What to Expect
From ancient mysteries to the present day, history students learn about
how the past brought about the present.
"I love the connection you can make from past events to where people are
now," says Marilyn Pedretti, who studied history at Viterbo College. "I also
love the human interest stories found in history. The whole thing helps you
to define who you are."
Pedretti attended three to four classes a day. Some days, she had some
school-related meetings to attend as well. She had three to four hours
of homework a night, mainly reading and writing papers.
Evan May took a history degree. He says he attended at least one class
a day and spent one to two hours a day reading or doing homework. "At certain
times of the year, I [had] to devote significantly more hours to researching
my term papers," May says.
May took courses covering many areas, including medieval and Victorian
and Canadian history. He particularly enjoyed studying the history of resistance
to social structures.
During his college career, May says he was most challenged by time management.
"Especially in upper-level courses, term papers simply cannot be completed
on short notice," May says.
His best strategy for dealing with a heavy workload was to start thinking
about the term paper as soon it was assigned. "The sooner the process
of research begins, the less painful it ends up being," he says. "It is essential
to maintain a consistent effort over the bulk of the semester to be successful."
How to Prepare
May suggests students take as many history courses as possible in high
school. "The more background information you can cram into your head,
the better," he says.
English courses are also helpful, because they will help students
develop their essay-writing skills. "A well-written and well-structured paper
will score significantly higher than one with similar content but of a poorer
quality of writing," he says.
Pedretti suggests high school students study on their own outside of school. Pick
an area of interest, such as the American West, and simply read about it,
she says.
Studying geography also is a good idea in high school. "It's good to know
where the places you are talking about in history are located," she says.