What are my chances of being accepted into a History graduate program?

[AlmostDoneWithThis]

I'm sure you've heard this question asked many times before but I would really like to know if it's even worth it to apply because as we all know, applying is not a cheap or easy task. I want to apply to a History graduate program (either Masters or Ph.D) and it doesn't really matter where, i'll go wherever the wind takes me (basically whoever accepts me). Here are all of my qualifications, and please be honest, even to the point of brutality. 

 

GRE: 296 (stil waiting for the written section results)

GPA: 3.11 (Has gone up a considerable amount since my freshman year. It was down for personal reasons)

Experience: I have plenty of work experience but it is not very relevant to my field. I will be doing an internship this fall as a Student Teacher.

 

Please let me know if i've missed something that is important. Also if you could give me some advice as to how to better my chances to getting into a History graduate program that would be much appreciated, as well as any graduate programs you think I should apply to that I have a good chance of getting in. Thank you in advance.

[Sigaba]

 

Please let me know if i've missed something that is important. 

 

 

Welcome to the Grad Cafe.

 

In the event you get into a history graduate program, you will be judged from the first day on your ability to do research and to generate meaningful questions and thoughtful answers. I respectfully suggest that you use your time on this BB to develop those skills.

[AlmostDoneWithThis]

I also forgot to mentions that I have a 3.6 GPA in my major, which is History, and I know two languages other than English which is French and Spanish.

[GeoDUDE!]

You should probably look for programs that accept scores with less than 300 GREs: That score is atrocious. 

[ashiepoo72]

What are your actual verbal and quant scores? People hoping to apply to history programs, both MA and PhD, should have a good showing on the verbal (I'd say 85th percentile or above, but it varies). With your GPA, you should aim for well above 90th percentile in verbal and a decent score on quant. Honestly, doing so should land you at a combined 310+. To put that in perspective, my GPA is above a 3.8 and I view that as a weak point in my application, so I studied my a** off to get a 165V on the GRE to hopefully offset it.

 

Like Sigaba mentioned, there are lots of posts concerning GRE scores and other questions. You should look through the history forum specifically, as well as all the application forums. I probably have the history forum's content memorized from when I obsessively scoured through it in my early days on the site. It is a wealth of information.

 

Personally, I would apply to MA programs to boost your resume. I had a lowish GPA from my undergrad (3.4 overall, 3.7 in history courses), so that's what I did and I don't regret it. I was NOT ready for a PhD after my BA. Something for you to think about.