Thoughts on one-year MA programs?

[andromache]

Hello all! Unfortunately my PhD plans haven't quite worked out, but I'm receiving a number of unfunded and partially funded MA offers. At the moment, I think the best offer I have is from an MA program that only takes one year to complete. Has anyone done a one year MA program, or can anyone comment on how a one year program might look on PhD applications? My biggest concern is that a few months into the program I'll be putting out PhD applications again, and will not have built the necessary relationships with professors for letters of recommendation. Anyway, I'm just looking to see what others might have experienced in one year Master's program.

[igetstuffdunn]

I've got the same question, so anyone that has any advice would be welcome.

[hashslinger]

I did a two-year MA (funded) and it would have been next to impossible for me to ask for LORs in October of my first year. I hadn't even produced any writing yet. I don't think any professor worth his salt would have written me a letter at that point. Perhaps professors who work at one-year programs are equipped to handle this, however.

 

But most people I know who did a one-year MA took a year "off" after completing the MA in order to work on applications. I think this is wise. You probably won't be producing your best work until the end of that year, and that's the work you should be submitting for a PhD application. 

[iExcelAtMicrosoftPuns]

I did a two-year MA (funded) and it would have been next to impossible for me to ask for LORs in October of my first year. I hadn't even produced any writing yet. I don't think any professor worth his salt would have written me a letter at that point. Perhaps professors who work at one-year programs are equipped to handle this, however.

 

But most people I know who did a one-year MA took a year "off" after completing the MA in order to work on applications. I think this is wise. You probably won't be producing your best work until the end of that year, and that's the work you should be submitting for a PhD application. 

Hard to disagree with this.

I'd ask the dept. and I'd ask the grads... or at least see what they do after graduation. Do they get offered a little gig at the uni while the pump out apps the next year?

[Kamisha]

I’m not sure about one-year MA’s in the US, but all of the United Kingdom’s MA’s are one year and they are looked upon very well. 

 

I actually might be headed over there to do a second Master's next year before I start a PhD program next Fall (assuming I get acceptances). 

[graphgraphe]

I can speak to the Canadian context, where many if not most MA programs just take a year (UBC and McGill are the two exceptions I can think of). I'm in my second semester of an MA program, I made PhD applications last fall, and at the moment I've received four offers (all Canadian). You genuinely may have to solicit your BA professors for letters again, and use undergraduate work for your writing sample, but, at least in my limited experience, none of these were deal-breakers (I had to use undergraduate work as my sample when applying to what is generally considered to be our country's best English department, and I still got in). Moreover, some professors at your MA school might still be willing to write for you; they just might need something like a draft of your term paper in advance so they can speak to your writing abilities. Use your judgement: if you've developed a great working relationship with an MA professor in your first semester, then by all means ask. If you feel your BA professors can attest to your strengths in more detail, then ask them again. 

 

The advantages of the one-year program are that if you're really eager to get on with PhD-level work you won't feel like you're spinning your wheels for an extra year, and you won't have to worry about securing second-year funding. 

Edited March 6, 2014 by graphgraphe

[MariElizabeth]

Can you extend a one year program? 

[ar88]

I did a one year MA in the UK, and didn't even try to apply while I was studying. I was too busy, didn't have a strong writing sample, or develop relationships with the professors who eventually wrote LORs for me. Also, working on my MA thesis helped me shape my SOP and gave me a clearer idea of what I want to research at the PhD level. 

[Jimb]

I did a wonderful, funded two year MA before applying on, and found that it was hugely beneficial. When applying to PhD's, I gave particular attention to those programs that would allow me advanced standing (programs that take 3-4 more years beyond the MA, typically, rather than 5-6 years regardless of previous graduate experience.) After all that time invested, I needed a PhD program where I could be in dissertation phase after two years.

 

In other words: I think a terminal MA is a wonderful, useful, very advantageous thing. But after, find a program that will consider those years in a serious way toward your graduate training. Not a program that will ask you to start over on a possibly 7 year stint.