Grad School Strategy
Thomas Benton, pseudonym of an assistant professor of English
at a Midwestern liberal arts college, recommends that students who
wish to pursue a doctorate in the humanities should seriously consider
the following:
|
Do not pay for graduate school. |
| |
|
Not even if it is the best program in your
field. Do not accept future promises (for example, a job)
instead of fair payment in the present. Steady employment in academe after graduation is so unlikely
that you should treat grad school as a job in itself rather
than as career training. Given the low wages typically earned
by Ph.D.'s in the humanities (even on tenure track, starting
salaries are around 40K), you should try to graduate without
debt. |
 |
|
Apply to lots of universities. |
| |
|
From 10-15 is a manageable target if you are
serious. Diversify your applications to include many different
kinds of universities and don't limit your applications to
the top 20--there are some excellent departments at mediocre
universities. Consider the department's individual faculty members: Is
there anyone with whom you would particularly like to work?
Ask your academic advisors, but trust your own instincts as
well. |
|
|
Use multiple acceptances to leverage a
better package. |
| |
|
Almost everything is negotiable for a good student
who has been accepted by more than one grad school. Be sure
to get everything in writing! |
|
|
Research like your life depends on it. |
| |
|
Do not select a grad school solely on the basis of your
financial package. Once you have a plausible offer, you have
to find out whether it is worth accepting. Make phone calls
and visit the campus to talk with students and faculty "off
the record." Research the institution and do not rely
on what the institution says about itself.
Research graduate student culture: How long
does it take most students to get their Ph.D.'s? A high attrition
rate is a sign of a dysfunctional department, but it is considered
normal for 65-70% of grad students in English to leave before
getting a degree. Talk with both current students and students
who left without graduating.
Research the seminar experience. Visit a
few seminars, look for faculty members with whom you might
like to work, and remember you are evaluating your future
peers. Pay attention to your instincts: How would you feel
if you had to take this seminar?
Research job placement rates. Many departments
will give you the names of recent grads who have been successfully
placed in tenure-track positions. The most reliable recent
data indicate that about 50% of Ph.D.'s in the humanities
eventually find tenure-track jobs, but individual departments
can have significantly different stats.
Research advising. Your dissertation advisor
will be the most important person in your academic career,
and your final choice of a grad program should take into account
potential relationships with a few specific people. Search
Dissertation Abstracts International
for your potential advisors' former advisees and find out
whether their dissertations have been published and where
they are employed. Make arrangements to speak with these former
advisees, and remember that what they say or do not say can
be quite revealing. |
|
|
You are not powerless. |
| |
|
Remember that universities operate as businesses, and you
cannot trust a university to look out for your best interests.
Remember also that--until you have accepted an offer of admission--the
power is in your hands. After you enroll, you will have little
to bargain with except the possibility of leaving the department,
an option exercised by the majority of grad students. But there are always new grad students, who feel honored
to be admitted and then forget to do their research. Don't
be one of them! |
|
| |
Any student who is discouraged by these
warnings probably lacks the determination and psychological
resilience to make it through the process, which is for neither
the timid nor the uninformed. |
|
| |
Excerpted from The Chronicle of Higher
Education, July 18, 2003 |
Individuals with disabilities who require accommodations may review
Policies
& Procedures.
Back to Top
|
|
 |
|
|
