The Department of English offers a PhD in English. Applicants choose one program pathway of study (Composition and Rhetoric, English Language and Linguistics, or Literary Studies). Applicants applying to the Composition and Rhetoric program must already hold an MA degree.
The department also welcomes applications from well prepared applicants who do not have the equivalent of an English major. Such applicants may be asked to supplement the program of study by completing a small number of coverage courses.
Applicants must demonstrate competence in one or more fields of literature in English and may have a bachelor's or master’s degree from an accredited institution. Applicants who already hold an MA from another institution or program are expected to earn the MA degree in our Literary Studies program as well.
Applicants may have bachelor’s and master’s degree from a variety of fields beyond English but must complete a master's degree or equivalent before beginning our Composition & Rhetoric doctoral program.
Applicants must demonstrate competence in applied linguistics, linguistics or a related field and must have a bachelor's or master’s degree from an accredited institution. In addition, entrance into the program presumes courses in the history of English and English dialects and courses in English syntax and English phonology. Applicants who already hold an MA degree from another institution or program are expected to earn the MA degree in our program as well.
Resources to help you afford graduate study might include assistantships, fellowships, traineeships, and financial aid. Further funding information is available from the Graduate School. Be sure to check with your program for individual policies and restrictions related to funding.
Prospective students should see the program website for funding information.
Major requirements.
Review the Graduate School minimum academic progress and degree requirements , in addition to the program requirements listed below.
Face to Face | Evening/Weekend | Online | Hybrid | Accelerated |
---|---|---|---|---|
Yes | No | No | No | No |
Accelerated: Accelerated programs are offered at a fast pace that condenses the time to completion. Students typically take enough credits aimed at completing the program in a year or two.
Evening/Weekend: Courses meet on the UW–Madison campus only in evenings and/or on weekends to accommodate typical business schedules. Students have the advantages of face-to-face courses with the flexibility to keep work and other life commitments.
Face-to-Face: Courses typically meet during weekdays on the UW-Madison Campus.
Hybrid: These programs combine face-to-face and online learning formats. Contact the program for more specific information.
Online: These programs are offered 100% online. Some programs may require an on-campus orientation or residency experience, but the courses will be facilitated in an online format.
Requirements | Detail |
---|---|
Minimum Credit Requirement | 51 Credits |
Minimum Residence Credit Requirement | 32 credits |
Minimum Graduate Coursework Requirement | 26 credits must be graduate-level coursework. Graduate School’s Minimum Graduate Coursework (50%) Requirement Policy: |
Overall Graduate GPA Requirement | 3.5 GPA |
Other Grade Requirements | Grades of BC or lower cannot be used to meet an English Course Requirement. A student who fails to meet the GPA requirement requirement may be reviewed for Satisfactory progress or placed on Departmental Probation. |
Assessments and Examinations | |
Language Requirements | Demonstrate proof of competency in one non-English language by the time of PhD degree completion. Proof of competencies may include, coursework equivalent to third and fourth semesters of study; reading knowledge exam; language of a non-native English speaker, an additional tools/methods course (with advisor approval). Other language competency options may apply with the program area director/advisor approval. Students who earn an MA as part of the PhD degree will be required to have proof of two language competencies prior to dissertator status. |
Graduate School Breadth Requirements | All doctoral students are required to complete a doctoral minor or graduate/professional certificate. Refer to the Graduate School: Breadth Requirement in Doctoral Training policy: . Students are required to consult with their program faculty advisor. |
Each pathway has specific course requirements. Graduate seminar offerings in English reflect the faculty's current areas of research and therefore change importantly from year to year. Please consult the department website for more detailed information.
Coursework is designed to offer you a balanced background in rhetoric, composition, and literacy studies. All courses are chosen in consultation with the program's faculty advisor. Courses from outside the below course lists may apply with faculty advisor approval.
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Composition Rhetoric Requirement | 18 | |
Students must complete 18 credits. Typically, one rhetoric-focused course and one composition/literacy focused course are available each semester. | ||
Introduction to Composition Studies | ||
Writing and Learning | ||
Perspectives on Literacy | ||
Research Methods in Composition Studies | ||
Intellectual Sources of Contemporary Composition Theory I-Classical | ||
Intellectual Sources of Contemporary Composition Theory II-Modern | ||
Special Topics in Composition Theory | ||
Composition and Critical Theories |
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Research Methods/Tools Requirement | 6 | |
Students must complete 6 credits. This requirement is fulfilled by taking two courses that focus explicitly on the problems and practice of research. An array of qualitative and quantitative research methods courses offered in other programs and departments also can fulfill this requirement. and may satisfy the Research Methods / Tools requirement but may not double-count towards the Comprehension Rhetoric requirement. | ||
Writing and Learning | ||
Research Methods in Composition Studies | ||
Independent Reading |
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Breadth | 9-12 | |
Courses are chosen by the student and the minor or graduate/professional certificate advisor in consultation with the student’s program advisor. This requirement is completed prior to obtaining dissertator status. | ||
Independent Study and Electives | 3-15 | |
To meet the minimum credit requirement, students complete additional coursework, including independent study and/or language or dissertator research credits. | ||
Independent Reading for PhD Prelims (Optional) | ||
Dissertator Research | ||
Students with dissertator status enroll in 3 credits of the following course every term to complete the degree. | ||
Dissertation Research in English | ||
Total Credits | 51 |
These pathways are internal to the program and represent different curricular paths a student can follow to earn this degree. Pathway names do not appear in the Graduate School admissions application, and they will not appear on the transcript.
