Preparation?

[negarey]

Hi everyone!!

 

I applied to three schools for MA programs this season. I was rejected from one, accepted to one, and haven't heard from the last one yet. I'm about 90% positive that I'm going to accept the one spot I've been offered regardless of the last school's decision because it's a much better fit.

 

I graduated from undergrad in June 2010, so I've been out of the game for a while, but my eventual goal is a PhD. Aside from becoming reacquainted with criticism and theory, is there anything anyone else might recommend that I should do to prepare for re-entering after several years? I definitely plan to do a lot of reading in the next six months, especially -- but not solely -- in my area of interest (18th Century British), and blogging about my reading so I can get used to writing again, but I still feel like I'm missing something.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone has attended UMass Boston and can tell me their experiences with the program, I'd appreciate that too!

[Alex Stinson]

Though I did a direct transition from undergrad to my Masters at K-State, my peers who did take a break found themselves at something of an advantage in the way of time management, and confidence. Writing was something that, though they took a little while warming up to the work, they found came back pretty intuitively.

 

I would only worry about getting a better definition of what you want to work on. One thing to think about: Masters projects and theses come up pretty quick in two year programs, and if you go in strategically taking coursework, reading criticism and researching term papers around something your really care about, it puts you at a huge advantage. This allows your writing process and original ideas to take longer to mature, thus be stronger (and more publishable). I walked in with a couple research agendas, and those took me to several conferences, and got most of a draft for my masters project before the end of my first year. This allowed me to spend my second year developing marketable skills, like Digital Humanities, a journal article, guest lecturing in Professor's courses, and writing PhD applications (which is like taking an extra class during the fall leading up to the semester when you have to have a full draft done of your project/thesis).