I am currently considering applying for graduate study and would love some advice. I graduated roughly four years ago from a good school with a 3.5 GPA and a major in Economics and a minor in History. After graduation, I immediately went to work for a consultancy and have been doing that ever since. Great for paying the bills but not fulfilling in the slightest sense.
In hindsight, it was a pretty big mistake. History has always been my passion and was considering graduate school in history even while still in undergrad. faced with mountainous amounts of debt from undergrad (since paid off), it seemed like the rational choice at the time. Now four years out, I would like to go back to study trade and economics within Late Antiquity.
As I look over the applications process and recommendations for various programs, I feel really stuck on the language requirements for my desired field of study. Most notably, my Latin is almost non-existant. I have no qualms with doing what I need to do to get up to speed and am dedicated to getting to where I need to be. However, after talking to faculty at several programs they really made it seem as though without undergraduate coursework in Latin (even if I follow a rigorous course of self study and attend a summer course next year) I really don't have much of a shot.
As far as the GRE, I am taking the test in about a month and have been putting significant time into studying for the exam over the last couple of months. I have historically done very well on standardized exams and am not expecting a low score *fingers crossed*.
For my letters of recommendation, I have two history professors from undergrad who remember me well and are willing to write letters. For the third, based on my professional background, does it make sense to have a recommendation written by a colleague from my job, or will the admissions board not really care about my professional record? My thought is it could demonstrate a strong work ethic and good performance within a high-intensity job.
Based on my background, am I better off applying to a stand-alone MA program and then trying to work my way into a good PhD program?