MetaphysicalDrama
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from Golden Sherry in OK, let's talk about UChicago's MAPH. I need some advice...
At UChicago, you are assigned a "preceptor," an advanced graduate student in the dissertation phase who oversees your development. The cohort for each preceptor is probably about six or seven students. The thesis workshop is a review of your work by your thesis advisor, preceptor, and maybe a small group of students in your precept. These people give you the best feedback you're going to get. I strongly advise you select your thesis advisor from a professor you will take classes with in the fall or winter quarter. It just fosters a better relationship and gives them more reason to meet with you.
The content of the core course is determined by whatever professor teaches it that year. The lectures are attended by about one hundred students, but there's a weekly discussion with your precept. The preceptor authors your assignments for the core.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from Magic Lantern in OK, let's talk about UChicago's MAPH. I need some advice...
I went through MAPH. It's taken me some time to get into a PhD program (I switched fields from philosophy to English), but a lot of what has been said on this thread is more prejudicial than actual. While my PhD admissions are more so based on the strength of my second MA, I will confess that I didn't really take advantage of MAPH as well as I could have. However, most of the teaching experience I have is based on MAPH credentials. All I'm trying to do is paint a more realistic picture of the peaks and valleys of the program.
Is it too much debt, probably, but is it buying prestige? No, I would argue it is not. I think about 10% of applicants from each humanities department at Chicago (English, philosophy, classics, art history, and etc.) are referred to MAPH after their PhD apps are rejected. There is merit in that admission. There may be more applicants from the English department, but I think the number of people in the philosophy cohort was about twenty at most.
I do like that MAPH is a one-year MA for the purposes of teaching. Two year MAs are great for intellectual development, but I really don't think that spending a ton of time on an MA is such a great idea. The problem with MAPH is that writing a strong thesis is pretty much impossible in one year unless you come in with a great plan already.
Most faculty will not support you very well. While you won't necessarily be treated like a second-class citizen, you can't really take advantage of their time throughout the year. What I'm trying to say is that UChicago faculty do so much research and so little teaching, one year is not nearly enough time to build any kind of significant relationship with their more senior faculty. However, some of their younger faculty will treat you quite well. I did form quite a nice relationship with a newly-hired assistant professor there and a visiting faculty member from University of Oslo. The crusty old guards, not so much.
Finally, that UChicago name does count. During my visit weekends, the schools that have accepted me want to talk about my Chicago experience. The first school that hired me as an adjunct emphasized my UChicago degree. In fact, one of the faculty at a PhD program that accepted me completed MAPH before doing his PhD at NYU. MAPH isn't perfect, but don't pitch it like it is worthless.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from lovely coward in OK, let's talk about UChicago's MAPH. I need some advice...
I want to respond a little to @Warelin , @punctilious, and others.
I'm not talking about 100 students in English, for example. I'm saying the fields of English, History, Art History, Philosophy, Theology, and etc. that feeds into MAPH produces a total of about 100 students. MAPH has a reputation for accepting more in English, but that wasn't the case in Philosophy.
Of course, a gap year isn't universally harmful. Sure, someone may be able to make the most of it. However, showing how that gap year contributed to one's own intellectual development could be a challenge. Sure, everyone says publish and present at conferences. How do you know that's going to happen? Publishing an article or getting an abstract accepted isn't a sure thing. I think this is especially noteworthy in the case of an undergraduate applicant who has little experience with these dimensions of academic life. Many students may relocate after completing their degree, and that will make connecting with faculty a little more difficult. I'm sure they can get some feedback through emails and etc., but I would still argue that its not the same as being a student at that institution.
Obviously, I don't see UChicago as the only institution that can get someone an adjunct job. However, it is worth pointing out that someone can adjunct after MAPH and get college credit teaching experience after one year. The reason why I keep bringing this up is because I am skeptical of all of these other opportunities outside the academy that people seem to think are so plentiful. They certainly weren't there for me back in 2012, and I think that as much as employers say that they like humanities degrees, what they really mean is that they like humanities degrees combined with other experience. Maybe they want to see internships and etc., and as easy as those things are to come by, they can be a challenge to fit into a working schedule if you need to survive in that way. Some of the advice I'm offering here is for students who have it ingrained in their minds that what they want is a teaching gig in the academy at the end of the road, and they have prepared themselves to do not much of anything else. I don't mean to say that they don't have wide-ranging interests as people, but more so that they used their undergraduate education for nothing other than preparation for a PhD.
