Hello! I will graduate with a B.A. in history this semester. I plan to go directly into graduate school for an M.A. in history. My university offers several "tracks" within its gradaute history program. One of the tracks is "Applied history." The course work includes museum studies, historical preservation, and archiving. This is a field that really interests me, though I am afraid I made a mistake by working through college and not getting a loan so I could intern at a museum somewhere along the line while an undergrad. Noting my lack of experience in this career field and noting the shrinking job prospects should I pursue this track anyway or go for a more general degree in history? I am a relatively new subscriber to this newsgroup and I was quite excited to find it. I live in the Northern Virginia area and the biggest museum near me is the Smithsonian. They only want Ph.D's and that's for unpaid volunterr positions! Outside the NoVA/DC area are there better job oppurtuniteis in museum studies/historical preservation? -- Erina @>-->-- [log in to unmask] This downhill path is easy, but there's no turning back. - Christina Rossetti