ENGL 999 Independent Reading for PhD Prelims may be taken for the first time in the semester in which students are completing the English Course Requirements or have completed the coursework requirements.
Students must complete the requirements for the English MA for this pathway. All courses are chosen in consultation with the program's faculty advisor. Courses outside of the below course lists may apply with faculty advisor approval.
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
MA degree en route to the PhD degree | ||
Students must complete the requirements for the English MA, English Language and Linguistics pathway. Students complete 10 courses and one language competency. These requirements must be completed, meeting satisfactory academic progress, before the beginning of the fifth semester. | ||
Required Courses | ||
Students must complete the following courses. | ||
Structure of English | 3 | |
English Phonology | 3 | |
English Syntax | 3 | |
English Grammar in Use | 3 | |
Electives | 18 | |
Students choose from the below course list | ||
Language Requirement | ||
Students must demonstrate proof of adequate competency in one non-English language by the time of MA degree completion. | ||
Total Credits (MA) | 30 |
Students work in an area or areas of specialization and begin to create an ongoing research agenda.
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Seminar Requirement | 9 | |
Students must complete 9 credits of seminars beyond courses completed for the master's and approved by your advisor. | ||
English Language Variation in the U.S. | ||
Second Language Acquisition | ||
Language, Race, and Identity | ||
English Words: Grammar, Culture, Mind | ||
Global Spread of English | ||
Introduction to TESOL Methods | ||
English in Society | ||
History of the English Language | ||
Topics in English Language and Linguistics | ||
English Syntax | ||
English Grammar in Use | ||
Old English | ||
Advanced English Syntax | ||
Advanced English Phonology | ||
Interaction Analysis: Talk as Social Organization | ||
Research Methods in Applied Linguistics | ||
Topics in Contemporary English Linguistics | ||
Advanced Second Language Acquisition | ||
Seminar-Topics in Applied English Linguistics | ||
Seminar-The English Language | ||
Breadth | 9-12 | |
Courses are chosen by the student and the minor or graduate/professional certificate advisor in consultation with the student’s program advisor. This requirement is completed prior to obtaining dissertator status. | ||
Research | ||
Students with dissertator status enroll in 3 credits of the following course every term to complete the degree. | ||
Dissertation Research in English | 1-12 | |
Total Credits | 51 |
Students must complete the requirements for the English MA for this pathway. All courses are chosen in consultation with the program's faculty advisor. Courses from outside the below course lists may apply with faculty advisor approval.
To ensure breadth of knowledge, students must complete courses in different chronological and geographical areas. All coursework must be completed in English ( ENGL ) courses numbered 700 or above. ENGL/MEDIEVAL 520 Old English may be applied towards this requirement. These requirements must be completed before the start of the fifth semester.
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Literature | 6 | |
Students must complete two literature courses in the English Department. | ||
Literary Studies | ||
Students must complete the following course. | ||
Critical Methods in Literary Studies | 3 | |
Composition | ||
Students must complete one of the following courses. | ||
Introduction to Composition Studies | 3 | |
or | Old English | |
Race, Ethnicity and/or Indigeneity | ||
Students must complete at least 3 credits of a graduate-level course that focuses on topics of race, ethnicity and/or indigenity. | 3 | |
Seminars | 15 | |
Students must complete 15 credits of additional graduate seminars. | ||
Language Requirement | ||
Students must demonstrate proof of adequate competency in one non-English language by the time of MA degree completion. | ||
Total Credits (MA) | 30 |
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Graduate Courses or Seminars | 9 | |
Students must complete 9 credits of graduate courses or seminars after the master's and approved by the program advisor. | ||
Breadth | 9-12 | |
Courses are chosen by the student and the minor or graduate/professional certificate advisor in consultation with the student’s program advisor. This requirement is completed prior to obtaining dissertator status. | ||
Research | ||
Students with dissertator status enroll in 3 credits of the following course every term to complete the degree. | ||
Dissertation Research in English | 1-12 | |
Total credits | 51 |
All students must complete the following requirements:
Successful completion of all major and breadth coursework allows students to take the preliminary exam. In preparation for preliminary exams, students may enroll in ENGL 999 Independent Reading for PhD Prelims in the semester in which they complete the English course requirements. Students who pass the exam obtain dissertator status, effective the following term. All students with dissertator status will enroll in exactly three credits of ENGL 990 Dissertation Research in English every required term (spring/fall) to degree completion; three credits is considered full time enrollment.
Within six months after passing the prelim exam, each student must hold a Dissertation Proposal Conference. This consists of a meeting with the English Department faculty member who has agreed to direct their dissertation and two other faculty members who have agreed to serve on the dissertation committee. An approved dissertation proposal should follow as soon as possible, normally no later than a month after the conference.
A doctoral candidate writes a dissertation, with faculty guidance, representing original scholarly work of a high order and defends the dissertation.
The Graduate School’s Academic Policies and Procedures provide essential information regarding general university policies. Program authority to set degree policies beyond the minimum required by the Graduate School lies with the degree program faculty. Policies set by the academic degree program can be found below.
Prior coursework, graduate credits earned at other institutions*.
With program director approval, students may transfer up to 6 credits of relevant graduate coursework from other institutions. Coursework earned ten years or more prior to admission to a doctoral degree is not allowed to satisfy requirements.
With program director's approval, up to 6 credits of relevant graduate level courses taken as an undergraduate student may transfer towards the MA requirements.
Refer to the Graduate School: Transfer Credits for Prior Coursework policy.
With program approval, students are allowed to transfer up to 6 credits of relevant graduate level coursework, numbered 700 or above or designated with the "Grad 50%" attribute, taken as a University Special student. Coursework earned ten or more years prior to admission to a doctoral degree is not allowed to satisfy requirements.