PhD admissions are ultimately a crap shoot. I'm lucky to have received three offers this year, but not everyone is going to be as lucky as Punctilious's husband at Harvard. For everyone one of him there's another 200 some odd applicants who are denied admission their every year, and I'm sure a sizable number of them are shut-out. That's a really depressing reality, and it speaks to just how fickle and picky the academy is right now in humanities.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from jadeisokay in Prepping for Fall 2019
My prospective adviser offered to look over my writing sample (he wasn't on the committee) and offer comments for revision, so that's in his queue. It's really nice of him to offer to do that before I've even moved up there. Outside of that, I'm trying to read some scholarly texts that fell through the cracks on my thesis and work on my Italian. Speaking of Italian, I'm heading to Italy for ten days at the end of May. That'll be the highlight of my summer.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from havemybloodchild in Prepping for Fall 2019
My prospective adviser offered to look over my writing sample (he wasn't on the committee) and offer comments for revision, so that's in his queue. It's really nice of him to offer to do that before I've even moved up there. Outside of that, I'm trying to read some scholarly texts that fell through the cracks on my thesis and work on my Italian. Speaking of Italian, I'm heading to Italy for ten days at the end of May. That'll be the highlight of my summer.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from Mumasatus in 2019 Decisions Thread
Looking forward to it. Happy to have the 2018 Grad Cafe contributor of the year in my cohort!
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from havemybloodchild in What would you choose?
I would take the money. That's a credential in itself.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from deka in Multiple graduate students in a program with my interests -- good or bad?
Could be either. However, I tend to look at it as a positive. It's a way of showing that the faculty at that school support that area of research.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from victoriansimpkins in 2019 Decisions Thread
Looking forward to it. Happy to have the 2018 Grad Cafe contributor of the year in my cohort!
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from ArcaMajora in 2019 Decisions Thread
Decided on SMU in Dallas. Way too good of an offer to pass up.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from victoriansimpkins in 2019 Decisions Thread
Decided on SMU in Dallas. Way too good of an offer to pass up.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from tacocat211 in 2019 Decisions Thread
Decided on SMU in Dallas. Way too good of an offer to pass up.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from arbie in 2019 Decisions Thread
Decided on SMU in Dallas. Way too good of an offer to pass up.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from madandmoonly in 2019 Decisions Thread
Decided on SMU in Dallas. Way too good of an offer to pass up.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from ArcaMajora in 2019 Applicants
I have a real problem with the whole, " a PhD in literature isn't a real doctor," gag because it might actually be harder to enter a PhD program in literature than medicine. Nothing against the work doctors do, but last I heard the numbers check out.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from Deleted Because Useless in 2019 Applicants
I have a real problem with the whole, " a PhD in literature isn't a real doctor," gag because it might actually be harder to enter a PhD program in literature than medicine. Nothing against the work doctors do, but last I heard the numbers check out.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from Dogfish Head in 2019 Applicants
I have a real problem with the whole, " a PhD in literature isn't a real doctor," gag because it might actually be harder to enter a PhD program in literature than medicine. Nothing against the work doctors do, but last I heard the numbers check out.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from kb88 in Chances thread and should I retake the GRE? (Rhet Comp PhD)
I hate the GRE as much as anyone, and while anything can happen, a verbal score at or above 160 would look much better. Most schools that post average scores tend to show verbal around 164. I'm not saying committees like the GRE, but they do get to be picky. You should assume that most good candidates will have good letters, a good sample, and a good statement. What if they have a good verbal score too? Is it worth a lot of studying? If I were you, I would probably crack the practice manual every few weeks and schedule another test in early October just to see if you could pull that 160. You can always decide what scores to send later.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from kb88 in Chances thread and should I retake the GRE? (Rhet Comp PhD)
I would prefer to think of it as $160 for a better chance at a generous fellowship.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from backtothefuture in 2019 Applicants
I have a real problem with the whole, " a PhD in literature isn't a real doctor," gag because it might actually be harder to enter a PhD program in literature than medicine. Nothing against the work doctors do, but last I heard the numbers check out.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from RaspyRay in Chances thread and should I retake the GRE? (Rhet Comp PhD)
I would prefer to think of it as $160 for a better chance at a generous fellowship.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from mandelbulb in 2019 Applicants
I have a real problem with the whole, " a PhD in literature isn't a real doctor," gag because it might actually be harder to enter a PhD program in literature than medicine. Nothing against the work doctors do, but last I heard the numbers check out.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from The Wordsworthian in 2019 Applicants
I have a real problem with the whole, " a PhD in literature isn't a real doctor," gag because it might actually be harder to enter a PhD program in literature than medicine. Nothing against the work doctors do, but last I heard the numbers check out.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from arbie in 2019 Applicants
I have a real problem with the whole, " a PhD in literature isn't a real doctor," gag because it might actually be harder to enter a PhD program in literature than medicine. Nothing against the work doctors do, but last I heard the numbers check out.
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MetaphysicalDrama got a reaction from victoriansimpkins in 2019 Applicants
I have a real problem with the whole, " a PhD in literature isn't a real doctor," gag because it might actually be harder to enter a PhD program in literature than medicine. Nothing against the work doctors do, but last I heard the numbers check out.