good” or “top tier.”
I’ve been told that grad school is all about the people and the opportunities, and applying to (or choosing) the right program is way more complicated than I initially anticipated.
Columbia requires a writing sample in the application - as do most history programs.
This is generally not true. Grades are far more important than the GRE to most programs, although a high GRE score can sometimes help balance a slightly lower GPA.
Meh, I would be wary of going this route. First of all, I would never do a PhD without full funding, especially not in history. Second of all, history is such a competitive field for post-graduation opportunities that you really need to go to an excellent program with a good record of placement into jobs. It serves little purpose to go to a poorly regarded or mediocre doctoral program in history, just to say you went.
OP, first stop is to speak with your current professors. They’ll help assess whether and how you fit a grad program and their letters matter. This is unlike applying to undergrad.
No, it’s not true you can just rock the GREs. In addition to grades, I’d say your somewhat polished focus matters. You aren’t just going to take more classes, you’re expected to be ready for the next level of research, have at least started to clarify your ideas and goals. Unlike UG, you’re asking for admission to a specific dept or program and those profs should want to work with you.