rickmick

I am about to finish up my Masters in History at a decent program (Temple U), and I am looking to apply to Ph.D. programs. I know the job market is tight, so I've been placing a lot of pressure to get admitted into an elite, top 25 school. I just wanted to come on here and see what you guys thought. Heres my info. I will be graduating with a MA in history with a 3.89 GPA. During my tenure at grad school, I also took two political theory courses in the political science department, and earned A's in both. As an undergrad, I graduated with a BS in economics, and a minor in Philosophy. Unfortunately, due to poor performance in the first two years of undergrad, my cumulative GPA when I graduated was 3.1, although in economics it was considerably higher, 3.57. My last two years were much better, and I also took a heavy workload in order to finish on time. In terms of GRE's, I received a 650 V, 740 Q, and 5.5 in the writing. I will be applying for history programs that study the modern middle east, and by the time I graduate will have formal training in Arabic. Here are my questions. Is my undergraduate gpa going to seriously harm me? Will this be balanced by my interdisciplinary interest and skills in philosophy, economics, and poly sci? Anyone else out there have any experience going from a decent, even fairly good school like Temple University to an elite, top 25 program? What are your thoughts? :?: