New Member with a Humble Request for Advice

<p>Hi all,
I am fairly new to the threads here and I am in my junior year at James Madison University, where I transfered in from a community college. I am majoring in art history with a minor in studio art and I hope to attend grad school right after graduation. I was wondering if anyone can offer me any advice or suggestions to start getting ahead now to better my chances? I have high hopes for NYU, Columbia and Yale (longshots, I know) where I hope to pursue a PhD in art history. I have a 4.0 gpa and I am applying for the honors program next semester but I am not sure what else I can do in the mean time. I am planning on looking into internships and research opportunities but I do not know how to go about this.
Thanks in advance for any thoughtful advice</p>

<p>You already focused on what you need to do: Research and internships. Not only is that good for applying to doctoral programs, but it gives you another source for LOR’s, which can make or break an application.</p>

<p>How do I go about finding research opportunities, though?</p>

<p>Why not look into internships offered through the Smithsonian? Surely it has many options although they will be competitive.</p>

<p>I did a Google search when I was looking for research internships. I also had the National Science Foundation to look for because I’m in a science field, but seriously, google stuff like “Summer research opportunity in art history” and see what comes up. </p>

<p>I found these:</p>

<p>[url=&lt;a href=“Undergraduate Research Program”&gt;Undergraduate Research Program]The</a> Summer Institute in the Arts and Humanities<a href=“University%20of%20Washington”>/url</a>
[url=&lt;a href=“http://www.si.edu/ofg/intern.htm]Smithsonian”&gt;http://www.si.edu/ofg/intern.htm]Smithsonian</a> Internship Opportunities<a href=“Smithsonian”>/url</a>
[url=&lt;a href=“http://www.advising.hawaii.edu/artsci/pages/resources/educ_plan/sumres_intern.asp]Home”&gt;http://www.advising.hawaii.edu/artsci/pages/resources/educ_plan/sumres_intern.asp]Home</a> Page<a href=“Hawai’i%20at%20Manoa”>/url</a>
[url=&lt;a href=“http://www.nga.gov/education/internsumm.shtm]National”&gt;http://www.nga.gov/education/internsumm.shtm]National</a> Gallery of Art-Internships: Summer<a href=“National%20Gallery%20of%20Art”>/url</a>
[url=&lt;a href=“Penn CURF”&gt;Penn CURF]Center</a> for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships | Grants<a href=“Penn”>/url</a></p>

<p>Thats a great idea and very helpful, I am also wondering about research opportunities through my school. Or are those very few and far between?</p>