Please Help With Making CompLit School Decision!

[Butitwaslaundryday]

Hello,

Basically I am juggling three different options--yes, it is past the April 15th deadline, but I have deadline extensions from all schools due to waitlisting circumstances.

Essentially, here is my problem: I could go to Dartmouth for a fully funded MA and then reapply to hopefully get into top Comp Lit PhD Programs. Or, I could go to UC Davis or NC Chapel Hill for a PhD in Comp Lit. If you were me, what would you do? Assuming you think it's a better idea to just dive in for a PhD, which school has a better comparative literature program? In terms of fit, they're about the same for me.

Thank you so much.

[Nightingalesing]

Hello!

I am afraid I cannot discuss the merits of these schools without much bias as am attending UC Davis next year for a PhD in Comp Lit... That being said, if you'd like to message me, I would be more than happy to talk about the specific benefits of Davis.

Good luck with your decision!

[foppery]

I'm at UNC right now. Since I'm in English, I know next to nothing about the Comp Lit program, but I'd assume it's well-ranked--what makes you think it isn't? (I ask this out of genuine curiosity, as I don't know of any Comp Lit ranking systems.)

If you want us to help, you should post at greater length about the pros and cons of each program, as most members of this forum probably don't know anything about the programs that accepted you (congratulations, by the way!).

[aaascootboy101]

I am the counter to Nightingalesing as I will be attending UNC-CH for Comp Lit next year. Like that poster, I would more than willing to answer any questions you had about the program.

Ultimately, attending an MA program at Dartmouth versus either of the PhD programs is a personal choice, but I would only recommend it if (1) you weren't sure if you wanted to go on for a PhD in general, (2) if you weren't sure if you wanted to go on for a PhD in Comp Lit, or (3) you were facing some pretty dire PhD choices. I am biased, but I don't think number 3 is quite the case.

If however, you feel that your chances at admission at "better programs" (however you choose to define them) would be improved by receiving a master's degree, then by all means go for it. There have been a lot of postings around here about the benefits/negatives of doing a master's first, so I would read up on them before I was too distracted by the Dartmouth name! That being said, I did know someone who did an MA at Dartmouth and is now getting a PhD from Oxford and oddly enough, if you did decide to attend UNC, you would most likely be the only incoming student without a Masters.

[Medievalmaniac]

That being said, I did know someone who did an MA at Dartmouth and is now getting a PhD from Oxford and oddly enough, if you did decide to attend UNC, you would most likely be the only incoming student without a Masters.

Sorry, I just had to weigh in on this comment. UNC-CH is moving to a nearly exclusively direct-admit program in the English department beginning next year - meaning that they will be accepting almost no one who already holds an MA. I was told this by the department chair and also by the Director of Graduate English Studies. Because of this, they already began this year to severely limit the number of students they admitted to the program who already hold the MA. I don't know if this is also going to be the case with Comp Lit, since it falls under the aegis of the English department but is a separate PhD program. But it's something you should definitely check into before you make a decision.

[aaascootboy101]

I don't think they are going to start limiting MA students in the Comp Lit part of the department. At the very least, I heard nothing about it. I also wasn't aware of the changing situation in the English department, but I can tell you that this year, more than half of the potential English students who attended the visiting weekend already had Masters degrees. Of course quite a few of these were MFAs, so maybe those aren't the type of Masters they are looking to exclude?

[GK Chesterton]

Perhaps they meant that they would no longer be offering a terminal masters, and that all students with prior masters would have to begin their coursework over?

[Medievalmaniac]

Perhaps they meant that they would no longer be offering a terminal masters, and that all students with prior masters would have to begin their coursework over?

I think this is basically what it means, although I was told that because they are changing to a direct-admit program and severely limiting the number of MA-in-hand accepts beginning this year. I do know that as of next year most (all?)credits are not expected to transfer from a different MA program, but it appears to be more to do with their want to train their own PhDs their way from the beginning - too much discrepancy in incoming cohorts in terms of how they do things from various programs. It does not apply to those holding the MFA degree, because MFAs going into an English PhD that's not a creative writing PhD have to do the English masters' work first, or most of it.

And, of course, I could be wrong - this is just what I was told by the Department Head and the DirEGS.

