Graduate Study at the Masters Level

The BA in history is a liberal arts degree. Many history majors go on for additional professional education in fields such as business, law, public affairs, library science, museum studies, even medicine.

Some history majors elect to continue graduate studies with the goal of earning a masters degree in history. A masters degree in history can help you develop your skills in research and critical thinking and enhance your employability in a number of fields, including teaching at the secondary and community college level and work in public history.

Often students combine study at the masters level with accreditation for secondary school teaching, with courses and internships in archives and museum studies, or even second masters degrees in library science, archival management, museum studies and so on.

Graduate Studies at the Ph.D. Level

(For students who want to pursue graduate study in history as preparation for college and university teaching.) There are many wonderful things about teaching history in a college or university. You get to research, write and teach about history and they even pay you for it. You have many duties and responsibilities, but you probably have more autonomy over your daily life than in almost any other profession one can imagine.

There are also some negatives. It may take a long time (the average Ph.D. spends 9.3 years in graduate school), employment is not certain, the monetary rewards are not commensurate with the time spent in earning the degree.

While almost all Ph.D. students find employment, not all end up teaching in colleges and universities. Some practice history in the large and growing area that is called “public history.” Still others find jobs using their skill in research and writing, though not in history per se.

For extensive information on jobs for Ph.Ds in history, see the American Historical Association's web site at: http://www.theaha.org/info/AHA_Data.htm#jobmarket

How to prepare for a graduate career in history.

As an undergraduate:

Read widely. Do well in class. Impress your teachers. Focus especially on research and writing. History is not just what you read in books. Books are the end product of the work that historians do, researching, writing, arguing and debating among themselves. The course that most approximates what historians do is AU’s major seminar, the two semester capstone course required of every graduating senior. If this is what you love, if this is what turns you on, then you should consider graduate work in history.

Selecting the right graduate school for you.

Several hundred universities offer graduate education in history, almost 100 of which are nationally ranked. In selecting a school that fits you should consider the following:

Are there faculty in the area(s) that you want to study.

Are your grades and GRE scores a match for the school's admissions requirements. U.S. News' web site site allows premium subscribers to sort schools by criteria such as average under grad GPA, average test scores, acceptance rates, and more.

Cost - tuition and fees, living costs, availability of scholarships, teaching assistantships, research assistantships, other part time work.

Resources:
See US News’ Best Graduate Schools at: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/rankindex_brief.php

The American Historical Association's Guide to Graduate Schools and Beyond at: http://www.theaha.org/perspectives/issues/1999/9912/9912gra.cfm

See also, the AHA’s Directory of History Departments, available online at: http://www.theaha.org/pubs/directory/index.cfm

The Application Process

Begin the Application Process Early. You should begin in the early fall of your senior year. Talk to history faculty members and get their advice about whether graduate school is right for you and, if so, what schools you should think about applying to.

Request (or download) applications to graduate programs you are interested in. Applications will typically include the following:
Application form: Type it, if at all possible; and be sure to check for spelling and grammar. Note that more and more graduate schools are going to an electronic format.

Transcripts: sometimes it takes as much as a two week turn around to have your transcripts forwarded.

Writing Sample: Make multiple copies of your best historical writing. Go over your writing sample with one or more faculty members and/or a good editor.

Recommendations: You will need at least three recommendations. Ideally, they should be from faculty who know you well and who are familiar with your work. It is a plus if they are in the field of study that you intend to pursue. You might also ask someone who has supervised your internship in a museum or historical agency.

Approach faculty early and provide them with information about yourself and your goals. You should share with them the personal statement you will include in your application, as well as your resume and transcript.

Graduate Record Exam (GRE): The General Test is made up of verbal, quantitative and analytical writing sections. For most schools, this is all that you need to take. Some schools require a second, subject specific test. Its very difficult, most students score very low on it. If you take it for one school, it will be sent to all schools.

As you know from taking the SAT exam, there is a knack to test taking and you can improve your scores through practice and increased familiarity with the test itself. You can learn a great deal from the GRE site itself, including practice tests and test preparation applications. You can also avail yourself of professional test preparation services such as Kaplan and Princeton Review. For details, see http://www.gre.org/splash.html

The U.S. News web site allows you to sort schools by criteria important to you, such as average under grad GPA, average test scores, acceptance rates, and more.

Personal Statement: Why you want to study history. This is a very important part of your application. Go over your statement for both form and content with your history advisor or another faculty member with whom you have worked closely. For details, see the personal statement section in the essay that two graduate students posted on the AHA web site in 1998: John King and Andrew McMichael, “Inscribing Your Future: The Trials and Tribulations of Applying to Graduate School,” at: http://www.theaha.org/perspectives/issues/1998/9809/9809PRO.CFM

Photo: President Theodore Roosevelt presiding over the ceremony that laid the cornerstone for the McKinley Building on campus, May 14, 1902.