Do you have any advice for a sophomore?

[bookwormkmb]

I'm currently an undergraduate sophomore, and have just declared as a Philosophy major.  Ideally, I would probably be an English major, but I attend a small school that has a pretty weak English department.  The Philosophy department, on the other hand, is one of the school's strengths (they run the only PhD program at my university).

My question is

Comments

[brittdreams]

Languages! Learn as many as you can. German and French for philosophy, definitely. Others depend on your specific interests.

[lissiehoya]

Kudos to you for deciding so early that you want to go to graduate school. I only made the decision in the summer between my junior and senior year so I wasn't really able to prepare and I although I'm really happy in the school that I ended up in, there are definitely things that I wish I'd done

[kahlan_amnell]

I agree with those who have said that if you want to do graduate work in English you should have it as at least one of your majors. I don't think majoring in philosophy too would be a bad thing, particularly if that is one of your school's strengths. Philosophy is generally useful to a number of other subjects as well

[cheez_ball]

1. Get straight As.

2. Make sure your professors know who you are enough to right a glowing recommendation.

3. Find some sort of assistantship or internship that will show you have proficiency in the field.

4. Figure out exactly why you want a graduate degree and exactly what you plan on doing with it.

[ennifer_jay]

My biggest suggestion:

Try to publish an article with a professor and/or do a research study and have it published with a professor. Seriously, I wish I had that as I'm applying to grad school.

Other suggestions:
-Be involved on campus. Have a wide variety of activities in order to show that you are well rounded but also clearly have a focus and dedication in one or two organizations.
-Volunteer.
-Seconding what lissiehoya said about finding scholars you like. Being well read in a few scholars looks good.
-Try to fit in a study abroad experience if possible. Not only is it an AMAZING experience (I studied abroad in Spain for a month this past summer - seriously the single BEST decision I have ever made in my life), but it just opens up your eyes to so many things. Yes it looks good and everything, but when it comes down to it, it's really just the most enriching experience you can give yourself. You view the world so differently afterwards.

[roseofjuly]

I'd like to add a note to the publishing thing