If you are interested in archives work you will want to explore library science graduate school, as that's the most common degree for archivists these days. However, I never recommend anyone even touch an application to library school unless they have worked in libraries in some form already. A lot of people have very strange ideas about what librarians or archivists do for real and the day-to-day can be a big downer to them. Make sure any type of work is agreeable to you before you invest in a degree.

The job market for archivists is also extremely tight. I shall be slightly narcissistic and illustrate with myself - I just accepted a staff-level archives job at a university after about a year of searching. I am currently employed full-time in archives, I have around 3 years experience in archives total, and am lucky enough to have been encouraged and supported by two archivists who are "kinda a big deal" in academic archives. I have about 8 total years work experience in different types of libraries. I graduated from a very good library school in the US in an on-campus graduate program (on-campus degrees are still more well-respected than online versions for various reasons). I have a lot of work experience with digital products used in archives which I won't bore you with. I basically am what's considered "competitive candidate" for entry-level staff archives jobs (I'm a bit more of a stretch for faculty level yet, as I'm not published and only marginally active in professional organizations.) And my job search took a year. Like a lot of women I was limited in where I could search due to my husband's career taking geographic priority, so really I was incredibly lucky to find a job in a year.

What I'm saying is don't think about archives as one possible option you can fall into instead of museums or teaching. It's not. You have to really want this work, because there's usually 100-200 people that apply to any entry level archives job, and search committees consider about 25% of them competitive. And then only one person gets hired. This isn't meant to say "don't be an archivist ever," because I have the best job ever and you meet interesting people and you never know exactly what's going to happen when you go into work, and I am happy to go to work every day unless I'm sick which is a blessing few have, but go in with your eyes open. You have to be very good, and very lucky. I am probably mostly lucky.

A+ for knowing NPS hires a lot of archivists though. I secretly want to be a NPS archivist because you can get a park ranger uniform and wear a Smokey Bear hat. Think of all the time I could save not picking out outfits every day, not to mention my decided lack of iconic hat. Shit's so cash.

As a number of others here have already said, you aren't by any means old for a graduate program. I graduated from one of the major Museum Studies MA programs a few years ago, and 24-30 was the usual age for our students. I finished up at 30 myself, and we had at least one student in his 60s who did a certificate program and now is happily employed in a federal cultural institution.

One of the remarkable things one can discover is that, despite the jokes, humanities offer plenty of career opportunities other than just being a professor. Think about what you truly want to do, and think of exactly what that entails. If you want to be an NPS ranger, look at the job postings on USAJOBS to see the requirements and experience desired, and start hunting where you can get those credentials! A museum studies degree or history degree certainly both are on the NPS list, but offer very different experiences.

The kind of experience you'll have in graduate school will obviously vary widely based on the school you attend, but even more so on the type of program you choose to join. Don't just apply for one based on an assumption! Look at what the actual program is, and how it relates to your interests. From what I've encountered, graduate level programs in "History" tend to be extremely heavy on reading and writing for an academic audience - perhaps not what you desire. "Public history" is much more oriented towards presenting and interpreting information, often in project form, to a non-academic audience. "Historic Preservation" looks at the legal and practical basis for retaining and maintaining structures, while "Museum Studies" or "Museology" focuses on the skills needed to protect and present the physical artifacts of human existence. "Museum Education" is how to use the content of museums to reach the public, while "Library Science" includes many of the technical skills needed to track, retain, and protect vast holdings of information. Some of these programs will be focused on or conclude with writing a thesis or solo project, while others will emphasize internships and hands-on experience. Choose what is right for you. These are gross generalizations of course, but are perhaps a place to start.

First of all, buck up!! Believe it or not, as a 25 year old, you don't yet qualify as an "old fart". I am turning 25 at the end of the month, and will just be completing my Masters degree, with a boatload of debt. I'd give a bit to be where you are now. I'm one of the youngest MA students in my program even, so it's not like you are too far behind age-wise.

Now, don't panic. But if you want to get into museum/historic site work, it's going to take a LOT of experience. Luckily you are also in the right timing to apply for summer internships (many of them take recent graduates). If you can find one local to you, you might also be able to keep up with your job as well. With the lack of experience you are talking about, you probably won't be able to find a paying one.

If you can't find an internship, then you need to volunteer in a museum or historic site. Tell them what your dreams are, and with luck they will train you and get you set up as some sort of docent.

Now that you are happily engaged in some form of probably unpaid museum work, you can start thinking about applying to grad school. Practically I'm going to tell you to wait until next year to start applying. Many programs require 6 months to a year of practical experience before you apply, and you don't have that yet.

No harm in looking around at your options now though. What you are going to want to look for is either a Public History MA, a Museum Studies MA, a Museology MA, or a History MA with some sort of heavy concentration in Museum Studies. There are differences to all of these types of programs, which you can explore yourself in the year that I recommend you take. [Here is a pretty good list of programs] (http://museumstudies.si.edu/training.html).