*Note that students may request to transfer up to 6 credits of prior-coursework in total.
Refer to the Graduate School: Probation policy.
Refer to the Graduate School: Advisor and Graduate School: Committees (Doctoral/Master’s/MFA) policies.
Students in the English Department’s PhD program are expected to enroll full time. Students with a fellowship, holding a university appointment % or holding dissertator status may have different credit-loads which equate to full time student status. Please see the Graduate School’s policy for full time enrollment credit requirements.
Refer to the Graduate School: Time Limits policy.
These resources may be helpful in addressing your concerns:
Students should contact the department chair or program director with questions about grievances. They may also contact the L&S Academic Divisional Associate Deans, the L&S Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning Administration, or the L&S Director of Human Resources.
Take advantage of the Graduate School's professional development resources to build skills, thrive academically, and launch your career.
Graduate Faculty by Area
Faculty: Professors Castronovo (chair), Auerbach, Barry, Bearden, Begam, Bernard-Donals, Bow, Britland, Dharwadker, Foys, Friedman, Guyer, Hill, Johnson, Keller, Kercheval, Olaniyan, Ortiz-Robles, Purnell, Raimy, Sherrard-Johnson, Wanner, M. Young, R. Young, Zimmerman; Associate Professors Allewaert, Cooper, Fawaz, Olson, Samuels, Trotter, Vareschi, Yu, Zweck; Assistant Professors Amine, Calhoun, Cho, Druschke, Edoro, Fecu, Huang
Department of English College of Letters & Science english.wisc.edu
Department of English 608-263-3751 7195 Helen C. White Hall 600 N. Park St., Madison, WI 53706
For interested applicants, please contact: [email protected]
Professor Martin Foys, Director of Graduate Studies [email protected]
Composition and Rhetoric http://www.english.wisc.edu/comprhet-graduate.htm
Literary Studies http://www.english.wisc.edu/litstudies-graduate.htm
English Language and Linguistics https://english.wisc.edu/programs/english-language-and-linguistics/graduate-program/
Creative Writing http://www.creativewriting.wisc.edu/masters.html
Graduate School grad.wisc.edu
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Right now I'm getting my MA in English with creative writing concentration. At heart I'm a fiction writer and poet, and my plan was to be an English or creative writing professor as my day job. But I've come to learn how impractical that actually is, so the future is looking bleak. My master's program is free but I've got a lot of undergrad debt.
It seems like everything I read online is pushing me more and more to believe that getting the PhD is not worth it. Frankly I just don't know what to do with my life otherwise. I've been seriously considering joining the navy as a naval flight officer.
What do you guys think? Do you think it's even worth it?
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Updated Nov. 19, 2022
Should I get a PhD?
A few people admit to regretting their PhD. Most—myself included — said that they don’t ( I wrote about why in this post ).
But we often say we don’t regret stupid things we’ve done or bad things that happen to us. This means we learned from them, not that we wanted them to happen.
So just because PhDs don’t regret it, doesn’t mean it was worth it.
But if you were to ask, Is a PhD worth it, it’s a different and more complicated question.
When potential PhD students ask me for advice, I hate giving it. I can’t possibly say whether it will be worth it for them. I only know from experience that for some PhDs the answer is no.
In this post, I’ll look at this question from five different directions, five different ways that a PhD could be worth it. Then I give my opinion on each one. You can tell me if I got the right ones of if I’m way off base. So here we go.
This is post contains affiliate links. Thanks for supporting Roostervane!
tl;dr It’s up to you to make it worth it. A PhD can hurt your finances, sink you in debt, and leave you with no clear path to success in some fields. But PhDs statistically earn more than their and have lower unemployment rates. A PhD also gives you a world-class mind, a global network, and a skill set that can go just about anywhere.
tl;dr Don’t get a PhD by default. Think it through. Be clear about whether it’s going to help you reach career goals, and don’t expect to be a professor. A few rules of thumb- make sure you know where you want to go and whether a PhD is the ONLY way to get there, make sure it’s FUNDED (trust me), and make sure your program has strong ties into industry and a record of helping its students get there.
My guess: Not usually
People waste a lot of their best years living on a grad stipend. To be honest, my money situation was pretty good in grad school. I won a large national grant, I got a ton of extra money in travel grants, and my Canadian province gave me grants for students with dependents. But even with a decent income, I was still in financial limbo–not really building wealth of any sort.
And many students scrape by on very small stipends while they study.
When it comes to entering the marketplace, research from Canada and the United States shows that PhD students eventually out-earn their counterparts with Master’s degrees. It takes PhDs a few years to find their stride, but most of us eventually do fine for earnings if we leave academia. Which is great, and perhaps surprising to many PhDs who think that a barista counter is the only non-academic future they have .
The challenge is not income–it’s time. If you as a PhD grad make marginally more than a Master’s graduate, but they entered the workforce a decade earlier, it takes a long time for even an extra $10,000 a year to catch up. The Master’s grad has had the time to build their net worth and network, perhaps buy a house, pay down debt, invest, and just generally get financially healthy.
While PhDs do fine in earnings in the long run, the opportunity cost of getting the PhD is significant.
The only real way to remedy this—if you’ve done a PhD and accumulating wealth is important to you, is to strategically maximize your earnings and your value in the marketplace to close the wealth gap. This takes education, self-discipline, and creativity, but it is possible.
I tried to calculate the opportunity cost of prolonging entry into the workforce in this post .
