Creative Writing MFA to Lit PhD?

[Put a cat on it]

Hi all,
 
I'm considering applying for PhD programs in literature (19th century Brit lit, to be specific), but I'm afraid I'm not at all competitive. I'm finishing up my MFA in Creative Writing this year and have a BA in English, but I don't have a ton of research under my belt or much graduate coursework in literature. We take 12 hours worth of lit courses for our MFA, however. I also have zero teaching experience because it was better, financially, to continue working full-time during my MFA than being a TA.
 
Anyway, should I even consider PhD programs or should I start with an MA? Maybe MA/PhD track?

 

 

[heliogabalus]

I'd go straight for the PhD--I'm in a similar situation and wonder about applying for a PhD sometimes. You have 4 classes or so of grad level lit classes, right, so you can get recs from those professors and use papers you wrote in those classes.

[eku5]

Hi Elaina,

 

I'm jumping from creative writing into literature. Definitely speak with your professors that you took the grad level lit courses with. They can help strengthen your application. If you apply to a funded MA program, it wouldn't hurt. The MA program can give you a chance to explore your research interests some more. I think it depends a lot on what your goals are and what you are most comfortable with.

Edited April 18, 2014 by storypetals

[cloudofunknowing]

I agree with heliogabalus -- I have an MFA in Poetry, an AB in English, and will be entering UT-Austin's PhD program this Fall to study medieval and early modern British lit. At UT, at least, they consider incoming students with MFA's to be incoming students with a Masters degree. Also, for what it's worth, I wasn't a TA while an MFA student, either. You could, of course, apply for MA/PhD programs -- and it is true that some programs would want you to have an MA in English and might not consider an MFA in Creative Writing to be "equivalent" -- I encountered few programs that wanted me to go get an MA in English before knocking on their doctoral door.

 

My MFA program was similar in terms of graduate-level literary studies: we had to take 12 hours, too. Because I knew that the area I'd most likely want to study at the PhD level was medieval and early modern, I very intentionally took literature classes in those areas so that, when applying, I could 1) demonstrate to a committee that I was capable of doing graduate-level work in my proposed area of study, 2) to foster relationships with instructors I'd likely end up asking for rec letters, and 3) so that I would have a reason to write a term paper germane to my interests in spirituality and sexuality. (I don't know if this is ironic or telling or not, but I was the only MFA student in those literature courses; everyone else was an MA lit or rhet/comp student.)

 

Two pieces of advice that I would give as someone with an MFA who applied for a PhD in a quote-un-quote "different" field -- Creative Writing/Poetry versus Medieval/Renaissance Studies etc -- would be to make very clear in your statement of purpose what your "scholarly" interests/goals are. &, also, to do everything possible to have your writing sample be well-aligned with your proposed areas of interest. I'd even say that I "downplayed" my interests/aspirations as a poet because I wanted to emphasize the scholarly interests & "prove" that I had the wherewithal to do both. & the desire to do both.  

[heliogabalus]

Medieval studies at UT--that's awesome. I took a Chaucer class and some medieval Latin classes there.

[Put a cat on it]

Well, two of my lit classes are 18th/19th century lit (one will be this summer), although I cheated and used an internship for one of my four classes.

 

I have a great lit prof who is also one of my thesis advisors, so I'll talk to her, as well. It's good to know other MFAs have been successful, though.

 

Also, if anyone has any recs for programs - specifically 19th century and Jane Austen - that would be splendid.

[heliogabalus]

Aren't Rutgers and Indiana two of the big Victorian schools? Also CUNY b/c of Talia Schaffer? (I'm sure all the other big name-schols are strong too.)

[angelperak]

I have a BA in English, and an Master's in creative writing, and will be entering a lit PhD program this Fall. I think what helped my applications most were:

1) a strong writing sample (my Master's thesis had to be partly creative, partly critical so I made sure that the critical portion related to my future research interests and then used that for my applications).

2) Showing how my creative interests tied into my literary interests in my statement of purpose.

3) I also had 2 years of teaching experience, and spent time as a research assistant on two different research projects.

 

If you get strong LORs from your lit teachers and develop a writing sample that relates in some way to the research interests stated in your statement of purpose, then I don't see why you can't apply straight to PhD programs without getting an MA.

[Put a cat on it]

Thanks for the responses! The thought of applying to school for a third time kind of makes me want to die, but I'd love to attend a program. But I still have a little time to decide.