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I have two M.As. One in Philosophy of Science and another one in Comparative. Both are from institutions outside the United States. I did well in both of them and I participated in two summer schools and two conferences. Now, I want to do a Ph.D. program in Comparative Literature in a North American University (I have several options). However, I was wandering if the fact that I already have two master's degrees could diminish my chances of admission to a Ph.D. program. Does anybody know about similar cases?

 

Thank you.

Edited by GRP
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23 hours ago, GRP said:

However, I was wandering if the fact that I already have two master's degrees could diminish my chances of admission to a Ph.D. program.

Nope. Fair number of people do this. Having two complementary MAs might even be a plus for you. 

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Completely anecdotal and so potentially meaningless, but I was admitted to more than one program last season with two MAs under my belt. If you can link your work in philosophy of science to your interest in comp lit, as @Ramus says, it could even work to your advantage.

Edited by ploutarchos
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Right. If you want it to work in your favor, you have to demonstrate how it lends an uncommon, productive perspective to your literary analysis. If you don't, the extra MA is window dressing, not bad but not necessarily helpful. 

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We actually had a student in our MA program this past year who already had a MA and PhD. They were changing fields. We also took someone on this year who was working on a PhD in another field- their previous department wasn't working for them and they enjoyed taking some of our grad classes. I think if the programs complement one another and you address your desire for two rather than one it's perfectly fine. You have the same challenge as anyone with only one MA- why do you want a PhD? Why that program/field?

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The second MA proved to you what you don't want to do full-time.  

(Unless there's some cross-section between disciplines that only you can understand right now.  If so-- then sell that!)

Edited by Concordia
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