My guess: Impossible to tell
Most of my jobs have given me the perfect opportunity to see exactly where I could be if I’d stopped at a Master’s degree, often working alongside or for those who did and are further ahead. In terms of nuts and bolts of building career experience section on a resume, which is often the most important part, a PhD is rarely worth it. (Some STEM careers do require a PhD.)
However, at the start of my post-graduate educational journey, I was working part-time running teen programs and full time as a landscaper. I had an undergraduate degree. Despite my job and a half, I was still poor. My life had no direction, and had I not begun my Master’s to PhD journey I probably would have stayed there.
The PhD transformed me personally. It did this by developing my skills, or course. But even more so, it taught me that anything is possible. It took a poor kid from a mining town in northern Canada and gave me access to the world. It made my dreams of living abroad come true. I learned that anything is possible. And that will never go away.
It’s changed the course of my life and, subsequently, my career.
It’s impossible for you to know if it’s worth it for your career. But you can build a hell of a career with it.
So it wouldn’t be fair for me to say, “don’t get a PhD.” Because it worked out for me, and for some it does.
But there are a heck of a lot of people who haven’t figured out how to build a career with this thing. Which is one of the reasons Roostervane exists in the first place.
Psst! If you’re looking at doing a PhD because you don’t know where to go next with your career–I see you. Been there. Check out my free PDF guide– How to Build a Great Career with Any Degree.
My guess: Probably
There’s some debate over whether to put a Dr. or PhD before or after your name. People argue over whether it helps in the non-academic marketplace. Some feel that it just doesn’t translate to whatever their new reality is. Some have been told by some manager somewhere that they’re overqualified and pulled themselves back, sometimes wiping the PhD off their resume altogether.
The truth is, if you have a PhD, the world often won’t know what to do with it. And that’s okay. Well-meaning people won’t understand how you fit into the landscape, and you may have to fight tooth and nail for your place in it. People may tell you they can’t use you, or they might go with what they know—which is someone less qualified and less-educated.
It happens.
But someone with a PhD at the end of their name represents an indomitable leader. So grow your possibilities bigger and keep fighting. And make your personal brand match those three little letters after your name. Do this so that the world around can’t help but see you as a leader. More importantly, do it so that you don’t forget you are.
Should I put “PhD” after my name on LinkedIn?
5 reasons you need to brand yourself
Is getting a PhD worth it? For many people the answer is no.
PhDs are hurting.
If you’ve done one, you know. Remember the sense of meaning and purpose that drew you towards a PhD program? Was it still there at the end? If yours was, you’re lucky. I directed my purpose into getting hired in a tenure-track job, and got very hurt when it didn’t happen.
And people have vastly different experiences within programs.
Some people go through crap. But for them their research is everything and putting up with crap is worth it to feel like they have a sense of purpose. Many PhDs who are drawn into programs chasing a sense of purpose leave deeply wounded and disenchanted, ironically having less purpose when they started.
While new PhDs often talk about the PhD as a path do doing “something meaningful,” those of us who have been through entire programs have often seen too much. We’ve either seen or experienced tremendous loss of self. Some have friends who didn’t make it out the other end of the PhD program.
But there are some PhDs who have a great experience in their programs and feel tremendously fulfilled.
As I reflect on it, I don’t think a sense of purpose is inherently fulfilled or disappointed by a PhD program. There are too many variables.
However, if you’re counting on a PhD program to give you a sense of purpose, I’d be very careful. I’d be even more cautious if purpose for you means “tenure-track professor.” Think broadly about what success means to you and keep an open mind .
Okay, so you need to know that different disciplines have different experiences. Silicon Valley has fallen in love with some PhDs, and we’re seeing “PhD required” or “PhD preferred” on more and more job postings. So if your PhD is in certain, in-demand subjects… It can be a good decision.
My humanities PhD, on the other hand, was a mistake. I’m 5 years out now, and I’ve learned how to use it and make money with it. That’s the great news. But I’d never recommend that anyone get a PhD in the humanities. Sorry. I really wish I could. It’s usually a waste of years of your life, and you’ll need to figure out how to get a totally unrelated job after anyway.
TBH, most of the skills I make money with these days I taught myself on Skillshare .
My guess: Absolutely
Every human being has unlimited potential, of course. But here’s the thing that really can make your PhD worth it. The PhD can amplify your potential. It gives you a global reach, it gives you a recognizable brand, and it gives you a mind like no other.
One of my heroes is Brené Brown. She’s taken research and transformed the world with it, speaking to everyone from Wall-Street leaders to blue-collar workers about vulnerability, shame, and purpose. She took her PhD and did amazing things with it.
Your potential at the end of your PhD is greater than it has ever been.
The question is, what will you do with that potential?
Many PhD students are held back, not by their potential, but by the fact that they’ve learned to believe that they’re worthless. Your potential is unlimited, but when you are beaten and exhausted, dragging out of a PhD program with barely any self-worth left, it’s very hard to reach your potential. You first need to repair your confidence.
But if you can do that, if you can nurture your confidence and your greatness every day until you begin to believe in yourself again, you can take your potential and do anything you want with it.
So why get a PhD?
Because it symbolizes your limitless potential. If you think strategically about how to put it to work.
PhD Graduates Don’t Need Resumes. They Need a Freaking Vision
By the way… Did you know I wrote a book about building a career with a PhD? You can read the first chapter for free on Amazon.
So if you’re asking me, “should I do a PhD,” I hope this post helps you. Try your best to check your emotion, and weigh the pros and cons.
And at the end of the day, I don’t think that whether a PhD is worth it or not is some fixed-in-stone thing. In fact, it depends on what you do with it.
So why not make it worth it? Work hard on yourself to transform into a leader worthy of the letters after your name, and don’t be afraid to learn how to leverage every asset the PhD gave you.
