quondamimperator

Thank you very much for taking the time to write that. I wish you the best with your upcoming apps.

Thanks.

Ugh. Apparently my OP wasn't as clear as I thought it was. I was trying to say that I have been CONSIDERING applying in the future to a PhD program. As a part of that decision, which I have been taking VERY seriously, and mulling for the last FOUR years. I was curious to get some feedback on my chances of being accepted/receiving funding (there doesn't seem to be much data available, in a statistical sense, as to what it takes to be accepted). As far as this idea that I have to have some divine certainty to even apply, that's just nonsense. I've had multiple professors describe their state of mind when they applied to graduate school, and it was hardly the type-A certainty that you seem to think so imperative. I'm sorry if I gave the impression that I was taking the idea of graduate school lightly, I would hardly have prepared for and taken the GRE, or written a senior thesis, or taken 2 extra languages if it were some momentary whimsy. I had also hoped that by specifically saying I wanted to put the question of my decision aside, and simply consider the brass tacks of my chances for acceptance, I was asking a clear enough question. Obviously not. Regarding my "rudeness"- his answer was asinine. First off, it was borderline non-sensical. "If I'm questioning if I should go for a PhD why am I even thinking about it?" So, the presence of uncertainty means I shouldn't even be considering the application process? That's called weighing your options.. You don't have to be so sanctimonious. It's not as black and white as you would have it. I would delete this entire string if I saw a button for it.

That's probably the type of asinine answer I should have expected. Why am I even thinking about it? Really?

Hello all, I imagine you're rather sick of reading this type of post, but quite frankly, I couldn't help myself. I've spent the last four years vacillating between getting a law degree and pursuing a Ph.D. in history, with a specialization in medieval studies. I went through my undergraduate career assuming I would pursue history as far as I could, since I could always take the LSAT/get a law degree if/when I decided to be "practical"-as my family would have it. I graduated cum laude from Boston University with a 3.55 GPA and an honors thesis, I also picked up a minor in classical civilization. I took the GRE and got a 700 verbal and a 630 quantitative with a lowly 5.0 analytical writing. I have 3 strong recommenders and I intend to edit down my thesis into an entrance essay. So, I'm not writing to ask if you think I should go for a Ph.D.--I'll figure that out eventually-- I'm wondering if I have a shot at getting funding somewhere, or is my low GPA (relative to my competition) and poor writing score going to be prohibitive? Many thanks, and please be kind.