1). Throughout your undergraduate career: Get to know some History faculty well—take their classes, visit them in office hours to discuss course materials and your future plans, impress them with your ability.
2). No later than the spring before you apply: Let these faculty know several months before you apply that you’re interested in graduate school. When you broach the subject, they are likely to provide some invaluable advice (e.g., programs to consider given your interests, faculty whose work aligns with yours, and so on).
3). Spring/Summer before you apply: Research faculty and programs whose strengths and interests match yours. Examine programs and faculty located throughout the nation. Compile a list of contenders.
4). Feel free to email faculty who seem like promising advisors at other institutions to introduce yourself and to ask whether they are taking graduate students.