One of the reasons I took my PhD and launched my own company is that I saw how much more impact I could have and money I could be making as a consultant (perhaps eventually with a few employees). As long as I worked for someone else, I could see that my income would likely be capped. Working for myself was a good way to maximize my output and take control of my income.
It’s up to you to make it worth it. Pick what’s important to you and how the degree helps you get there, and chase it. Keep an open mind about where life will take you, but always be asking yourself how you can make more of it.
Photo by Christian Sterk on Unsplash There’s a new type of post buzzing around LinkedIn. I confess, I’ve even made a few. The post is
Last year, I spent $7k on a business coach. She was fantastic. She helped me through sessions of crafting my ideas to become a “thought
Photo by David Monje on Unsplash I was listening to Tony Robbins this week. He was talking about being the best. Tony asks the audience,
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TL;DR : Young graduate student in his first year of a PhD program who has lost a passion for the academic world. Seriously considering quitting but don't know what to do. Science background.
My background I'm 21-25, with a Science background, B.Sc in Physics. Took a year off between Undergrad and Grad school and worked full time as a research scientist. Theoretical background (most of my work has consisted of modelling). Strong quantitative and computer skills. Excel in presentation/project focused environments.
General Information I am currently finishing the second semester of my first year in a PhD program at a top tier US school in an engineering program. I have a full scholarship that pays for all of my tuition and a living stipend (typical graduate student stipend ~$1800 a month after taxes, so quite enough to live off of). I'm not a US citizen (from Canada), so I'm here on a student VISA, so if I decide to stop I have 2 weeks to leave the country. I cannot hold any other employment in the US while here on my VISA. My PhD consists of ~1.5 years of combined coursework and research, followed by a qualifier at the end of that period (research based), then into your thesis (doesn't have to be related to what your qualifier research was on).
Current Academic Situation I came first semester ready to start a new life...(first time moving away from home- did my undergrad where I was born). I did very well first semester (3.9/4.0 GPA) and research was on track (mostly lit. review). By the end of first semester however, I noticed that I was losing interest very quickly in both my coursework and research - it started to become very hard to get myself through to work on a daily basis. Went home Christmas break for a few weeks and came back to start my second semester and immediately noticed a big change. I started to struggle in my classes and fall behind on research. It wasn't that the material was too difficult, I just had no motivation to do it. No excuses here - just didn't really want to do it so I didn't. I reached the end of the semester and realized just how far behind I was. I am likely going to hit ~C average this semester (A last) and am drastically behind on research. I had weekly-biweekly meetings with my supervisor all semester, but I sort of hid just how bad things were going. Had a long meeting last week where I basically came clean on everything (said I was struggling in classes, behind on research) and the supervisor was very supportive. The supervisor believed in my potential and suggested I speak to a school counsellor and emphasized that this kind of thing was common for doctoral students.
Personal situation/feelings I come from a family where both my parents have PhDs. Although my parents have always been supportive and open to my life, I feel as though they would be very disappointed if I quit and this pressure is very real to me. I have tried to have the conversation with them and their attitude is mostly: "just put your head down and work through it, it's just a phase". Quite frankly most people seem to think it's a "phase" when I tell them. Outside of school my life is great. I'm not unhappy or depressed, I have hobbies, friends, I work out - it's just school that makes me feel this way. I just don't like the academic world at all any more. I HATE classes (always have) and where in the past research has been the saving grace keeping me interested in school, it now is losing a lot of it's appeal.
Basically, I feel no passion or drive for what I am doing any more. This for me is a huge problem. I'm not the kind of person who lacks passion in life. Quite the opposite in fact. Right now I have no such drive for school. I have a long term long distance relationship with someone from home that is incredibly happy and stable. They visited here many times since I moved and we are doing great. I would be lying if I said it wasn't a factor in me wanting to quit. (Having my partner move here is a lot more complicated). The relationship has been incredibly supportive and is very aware of my current situation and has maintained a very neutral stance, trying to play devils advocate wherever possible and trying to make sure it doesn't influence the decision. I should state that I am pretty sure if I had to choose between school and the relationship, I would choose the relationship immediately with no regrets.
I have just reached a point where I find myself doing just about anything else but school work. I'll get groceries, clean the apartment, watch TV etc... before doing any work. I'm trying to stick around for a couple of months for the summer (to see if not having classes changes anything) but since talking to my supervisor I'm already having doubts about even that. At this point, I feel like moving home and getting any job would make me happier than what I am doing.
Financial situation I have a few thousand dollars in the bank (enough to get me home /move out etc...) and zero debt. If I move back home, I can likely live with my parents for the first month to get back, then I'd be looking for a job and moving in with my partner. I realize having no debt puts me ahead of a lot of people and I'm not particularly concerned about the situation financially - I'm very lucky to have what I have and am aware of this.
So what's the deal? I know I have this amazing opportunity. I'm at a top tier school on a full scholarship. I wake up every day and get to work with the top minds in my field doing important research. I'm doing something a very small % of the population ever gets a chance at and yet still I have no motivation to do it. I'm not sure if I'm doing it for me any more, or I'm doing it so I don't let down other people in my life. My parents, mentors, friends, all the people who keep telling me how amazing this opportunity is. The more I look back, the more I realize that Grad school was what I did because I basically just didn't have another plan.
What would I like to do I'd love to find a job. I don't need to make a lot of money to be happy - I live off of 22k a year right now and am perfectly comfortable. Money isn't a major motivator for me. Working in the financial sector, doing quantitative risk analysis, banking, DoD, just about anything sounds more appealing than school to me. I know I'm smart and I've got a strong quantitative background combined with very good personal skills. I'm great with people and one of the things I HATE about the academic world is how under-used that part of my skill set feels.
