How do you chose?

brianthebard

Hi all bit of a dilemma, or not you decide for yourself. I'm final year English and History student. This year has been great and has really made me think about continuing my studies and going on for a phd. But which one? At the minute I'm almost certainly applying for a one year writing MA in Galway (have yet to do it though-procrastination is a powerful enemy!will do it during easter break) But I will have to apply for one or two safety masters. Anyways both English and History have been great as I said and I'm at a loss on how I should pick between them. Its hard enough thinking about spending the next several years in a semi-independant state(I swore I would never become an eternal student!) but how do know I'm not picking the wrong one?

I'm not asking you to pick for me, that would be silly, but if anyone has had similar experiences I would love to hear how you figured it out and if it worked out for you.

r3nu4l

It really does depend on your long-term goals. Excuse my ignorance but what is a 'writing MA'? Is that a course in jornalistic writing, a taught MA with exams or a research MA with disseratation?

If your long-term goal is political journalism for example then it might be an idea to get in touch with some journalists in the field and ask them whether English or History is best. It would then be good to tailor that MA to be an MA in Irish political History for example.

Figure out your long-term goal, then figure out which type of MA will get you closer. At the end of all of this education you will need a job that brings in cash. If you choose the wrong MA you may end up unable to get the jobs you wanted or in a job you dislike.

Some more info would help us give a better reply

brianthebard

Hey thanks for replying. The writing MA is basically covering all forms of writing but isn't called a creative writing MA cause that sounds a bit...weekend seminar I guess? I dunno. Up until this year I had thought I wanted to do journalism cause I like writing and felt it was the easiest way to make a career from it, or easier than being a failed novelist. Then when I talked to a few journalists I found I had no real need to do a MA in journalism, seemingly getting out there and finding experience is more important. Apart from that though I started to think about History and English as fields were I would still get to write, as well as perhaps lecture or work in a museum or a few other career choices. So I want to do the Writing MA cause its only a year long and it would serve as an acid test to see if I really have a chance at progressing on my own steam, while the M.Litt that I would hypothetically do afterwards would be in the subject that I feel I would be happy to work in. Does that make sense? I'm not sure it does.

rain on

I had quite a hard time choosing which of my BA subjects I wanted to continue with -- I nearly applied for MAs in Cognitive Science and Linguistics but suddenly realised that I was going to miss English like crazy if I gave it up and applied for that at the last minute.

I think it's important to remember that whichever you choose doesn't tie you down in any way.. I know someone who did English and History, went on to do MAs in both and is now doing an interdisciplinary PhD with a supervisor from each department. Likewise, someone on here did English and Philosophy, did his MA in English and then went back to Philosophy for his PhD. I would quite happily go back to Linguistics even though my MA is in English. A taught MA is (probably) only a year of your life and you still will have a ton of options open to you whichever you pick. Interdisciplinary studies are apparently the Next Big Thing anyway.

brianthebard

Yeah was wondering if you can do interdisciplinary stuff. Looks like a trip to the Academic advisors office is in order, although from what I hear he's rarely there anyways. Oh well worth a go. Thanks for that!