clairebella

Hey all, I'm currently at a top 10 law school and I've decided to apply for PhD programs this coming fall. By the time I apply, I'll be nearly done with my law degree. I'm interested in international/transregional/global/whatever they call it history, specifically the history of migration. Basic info about me: Graduated with honors in history from a top 10 university, wrote thesis, got honors for the thesis GRE is 640 V / 710 M I have research experience related to my field from a Fulbright between undergrad and law school. I also did independent research abroad for a summer in undergrad. I'm currently doing research that is vaguely historical (more political science/law) with a law prof and doing some research as a consultant for a nonprofit - all of this research is internationally-focused. I was also a research assistant for a business school prof during undergrad (which was social science-y but not history-related by any means). I speak French and a Middle Eastern language fluently. I speak another Middle Eastern language conversationally + an Asian language conversationally. Basically, my profs in undergrad told me over and over that I should be going for a PhD, but I thought law school was for me...now that I'm in law school (and taking legal history classes), I've realized that doing research is really my passion and I'd rather read/research history than work obscene hours for a gigantic law firm. I'm wondering how I should be proceeding here. I'm starting to talk to old professors/current professors about this plan, but I have absolutely no idea how competitive these programs are (I assume very competitive) to get into. Schools I've thought about: Brandeis, Columbia, UNC, Harvard, UCLA, Texas, Chicago, Penn, Duke, Georgetown, Minnesota Does anyone have any suggestions of other schools I should be looking at/when I should start contacting potential advisors/if I should retake the GRE/anything I can do between now and December to improve my application? I'd really appreciate any advice! Thanks!!