Starting application process, advice on where to apply

[erinboston]

I'm beginning my grad school applications this fall, and I'm unsure what tier of schools I should realistically be looking at. I was hoping someone would have some advice/experience if they had a similar academic record.

Undergrad school: Decently ranked school in the Northeast

GPA: 3.65

Majors: History and journalism

Honors program, honors class distinction

2 internships at law firms

GRE Scores:

V: 164 (93%)

Q: 148 (35%)

W: 5.5 (96%)

[JTausTX]

What subject area do you want to study? That will, from what I understand (I'm having some issues with this myself), be more determinative of where you'll want to study than the school per se.

[TMP]

All of that is relatively irrelevant to what you really want to get out of your PhD- what do you want to study? What interests you? What is your writing sample like? What brings you to the PhD at all? And if you're not interested in American history, do you have foreign language(s)?

[thedig13]

I'm beginning my grad school applications this fall, and I'm unsure what tier of schools I should realistically be looking at. I was hoping someone would have some advice/experience if they had a similar academic record.

Undergrad school: Decently ranked school in the Northeast

GPA: 3.65

Majors: History and journalism

Honors program, honors class distinction

2 internships at law firms

GRE Scores:

V: 164 (93%)

Q: 148 (35%)

W: 5.5 (96%)

In addition to the information you've listed, I'd like to know what foreign languages you know (and how well you know them), whether you have a good primary-source-based history paper, who you you might be getting letters of recommendation from (maybe not names, but department, field, and prominence), and your field of interest.

While stuff like your major, GPA, and GRE scores matter, your ability to succeed in the classroom is only a small part of the equation. More important to a graduate school is whether you can do research (i.e.: knowing foreign languages), whether you have the raw skills necessary to write and publish papers (i.e.: writing sample), and whether they have professors with enough expertise in your field to properly train you (i.e.: field of interest).

So, although the information you've posted isn't quite "irrelevant" to your application, your posted profile is definitely not complete-enough for anybody to be able to make a realistic assessment about where you should apply or how you should strengthen your application.

Edited August 7, 2012 by thedig13

[Riotbeard]

You don't need to supply all that info. Admittences are complicated. What do you want to study is the most important question (for us to help you), and then you need to apply to a range of schools. There are so many respected scholars spread accross the country at all types of schools, so you don't need to have david armitage as your advisor to get in...