Differences between MA and PhD

[wtncffts]

Most of these topics in this forum seem to be about life in grad school in general. I'd like to know what differences there are, in your experience, between being in an MA program and a PhD? I'm not talking about the obvious stuff, like having to do a dissertation, comp exams, etc., but more how it feels: your sense of self within the department and academia, your relationships with faculty, intellectual life, your perceptions and attitudes towards undergrads as a TA, and so on. I've done an MA and will be starting a PhD in the fall, and I'm thinking that it will essentially be a continuation of the MA rather than something qualitatively different. Is that your experience? Any thoughts would be great.

[wtncffts]

Nobody?

[Sparky]

Grades no longer matter! Well, I guess technically they do, and it's grad school so pretty much everyone does A-caliber work anyway, but the lack of stress about it is nice.

I was one of only a couple of MA students at my old program, so it was a little awkward socially--I was taking all the same classes as the first and second year PhD students, but it felt a little odd. And *totally* on my end, BTW; the faculty and PhD people treated me exactly like everyone else. Now, I'm in a program where everyone is a PhD student. I feel much more like I belong.

My own work or research has not gotten magically better or more advanced or anything. I'm still using the same piecemeal, half-history/half-theology methodology I used in my MA and find myself drawn to the same sorts of paper topics (probably the second is the result of the first) as I was before, so in the sense of the actual work I am doing, there is quite a bit of continuity.

It feels, however, much better.

[Thales]

Is it true that the MA is "more work"? (at least, the "day-to-day")

The PhD students in my department seem surprisingly lax in comparison to the MAs.

[StrangeLight]

the time crunch is less stressful once you're ABD (all but dissertation, so finished coursework, comps, overviews, etc.). in the MA, or even the coursework portion of a PhD, you'll frequently wish there were 28 hours in a day. the extra 4 would just make life so much easier. when you're done with all of those courses and defenses, i've been told that a weight lifts off your shoulders. all you have to do is everything you went there to do in the first place.