I have no idea what to do. I want to quit, but I haven't. Maybe I shouldn't? I've been looking into options, but quite frankly I'd much prefer to have some kind of plan before quitting - at the very least this pays my living right now. I'd love advice from anyone. Someone who's been in this situation, someone who hasn't It doesn't matter.
I know that what I am doing does not make me happy. But I don't know what will. Please help.
Update two years later
I chose to leave school, and came home. My relationship fell apart but I found a decent job working for a tech startup and did that for about 1.5 years - I saved some money and took some time off and now I'm doing full time analytics consulting work for a website - It's working out well so far and I enjoy the freedom of it (work from home) etc. Though I do often wonder about what would have happened if I stayed, I don't regret it.
Here is my general advice for graduate students who are thinking about quitting graduate school (and I'll sprinkle in some specific advice):
At one point or another, almost every graduate student wants to quit, so you're not alone . The fact that you're not alone doesn't solve any problems, but it may give you some peace of mind. The advice from your supportive advisor to seek out counseling is a very, very good one.
The decision to get a graduate degree is personal and different for everyone, but regardless it is a long-term decision that will probably have a significant effect on your future. The five or six years of your life spent doing it could open up many doors; that is not to say that other opportunities aren't worth considering. You really do have to do what is best for yourself, in the end.
Getting a PhD really does require passion (and in your case this is weaning right now). You can push through a pretty good chunk of time without it, but if you don't find the passion, it's going to be a long haul. If you were passionate and lost that, try to figure out what it was that you were passionate about before, and see if you can get back in the groove. One of my favorite Richard Feynman stories is about how he rebounded from a slump because he watched a spinning plate in the dining hall .
If you hate classes, make it a priority to finish them up quickly so you can concentrate on the research! Classes, while important, are not why you are in graduate school. A friend's advisor told his students that he would be upset if they were getting A+'s, meaning that they weren't spending enough time on research.
You can take time off from graduate school and come back later. This is hard to do (particularly if you have to leave the country), and you can't necessarily expect the same financial support when you return. But, you can do it, and if you need time off, take it. My suggestion for you if you are still on the fence about staying in grad school is to look at an internship somewhere for the summer where you are away from school and can clear your head. Then come back next semester.
All of my advice is kind of ignoring what may be your most important statement:
I want to quit, but I haven't.
If you've thought through all the reasons why you want to quit, and this is the answer, then you should take time off -- 'quit' is a harsh word, and not really a necessary one (see point 5). Your point is well taken that you shouldn't try to stick it out for anyone but yourself -- we all go through worries about disappointing others, but most people want you to be happy, and they will understand. You will almost certainly find a big weight lifted from your shoulders, and not extra pressure from those around you. Yes, having a plan before moving on is always a good idea, but I've been in a number of places in my life where I decided to do something before having a definite plan, and it all worked out in the end. Good luck!
Whatever you decide to do, just keep in mind that leaving a Ph.D. program because it's just not right for you does not represent any kind of failure on your part. I know plenty of people who didn't leave graduate school because they thought quitting would mean admitting that they couldn't hack it; this simply isn't true , and if your only reason for staying in school is that you don't want to disappoint your peers, parents, or advisor, then you should think long and hard about taking some time off from school and reassessing what you want to do.
Finish what you started.
I dropped out of a prestigious program 6 years ago, with much of the same reasoning:
But here I am, 6 years later, applying for grad school to give it another go.
Here are my reasons for going back: (I welcome people to correct me if I'm wrong about any of these!)
Also, regarding your note on quantitative finance, please be very aware that the world of quantitative finance is very competitive and most places won't consider you if you don't have a PhD. I know because I tried several times to get a job doing quant work, but every firm I spoke with only offered back-end jobs doing menial SQL work. Your mileage may vary, but be warned that most people don't care about how good you think your quantitative skills are. (One fairly famous hedge fund manager told me very directly "everyone thinks they're going to be great at a new skill, so why would anyone risk their money on an unknown, unproven entity?".)
I'm surprised that both the question and the existing answers talk little about what used to motivate you to do research. You wrote, "where in the past research has been the saving grace keeping me interested in school, it now is losing a lot of its appeal". So what was that appeal, and how did it get lost?
Here are some possible answers, from my own experience; I'm sure there may be others in your case.
Did you get disillusioned about your field of research? Perhaps in the beginning you thought that if problems in this field were solved it would make a difference in the world, and now it seems that the big problems can't be solved and solving the small problems won't make a big difference?
Did you get disillusioned about academia? Did you have experiences that changed your view of academia? Did you come in the pursuit of truth and found that a lot of it is about the pursuit of publications?
Did you get disillusioned about your own abilities? Perhaps you were used to often being the best at what you were doing, and now you're surrounded by more smart people and your abilities seem less exceptional (and thus less motivating) in comparison?
Or perhaps your motivation had always been to please your parents and now that's not enough anymore?
I think having a clear understanding of what used to motivate you and why it stopped motivating you is a necessary and sufficient basis for the decision you're trying to make. If you lost interest in this particular field, you might have to look for a new field. If you lost the motivation that comes from a strong belief in your exceptional abilities, you might have to learn to enjoy being among the best and not necessarily the best. If your view of academia changed, you might try to find a place where academia is more how you'd like it to be, or if there doesn't seem to be one, perhaps academia isn't the right place for you. If you were only doing it for your parents, perhaps you should just leave. And if you lost interest because it turned out to be harder than you expected, then perhaps you should indeed "just put your head down and work through it, it's just a phase".
