Hi everyone, I am a recent graduate from a highly prestigious midwestern university, and am looking into getting my MA or PhD in History in the next year or so. The problem is that I cannot tell if I am competitive for the schools that I am looking at. I was pre-med freshman year, and taking science classes tanked my GPA (I graduated with a 3.5, scraping by with college honors). I also did not write a thesis my senior year. I am primarily interesting in German history, looking at the intersection between gender, bodily agency, and war, particularly in the context of the WWII-post WWII era. I have fairly strong letters of recommendations from a history professor and a German professor. I'm currently working in an AmeriCorps program, though it isn't related at all to what I've studied. I'd like advice on 1) if I should aim for an MA before a PhD, or if I should try for a PhD right away, 2) if I am competitive to the schools that I am looking at, and 3) what I can do to make myself more competitive. The programs I'm looking at: UNC-Chapel Hill/Duke PhD in German Studies Stanford: PhD or MA University of Washington University of Michigan: dual PhD in History/Anthropology or History/Women's Studies Georgetown University UC Berkeley UCSF/UC Berkeley: PhD in Medical Anthropology (Anthropology was my second major) Thanks!
