<p>Hello, I’m a rising sophomore at Vassar College planning on a major in History, along with a possible minor in Classical Civilizations or Medieval & Renaissance Studies. Although I have several more years at Vassar to go, I’ve recently started thinking about graduate school for history and am thus looking for some advice on places to consider. </p>
<p>Right now, I’m thinking of a career either as a professor or, if that proves to be too much school for me to handle (I’ve heard a few horror stories), as a high school history teacher. For this reason, I’m not entirely sure whether I should get a masters and then go for a PhD or go directly into a PhD program. I’m thinking, seeing as I’m not absolutely positive that a professorship is right for me, that I should go for a masters first and then see how burned out I am; however, I’m not set on this idea and would appreciate some advice on this. </p>
<p>I’m most interested in studying either the history of the ancient Mediterranean world (Mesopotamia & Egypt to the fall of Rome) or European History during the Middle Ages & Renaissance (1000-1600 CE). For this reason, I plan on taking Latin & Old English in my next three years at Vassar. I have a 3.63 average GPA for my freshman year and a goal of graduating with a GPA of at least a 3.70.</p>
<p>Lastly, although I’d make exceptions for a school that was an excellent fit for me, I do have a couple of geographic preferences. I’d prefer to be either on the east coast or in the midwest and would like to be either in or proximate to a medium or large city. Thanks in advance for the help; it’s greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Maybe you can answer this for me- what does a “rising sophomore/freshman/whatever” mean? Can one be a “falling freshman”? Is anyone ever a sophomore that isn’t rising?</p>
<p>A rising sophomore is someone who has finished his/her freshman year but has not yet started his/her sophomore year. Basically, he/she is no longer a freshman because he/she has one year under his/her belt but isn’t a sophomore either because he/she hasn’t started work on his/her second year in school.</p>
<p>Salve to another VCer! (There was a post yesterday from someone from Vassar, and I’m an alumna.)</p>
<p>You really cannot think about where to go yet. Grad programs in either History or Classics (which is another alternative for you) are selected by faculty. So until you know exactly what your subspecialization will be (gender issues in 3rd c Roman provinces, transmission of Greek literatures to Spain in the 15th c, or whatever), and what theoretical approaches you prefer (Annales-school history, history of sexuality, critical theories of interpretation, or whatever) you can’t even start looking for appropriate programs for you.</p>
<p>But here’s what you can do now:
Read journals in your discipline and subdiscipline. Figure out which scholars are doing work you really like. Notice their METHODS. Then ask your professors to refer you to scholars with similar methodologies. Find out where these scholars now teach, where did their doctoral work, and with whom they studied. (Think about this as an academic genealogy. If you become a professor, you will eventually affiliate with one of these genealogical lines.)</p>
<p>And forget entirely about geographic preferences – just like careers in academia, if you have geographic limitations, you have HUGELY circumscribed prospects. You must select your programs by faculty, and then (say it with me here, folks) Follow The Money. (For the uninitiated, that means that if you get full funding/fellowship at University A, and no funding at University B, you go to University A.)</p>
<p>And belevitt: Read “rising” as “going to be a”.</p>
<p>I second Prox X.</p>
<p>Definitely get your Latin together and pick up another language in your junior or senior year. If you’re still really unsure, I would just spend the next two years (including next summer) exploring different career options in history. There are SO many jobs out there that you can do with history that you don’t have to limit yourself to professorship. My professor is already jealous that I have good prospects of being hired in a non-university sector where I won’t have to fight for tenure or deal with academic politics (I’m interested in working in a museum as a historian and have good connections). She also noted that in her recent conference that there was a wide variety of jobs demanding for history PhDs so there are some “real” jobs out there. Of course, she may be limiting her focus to US historians (she’s not in US history). But there’s still Europe that may demand history PhDs. So do an internship that might have some history PhDs like archives, libraries, museums, government offices, etc next summer. If comes senior year you’re still not sure, it’s okay. Spend a few years teaching at a high school level and see how that works for you. You might find that you enjoy teaching enough just to teach rather than also do research. Or that high school may seem too elementary. Unfortunately, it’s still quite competitive to get a job as a HS history/social studies teacher.</p>
<p>Keep taking history classes- very important to have the bulk under your belt before application time to demonstrate a solid major GPA. This also will free up time for your senior thesis. And you will need the time (I can’t tell you how stressful it was to be writing my thesis while trying to bring up my history GPA at the same time in my history classes- one each semester).</p>
<p>Best of luck, keep reading (didn’t learn of this particular importance until almost too late…), and ask questions along the way that will lead to new research ideas. :)</p>