Starting an MA, how to prepare for a PhD

[Caganer]

I am about to start an interdisciplinary MA this Fall. Although its possible to do the program in a year, I will most likely do it in a year and a half. I am planning on applying to PhD programs in History in the Fall of 2013 for admission in Fall 2014. That means I have a year and a half to prepare an application. I did my BA in Literature and took only a few history courses. I am planning on taking as many history courses during my MA as possible.

I am curious to know how others, who did an MA first, prepared themselves (successfully) for a PhD. Language studies, trying to get published, perfecting a masters thesis for submission as a writing sample, presenting at conferences, archival research, cultivating relationships with professors? What would you say are the most important things to accomplish while in an MA?

Thanks so much!

[Ganymede18]

of course, ideally you would do all of these things (and more), but any combination can be successful. you can't really be successful without good relationships with profs (I assume you mean at your MA institution--interacting with POIs at Ph.D. programs is overrated, imo). In Latin American and Caribbean studies, i imagine your languages are already strong. if not, of course you will need that. my partner is published and has pieces in the works, and i think this helped her apps, but it's not required or expected at the doctoral application level in the humanities. conferences are good CV fodder and also a good opportunity to talk to people in your field. depends on the program, but i also think SOP is more important than writing sample, provided writing sample is competent.

[heyles]

I agree with Ganymede, in that good -- genuine! -- working relationships are very important. To be taken seriously, though, don't act like a doormat or some freaky fan who stalks their office hours. Be professional, do good work in their classes, and if you're a TA, be reliable. The running joke in my department is that showing up and following directions is 85% of success in anything, lol. So far, it's been more than true.

This is more advice that has been given to me, and has served me very, very well.

1. Do some serious scholarship, and present at well-known conferences -- it can be graduate student conferences at well-known institutions, or perhaps regional, state, or national conferences. I'm not talking about AHA, but get on some list-servs at H-NET to stay in the loop for what's coming up. Try to hit up one or two a year, just to get your CV started. It's also a great way to make contacts, because most of the professors who volunteer to chair panels are genuinely interested in students and are open to questions and future communication. Plus, it's a cool way to get to know your peers at other colleges and get the inside dirt on their programs!

2. Start researching what PhD programs you want to apply to, and see if there's anyone teaching there that you could even work with. Read their books and articles to find out if their fields of interest complement yours in some way. Usually, when folks choose doc students for admission, it's not just whether or not the student would be a good fit in their department, but whether or not the program would be a good fit for them and if there is a professor who could guide and advise you in a substantive, meaningful way.

3. Related to the above, most PhD programs have a list of their current grad students and brief bios. Look at your peer's trajectory. What kinds of colleges did they get their BA or MA from? Do their current doc students have a ton of professional experience? Internships? Are there common themes? These could be things their admissions committee look for.

4. Be well-rounded but balanced. Don't try to do everything, but focus on doing a few things very well. Don't try to be president of every graduate committee on your campus, or volunteer for every event. Find things you are really, really interested in and get involved deeply. Building relationships that way will serve you a lot better when it comes to letters of recommendations, because they will be able to speak well of the work you did, rather than you being some random -- or worse, absent -- part of that work.

And most importantly,

5. Be kind to everyone. You never know who is watching, who they know, and what kind of impression you are leaving. Academia can be a very small community, and just treating people with sincere kindness and interest can open a lot of doors. Just be yourself, act like an adult, and treat everyone well. Usually, people with the most power and influence are also the most unassuming, and you may never know until after you talked with them just exactly who they are.

[Caganer]

Thanks so much for the advice heyles! Great stuff. You touched on a lot of great ideas. Did you do the MA before PhD route?

[kotov]

I'd add also that you may want to at least have a couple of minor publications under your belt. Try using h-net's announcements to find stuff; oftentimes a lot of smaller journals and conferences will post CfPs there and you can maybe do a couple of book reviews as well. It'd be great if you could get funding to do language study in your area as well, during the summer months or something.

[heyles]

Great point, kotov! H-Net is awesome.

