Comp Lit/humanities- advice on deciding which offer?

[apatheticalliterations]

Hi all! Since admission results have been rolling in, I thought I'd start this thread for people to share some tips/advice on things to consider when choosing your offer for humanities phd.

I saw a lot of STEM folks say that the match with advisor is a top priority, but for humanities, many of us will be working with an advising committee which makes the experience less one-on-one and more up to the department. Maybe current phd students can share your experiences, i.e. what are some things you wish you'd known when making your decision?

 

For me personally, I'd love to hear some advice on how much/in what ways TAship affects the phd experience?

I'm debating between program A with a financial package of 3 fellowship years + 2 TA years, VS program B with 6 full years of TAship. Program B is better-known, located in a better city, and stipend totals a higher amount, but is it really worth it if I have to TA 20hrs/week for the entirety of the program?

 

If you are a recently admitted student with a similar dilemma, please share so we could all put in our two cents!!

[postcolonialdialectics]

If I were you, I'd consider taking the Program B because teaching will always provide you the space to talk about topics of interest to you (and your research). The hard part is just grading. If you hate teaching, then maybe consider Program A but I don't imagine a PhD student in the humanities would hate it. 

The city is definitely a big add-on to the other experiences you can get. Plus, I imagine that Program B might be able to offer external university fellowships for the dissertation writing years? 

[HipsterDoofus]

I am also in the middle of decision hell...I have two offers on the table that are good for very different reasons.

Program A is a school which ranks in the 80s. It's close to where I currently live (though I'd still move) and is a lovely campus with an awesome set of scholars in my field--they recently guaranteed one class per semester in my area even. I've also been awarded a top grad scholarship that gives me an additional 15k per year for years 2-5, plus 3k annually for research, travel, etc. I also have no teaching responsibilities (which weirdly is a bit of a problem admittedly since I want to teach post-grad).

Program B is a top 25 school about 10 hours away from where I reside. The stipend is about the same amount that I was originally offered by Program A before receiving the scholarship. There are likely many more research opportunities and definitely many more classes offered per semester than Program A, and naturally, many faculty working in my field as well. This school also seems to place a lot of their grads in teaching positions post-PhD, especially compared to Program A. 

At the end of the day, I know I would be happy at either program, but I wanted to hear from others if prestige / job placement should always outweigh financial considerations, drastic as they may be. Also, I am curious if the scholarship I received would "increase" the ranking of the school in the eyes of hiring committees post-grad. Thanks in advance for advice! I wish the best for everyone making these tough decisions!

 

[Mikha]

5 hours ago, HipsterDoofus said:

I am also in the middle of decision hell...I have two offers on the table that are good for very different reasons.

Program A is a school which ranks in the 80s. It's close to where I currently live (though I'd still move) and is a lovely campus with an awesome set of scholars in my field--they recently guaranteed one class per semester in my area even. I've also been awarded a top grad scholarship that gives me an additional 15k per year for years 2-5, plus 3k annually for research, travel, etc. I also have no teaching responsibilities (which weirdly is a bit of a problem admittedly since I want to teach post-grad).

Program B is a top 25 school about 10 hours away from where I reside. The stipend is about the same amount that I was originally offered by Program A before receiving the scholarship. There are likely many more research opportunities and definitely many more classes offered per semester than Program A, and naturally, many faculty working in my field as well. This school also seems to place a lot of their grads in teaching positions post-PhD, especially compared to Program A. 

At the end of the day, I know I would be happy at either program, but I wanted to hear from others if prestige / job placement should always outweigh financial considerations, drastic as they may be. Also, I am curious if the scholarship I received would "increase" the ranking of the school in the eyes of hiring committees post-grad. Thanks in advance for advice! I wish the best for everyone making these tough decisions!

 

There are more recent studies, but this is an article that I found helpful:

https://read.dukeupress.edu/pedagogy/article-abstract/15/1/139/20455/Where-Do-PhDs-in-English-Get-Jobs-An-Economist-s

Of course, this may not matter if you're not wedded to the idea of staying in academia after finishing your PhD, or if Program A has a strong track record of placing people into a local, robust community college system or private high schools, etc. — anything that would help you avoid living in adjunct hell for the rest of your life.

Can't speak to the impact that program-specific scholarships might have on your competiveness during your graduate career, or afterwards.

[HipsterDoofus]

16 hours ago, Mikha said:

There are more recent studies, but this is an article that I found helpful:

https://read.dukeupress.edu/pedagogy/article-abstract/15/1/139/20455/Where-Do-PhDs-in-English-Get-Jobs-An-Economist-s

Of course, this may not matter if you're not wedded to the idea of staying in academia after finishing your PhD, or if Program A has a strong track record of placing people into a local, robust community college system or private high schools, etc. — anything that would help you avoid living in adjunct hell for the rest of your life.

Can't speak to the impact that program-specific scholarships might have on your competiveness during your graduate career, or afterwards.

Thank you - this article was very interesting and helpful to consider!