oceansize

I agree with most of what has been posted. However, I think what it really boils down to is that you need to take a hard look at your options and decide whether you want to be a professor at a law school or in a history department. Both of those markets are extremely competitive and the departments are looking at different things. If the law school in question is not Yale, Harvard, Stanford, or Chicago, and you want to be a law professor, I would not attend. There are statistics available online about law professor placement rates; it's already difficult to break into the field, and if you don't go to one of those schools it becomes nearly impossible. Don't go to another school expecting to transfer to one of those schools. It's something that's nice when it happens, but transfer admissions are extremely competitive, and 1L grades can be kind of a crapshoot. I also disagree slightly with the assertion that a law degree is going to open up more non-academic job options. The legal job market is extremely crippled/oversaturated right now. I graduated several years ago from a top 20 law school, and I still have several classmates who did well in school and are underemployed or unable to find a job in a legal field. If you're pursuing academia, it's going to hurt you with many of the non-academic legal jobs, and a law degree can also lock you out of certain non-academic non-legal jobs. (The old adage "you can do anything with a law degree" simply isn't true for most people, at least not these days.)

The legal job market is terrible. Law is certainly not a "safe" option any longer. If your heart/passion isn't in it, get out before you rack up more debt.

Really? That makes me nervous...I would think that most people wouldn't be making enough to owe that much.

I've been waiting for this thread to start, but I didn't want to make it myself! I checked the one from last year and it started a day earlier, so I think you're good. Abetheh, good luck with the rest of the cycle - hope you get some good news soon.

I tried several different books (for the new test). I thought that Barron's was by far the best.

This may be oversimplifying things: while I think it's certainly possible to get a position like this with a history degree, I don't think graduate school in history is the best path to this career (for most people). You mention that you're close to Washington and that you've had contact with people in your goal career. I'd write to/sit down with as many of these people as possible and take a look at your options. Maybe an MA/PhD in history makes sense for you; more likely, there is a better path to take to reach your goal. Talking to people who actually work for think tanks, etc. is probably more useful than talking to people in history, since the goal of most graduate programs is to prepare students for a career in academia.

Imagine if one of those programs was the only one you got into - would you attend, and be excited about it? If so, great - if not, it's probably not worth the expense of applying.

I don't know if waiting for the writing score would necessarily be a problem. I took the GRE in late October and I think they've streamlined the process - I got my official scores/writing score in 6 days. They told me it would take 7-10 days. That said, I agree that you shouldn't rush. Like remenis said, 25 is not old at all - you'd likely be on the young side of average. You'll be happy you saved the extra money later.

Sparky, thanks for the great advice. I'm looking into an MA (as opposed to a Ph.D.) at this point partly because I've been out of school for several years, and I need to hone in on my research interests. I think your suggestion of tying my interests into other coursework will help me to do that. I've identified Ohio University and Georgia Southern as possibilities after looking at older threads on this site. Is there some way to find out which other programs might offer funding? I've done basic research through the websites of various schools, and some of them mention MA funding. I'm not sure if this means they actually give funding, or if it's more like, "sure, there's an outside chance we might fund an MA candidate if we have money left over after the Ph.D. candidates are funded, but it hasn't actually happened in over a decade." Would it be inappropriate to contact the DGS?

Haha, I know - it's like finding a unicorn. I'm thinking I may have to lower my expectations, but I don't know if it's worth going unless I can get at least partially funded.

Does anyone know of any Southern U.S. history programs that offer funding for MA students? I've searched the forum and found a few schools in each category, but I'm having trouble finding an overlap. (Maybe none exists.) Any suggestions would be welcome.

Also keep in mind that some districts are reluctant to hire a high school teacher with a Ph.D. in hand. The attitude where I live is "why would we pay more when we can get someone certified and entirely adequate for less?" It's a harmful and disappointing mindset IMO, and probably shouldn't be enough on its own to discourage someone from pursuing a Ph.D., but it is something to think about.

Ugh, accidentally double posted and can't figure out how to delete on my phone. Sorry!

Pretty sure I'm now going to (reluctantly) wait until the Fall 2014 cycle to apply for admission. Hope everything goes well for you all!

Unfortunately I don't think any of the software programs are that helpful. Rosetta Stone was terrible for me. I don't know specifically about French, so maybe someone else has a different experience. I think immersion is the best option. Watch movies/TV shows in French as much as you can, read books in French, etc. There are also websites where you can converse with native speakers for free, whether it's as a penpal or through Skype. You may be able to find someone who speaks French and wants to work on their English, and you can help each other out. They have intensive programs in many countries where you can travel there and take classes for a summer, a few weeks/months, etc. They are expensive and require that you have the schedule flexibility to travel there, so they're not for everyone, but worth a look if you think it's a possibility.

Obviously I'm no expert, but what about recent placement of grads? I'm not sure how useful that actually is, but if you're including the mascots... Other things are cost of living/housing opportunities, but you may have already rolled those in with location. ETA because I didn't want to double post - another thought is, maybe you could ask a mentor/someone who's writing a LoR for you for their thoughts. Since they presumably know both you and the field well, they might be able to give you some insight on different programs that you haven't already thought of before.

I just read this whole thread so I wanted to poke my head in and say hi! I'm currently trying to decide whether or not it makes the most sense to apply for Fall 2013 or wait until Fall 2014, so I'm not sure if I'll be going through the process with you all. Either way, I'll likely be lurking around the forums for the next couple years. I'm working full time right now and taking a couple of history grad classes at night to refine my interests and prepare myself for the application process. I have a BA in history and am confident that I want to go for a PhD, but still evaluating whether it makes sense to apply for an MA first.