evsnow

Any recommendations?

Not rude at all! To be honest, I'm not sure I'm ready for a PhD just now. It all seems so overwhelming. An MA would be a good way to sort of test the waters before committing to a five year program. I know I must sound insane to some of you who KNOW what you want to do when it comes to academia/careers/life and I definitely don't want to insult your process. Also, I'm in 'dual-career'/'two-body-problem' relationship so it would be difficult to be apart for so long. Personal intellectual curiosity is actually a great way to put it. I'd love to work with some of the people I worshiped in my undergrad career, even if that means I don't know exactly what I want to do in the long run. Also, thank you everyone for your suggestions! SO helpful!

Thanks for the info, all! I did some research yesterday and the University of Alberta looks AMAZING. Two Jane Austen scholars there and research assistantships instead of teaching (two students were able to contribute to the recent Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen). Pretty cool! Only...so far away!

Thank you! Very helpful. The thing is...not sure if I want to pursue my PhD yet, if ever. I am going to apply to Princeton's PhD program because that is my ultimate dream program (Claudia Johnson, the English department chair and foremost Jane Austen scholar, featured prominently in my undergrad thesis). I think I might have a good chance there, because my thesis is strong and I know my recommendations will be amazing (not because I'm the best or anything, hah, but because I went to a small college for undergrad and had the opportunity to work closely with my profs). I think I still have to figure out what the hell I want to do with myself, haha.

I am thinking about applying to English MA programs this fall, but I'm pretty overwhelmed. I'd like to apply to "Top 50" programs with funding for MA students. My concentration will be 18th/19th century British literature, queer and post-colonial theory. I was checking out Brown, which seems like a great fit for me, but they're funding info was not so appealing (they 'require' you to pay $40,000). Yet what I gather from the forums is that people do get fully funded offers from Brown's PhD program? Do they tend to offer fellowships to MA students? Any suggestions? I'm also open to schools in Canada. Guh, I've only just started looking at programs and I'm already freaking out and overeating. Fudge. Thanks everyone!