Okay, I am applying for an MIT engineering Ph.D. and think I have a shot - 3.85GPA from top-20 school, 800/720/6.0 GRE, good rec letters from research faculty and work. My wife wants to go back to school at the same time.

Her interests are in history, literature (especially celtic), and historical archaeology. She had a good GPA, ~3.7 to 3.8 as an education major (history minor) but has been out of school for a several years and has limited research experience. She can get decent letters, but she has never done any real intensive formal research.

She is really interested in Harvard's Celtic Studies program. Does she have a shot, and is there anything she can do to improve it? I have no idea how competitive this program is, but I do genuinely think she can excel at the program - she is smart, organized, and passionate.

Not sure about Harvard, but one advantage of going to school in the Boston area is she has a number of choices of good schools for PhD work in humanities. She should also check out programs at BC, BU, Northeastern, and Tufts.