I'm currently finishing up my senior year of college and am looking for advice pertaining to getting a Ph.D. in Anthropology. In the fall I'll be leaving to begin two years of Peace Corps service in Eastern Europe. Upon coming back to the United States I would like to pursue a Ph.D. in Anthropology. As I have a rather average undergraduate GPA, I'm considering the possibility of first pursuing a Master's degree in either Eastern European Studies or International Development (I should also mention that I would like to focus my Ph.D. work on Eastern Europe as well). My thought was that by the time I apply to those programs I will have been living in Eastern Europe for nearly two years, and hopefully that may give me an edge in the admissions process especially when it comes to the language requirement that many Eastern European Studies Master's programs require.
The other option would be to apply for the Ph.D. straight out of the Peace Corps. I know many Ph.D. programs offer Master's degrees on their way to the Ph.D., but I don't believe I will be as competitive of a candidate if I were to go this route, since my undergraduate record is, as I said, average. As a result, I think I might stand a better chance at getting into a top program for a Master's degree then in-turn have a better chance at getting in to a top Ph.D. program down the road.
I've just started the process of researching what option might be best in the long-run, but I thought this would be a great place to get some practical advice on where to go from here.