I think the key to sorting this out for yourself is to keep an open mind about your own motivations. Some of them may have been very pure and just got lost along the way and perhaps you can tap into them again; some of them may not seem so desirable now that you take a new look at them, and you may be glad not to have them anymore; but whatever they are, what's important is that you're honest about them to yourself and figure out how and why they changed, and that might allow you to see where they're leading you and whether staying or leaving is more in line with what's important to you now.
You are not alone.
Most graduate students are in their 20’s. Many have boy/girl friends and are away from their partners while in school. Many graduate students are international. They go abroad to study. They are away from their home countries. They study in a different environment/culture. They may have language problems. Fortunately, your situation is not that bad. Many graduate students go to graduate school as a family tradition. Their parents/relatives are academics. They were raised to be academics.
Most (if not all) graduate students have trouble with their course/research works in school one time or another. Many graduate students lose their interests in the school. Some quit. Some stay.
Your long post seems to suggest to me that you mixed your personal life with the graduate school life. We are human. We have emotions. We let our personal life interfere with other aspects of our life sometimes. We know we should not let it happen. But, it happens.
You did well in the first semester. Everything changed in the second one. Something happened. No one knows what happened except you. In other words, you are the only one who knows the answer.
I would suggest you to take a break, long or short, to figure out what you really want to do. Then, make your own decision.
There are good answers and commentaries here. I will not repeat them. I would emphasize something very important, your future is yours.
PhDs are not for everyone. That's why most top-tier schools have about a 50% retention rate, some closer to 25-30%. You need to discover what makes you passionate, and it might not be what a PhD will get you.
I have a friend who is currently getting his Bachelor's degree. His father is a rocket scientist for NASA, so naturally he went into the Physics program. It took only a couple semesters of C's and D's for him to realize Physics isn't for him, so he switched to Computer Science. Then he realized he hates Math, so he wanted to switch majors again.
All this time, though, he has had a creative outlet. He makes things, sometimes out of leather, sometimes out of steel; the other day he came to class with a clay pot he'd just finished. Toward the end of this last semester he went through with changing his major one last time. He already has too many CS credits to give up on that major altogether, but he's dropping the Math minor that comes de facto and is picking up an Art minor instead.
I've never seen him happier than he is now. He found what he's passionate about, and it's not what his father did. You have to discover your passion. And it sounds like the job you had back home is just that.
If you don't feel any passion or motivation after the second semester, I'd say you have to really take a hard look at if graduate school is something for you as you'd still have a few years to go. If you should quit or not firstly depends on what you want. You need to try and find out why you lost your passion. Was it there first, and did something cause it to leave? Where you ambivalent about graduate school, and now you found out it was not for you?
Please do not stay just because you might disappoint others, live is just too short for that.
Given the glut of PhD's I would suggest that you get a real job. A PhD is worth only if you are really interested in doing research otherwise you'll waste 4-5 years (then another 3-4 years doing a postdoc). Faculty positions are few and far between and then you'll have to worry about getting funds/tenure. So unless you're highly motivated by research/academia you'll mostly be miserable. In the industry a PhD doesn't make much more then a Masters and significantly less than a MBA, so there is no financial justification. Also there is a very good chance that you'll be working on things which don't even require a PhD. Some are lucky to find a good research environment but not everyone.
On the flip side if you do quit now then at some point you'll regret not getting a PhD. So think about what you want to do in life (besides having and providing for your children). A (PhD) degree is just a means to an end. People sometimes get emotional about it but they should not. Talk to your parents and I am sure they'll understand.
I know how you feel because even as an undergraduate, I once packed my bags. But a friend prevailed on me and I'm still thankful for not quitting. Consider the following:
If you start a count down to finish date and get really excited about seeing the day approach, you'll know time passes really quickly.
Our emotions/feeling/circumstances are temporary/passing but our achievements (good or bad) are permanent.
Creative/innovative people (like you) get tired of routine. If you take interest in something around you that requires you to learn something challenging (say music) or something alien to you, your PhD vital signs may be positively influence.
I am not an expert at these things but I know that when I get tired of routine... I stimulate my creativity somewhere else... Not for the gain but for the challenge.
Good luck man...
First and foremost, you have to look out for you, and only you. By this, I mean your well-being, your happiness and your own future.
As many have said, rather than quit at this stage, take some time out from the study. If I may suggest some things to do in your hiatus - volunteer work, teaching in a high school, perhaps try something completely different.
You are definitely not alone - I am a PhD student and have found myself in the exact some situation, took some time - concentrated on my job (teaching), travelled, lived overseas, even did some acting. I felt rejuvenated and ready to tackle the project. In my case, I returned to study. But, all situations are very different - you have to give yourself some time and space to work out what it is you want.
I read your post and from what I can see you don't sound like you enjoy your PhD or academic life in general. I personally did not find the reason why your situation became so hard. Perhaps you don't feel ok with the fact that your girlfriend is at home and you have to be somewhere else. Perhaps you you don't find the project entertaining. I'd say it might be the research itself that does not motivate you. One thing I am certain about is that you have to feel passion for doing research. You need to be determined and driven. Otherwise, it's easy to lose motivation.
You may need to ask yourself if you really need to stay where you are! PhD is for those who plan to be professional researchers. It's only counts if you plan to stay at any university. Not only will this have to be your everyday job, you will also have to be the person who proposes many new projects and be a leader for others. If don't see yourself in this roll, then it's probably better if you consider quitting. It's nothing wrong with quitting PhD. Besides, you can still begin a PhD somewhere else. You don't need to stick to the one you don't enjoy.
