bug

I'll be a senior this fall and I know I want to do History graduate work, but I don't know whether I should apply this coming year to begin in Fall 2012 or take a year off. My biggest reason for wanting a year off is because I don't have good professor recommendations yet. I changed my major to history a bit late and I haven't taken many history classes so I'll have to fit a lot into my senior year. I know I want to do US History (possibly early American) and focus on women's religious history, I have maybe one professor who could write me a recommendation, but other than that I'll need to establish good relationships with my professors in the fall. I'm taking a class this summer where I'll produce a good writing sample and I can take the GRE in the fall, but I still feel a bit behind. But then if I take a year off, what in the world would I do? I can't really get a job with a History major and little work experience, can I? Any advice? Also, here's a list of the places I'm considering. I know I need to cut it down a bit. William & Mary (MA Early American and US History) Claremont Graduate University Sarah Lawrence (Women's History MA) UCLA University of Michigan UPenn Yale Brandeis Harvard Boston College Washington University in St. Louis University of Oregon UC Irvine UCSD University of Minnesota - Twin Cities University of Utah