Chinese History

[Chinese History]

Hello everybody. I have been reading everybody's posts for awhile and decided to write a post myself.

I have just started looking into getting a Masters Degree or a Ph.D and would like to receive some opinions.

First of all, I am 32 years old and have been out of school for sometime now. I would like to go back to school because I enjoy learning and would like to find a good, challenging job. How old are most graduate students? I don't want to be the 'old guy' in the class. Furthermore, it seems that there is a lot of competition in the U.S. history department. I have been thinking about looking for a major in Chinese history. I'm not sure what time period yet, but I think it is interesting and maybe there will be more jobs in the future considering how fast China is growing and its power in the world. I actually have been living in China for the past two years and can speak Chinese relatively well. Anybody have any ideas on whether this is a pragmatic subject to research?

I would also like to know about funding. Is it possible to work a full-time job while studying? How do I get a fellowship? Financial Aid? Is a master degree not worth it; should go straight for a Ph.D? Does anybody have experience with schools abroad? Particularly an accredited school in China?

Thanks!

[jasper.milvain]

Hello everybody. I have been reading everybody's posts for awhile and decided to write a post myself.

Welcome to the board!

First of all, I am 32 years old and have been out of school for sometime now. I would like to go back to school because I enjoy learning and would like to find a good, challenging job. How old are most graduate students? I don't want to be the 'old guy' in the class.

There are lots of grad students in their 30s, 40s, 50s. In my experience, the majority are in their mid-twenties, but you certainly won't stand out at 32.

I would also like to know about funding. Is it possible to work a full-time job while studying? How do I get a fellowship? Financial Aid? Is a master degree not worth it; should go straight for a Ph.D?

Some programs run part time to allow their students to work, but these are few and far between. Part time students also have miserably low completion rates compared to their full time colleagues. And once you're on the job market, you'll be competing with people who had the luxury of devoting all their time not just to studying, but to all of the extra work that comes along with grad school: going to conferences, polishing papers for publication, networking, and serving on committees. If you want to give yourself the best chance possible of finishing, and finishing in competitive shape, go full time.

Funding will vary from school to school. It is more likely that you will get full funding for a PhD than for an MA. You can find information on school and department websites, or politely contact the director of grad studies to ask about funding. You can look through the results pages here for some info on funding packages, or poke around the 'history' sub-forum. I don't know about schools in China.

One more thing you should definitely do before applying is make sure you know what the current research in your field looks like. This is key. Get access to JSTOR or Project Muse or the MLA bibliography through a library and read up on recent articles both in the broader discipline, and in your sub-field. This will help you write a statement of purpose that sounds feasible, and help your admissions. It will also let you know if you're suited for producing research in the current climate (ie-that the methodology hasn't changed so much since you were an undergrad that you can't stand it anymore). Enjoying learning is great, but it's not enough for grad school. You also need to enjoy producing research, and producing it in a publishable form.

Best of luck, and enjoy your summer.

[Chinese History]

Thanks jasper.milvain for taking the time to reply to my post. I hope you have a great summer as well.