Taking time off after MA to apply for PhD

[londonite]

Hi there

 

I was just wondering what any of your thoughts are on applying to a PhD program a year after completing an MA. Do you think grades and letters of recommendation lose value over time? What have been your experiences? I don't think I can manage writing a thesis, TAing and applying schools at the same time so I was thinking of taking some time off to earn extra money and give dedicated time to the GRE and applications.

 

Thanks

[fuzzylogician]

Unless someone comes by to tell me that Lit is very different from other fields which I know more about, one year is not a long time to be out of school. We're talking about one semester of your being out of school before you start applying, right? Your MA education will still be the most recent thing on your resume, your grades will be reflective of your current work and thinking, and your letters will still be from people who have current knowledge of you as a candidate. I don't think there will be any issue at all.

[Dr. Old Bill]

Moreover, I know a lot of institutions encourage their students to take a gap year after either the BA or MA. The thinking is that since a Ph.D. program is a minimum of a five year commitment, having a year to gain so-called "real world" experience and perspective can be helpful. I think a gap year matters less the older you are, but the bottom line is that a large number of the people applying to the same programs that you will be applying to will have had a year (or more) off as well. So long as your letter-writers remember you, and you can make a simple comment or two in your SOP about why you took a year off, you'll be fine.

 

This process really can take up to a year. I first started researching Ph.D. programs back in late February, and most of the acceptances/rejections will come through by...late February. It's only because I took the process bit-by-bit throughout the year (and had a slow summer) that I was able to feel on top of things. I can definitely see the benefit in taking a year off for similar reasons.

[ProfLorax]

I took three years off between my MA and PhD. I applied to nine schools: accepted into five, wait listed at one, and rejected at three. I am not sharing my stats to be braggy but to answer your question: everyone is different, but my time away from academia did not hinder my applications. However, I will also say that I worked hard in my MA program to make connections with faculty and make an impression, which I think helped when I emailed them two years after graduation to ask for guidance and letters. 

[lyonessrampant]

I also took three years off and had offers from five schools (sharing like above to show that I don't think time away hurt me).  I agree that you need to make sure that you need to make an impression on your future letter writers in your MA, but if you take a year off, you'll be asking for letters really after only a summer away from the program, so I don't think you need to worry about that.  Your application will likely be stronger because you'll have more time to work on it.  My MA program strongly encouraged us to not apply during the program, though it was a one-year program, which makes applying while in the program particularly difficult.

[Academicat]

I worked for four years before returning for a PhD, and that experience was a strength in my applications. Because I'd done professional work in my field, I had ideas backed by experience, which led to plenty to discuss in my statement of purpose. Take some time off, but make sure you're doing something with that time. Try to earn money by doing work that will also grow your CV.

[zanmato4794]

Taking time off is great.

 

Not only have I had time and real income to pay down over four thousand dollars in credit card debt, but I've become more emotionally stable, I've healed my social life from the blows it took in graduate school, I've had time to dedicate to my strange hobbies that got neglected, and, more pertinently to the application process: I won two awards at the end of my master's program, did a conference presentation, and, if things go my way, I'm about to have a publication, none of which would have appeared on my CV if I had applied the fall before I graduated.

 

In addition to all this: I had time to ask myself, do I really want to do this?, and the resounding answer, after some time in the "real world," was yes, the real world is a terrible place for anyone with a soul, and--even if I have to get my degree at a low-ranked university and slave away teaching too many classes at a community college for the rest of my life--I know I would rather pursue literature than anything else, no matter how well paid.

 

Because I'm applying, this time around, to rather ambitious schools, I'm actually not even going to be that upset if I get rejected all over, because I know I will apply again (more modestly), and that, with more time, I'll be an even better applicant.

 

A rather serious caveat: I have no intentions of getting married or having children.

Edited November 1, 2014 by zanmato4794

[ProfLorax]

A rather serious caveat: I have no intentions of getting married or having children.

Hell, I'm married with our first kid on the way, and I think your advice is stellar and applies widely. I really appreciated the three years I took off; by the time I made the decision to apply, both my partner and I were sure that a PhD program was the only avenue for my ideal career. 

[Dr. Old Bill]

Yes. I mentioned it in another thread recently, but even though I'm married, 35, and am just finishing a Bachelor's degree, I don't necessarily see it as being a disadvantage. Do I have regrets? Sure. But there's really no substitute for life experience, even if it's not all good experience (perhaps especially if it's not all good experience...)

 

As a Ph.D. candidate, having that time off gives me perspective that some (just some! Don't worry younger folks, not all of you!) other candidates just won't possess. There's sure to be a bit of agism along the way, but the experience and focus that comes with simply having lived longer and seen and done more things, by and large, is probably worth the trade-off.

 

The downside is that a lot of advice one reads doesn't really pertain to someone in my situation. It's hard to find facts and figures on acceptance rates based on age, or based on people who have taken years off etc. Apocryphally, it seems to be more of an advantage than a disadvantage, but as with most aspects of this process, it's hard to say definitively.

[queennight]

The downside is that a lot of advice one reads doesn't really pertain to someone in my situation. It's hard to find facts and figures on acceptance rates based on age, or based on people who have taken years off etc. Apocryphally, it seems to be more of an advantage than a disadvantage, but as with most aspects of this process, it's hard to say definitively.

 

From the opposite side of the perspective, I've never taken the time to necessarily have breathing room between my degrees - I've charged through my Bachelors, then Masters, and now on to a further postgraduate degree (potentially). If I personally could do it again, I would have taken a longer Masters program or potentially a gap year between degrees (but alas, money was a big concern for me). I think it's a huge benefit to be able to have the extra time - not only do you not have to panic-apply and figure out what you want to write your thesis on in a tiny amount of time, but you also gain the life experience to be very comfortable in which direction your path takes you.

[danieleWrites]

I took a year and a half off. I also started with something of a handicap in that my MA was in a creative writing emphasis and I'm after a doctorate in literature/rhet/comp (don't ask, I'm long-winded). I adjuncted during that time and published some poetry, so I did "keep up" a bit. I got into my top pick with funding. YMMV, of course. I don't think taking time off will hurt you. Of course, anything you can do to add to the CV won't hurt, either, but I wouldn't sweat it. It's not like literature has the research obsolescence like Apple products do (the iPhone 6 is obsolete now, right?)

[littlepigeon]

I took two years off after getting my BA before starting my MA program, and have been taking the current year off (well, since August) to apply to Ph.D. programs. My MA program was only three quarters long, so it would have been impossible for me to apply to Ph.D. programs simultaneously. Regardless, though, I'll agree with everyone else's posts here; I don't think a break from your studies could at all hinder your chances of being accepted at most programs (and if they did reject you on that basis, you probably wouldn't want to enroll there anyway, right?).

[Dr. Old Bill]

This has nothing to do with anything, but... welcome back, Felibus! GC really missed you!