<p>I am planning on majoring in history. Can this lead to other master's degrees besides history, and if so, what are so common fields?</p>
<p>Joexc07 - </p>
<p>I am in a similar situation as you. I graduated with a history degree in '05, and I'm currently taking some post-bacc prerequisites to get into a Physician Assistant grad program. Non of the programs I am applying to care what my major was in college. </p>
<p>For awhile, I was kicking myself for majoring in history for the obvious reasons: we are undervalued on the job market. But now I declare my history major proudly.</p>
<p>Before I started in history, I could have never imagined the depth and complexity of thought the discipline of history gave me. Historians are experts at synthesizing and interpreting patterns and relationships that emerge over long periods of times. Not only must you understand what has happened in the past, you must clearly articulate your position to other people. In fact, one of the reasons I was drawn to the history department at my school was because the historians seemed to have such a creative thought process that I found lacking in the science department where I was spending most of my time.</p>
<p>History is by no means an "easy" major, like I initially thought it would be. You will be doing LOTS of reading, researching, and writing. But by the time you are done, your writing skills will have improved 10 fold. I was lucky to have some excellent professors who really pushed me to refine my prose. Furthermore, you will be trained to look deeper into history and formulate arguments that have never been considered before. In high school, history is more about learning names, dates, events, geography and so on. On the college level, history is more about analyzing events and drawing novel conclusions. Ideally, on the job market, employers are looking for this kind of skill. The independence and creativity of thought you will develop will not only be useful on the job, but will enrich your life as well.</p>
<p>What exactly can you <em>do</em> with a history major? There isnt a huge market for historians and let's be honest - you won't make as much out the door as a management major. But the skills you aquire will be useful just about anywhere. If you want to beef up your transcript for getting into grad schools, take the necessary pre-requisites. You can get an MBA, JD, or even go to med school with a history degree. In fact, I recently read that med schools are admitting more humanities majors because they are seeking more well-rounded docs. Some go into library science, public health, journalism . . . A buddy of mine with a history degree is now working in PR for Hyundai in NYC. I did social work for awhile, but I burnt out pretty quick. </p>
<p>You also have to think about what you <em>enjoy</em> learning. If you are not interested in management, you will not be happy studying it in college, and you will not be happy just doing management in your life. History is so vital because it is the story of humankind. It is how we know who we are, and where we came from. It is the narrative at the center of the institutions that we cherish: laws, nations, religions, business, ect . . . in short - a very important thing to know.</p>
<p>Anyway, as you can tell, I get a little passionate about this topic. If you want to pick my brain some more, just email me.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Matt</p>
<p>joexc07 - the main thing you will learn about history as an undergrad is that it is, as Matt indicated, both wide and deep. Likely about spring of your sophmore year you'll start to have a pretty good idea of which kind you're really interested in. From there you'll be able to direrct your language study and so forth.</p>
<p>Then, if you decide to continue to graduate work, you need to be aware that in the humanities, while the master's degree technically still exists, most programs are oriented toward the PhD, with the MA awarded long the way (or as a consolation prize to those who aren't permitted to continue). There are also "stand-alone" masters programs that are primarily designed to prepare less ready students for PhD programs.</p>
<p>That said, you should also know that graduate study in the humanities (indeed, in anything but MBA, MD, JD and the like) will be free and in fact THEY will pay you. Read the first couple pages of Grad Admissions 101 for the fascinating details.</p>
<p>Good luck - History is a GREAT field!</p>
<p>Ooops - the answer to your question, beyond what Matt provided, is a qualified "lots of things" depending on what your concentration is. Undergrad historians can get into Classics, Archaeology, Art History, some kinds of Anthropology, and, well, pretty much anything that "has" history.</p>