Ayayay

I'd argue that TT and tenured profs at a variety of universities in humanities and social sciences departments across the land probably make more money than a variety of folks who got a BA and decided to work and eschew grad school as an alternative. Obviously not all PhDs are success stories, but I don't think getting a PhD necessarily affects your potential earning power in a negative way, indeed I'd say it probably "empowers" lots of parts of your earning potential.

Expected values, eh? Whatever happened to "follow your bliss?"

Of that's so that's absurd; I wouldn't reject a Harvard law student's job application just because he didn't get a free ride to HLS. Why should hiring a PhD be any different.

Both good points. But the "if you're not getting funded, forget it" attitude I've seen from lots of grad students and grad school applicants worries me. You paid for your undergrad education; surely you CAN see why you'd be asked to pay for a postgraduate education in a subject you love. Of course, if you can get a TAship or funding all the better!

Here's a question. How come as grad school applicants we expect to be funded for our PhDs and MAs. Seems like lawschool follks and med school folks don't expect such remuneration and they're also getting professional training. This is not to say I'm not applying for grants, etc. I certainly am. But I wonder if funding ought to be a baseline requirement. Surely, grants ought to be given to those who need them and scholarships to those who've earned them. But the expectation that a person ought to be paid and subsidized for half a decade or more for reading and researching on subjects he or she enjoys while simultaneously obtaining professional qualifications...well doesn't it seem almost unrealistic? Healthy debate encouraged Ayayay

A: I don't know the structure of the course you are considering, but my taught MA is fairly small in comparison to US degrees (and I'm told this is common for UK. My MA course is six modules plus a dissertation over the summer. Here's another few questions. Did the folks who did the UK MAs have time to acquire LORs/polish samples before applying to US PhDs? LORs are a big deal for me; while my undergrad institution as great I don't believe the history department had any instantly recognizable names facultywise while I studied there. Did anyone / would anyone consider staying in the UK to finish their PhD and maybe pursue a career abroad? Thanks everyone. You folks are very helpful! Ayayay

Hi all, I was recently accepted to a History MA at a very well known and regarded UK university even more well regarded in the field I'd like to study. I didn't apply to any PhDs because, frankly I didn't feel I was ready for one as I didn't end up obtaining a history BA and wanted more experience. I'm afraid of three things though. A. When I apply to a phd program, universities will not appreciate my intensive 12 month MA even if I do terrifically stellar. B. No amount of MA work will undo my only having gotten a history minor as an undergrad, although I was only two courses short of the major. C. US schools will for some reason be suspicious of a yank who went overseas to get a grad degree. To he quite honest, I'm not entirely sure I'd like an academic career in the US. I'm a bit on the foreign side of things and I think american academic culture is a bit too much to stomach; I've seen the alternative overseas and it seems a bit more ... humane. THAT SAID at the risk of sounding a bit "have your cake and eat it, too" I'd like to keep all options on the table and doors of opportunity ajar at this point in my life. Thanks all! Ayayay

Whatever....I got a friggin 440 quant score...do you know what that's like after four years of college? On the bright side my verbal? 790.

Oh, one more thing. The sumner after getting my BA I spent a month in philosophy summer program; the work I did there is not altogether related to my history work except maybe in a roundabout way (i.e. History of ideas). Should I mention the program in my cv or will it yet again draw attention away from what I want the adcomm to be looking at?

Yes, it will show as a W on my transcript; in addition I'll have another W from a philosophy course that just bored me straight out of the classroom. I think I can have a good writing sample come Decembert or January but definitely not my MA dissertation, which is written over the summer.

Hmmmm...very different reponses from Kinkster and Fuzzylogician. This is a doubt that has cost me many sleepless nights. I appreciate your advice, guys/ladies. About publicly disclosing something on my SOP. I want to emphasize that I was only 7 credits short of obtaining my major, but I don't want to make this claim if it makes it seem like I'm clutching at straws or begging for empathy. I this a legitimate concern?

Thanks so much FozzyLogician! When you say "address the undergrad situation" do you mean, publicly, as in in a Statement of Purpose, or do you make I ought to make sure I remedy the situation so such a thing doesn't occur again. All best, Ayayay

I’ve always been enamored of history, but an episode late in my undergraduate career almost led me to abandon the field altogether. As a senior, I was required to undertake a senior “capstone” project under the supervision of a professor whose personality clashed with my own dramatically. Instead of embracing the differences I perceived between my capstone supervisor’s approach and my own amateurish, incipient “take” on history, I became fed up with the interminable disputes and threw up my arms in defeat. Rather than accept the mediocre grade I assumed I would obtain, I withdrew from my senior seminar, changed my history major to a minor, and graduated with a degree in philosophy. Besides that unfortunate incident, my undergraduate performance in history ranged from very good to excellent. On numerous occasions, my departmental adviser sensibly discouraged my ill-devised decision to drop the history major, but I pigheadedly failed to see the obvious merits of completing a degree in a field I have always had great enthusiasm for. Instead, I chose to alleviate myself of what I mistakenly perceived to be the unreasonable demands of my capstone-adviser. Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20, and if I had the opportunity to live through my senior year again, I would certainly complete my project, regardless of whatever friction I might encounter with my adviser. Now, I’m in a pickle. Or maybe (hopefully) not. I’ve been accepted to a History MA program at an internationally respected and well-known UK University, where I hope to undo the wrongs of youthful folly. I think that my time away from the academic environment and some thoughtful soul-searching have led me to be less hotheaded and more mature than I was a year ago when I graduated. I have a sharper understanding of what it is I want to get out of my academic training and of what my scholarly goals are, and also of where my strengths and weaknesses as a student of history lie. I have no interest in pursuing a philosophy graduate degree, but want nothing more than to be a college professor. I’m uncertain about whether the blemish on my undergraduate record can ever be eclipsed by whatever I may achieve as a master’s student. I’m mostly just worried PhD programs in history (in the USA, Canada, or the UK) will take one look at my application and file it away under “D” for dilettante, desultory, and denied and leave it at that, regardless of how well I do in the MA. What do you think? Will my patchy past get the better of me or is this just a momentary setback? Thanks in advance, Ayayay