Q: I am finishing up my Bachelors at the University of Central Florida. for my masters in history, I was hoping on going to a college out of state. I’ve seen so many movies and pictures and the like of colleges in new England and the Northern states that have really old incredibly cool-looking campuses. Assuming I can get a student loan I was hoping on going to one. Keep in mind, Harvard and Yale are pretty much out. I’m good but i’m not rich. Under these perameters, does any one have a suggestion?

Answer: If your specialization is going to be in constructions of masculinity during the Civil War, then you MUST apply ONLY to programs with faculty with specializations in Civil War history, and faculty with specializations in constructions of gender.

Programs that cannot provide the guidance appropriate for your specific intended area of study will reject you out of hand. You are supposed to do this important research to find the right programs for you. Begin by speaking to your current professors about your specific field of interest. They can start you off with some beginning recommendations. And pay attention to the authors of the secondary literature in your field, and find out where they teach. Attend not only to their data (era, thematic focus), but also to their methodology. (Method is central to graduate level work.)

The fact that there are lots of colleges in the northeast with good history programs at the graduate level is in your favor, but you must select a group of programs that are appropriate for your work!

Oh, and one more thing — you do NOT want to be paying for your graduate studies. The whole point is to get an assistantship of some sort, which will pay for your tuition, as well as provide you with a small living stipend. (Yes, even at the Masters level.) So do your best on those GREs, and weigh the offers you receive against the reputation of the programs to which you are admitted.

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