What's summer like?

[travelingo]

Hey all!

 

Of course my first post would be a question... as I'm still undecided/scared to decide whether I should just stop around this point in my academic career or really try to go further and pursue that phd.  

I am about to get my masters degree in English literatre from an okay university in a non-English speaking country (Asia).

If I were to go on studying, the best thing for me would be to try and get into a university in the U.S.

 

However, I am truly anxious as to whether I would be able to stay in the U.S. for 5 + how many more years it takes without having a breakdown, giving up, and running back home. I am worried because I have health problems, and also because I really do not wish to be away from my family for that long. I worry over my parents.

I think the prospect would be significantly less bleak if I could come visit home every summer, at least.

 

So my question is, what's summer like for phd students in literature? Is full summer residency normally required? Could I get some names of schools that allow prolonged breaks during summer? How long can breaks be?

 

Any comment would be a great help, thanks in advance!

[ExponentialDecay]

Since summer breaks at US schools are 3-4 months, I'm not really sure how much longer you want them without wanting school to consist entirely of breaks.

That said, whilst it's possible to visit home every summer, it's not, uh, how do I say this - convenient. For one, obviously, tickets from the U.S. cost a great deal of money, and it may not be feasible for you to buy them yourself with your grad student stipend. For another, depending on your citizenship, you may need to renew your entry visa every year, which also incurs an extra cost. I would also consider what being so attached to your home may mean for your future career. Academia pretty much requires you to be able to move anywhere for a job. Maybe you can get a job in your home country with your humanities PhD, and maybe it's a certainty that you will - different countries are different - but if not, you have to consider the possibility that you will have to move away from your parents permanently for employment.

I think the user hj2012 works with humanities PhD applicants from Asian countries, and it may be useful to drop them a line if they're still here.

[Roquentin]

Different programs have different residency requirements. In my department, for example, I believe that the minimum residency period is two years. I'd recommend that you look into the requirements set by the programs that interest you. Also consider that there are drawbacks involved in living away from one's home institution.