Averroes MD

I cannot stress to you how bad of a decision this is. Complete your MD. You can always circle back to do a masters, hell even a PhD (including a short UK one) and then get an academic medicine job where you teach the intersection of religion and medicine. unless you love poverty. In that case please ignore

yes source: google

But, I do know of someone who completed the residency requirement of two years and then relocated. I had initially thought I would do the same but I realized it would have really shortchanged my PhD experience. Also, this is advisor dependent... mine would never have signed off on something like this. EDIT: I'm in religion... not history

This is a difficult decision. You are right that it's not unusual to get two masters degrees. However, you also need to have the difficult conversation with yourself about whether or not you are "cut out" for this path. B+ average is really not a good sign, especially given how generous grade inflation is. I am giving tough love here since I don't want to see you waste two more years and all that tuition. On the flip side, I have seen people make up for average grades with extensive language skills.... but this might require several years for you.

There are probably some British schools that would take your money here.

This is crazy. You should post this on all social media and publicize. Unacceptable.

This is very important advice and goes against the common but outdated line.

Uchicago.

Thanks. That is helpful!

How hard is it to "land" such gigs at a major university? For those of us who may be geographically restricted and have another source of income, this is probably an option to consider as a "back up." But, is even this a difficult back up to get? What about at one's own university? And what is the difference in all of these roles? Adjunct = class by class basis, unstable because of that Instructor = Is this for language instruction only? Lecturer = full-time, teaching heavy, & only a few years of job stability? Have I got this right? Anyone have any experience of such jobs? Also, does it really affect your ability to do research & be taken seriously by fellow academics? Thanks! P.S. Also, can you be a perennial post-doc?

Harvard GSAS has a 3-strike rule: you can only apply 3 times in your lifetime. If you apply to 3 different departments in one go, for example, that's 3 strikes. Personally, I don't like the rule.

If you don't get in this round, ask them to waive the 3-strike rule based on COVID and your diminished chances due to that

Personally I would switch to Pass. But I've heard the opposite opinion too... I don't think anyone here can give you a definitive answer. Keep in mind also that I'm in the Study of Religion not history.

Hi there. Harvard Divinity School no longer has a PhD program and there is no such thing as Columbia Divinity as far as I know. To be very honest, I think your chances at a fully funded PhD program in religion are just about nil. But, that's OK! I don't mean to discourage you but basically alert you to the fact that you need to first get a master's in the study of religion before thinking about a PhD. Additionally, based on your major, it seems that your master's degree was from UChicago's Graham School (equivalent to Harvard's extension school). I think it can come across as misleading when you say UChicago full stop, although maybe others disagree with me here. Whatever the case, all of this reinforces what I said about the need for a master's degree in the study of religion. This is not just so you can stand a good chance of admission but also to learn about the basics of the degree program... Most importantly of all, you will get a better idea of if you really do want to traverse this path to begin with. Your knowledge of Sanskrit is definitely a huge plus. You should use the extra time to learn another language as well. French or German is good, or another research language. Finally, you should be aware of how grim the job market is. Having said all that... Good luck!

I'm in islamic studies but this question is hard to answer as it requires knowledge of ucla in specific. You obviously have as good a chance as anyone. But, some schools can have really small masters programs, limited to a couple students. Others have large masters programs like HDS. That makes a difference. Also, you haven't shared with us what your undergrad major was.