Also, if you have one relatively near you, it might be of value for you to attend a museum conference. Most states have their own organizations that host these, or at least there will be a regional conference. You would get to do some of that networking you missed out on.

Anyway, that's what I have for you at the moment. Get involved with a local museum (or a cool summer internship if you can take the time off). Then start thinking about grad school. Explore your options.

You're not old. I'm 45 and I'm contemplating going to college so I can teach history.

Speaking as a 34 year old working on finishing a PhD, I'd say two things:

-You're not too old. In fact, having been out in the real world often helps get your priorities and timeline for work straight. I did my undergrad time, spent four years in the military, and then got an MAT and taught for a while before arriving at this. It hasn't hurt me in the least although obviously my career earnings will take a hit. In both this and the teaching program, I had colleagues who were studying after having retired; there's really no time like the present.

-It doesn't take genius to do good things in history, although they are certainly out there and an inspiration to us all. All you need is some kind of specific interest, a work ethic, and a willingness to develop advanced methods and appreciate historiography from a variety of perspectives.

The specific interest is there to you leverage you into the right program, where you can cultivate your skills and knowledge base as you work on a topic you've developed out of that seed of an interest.

In any case, a PhD and even a Masters is a big time commitment, so I don't blame you for wanting to keep your ambitions modest. But the key thing is to have a realistic sense of what you want to end up doing (as others mentioned, archival/librarian work is best seen up close) so that you plan accordingly. I enjoy research but I love teaching; towards that, the process itself was really valuable as it gave me the necessary upper level methods and content to differentiate down into my teaching, and it turns out a lot of stuff that is regularly left out of introductory courses and even high school level work is plenty appropriate for those students if you build up to it properly. Now that I know what the end goal looks like, it's a lot easier to teach to the intermediate and beginning steps.

I guess what I'm saying is that the only thing that's holding you back is an understandable reluctance to take the jump. But none of the factors you list is as important as what you really want to do with your life.

I spent five years working before coming back to school. I got into an MA program at 27 and started a PhD program at 29. I'm older than some, but extra-curricular experience has its benefits. My 21-year old self was susceptible to stress, naive, and narrow-minded, and I'm a bit better at those things now. A bit. I also started to study another language, which is a big part of most history programs.

It sounds like you have an unrequited love for history, which is reason enough to pursue an MA, especially if it helps you to share that love with others. As the other comments suggest, it can be hard to get a particular job, but there's no reason to pigeon-hole yourself if you're open to pursuing whatever opportunities you find. Anecdotally speaking, my mom got an MA in American history, and just having that credential of a graduate degree opened opportunities for advancement to be a VP in an international financial institution.

There's a few ways to think of graduate study, but it's definitely not like undergrad where you exist on receive-only mode. Either find a program that allows you to do the things you love (e.g. a museum studies program, or a history department at a school with an interesting university archive). Or find an amazing professor that you'd like to apprentice yourself to. As an MA student, I definitely thought about selecting the school that I could get the most out of, but as a PhD student, I see myself as an apprentice to my advisor.

You've got some time until you can submit applications (usually Dec-Jan), and there's a lot you can do. Keep exploring different programs online or in person. Check if your local university has a humanities center: they usually post schedules of public events that will help you get back in the academic feel of things and might give you a better idea of what you want to do. You've got the time to keep volunteering at archives or to take a summer language course, which will strengthen your application. You'll also need to take the GREs: I strongly recommend the Princeton Review vocab flashcards.

You'll probably need three letters of recommendation, so think about who you'll want to ask. I'd suggest that at least two be your undergrad professors. They'll probably be delighted that you're thinking of further pursuing historical studies, and they'll be full of enthusiastic advice (look at the responses to this thread!). They might ask for an old essay that you did for class to help jog their memory. And hopefully they'll offer to help coach you through applications, such as reading your statement of purpose and writing sample.

WHOA this was way too long, a real rant sorry, took this text from original and made it a reply:

I have humble prospects. If it wasn't always temporary or so underpaid, my dream job would be an NPS guide, with a campaign hat on my hat, taking tourists through a historical site. Or, a guide in a private museum. Or, working in some form of archive work (govt/non-profit/private you name it). My teaching prospects would probably never get more adventurous than a part time adjunct history lecturer for night classes at a community college heh.

Ultimately, I do not even know where to begin. I'm so far away from college in years, I don't know who to turn to for advice. I have a full time job now, though not in anything remotely history or stimulating. Additionally, no chance for upward movement. I keep getting in trouble for using too verbose words. I do a lot of digging and deep investigating in my job (for poor pay). The customers I deal with actually like my eloquent and formal approach, but my co-workers and superiors can't stand it, tell me to dumb it down.

My roommate, and also my dear good friend, who is also a very well paid software engineer, thinks I am being silly and should be realistic. My response to him is that he basically eats, drinks, and sleeps computers. He went to an Ivy league institution for his studies and had opportunities I never could dream of. That usually humbles him. I don't know, maybe I am being silly.