And yup, Caganer, I went into a terminal MA program. It worked for me. It's a small program that had enough flexibility for me to do what I wanted within its (somewhat limited) offerings, and I picked up a minor to round out my course schedule. The biggest thing was that I got a lot of support, so I was able to build on a lackluster undergrad GPA (now a distant memory), did a sweet paid internship at the Smithsonian, presented some original research at a couple of national and international conferences, and am currently a finalist for a Fulbright. And I go to a no-name, medium-sized state school. In the South. But because it's a small pond, I got scholarship money and a TA-ship that covered my expenses, was reimbursed for a lot of my travel, and was invited onto some cool campus projects.

None of those things would have ever been possible coming straight out of my bachelor's degree. The feedback I've gotten from potential advisors in PhD programs has been very supportive re: applying next year (which is, of course, just feedback -- not admission! ) but there's no way I would even be having those conversations without the experience/polish I picked up in my MA.

The advice I gave earlier has helped me a lot, and it's something that I see a lot of my peers NOT do -- to detrimental effect. In my current job, I work with a lot of professors from other departments with doc programs, and when they gripe about their graduate students, a lot of it has to do with a lack of professionalism, their poor fit in the department/university culture (despite interviews before admission, even!), or their complete lack-of-a-life outside of the degree, which makes them academically intolerant (of each other and/or new ideas) and socially unbearable. After you finish your PhD, you will end up being a peer to those professors, so acting like a well-rounded grown up from the beginning goes a really, really long way. If an MA will help that along, do it!

Forget the "right" way to do things. It's a total myth that the BA-to-top-tier-PhD track is the only way, or for everyone. Do what's best for your professional development, and find advisors and mentors who are genuinely interested in your success. Take in all of their advice, but be careful not to hitch your wagon to a single star (either one person or a single goal) and make the right decisions for you.

Edited March 21, 2012 by heyles

[TMP]

Professionalization above everything else. It is one thing that many PhD students don't *get* until they hit the job market. It means being kind, respectful of everyone not the professors you work with directly. Project self-confidence. Be willing to listen and know when not to ramble- maintain an engaging conversation. Learn to be tactful and patient when you're dealing with annoying people.

As for publishing, do not publish unless your research-oriented professors say "okay" and are very encouraging. Ask for journal suggestions. IIf they are low-tier, do not waste your time. Believe that your research is important.

Choose conferences that you know you will get a lot out of, not just presenting papers. Conferences mean setting up a meeting or two with other scholars, networking in the form of introducing yourself to the presenters who interest you, and talking with book exhibit people. There is a lot of socialization (see first point). So in particular, try to attend at least ONE conference in your subfield so you get the feel for what people are doing and what may the future trends be.

And..... choose your thesis topic asap so you can apply for summer funding asap with a sound proposal.

[Sigaba]

Professionalization above everything else. It is one thing that many PhD students don't *get* until they hit the job market. It means being kind, respectful of everyone not the professors you work with directly. Project self-confidence. Be willing to listen and know when not to ramble- maintain an engaging conversation. Learn to be tactful and patient when you're dealing with annoying people.

MOO, while managing relationships with stakeholders and projecting poise may be overlooked aspects of a doctoral students' training, they are but small parts of the professional training one receives as a doctoral student.

More crucial is the development of the technical and (for lack of a better term) the artistic skills of a historian. Examples of the former include knowing the contours of the profession's most significant historiographical debates, dynamic memory skills that can rapidly access short and long term memory, knowing the boundaries and limits of history (that is, what makes the study of history different from other closely related domains of knowledge) the ability to demonstrate a very high level of competence when discussing one's areas of specialization, the skill of rephrasing very complex arguments into cogent thumbnails, and, most of all, the ability to use archival sources and secondary works to create new knowledge.

Examples of a historian's "artistic" skills include writing very well, the ability to present engaging lectures, the skills to debate verbally multiple points of view of a given topic, and a way of thinking critically that undermines surety. And, when appropriate, to brawl intellectually. (Professors will deliberately push your buttons to assess --what I still haven't figured out yet.)

My $0.02.