Gotya64

I think my concern is the rankings of both; I don't want to be locked into a PhD if I can go from a middling MA program to a top 20 PhD program. Thank you, I really appreciate your advice. For me as well, getting a PhD is a requirement. I've just got to decide whether or not to do it with/without an MA.

I appreciate your response - neither are ranked particularly high. My thinking ran somewhere along the lines of accepting the offer of admission to the MA program, doing great work there, and leveraging it into a higher ranked PhD program. That might just be too risky though.

Hello, I've received admissions to two history programs. Both offer full funding with generous stipends. One is a PhD program (five years of funding) and the other is an MA program (two years of funding), from which I would likely apply to PhD programs. My question is this: is it recommended to get an MA before a PhD? I worry about not being able to adjust to the sudden heavy coursework of a PhD program without the training of an MA. Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated.