English Phd query

Reegis

I recently finished my Masters in English and want to move onto a research Phd. I did my degree in UCD, and would ideally like to continue studying there or Trinity. I have a few questions:

1) I have been told it's a bad idea to do an English Phd in the same college where you've done your MA. So should I not return to UCD?

2) If I was to apply to Trinity, would I need to contact and arrange someone for a supervisor role?

3) I've been told it's very difficult to get an accepted Trinity Phd proposal. Is there any truth in this?

Thanks for any help.

gutenberg

Reegis wrote: »

I recently finished my Masters in English and want to move onto a research Phd. I did my degree in UCD, and would ideally like to continue studying there or Trinity. I have a few questions:

1) I have been told it's a bad idea to do an English Phd in the same college where you've done your MA. So should I not return to UCD?

2) If I was to apply to Trinity, would I need to contact and arrange someone for a supervisor role?

3) I've been told it's very difficult to get an accepted Trinity Phd proposal. Is there any truth in this?

Thanks for any help.

Before I start, I want to point out that I don't study English, but I do study another humanities subject, so hopefully these rambling thoughts will be of some use.

1) Did you do your undergrad at UCD as well, or just your master's? I've been told that it is a good idea to move at least once during your academic career, to meet new people & prove your 'versatility', so to speak, in adapting to new practices, outlooks and so on. However, where you do your postgraduate study should definitely depend on where your preferred supervisor is. For the PhD, so much of it is about the supervisor. And if the ideal supervisor for your topic is at UCD, then why would you move for the sake of it? If there is also someone at Trinity who could supervise, then by all means apply there as well, and make a decision only when you have to. I'm not 100% convinced that you *have* to move around for postgrad study, but from my own experience so far, it has been very eye-opening and stimulating for me to get away from where I did my undergraduate study.

2) It would probably be a good idea to contact someone in Trinity to discuss your proposal before you apply. I believe on the PAC application, you are asked to specify which supervisor you want? So it would be very important to establish contact before you apply (email is fine).

3) I'm not sure about English specifically, but I know it is a very popular department. That said, I'm not convinced that it's *that* difficult to be accepted if you have a good academic record to date, and have a good research topic that is suited to one of their staff's interests. Would you be looking for funding? That would probably be the most difficult part. I'm sitting on a PhD offer from TCD (deferred for a year), and it was by no means extraordinarily difficult to be accepted - especially once you've got a supervisor on board.

Hope this helps!

Reegis

That's fantastic, thank you so much for the help. All the best.

RonMexico

In final year of a PhD in English. Don't fall under the impression that securing a PhD is all that you will need to get an academic job once qualified. If anything you will find yourself back on the bottom ring of a ladder that is increasingly difficult to climb. Given the state of this country you can practically forget about getting work here once you are finished. I have many friends who have recently qualified and all are unemployed. The most important thing once you have secured that PhD is publications. The more you have the greater your chance of finding work in your area and even then it is very difficult. All I can say is good luck with it because you will need it.


All the best from a thoroughly disgruntled PhD candidate.