I finished with an MA---in, of all things, English literature. Afterward I was a visiting writer and adjunct at a lower-echelon Florida school. Three years later, I decided to go back and get a PhD, and I'm now writing my dissertation. It will be done within the next year, and I will graduate in 2008. I'll be 34, which I suppose is a little "old" to be a student according to some people, but I *did* take a few years off, which turned out to be the right move. I returned to a better program with a clearer sense of direction, and my creative energies had been restored.

Most of my friends in this department have landed tenure-track positions quite easily: Duke, Kent, Emerson. And get this: they're writers and poets! Under 40!

The common fallacy is that a PhD makes you a more eligible candidate within the market. It doesn't. That's only half of what you need. You also need publications---books, articles, etc. Without those, the PhD is usually only good for a visiting instructorship if you want to pursue a career in academia.

Just my experience.

My friend Tom just finished his phd in music composition. He promptly scored (no pun) a tenure track position teaching at the University of Hawaii. I'd say to hang in there.

Yeah, I just finished my masters in Materials Science and Engineering and since I work in the department where I did the MS, I know a lot of people who have finished PhD's. I'm currently being harassed by my boss/advisor, family and some friends to do the PhD, but the prospect really sounds aweful to me at the moment. I tend to agree about the marketability of a PhD. If you want to be an academic, then it is essentially a prerequisite. However, short of being a prof, I don't think there is any type of job I couldn't do in my field with the appropriate experience, some decent publications, good references, etc....and you have to pay a PhD more.

the$inmusicisallmine wrote:my good friend from college - got his PHD in political science...he was dreading getting an offer from North Texas or...

This is a wise man. I can tell you that my years at UNT PSCI were hell. Such shattered hopes and dreams. It took a few years of just watching baseball to regain some spirit. In fact, ginandtacos, one of the Profs at UNT's wife is tenured in your department, if my information is correct.

Lemuel Gulliver wrote:This is a wise man. I can tell you that my years at UNT PSCI were hell. Such shattered hopes and dreams. It took a few years of just watching baseball to regain some spirit. In fact, ginandtacos, one of the Profs at UNT's wife is tenured in your department, if my information is correct.

Really? Do tell. I honestly like everyone in this department so I'll have no dirty laundry to air about her.

And the sad thing is that a job offer at UNT would actually fall solidly in the middle in terms of quality and what's out there. It's bad, but it could be so much worse.

I'm hell bent on starting a masters in history, but the "no practical use" is holding me back. I just want to do it because I'm the world's biggest history nerd.

I am debating how far to go. I will be gettin bachelors in math and physics, and I will be continuing in physics. The thing about physics though is, if you want a PhD, there isn't a school that won't pay you for it. But nobody wants master's students because they only stay two years. That being said, I am kind of torn. But that's why you tell them you want a PhD so they fund you, then 2 years down the road, if you don't like it, you can quit with a masters. My friend/coworker just got his masters and was just accepted to Berlin for PhD, but he is waiting to see if he got into CERN.

The last GOD DAMNED thing we need in Alabama are decent, rational proffesors of political science. Don't do it. Those fucking elitist hog wrestlin' sonsabitches.

-Wilson

scelops wrote:The last GOD DAMNED thing we need in Alabama are decent, rational proffesors of political science. Don't do it. Those fucking elitist hog wrestlin' sonsabitches.

-Wilson

this reminds me:

to make a short story boring, i get really good grades, like college (and by that i mean the actual academic rigor of studying and writing papers, not just the partying), and cannot see myself being of any practical use to society outside the teaching profession. that having been said i'm starting to think seriously about what kind of graduate-school track to get on after i graduate in a couple years.

my aunt (who has a master's in English and has a number of friends who are professors) advised me to figure out where i'd like to live for the majority of my career, and go somewhere completely different for grad school. the connection to the above-quoted post is that i'm seriously thinking about going to grad school in the deep south (Auburn is the one i'll be most seriously looking at when the time comes). has my aunt given me good advice, or will i end up toiling in a bastion of conservatism for nothing? (i am, for the record, about as left as you can be legally in this country.)

instant_zen wrote:has my aunt given me good advice, or will i end up toiling in a bastion of conservatism for nothing? (i am, for the record, about as left as you can be legally in this country.)

I'm not sure your aunt and her friends' advice makes much sense. Perhaps what they're getting at is that generally speaking, people tend to get job offers 'away' from where they came out of. This is supposed to cut down on nepotism and regionalism, but with the 'Net and airplanes, it's not like academic ideas can't travel from, say, Dallas to Boston. Of course, this doesn't explain the Ivies who have plenty of each others' graduates teaching at the Universities.

Go where you fit and belong. By that I mean academically. Pick a few programs that are good at thing you want to study, and if you've got your pick, go for the places with the most of it. E.g., Don't pick a quanititative Pol. Sci. Dept. if you're in it for Plato. You won't get around the numbers, no matter how good the guys in your area are. Plus, profs can be as caddy as little girl scouts.

My best advice: Don't rush trying to get in at the expense of a poor fit. This is the same as my advice for getting a suit, but this is like a suit for the rest of your life. If Auburn is the place for your discipline with a bunch of good teachers for what you want to do, then your time in the Deep South will be much smoother than toiling in a great city but in a department that makes every moment of your life miserable. You'll likely have more teachers, more supportive teachers, and more fellow grad students with which you'll have things in common. Since your main concern will be your school work, these are the people you'll be with 12 or 14 hours a day.

Buon fortuna, instant_.