Got a deferred, unfunded offer to a school in Philly. Should I take it?

[youngcharlie101]

Hi, everybody.

 

Well, my application season went up in flames. Last year, I got an offer of admission to Temple in Philadelphia for a PhD in English. The only downside was no funding. I'd have to pay out of pocket.

 

Back in August 2014, I deferred admission to Temple for one year and worked like hell to get into a funded program. I studied like a fiend for the GRE, I begged my professors for good letters, and I left my temp position just to solidify my application.

 

I have three schools left to hear from, but I am taking them all as implied rejections. I was planning on going to a nearby university to get my Master of Arts in Teaching. I'm trying to be an English teacher now since my first dream of being a professor went up in smoke.

 

But I just remembered my unfunded offer to Temple. Should I take it even though I'll be a commuter and I'm broke as sheet?

[gnarls_barkley]

Generally speaking, going into a completely unfunded PhD is a very, very bad idea. 

[.letmeinplz//]

Contact them and ask about potential funding. One of my unfunded MS offers told me that most MS students do get funding once they are on campus. That professors like to get to know the students during the first semester before committing to RA/TA. 

 

PhD is different though since it lasts more than 1.5 - 2 years, so worst case with an unfunded MS it is just 2 years of collecting debt. If you get the vibe that you won't be getting assistance quickly while at Temple you will have to accept that you will be collecting debt for 4-5 years (and I'm not sure English teacher will be able to pay off that much debt quickly).

 

Perhaps do your MA first and then try to get better offers for a PhD when you complete it (my intention on apping to MS programs was to make my PhD applications stronger) ?

[youngcharlie101]

Contact them and ask about potential funding. One of my unfunded MS offers told me that most MS students do get funding once they are on campus. That professors like to get to know the students during the first semester before committing to RA/TA. 

 

PhD is different though since it lasts more than 1.5 - 2 years, so worst case with an unfunded MS it is just 2 years of collecting debt. If you get the vibe that you won't be getting assistance quickly while at Temple you will have to accept that you will be collecting debt for 4-5 years (and I'm not sure English teacher will be able to pay off that much debt quickly).

 

Perhaps do your MA first and then try to get better offers for a PhD when you complete it (my intention on apping to MS programs was to make my PhD applications stronger) ?

 

Hi, Ian. Thanks for your help, dear friend. This is solid advice. But the thing is, I have my MA in Humanities. To be honest, I would love to go for a second MA in English Literature. I want to make my PhD applications as strong as possible.

 

But I'm torn. I want to get teaching experience at the same time. I wish to God I were an education major in college so I would at least have some teaching experience.

[astaroth27]

Time for some real talk youngcharlie. You should absolutely not take an unfunded offer from Temple University for a PhD. Without funding you will likely drop out once you run out of money. Best case is you work a full/part time job at the same time and take 10+ years to complete your degree. At the end, you will not be any closer to your dream of becoming a professor because your field is small and therefore extremely competitive and a PhD from Temple does not make you extremely competitive for a professorship. So, you end up being an adjunct for another 10 years while you build up credentials to become competitive.

With your MA I am pretty sure you can line up teaching jobs right now at a high school if that is what you want. You don't necessarily NEED an education degree to teach. More education is not always the best option. Sometimes the best thing is to go out in the world and get some work experience. I hope everything works out for you!

[fuzzylogician]

I'm with the others. Do NOT accept an unfunded PhD offer. A PhD in the Humanities should not be something you go into debt for. The investment won't return itself. Go out there and get some work experience as well as some distance from this unpleasant experience. Things look difference from a distance and you'll be able to reevaluate your priorities. 

[rising_star]

You will be in so, so much debt if you take that unfunded offer. Tuition at Temple is not cheap, and you'd probably need to keep working full-time in order to pay your rent (or, if you don't, take out even more loans). 

[MathCat]

Time for some real talk youngcharlie. You should absolutely not take an unfunded offer from Temple University for a PhD. Without funding you will likely drop out once you run out of money. Best case is you work a full/part time job at the same time and take 10+ years to complete your degree. At the end, you will not be any closer to your dream of becoming a professor because your field is small and therefore extremely competitive and a PhD from Temple does not make you extremely competitive for a professorship. So, you end up being an adjunct for another 10 years while you build up credentials to become competitive.

With your MA I am pretty sure you can line up teaching jobs right now at a high school if that is what you want. You don't necessarily NEED an education degree to teach. More education is not always the best option. Sometimes the best thing is to go out in the world and get some work experience. I hope everything works out for you!

This. It might not be what you want to hear, but I think it's the truth. It's not worth going to debt for a PhD in general, and especially if the job prospects are extra grim (in this case, because it's not a top school and the English academic job market is especially bad, I think).

[youngcharlie101]

Thanks, everybody! Yeah, I don't want that much debt on my plate. It's a no no to Temple.

[nugget]

I agree with the others. I think it's important to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your application compared to other successful candidates and then decide what to do. If your GPA is not competitive, if you have little research experience or the references just weren't strong enough, come up with a plan to help offset these setbacks. Try to seek feedback from some of your schools to get a critical opinion of your problem areas, if you can. One year may not have been enough time to strengthen your application. You might need a few years of preparation to stand out as a strong candidate, if you are willing to put in this amount of time and effort. 

 

If lack of teaching experience is indeed what is holding you back, there are many options for you if you wish to work abroad. Dubai or certain places in Asia (Korea, Japan, or sometimes China) can offer great opportunities with the incentive of a strong salary and very low living costs (in some cases, housing, health insurance and airfare costs are free).

 

I also know of a college in Quebec that sometimes has difficulty finding people qualified to teach various subjects in the English language. You do have some options on how to proceed and I think getting an objective opinion on your strengths and weaknesses will be a good start to working towards your goals.

Edited March 11, 2015 by jenste