Now that I approach graduation, I've been forced to finally narrow down what I want to do with my life, and graduate school is up there. I've always loved history, loved talking about it, researching it independently--but I didn't end up pursuing it for my Bachelor's. Now that it's time to enter the real world, I'd like to actually do something I have a passion for. My school allows non-History majors for the History M.A. but only after taking 12 credit hours of 3000 and 4000 history courses. I've got the money for that; I've got virtually no student loan debt from my undergrad, and can afford the Master's.
Do any of you have any advice? Did anyone pursue a Master's or Doctorate without an undergrad in History?
I can't really give advice relating to switching your focus from criminology to history, but do consider that if you want to pursue a full time, tenure track university professorship in history a Ph.D will certainly be a requirement. If you view your M.A. as a step along that path, then by all means go for it. Many PhD programs do not require a M.A. however, and are willing to train someone up in history if they show intellectual promise (even in another field). You may want to consider applying to some PhD programs straight away - but I really don't know anything about your situation so it's hard to say.
Most history grad programs don't care what your major is, but they do want you to show that you know how to do history. So if you took a bunch of upper level history classes, did good work in them that involved historical research, and have history professors who can recommend you, that might be fine. I'd recommend talking to a history professor you took a class with