How to Get an Undergraduate Degree in History

Whether you choose to go to law school, pursue an MBA or aspire to be a historian, an undergraduate history degree is a testament to your sharp analytical skills and critical thinking. Find a program with strong credentials that suits your interest in a particular historical period.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Study for the SAT or ACT and aim to score in the 1200's or +27 respectively. Emphasize the verbal section.
2. Find a few schools that have overall high-ranking history departments. Ensure that your selection is balanced between schools with strong American, European, Eastern and Colonial history departments.
3. Narrow your search to the particular area and period of history that you are interested in. Since your initial school selections included only overall strong programs, it's okay if you change your narrow focus later on.
4. Research the school's faculty. Choose a school with well-known history faculty under which you'd like to study. Once you've earned your degree, this bolsters your references for graduate school.
5. Talk to an adviser about your history degree requirements. You must take introduction classes, so choose faculty members you have researched for these classes. Many programs offer introduction classes in either Western civilization or American history, and these courses frame your later, more narrow choices.
6. Write a thesis if the option is given. This can later be used as a graduate school writing sample and is often associated with departmental honors.

Tips & Warnings

• A history degree requires extensive reading and writing. Start pouring over books early in your academic career.
• History departments are generally small and inclusive, and history professors like to talk so get to know them.
• Don't wait to earn your degree before you begin looking for graduate school programs.