Grendel's Mother

Yup. Still waiting for a response to a waitlist. There were some promising noises over the weekend, but still no final decision.

I graduated a couple years ago with an M.A. from a weirdly specific humanities "studies" program, but I think the job prospects between the studies program and English are basically the same. Roughly half of the students who graduated from my program in the years I was there have gone on to pursue a Ph.D. in English, history, or women's studies. Of those who decided not to go on, a couple have gotten a second master's degree in things like library science and speech-language pathology. This leaves about 2/5ths of us who started working 9-5 type jobs. I work in an academic library (as a staff librarian, not faculty librarian--aka: I get paid less, but I don't have to have an M.L.S). Some other jobs my friends have gotten: Teaching online/tutoring/adjuncting (though for most, this was temporary and led to better positions) Administrative and/or secretarial work at humanities foundations Online specialty book dealer Super PAC manager Academic support (department secretaries, coordinators, directors, etc.) Editorial work for academic presses Software development Graphic design Video game development Finance (arguably, these two were a outliers since they were studying the history of business and business practices and had other relevant degrees for financial work) For some the transition was a little difficult--many spent time living with parents for a while (myself included) and worked temporary positions until something better came along. Basically, the humanities M.A. did not immediately lead to awesome jobs. I think we all had to be a little more thoughtful with our job searches and creative in the ways that we sold the skills our education brought us. That said, two years out, I don't know of anyone from my program who is stuck doing the barista/waitress/bartender thing as so many stereotypes would lead one to believe. In fact, everybody seems to be really happy with where they've landed, even if it's not what they envisioned doing when they started the M.A. program. Bunny's advice is good too, though. The humanities M.A. is certainly not the key to a six-figure salary. It's something to pursue if you want to test the waters of advanced study with the understanding that it might not pay for itself (which is why you should not go into a significant amount of debt for the degree).