[Pamphilia]

Just to weigh in on the UNC MA issue--at the visiting weekend, about half of the prospective English students I met had MAs in hand. Of those with graduate degrees in hand, there were quite a few with MFAs, but far more with English MAs (of those I met). I didn't meet a single Comp Lit prospective without an MA in hand (in English or another language or Comp Lit itself). I talked to the Director of Grad Studies and they are changing the structure of the English program next year. I didn't hear how it would affect admissions for current MA-holders, BUT they will definitely start accepting fewer credits from previous MA coursework. While English and Comp Lit are housed in the same department, they currently accept very few credits from external MA coursework for Comp Lit students, but accept an *astounding* number of credits from previous MA coursework for English doctoral candidates. They're going to be chopping the number of transfer credits they accept from English students significantly in the coming year(s). Does this make sense?

OP, personally I'd take the PhD and run and pass on the MA program, funded or not, for the following reasons:

1) Neither UNC nor UC Davis is anything to sneeze at. Clearly you're aiming very, very high, which is cool. Still, I'm not sure how much better off you'd be with a terminal MA from Darthmouth rather than from one of the other programs. Try not to be distracted by the Ivy thing. It won't mean much in this case. I'm not sure that Dartmouth's MA program would look any more impressive than an MA from UNC or UC Davis, which brings me to my next point...

2) If you go to UNC or UCD, you'll already be in a PhD program. That means you can stay if you want, but you will also have the option to transfer to another program after a year or after you receive your MA. Unlike the terminal MA, which leaves you with only one option.

3) A terminal MA may mean many more years in school. As I noted before, pretty much all of the incoming Comp Lit PhD students at UNC will have MAs in hand, but they will receive almost NO credit for their previous coursework. As far as these things go, they're starting over from scratch. So I'm not sure why you'd want to take on a terminal MA if your goal is to head into a PhD program anyway. You'll have more options if you go for UNC or UC Davis here--to finish a PhD in a timely manner or transfer and start over elsewhere (or hit the jackpot and get your new program to take your credits, which might be possible!).

I think this is basically what it means, although I was told that because they are changing to a direct-admit program and severely limiting the number of MA-in-hand accepts beginning this year. I do know that as of next year most (all?)credits are not expected to transfer from a different MA program, but it appears to be more to do with their want to train their own PhDs their way from the beginning - too much discrepancy in incoming cohorts in terms of how they do things from various programs. It does not apply to those holding the MFA degree, because MFAs going into an English PhD that's not a creative writing PhD have to do the English masters' work first, or most of it.

And, of course, I could be wrong - this is just what I was told by the Department Head and the DirEGS.

Edited April 27, 2010 by Pamphilia

[Kursty]

Hello,

Basically I am juggling three different options--yes, it is past the April 15th deadline, but I have deadline extensions from all schools due to waitlisting circumstances.

Essentially, here is my problem: I could go to Dartmouth for a fully funded MA and then reapply to hopefully get into top Comp Lit PhD Programs. Or, I could go to UC Davis or NC Chapel Hill for a PhD in Comp Lit. If you were me, what would you do? Assuming you think it's a better idea to just dive in for a PhD, which school has a better comparative literature program? In terms of fit, they're about the same for me.

Thank you so much.

Am I forgetting something, but weren't you also accepted into CUNY and were seriously considering going there? What happened?

[strokeofmidnight]

Sorry, I just had to weigh in on this comment. UNC-CH is moving to a nearly exclusively direct-admit program in the English department beginning next year - meaning that they will be accepting almost no one who already holds an MA. I was told this by the department chair and also by the Director of Graduate English Studies. Because of this, they already began this year to severely limit the number of students they admitted to the program who already hold the MA. I don't know if this is also going to be the case with Comp Lit, since it falls under the aegis of the English department but is a separate PhD program. But it's something you should definitely check into before you make a decision.

I'm sure that you are right that UNC-CH is moving towards a direct-admit PhD process. (I can't speak first-hand, but have earlier similar news about other programs that currently ask all BA holders to apply to the MA program first, even if the expectation--and funding package--suggests that they would stay on for the full PhD). However, I do want to point out that choosing to NOT accept students with an MA is an entirely separate issue. Many programs (and just about all the strongest ones) accept will accept students with an MA, but basically expect them to reset the clock. They might be granted some transfer credits (usually up to a semester's worth), but not enough so that they can take orals or start their dissertation early. I wouldn't assume that a direct-admit process (which seems to be the "industry standard") signals an unwillingness to admit students that previously hold an MA. Most of those students--the well-informed ones, at least--expect to "start over" anyway when they begin their PhD's.

Edited April 28, 2010 by strokeofmidnight