Need some advice

[Tnashen]

Hello, all. 

I need some advice.

 

I hold a PhD in Arabic studies in Armenia. But I don't work in that field. That makes me upset. So, I decided to do PhD in the USA. I am not sure that my Armenian degree is equivalent to the US PhD degree. And if I want to find a job somewhere out of Armenia, I should have a internationally recognized education. I am not a great English speaker, as you can see from how I write, but I am sure that I will get 105-110 TOEFL, and 315-320 GRE, quantitative 165-168, verbal 155-160, essay 4-4,5. I consider two directions for my PhD; Armenian Studies and Arabic studies. But as far as I understand Armenian Studies are not very demanded. 

 

I will be grateful for every information. Do I have any chances do get to a Graduate School in the USA?Which Universities will be good for me? Should I at first get an appointment with an adviser or supervisor or how it is called or it is not mandatory? 

 

And are there any age limits? I am 31-year-old, but I got tired of my current job and decided to change something in my life. I hope it is not too late )

 

Thank you!!!

[Crucial BBQ]

I do not understand why an Armenian Ph.D. would only be good within Armenia.  Unless there is something very shady with higher education in your country your degree should be just as good as an American Ph.D. For what it is worth the American Ph.D. is modeled after the traditional "old" European Ph.D. 

 

The problem that you really face is that you want to earn the same Ph.D. twice.  A good number of U.S. programs will not admit students who already possess a Ph.D., or its equivalent.  I can imagine even less wanting to admit a student who has already earned a Ph.D. in the same subject he is wanting to study in the U.S. 

 

What you need to do is to find a few programs in the U.S. that interests you and contact them.  Ask them if it is even possible.  I don't know which one will be best for you but universities on the East Coast of the United States might be your best bet as Eastern/Southern Europeans tend to "favor" the coast from Maine down to Maryland.  

 

To your age: in the U.S. it does not matter.  You can be 21 or 61.  

[Aski]

I would say that your first best step would be to look at employment outside of Armenia and see if your degree would be recognized. If so, wonderful! If not, while it is possible to hold more than one Phd, two in similar fields as the poster above said is unlikely, but I guess that would also depend on your area of research, thesis topic, and if the Phd would be identical given the research. You are never too old, I am 34 and beginning my master's in Sept

[Tnashen]

Thank you!!

[ExponentialDecay]

I do not understand why an Armenian Ph.D. would only be good within Armenia.  Unless there is something very shady with higher education in your country your degree should be just as good as an American Ph.D. For what it is worth the American Ph.D. is modeled after the traditional "old" European Ph.D. 

 

Posting because this is a common, and unfortunate, misconception held by many people in the first world.

 

Degrees from developing countries are often held as less rigorous or indeed shady by adcomms, employers, other academics, and in some situations, immigration in developed countries. There is an element of truth to this, due to lack of academic funding, lack of resources, brain drain, particularities of the local bureaucracy, and just a general geographic, linguistic, cultural, and economic distance of the country from the current research powerhouses. It somewhat depends on the discipline - for instance, the post-Soviet area's graduates of the theoretical sciences are held in esteem (though depends on the university too) - but especially in social sciences and cultural studies, the ideological and theoretical differences are so vast, the lack of knowledge of the main lingue franca acknowledged in the western academy is so wide-spread that these graduates are often ill-adapted to academic life in the west, at least. I mean, academics in the US won't speak to you if you got your degree from a good but not super famous university in another country - how do you think a person would do if their colleagues can't even place their country on a map?

 

Additionally, whereas Armenia is geographically considered Europe, it is not in fact a European country in any other sense. I strongly, I would say within a 1% error bound, suspect that the Armenian educational system is modeled after the Soviet system - in which case, yeah, if you're a graduate of anything but math or physics, you're gonna have a hard time.

 

Converting a degree from a developing country in the west costs a great deal of money and involves an amount of effort. More importantly, if one intends to work in academia, one may not have the personal network necessary to advance. That's why you hear about immigrants with PhDs driving taxis in New York.

 

But yes, the OP will need to check individual websites of programs to see if they allow students to enroll for a) a second PhD in the same subject. I'm not even sure Armenian Studies is a thing, though.

[JustChill]

ExponentialDecade is right on point. Armenia suffers from two decades of post-Soviet budgetary neglect, and most Western academics view graduates from Armenia with suspicion, unless they excelled in physics at Yerevan State and then went on to work/get additional training in Western Europe. 

 

Tnashen: there are no Armenian studies programs in the US, with the notable exception of the one at the University of Michigan, although it does not offer graduate degrees. You should look into contacting people--both faculty and affiliated grad students--from there. I also suggest casting your net wider by considering the multiple Russian and East European Studies (REES) programs throughout the US. Many of them offer funding (such as FLAS fellowships for language study), and their interdisciplinary focus gives much freedom to students. If you're dead set on writing another dissertation, then spending a year or two working on an MA in REES may work to your advantage on multiple levels. Your main focus right now should be on researching the available options and making contacts, rather than worrying about specific GRE scores, etc.  

[Tnashen]

Thanks. I never thought about REES programs. It makes sense with my knowledge of Russian, but on the other hand it is not what I I am interested in. I will probably give up Armenian studies and more focus on Arabic Studies programs. And of course I am making contacts with potential advisers. My PhD is translated PhD in Philology, so PhD in Middle Eastern Studies may be considered something different and I hope my degree will not be a big barrier. And one more question. I have already found professors from different high schools in the USA who say that they can work with me if I am admitted. But I know that not only personal statement but also recommendation letters  are very important. My potential recommenders are my university professors, my supervisor and opponents. But as you say Armenian school of Middle Eastern studies is not of high reputation in the USA. So, does that mean that my recommendation letters will be of not big value. And the other problem is the personal statement. Of course I read a lot in online resources how it should be written and so on. But if there were any samples of successful statements, it would help me greatly. Thank you. 

[Tnashen]

And one more question. If a professor from a graduate school answers me that if I am admitted she or he will be glad to work with me, and now I have no any other questions to her now, does that mean that I can apply to that program and be sure that I have a potential adviser there or I must somehow continue writing emails to her all these period  till December so as she doesn't forget about me? ))

[ExponentialDecay]

continue writing emails to her all these period  till December so as she doesn't forget about me?

 

please don't do that. in general, when applying outside of the laboratory sciences, you shouldn't worry so much about your adviser, as you will have to take classes first and acclimatize yourself in the department anyway. not to mention, professors, especially at highly competitive universities, get so many emails from prospective students that i'm sure your poi would be grateful if you didn't add to her workload:)

 

but seriously - and I am likely to get slammed for this by people with good intentions - do consider applying for a masters first. the funding situation in masters programs for international students especially is pretty dire, and given your research experience, i don't think it's impossible for you to get admitted to a PhD, but if you want to get into a good program, and especially if you want to stay in the West after graduation, your english will have to improve. you're good for quotidian life and for quantitative degrees, but academic writing in the humanities and social sciences is a whole different beast, both in terms of fluency required and knowledge of forms and conventions. 

Edited May 1, 2014 by ExponentialDecay

[JustChill]

Your recommendations from Armenian professors won't pose any problems, as long as they are written in English and they know you well. As far as statements of purpose, try reaching out to specific current grad students and explaining your unique situation. I found grad students to be an excellent resource when I was going through the application process. Finally, no need to annoy the hell out of your potential advisor by emailing them incessantly. Maybe shoot them one more email once you've actually submitted the application, but don't over do it.