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[ice_nine]

So I'm finishing my B.A. in English at an obscure religious college, and I applied to 15 PhD programs and 3 MA programs (also in English) last fall. I've been admitted to all 3 MA programs with funding. It looks like the PhD decisions are almost spent (with somewhat disappointing results): I've gotten into one program, wait-listed by another, and rejected by...a lot. My last MA offer came by phone today, and the guy seemed reluctant to encourage me to accept it when I've already been admitted to a good PhD program.

My options are:

A. Top-25 PhD program at a public university. They definitely have some faculty in my subfield whom I'd be interested in working with, but that subfield isn't one of their greatest strengths. I've been offered full, merit-based funding for the first year, but from what I can gather, funding in later years comes only from T.A.-ships awarded on a per-course basis. This makes me a little nervous.

B. Two-year MA program at a department that's been steadily rising in the rankings, as far as I can tell. Very generously funded, but with teaching responsibilities from the beginning. I wouldn't want to stay there for the PhD, though, and my impression is that most of their MAs do. It's also in an undesirable location.

C. One-year MA with tuition remission, health insurance, and an as-yet unspecified stipend, with no teaching responsibilities. This department's PhD program is usually ranked in the 40s, I believe, but their faculty seems fantastic. I'm not sure how many of their MAs go on to other PhD programs.

D. Two-year MA with tuition remission for the first year and a T.A.-ship for the second. From what I can tell, my interests don't fit with the faculty's quite as well as at Department C, but they seem to have a strong record of placing their MAs in good PhD programs.

C and D are both located in (in my opinion) the coolest city in the United States.

A major reason I'm leaning toward doing an MA first is that my undergrad education was a little unusual and not very challenging. I've been wait-listed at a top-5 program, which makes me think that I will have very good chances after doing an MA.

What should I do, dear forumites? I need your wisdom and guidance.

[zharkov]

The key question:  What are your career goals?

You need to consider this scenario very carefully: How would you feel if you got an MA and/or PhD and were never able to land a full time job as a professor?  Or, how would you feel if the only prof job you could get was in  a very undesirable location? (Using your own definition of undesirable.) Would you move there and be willing to spend your professional career there?

Generally speaking, don't consider grad school in a field like English unless you get full funding.

[goldenapple]

Talk to the grad students and the director of graduate studies in these departments. Ask specifically:

For the MA program:
- Where do MAs go on to get their PhDs?
- How many people leave with an MA and don't go on to the PhD?
- What sort of professional preparation do they offer (grad student seminars, opportunities to work on an academic journal, etc.)?

For the PhD program:
- Where did they place their PhDs in the last 3 years? And in what fields did these successful students do their research?
- What percentage of students never complete the program?
- What kind of fellowships have their students been awarded from outside the department? (i.e. national or international fellowships)

The bottom line is: which of these programs is going to move you closer toward your career goal?

[t_r_b]

Talk to the grad students and the director of graduate studies in these departments.

Even more important: talk to your prospective mentors at each program and find out how their students have fared (and specifically how many of them have followed the kind of path to which you aspire).

For the PhD program offering one year guaranteed: find out as much as you can about the system by which TA-ships and other forms of aid are awarded, and in particular how many of their second-year (and later) grad students do or do not receive such aid.

[dapperpoet]

I don't have a master's degree.  Never been an issue either at the R1 where I got the degree, the R2 where or taught for 3 years or here at another R1.   I suppose it might be field dependent, but at least in my field, no one's ever mentioned it.

[philoctetes]

A major reason I'm leaning toward doing an MA first is that my undergrad education was a little unusual and not very challenging. I've been wait-listed at a top-5 program, which makes me think that I will have very good chances after doing an MA.

What should I do, dear forumites? I need your wisdom and guidance.

Caveat: It differs between fields and regions.

I know that many top programmes in my field don't take people with MAs because they want to mold their students, on the other hand, I know top schools in my field that rarely take anyone with only a BA and then only when the student is from an insanely good school (read: ivy or top public). And in some places schools require a Masters to even apply for a PhD (e.g. Canada or the UK)

All this, plus what you said in the original post (about your undergrad edu), makes me think that the school that wait-listed you might come under the former rather than the latter categories.

Ask the programmes you want to get into about their policies. Then I look at the grad students at the top 5 schools (if they have accessible web pages) and, if you can, find out about the educational background of the last ten or so folks they let in (---the best way is by emailing current students.) Note that schools may have a policy that they do not actually follow, or they may just out and lie to you.

[helpful]

Coolest city? Seattle?

[poll_grad]

Depends on your ultimate goals.  If you want to be a teaching professor, skip the master's (like I'm doing) and just go straight for the PhD.  If you want to be a big name in your field and land mostly research gigs, the master's is probably a good step--you can get into better PhD programs with a master's from a reputable institution.  Keep in mind though--I'm in political science not English.

[pamplemoose]

I would always go to the best school possible, where I can get the best training and make the best connections, but I guess it does depend on your aspirations.  Personally, I would get the MA.

Congrats on getting wait-listed at a top 5 program!  Given your undergraduate background, I think that's kind of amazing and you probably would be a very strong applicant at that school, and other top programs, with an MA first from a well-respected program.  I would contact any faculty you jived with at the school where you were wait-listed, and perhaps even the top schools were you applied and were rejected, and ask flat out if the place where you got your BA played a role in admissions (I'm sure it did), and how would it improve your application if you excelled in an MA at school X. 

Also, life is for living, and if you really think C and D are in the coolest city in the nation, AND you're funded (which is fantastic), then go for it.  It's important to also enjoy your life :-)

In my field, maybe a third or more have MA degrees.