General Information about the Program

Thank you for your interest in graduate studies in History at Loyola University Chicago! 

My strongest recommendation is that you carefully study our web site.  We have been working hard to renew and update it with much information about our programs and especially our faculty.  The program "blog" also  has some further details.    

The key thing in deciding on any program is whether individual faculty members are working on and teaching about things that interest and excite you personally.  Only you can be the best judge of that.  Our program is very competitive, especially in the US areas and particularly in the area of Public History, which is a significant blend of training for both academic and non-academic careers with History.  

Again, please look through the links above, and through the program site in general.  Read through the faculty pages and see if your instincts draw you toward Loyola.  Feel free to contact any of our faculty directly to express your interests and determine if they coordinate with their teaching.  

General Steps for New Students

You should have received an official notification from the Graduate School giving you basic information about how to access LOCUS in order to enroll in classes, etc.  

As is explained in the letter, your first step is to go to http://luc.edu/gpem/newadmit.shtml and look carefully at the advice and information on that page.  This will help you to access LOCUS, which is where you will take care of registration and other functions.  I recommend that you watch the Tutorial, since Locus can be a little tricky no matter how computer savvy you are.  

Go to  the link on the program website for the graduate courses offered in the coming Fall.  Look carefully at the graduate offerings , as well as the 300 level courses. You may take 300 level undergraduate courses for graduate credit TWICE  (two times in your MA program), so that might be an option as you enter.  But remember that you can only do it for two courses.   

A full time load is three courses.  But you are not required to do that, if you are working,  etc.  You will need to take History 400 in the first year, either Fall or Spring semester.

By the start of the year, you will receive access to  an Advisory form for your program (MA, PhD, etc.).  This will be your road map as you progress through the program.  We will be setting up a shared directory in "luc.box.com" where I will ask you to keep an updated version of this through your career here.  

I would start in classes that are most consistent with your main interests, allowing you to get a strong start.  All this said, you may also directly contact faculty in your area, who can give you some more detailed advice.