Ball State OR Kent State PhD in English

[Perfume of Arabia]

Hello everyone

 

This is my first post on this forum although i have been browsing it for months. I love it and it really helped me in my applications. I am an International student and i have been offered an admission by Kent State and Ball State for fall 2013. Now i am not sure which one has the perfect program for me. But I love the program at Ball State, it is a diverse and gives me the freedom to choose the courses and the professors that better prepares towards my dissertation. However  it is a very long program (90 hours credit) and this may take me 6 years to finish. On the contrary, Kent state seems to have a short program (30 hours excluding the dissertation hours). This made the program less diverse and less preparatory to me. However, i am not good yet at making distinguishing between both programs but this what it seems to me like so far. Any suggestions? I would like to hear your valuable views regarding this.   Thanks in Advance

[toasterazzi]

Hello! I don't know anything about Kent State, and I don't much detail about the graduate program at Ball State. However, I did get my Bachelor's Degree in English Education at Ball State, and I can say that the English department is pretty cool. They always had a great mix classes available each semester and the profs were, by and large, approachable and helpful. The campus is pretty nice as well, and they're always in a state of updating some building or another. And student life is quite active with several campus groups and various free athletic events, so there's always something to do. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Edited March 22, 2013 by reluctantmidwesterner

[Perfume of Arabia]

Hello! I don't know anything about Kent State, and I don't much detail about the graduate program at Ball State. However, I did get my Bachelor's Degree in English Education at Ball State, and I can say that the English department is pretty cool. They always had a great mix classes available each semester and the profs were, by and large, approachable and helpful. The campus is pretty nice as well, and they're always in a state of updating some building or another. And student life is quite active with several campus groups and various free athletic events, so there's always something to do. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

 

Hi reluctantmidwesterner! that was long name lol. Thanks for you comment. What you mentioned about the campus and the faculty is very true, at least from what i have found so far through my research. However i am still worried about the course load. Not sure if the department is going to allow me to apply some hours of master-level credit towards the 90-hour requirement. I have checked their graduate catalog and nothing is mentioned about that

[hashslinger]

I believe that Kent State and Ball State are more involved in rhet/comp rather than literature (one of my favorite rhet/comp professors got her PhD at Ball State). But I have no idea how reputable they are among all rhet/comp programs.

 

For English literature, they are not recognized nationally.

 

Most PhD programs take 5-7 years to finish. Most will require 1-2 years of coursework, exams, and 1-3 years of dissertation writing. I wouldn't pay too much attention to things like credit hours but instead look at the general progression of the program and the number of years it takes most students to get through.

[Perfume of Arabia]

I believe that Kent State and Ball State are more involved in rhet/comp rather than literature (one of my favorite rhet/comp professors got her PhD at Ball State). But I have no idea how reputable they are among all rhet/comp programs.

 

For English literature, they are not recognized nationally.

 

Most PhD programs take 5-7 years to finish. Most will require 1-2 years of coursework, exams, and 1-3 years of dissertation writing. I wouldn't pay too much attention to things like credit hours but instead look at the general progression of the program and the number of years it takes most students to get through.

 

Hi Hashlinger, your comment is appreciated I am not sure about what you mean by your claim that the English literature program are not nationally recognized at both schools! i have checked the US news website and both programs are well ranked and recognized 

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/kent-state-university-kent-campus-203517/overall-rankings

[dazedandbemused]

Kent State is at #113 and Ball State is at #134...how is that well ranked? For what it's worth, the only person I know doing a PhD at Ball State is a rhet/comp PhD and she already had a tenure-track job lined up before she started.

[Fishbucket]

ball state hahahahahahahha it's called BALL state!

[ComeBackZinc]

ball state hahahahahahahha it's called BALL state!

 

And you get mad when people call you a troll.

[toasterazzi]

Oh how new. Not like we never heard that before. Also, Testicle Tech, Balls Taint, etc. We have shirts that say "I'd rather Ball U than IU" .

 

At any rate, Aqeeli, I'm not sure about how much credit will or won't transfer, but it looks like Dr. Christman is the person you'd probably want to ask. I never had her as a prof, but she's really nice and I bet she can help you out.

[hashslinger]

I don't want to open a new wanky debate about the validity of rankings ... but anything ranked in the 100s is not considered good. That's not to say that people don't thrive in these programs, or that they don't get jobs or publish wonderful things. But it would be EXTREMELY difficult to do a national job search in English literature with a PhD from a school ranked in the 100s.

 

Whatever you decide will have to do with your goals. If you're planning on returning to Saudi Arabia and teaching there, then perhaps the specifics of your American PhD won't matter--just that you have one. If you're planning on going into rhet/comp, then you might be in good shape (but again, I have no idea about the prestige of rhet/comp programs). But if you're planning on staying in the U.S. and doing a national job search in a literature field, then you might want to think twice.