Advice for those applying straight from BA?

[othersamantha]

Hello! 

I've noticed that many of those applying to PhD programs are currently in masters study, and in some ways, this seems to give them a leg up in the application process. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice for those who are applying straight to the PhD from a Bachelor's. I graduated in 2015, and am hoping to start a program in Fall 2016 (so I will have had one year off). Are admissions committees interested in what you've done in a year off? If so, what are they looking for? Any other advice for someone applying right after undergrad? Thanks!

[unræd]

I don't have any specific advice about the year-off question, unfortunately--I went straight from undergrad to my program without a gap year. But I know there are a ton of people in my cohort who didn't get Master's degrees but who took time off--some of them were doing related things (teaching, working at academic presses), some not; my guess is committees only care about what you've done in your year off if it has a substantive relationship to your application as a whole.

So, that's not helpful, really. But since no one else has, I also wanted to jump in and address the strain of uncertainty in your post, and the broader issue of whether or not you'll be at a disadvantage (or whether or not people with MAs have a "leg up") applying to programs straight from your BA. A bunch of disclaimers are necessary here: this is very field dependent (MA are expected in rhet/comp), and varies by school--the incoming PhD classes at my undergrad institution had a much higher proportion of entering students w/ MAs (at least in the cohorts I'm familiar with) than those at my current grad institution, and there are all kinds of stereotypes about different kinds of institutions preferring either students with or students without MAs.

And I don't mean to suggest that MAs aren't useful in refining applications or exploring/narrowing scholarly interests/focuses; of course they are! All else being equal, taking extra time will necessarily make one better. But don't let the fact that there is a preponderance of students with MAs here on GC stop you from applying. Last year's Yale admissions, for example, had precious few people who'd done any Master's work (and most of those were UK-style, one-year Master's), while in the current cohort of 13 at UCB, there are three students with Master's: two have UK degrees (M.Lit. and M.Phil.) and one an MFA; there are none with an MA degree. So basically: go for it. The one major piece of advice I'd give is to make sure you know the field and understand what professional literary scholarship is ("was," he says, looking mournfully at the joblist), and isn't. That is the thing that my friends who did MAs say was most helpful to them: making them scholars engaged with the field and the kind of questions the field asks in a way that their undergraduate classes didn't really prepare them for.

[echo449]

I can help a little! In terms of what you can do on your year off besides working on your application materials: Admissions committees don't really care about what you did on your year off. I went straight through; both of my roommates took a year off in between. If you are taking a year off, it's probably worth doing whatever you want/can. This will be your last chance for 5-8 years to do you, and that's pretty valuable. 

Otherwise, the difference between an applicant with an MA and an applicant with a BA is really a different expectation of focus. For example, in my program, MA students spend less time in coursework, and have roughly a semester less funding (tho, I've never heard of that being a problem). However, despite this, it is worth trying to be as specific and articulate about a *possible* project as possible. You won't be held to it, but you'll only benefit from sounding knowledgable about your area. Also, like unraed, most of my cohort does not have an MA. 

Otherwise...I mean, it's kind of hard to say, haha. Do you have any specific concerns beyond those above? Perhaps we might be able to address those too. 


 

[othersamantha]

Thank you so much for your thoughts! This is great– I was just trying to get a general feel for things and sort of blindly fishing for tips. I'm glad to hear that applying from undergraduate doesn't necessarily put you at a disadvantage, and that my gap year isn't going to be harshly scrutinized (although I am trying to make good use of my time!)

[silenus_thescribe]

However, despite this, it is worth trying to be as specific and articulate about a *possible* project as possible. You won't be held to it, but you'll only benefit from sounding knowledgable about your area. 

I second the wise comments of echo and unraed, who both hit the nail on the head. My cohort is also not loaded with MA students; 4 out of 14 came in with MAs in hand (one of which is an MFA). If a university doesn't restrict PhD applications to students already with MAs (which some in the US do and, to my viewing, all in the UK and Canada do), then by definition they are looking out for highly qualified students with BAs. There are some but not many places where an MA bias is made open in a university's admissions website; U of Georgia, for instance, makes it clear that TAships can only be given to students with an MA (or 18 hours of graduate coursework) due to a university accreditation requirement. 

One thing I would say as an addendum to echo's comment: while being specific about a particular field of interest is a critical part of making a BA student's application stand out, I wouldn't be too specific, as I think this is what likely held me back on some of my apps. (Not to say that unraed was suggesting you lay out your dissertation, of course.) To make it clear that I knew what was going on in my field, I laid out a hypothetical dissertation in one of the paragraphs for each of my personal statements. While I fortunately ended up right where I needed to be, especially given the subject material of said dissertation idea, I can't help but think that many ad comms thought, "Well, this is a bit much right out of the gate." Furthermore, I know it can come across as idealistic/naive (something you don't want to seem, given the roughness of the discipline at the moment) if you make it sound as if you know with 100 percent certainty what you'll study. Departments will want you to have an area of focus, but they'll also want you to be flexible; coming in with a BA, you'll be exposed to plenty of coursework, and it's entirely possible -- in fact, common -- that things will change. In short: be reasonably precise but not myopic.

Also, importantly, as echo points out, you aren't going to be held at gunpoint on what you say in your personal statement. In my program, several students who come in as literature PhDs end up switching to rhet/comp, and are not viewed as betraying a promise for doing so. 

 

[bhr]

Lets clarify that the freedom to change focuses that drastically is highly program (and funding) dependent. At my current school you can flip from one side of R/C to another, but you couldn't jump to there from English because they are separate departments. If your funding comes through a specific professor/grant/RAship, you may find it difficult to switch focuses as well.

[echo449]

That's fair. I, as a lit person of a relatively young age, intentionally chose schools that, despite a relatively secure area of interest, would support me changing my focus if that issue arose. 

[Horb]

I want to note that I don't think an MA is a requirement of Rhet/Com just in case your area of focus was that. I have multiple friends who had BAs only and got into the best Rhet/Com departments in the country.

[bhr]

I want to note that I don't think an MA is a requirement of Rhet/Com just in case your area of focus was that. I have multiple friends who had BAs only and got into the best Rhet/Com departments in the country.

Very few, as far as I know. Ohio State does, as does PSU, I believe, but even they are structured to complete an MA on your way to the PhD, with similar timelines to doing them independently.
The good news, if that's the field you want to get into, is that many, if not most, of the top MA programs offer funding, and the average time to the PhD, even including the 2 MA years, is similar to PhDs in English without MAs. (about 6.5 years)

[Horb]

UMass Amherst doesn't require it, University of Illinois at Champaigne, and many others my friend applied to also did not require MAs, so I think it isn't as rare as it seems.

[Horb]

Also, I haven't seen many programs that, with an MA take 6.5 years to complete. Mine without an MA is 5.5 and with is 4.5. I applied to 12 schools total during my cycle and all had similar timelines for with and without MA students.