minilop

Thank you! That's what I was asking for- so that I could 'weigh all the options'. I must say that I'm no longer overly concerned about making the job search easier. I was a student at Oxford for two years: one year as a Visiting Student and another matriculated into the MSt program reading for Old French; and a member at St Peter's College. I hated it. It was the worst experience of my life. As any student (and what I later found out, many Professors) who attend there will tell you- Oxford lives now on its brand and image- it is no longer the place to be. I stayed for the two years because it was 'Oxford'... in the end I realized that I hadn't learned a single thing- and I was on track to an Honors degree. Two days before my Viva, I left. Degree unfinished. I was so disenchanted with academia that I decided that I had no intention of actually working in it. Two years out- and I'm beginning, for the first time, to really want to go back. I haven't even picked up a pop fiction book in that time- I came to hate reading and learning that much as a result of my Oxford Tutor, Dr. Tony Hunt. Now, I just want to go back to get a Doctorate just to prove to myself that I can, and hopefully discover why I liked learning, researching, and discussing in the first place. I don't think, once I go for the PhD, that I will go into an interdisciplinary one- most likely History. The problem I have now is that my previous degrees are in English and French- far from History, and the programs I've looked at all demand at least a History minor. So, I'm thinking that the MALS programs might help with this problem. Thank you for your advice! I'll chew on it for a few days.

Hi Everyone- Has anyone here ever partook in a MALS program? Has it proven to be a degree that you can move forward to a PhD from? I'm looking specifically at the Columbia Medieval Studies one- I can't decide whether to focus primarily upon literature or history; so I'm thinking that the interdiscplinary approach this program takes might prove to be helpful. I would, however, like to go on to a Doctorate at some point, how do you think this will play out? Thank you! Karen