I can tell you that I met many people in my office. Everyone of them had their sort of crisis and this seems quite natural stage in the whole process. The research is also not a usual job and can be frustrating. Things always go wrong. Only determination, enjoyment, and passion make people stay and continue their PhDs.
As some of the others already said, It's nothing wrong when you quit PhD. Taking a longer break, coming home for couple of months, calming down may help you realise and understand a lot of things which are difficult to spot when you under pressure.
It seems to me like the fundamental question here is that of whether or not your current feelings are part of a typical grad student "phase" or indicative of misaligned life goals, priorities, etc. on a much deeper level. Ultimately, a question you'll have to answer on your own and most likely by trusting your gut and intuition.
There are many, many reasons why you might be feeling the way you do now. From your description it's clear that you started the PhD process knowing you were accepting less than ideal conditions in some areas of your life with the understanding that these would be offset by other benefits. You might be more or less ambivalent about some of those benefits now that you're in the process, and the tradeoffs and benefits would certainly change if you were to switch sides and leave the program.
I would suggest assuming, for the time being, that one-year-ago you made a well educated calculation of the costs-benefits of the PhD program, in particular with a time horizon greater than 5 years.
Staying in the program then means trusting in the vision of one-year-ago you in that the long-term benefits to your life outweigh the immediate suffering (including the less than ideal use of your skills and the momentary loss of passion). On the other hand, your valuation of the tradeoffs and benefits of the PhD may have changed more than you expected, in particular with respect to your relationship or your connection to the research area.
The way to know this, in short, is to trust yourself. If your current path is just wrong for you -- if you feel you're compromising some fundamental part of yourself -- then trust that feeling. Otherwise, trust your prior vision: accept that your feelings are part of the PhD journey and trust that you'll find your passion again soon (when you stop putting pressure on yourself to find it).
One last thought that might really be the crux of the issue is that getting a PhD is a highly individualistic and very lonely experience. Richard Butterworth has a talk that really drove this home in which he says:
A PhD, by its very nature, is a very individualistic venture. ... The next big surprise for people who are starting PhDs after an undergraduate degree is just how excrutiatingly lonely a PhD is.
Your issues are real and I do not want to discount them in anyway.
In my view, you are in a privileged position and if you can make the most of it, then it would be not be a loss (as you tend to describe your experience now).
Here is a simple test: think of where you want to be in (say) five years from now? If you want to be in a place which requires a PhD, then start working on it now, other wise get out.
I know this is simplistic but it works when the issues are complicated and there are no easy solutions. At least in this way, you will make an informed decision and will not have the guilt later on!
Just suck it in and get it!
After you pass all the formal requirements, you will have a mini-tenure for 3/4/5 years (depending on the Dept you are in). I was thinking to quit first two years but now (in the mini-tenure period) I'm enjoying my life and research (from 9 to 5 only).
Try it, if you don't like it, you can always quit.
See if you can get a Master's in your second year, so that your graduate studies are not completely wasted. This is but too common in doctoral programs that they let students who are admitted to doctoral programs without being the "doctorate material" to finish the required number of courses, take the qualifier as the bottom line as far as qualification goes, and let you off with a Master's degree. They don't like that, but that's likely flight overbooking: you know that some people are not going to make it. Discuss this with your adviser.
For what I see on the earnings curves, there's a notable jump at 4 years of college/getting a Bachelor's degree, where the average earnings jump up by may be 15% from "Some college" to "BA degree" category. After that, the incomes are pretty flat, with a very modest 2 or so % return per year of education. So you ain't losing much in income, but an unfinished degree puts a big "L" across your forehead. I mean, if you drop out and found a Google or a Facebook, that's fine, but the probability of that happening is about 1e-6. (You don't know how funny that 20k figure is going to look like when your new wife asks you: "As I am expecting a baby, we need a bigger house... and also please open the college saving account for our baby", so your bold statements about income are totally out of line with real life. Or at least the life you will have in 10 years time.) The engineers that I taught seem to be starting off at $40-50Kpa, and I see no reason why a guy with a decent quant background should be making less than that.
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The Ph.D. in English is an innovative program that integrates digital humanities, writing studies, literature, rhetoric, discourse, and cultural studies, offering opportunities for creative reinterpretation of these fields within the discipline of English. Students may pursue full- or part-time study through a combination of on-campus and distance learning courses. This program prepares students for academic careers, as well as other careers in which reading, writing, and critical inquiry figure prominently; the program also helps students professionalize within their current careers.
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Originate and prepare written material, such as scripts, stories, advertisements, and other material.
Engage in promoting or creating an intended public image for individuals, groups, or organizations. May write or select material for release to various communications media.
Teach courses in English language and literature, including linguistics and comparative literature. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.
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An investigation of the cultural discourse surrounding the figure of Pocahontas in Early American literature and history, observing its construction within the dominant archive and its performance over a period of four centuries. Also seeks to understand Pocahontas from within local indigenous traditions and a larger network of indigenous agency.
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This course introduces students to the principal questions and concerns of the field and includes a comparison and contrast of the subspecialties in English, including how they form and address key issues
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The graduate program in English provides you with a broad knowledge in the discipline, including critical and cultural theory and literary history. This solid foundation enables you to choose your own path based on the wide variety of areas of concentration. Our flexible program allows you to take courses outside the department to further explore your chosen field(s). Our program emphasizes excellence in writing, innovative scholarship, and eloquent presentations—important skills you will need in your future profession. The program and its faculty are committed both to diversity in its student body and in the diversity of thought and scholarship.
Examples of student theses and dissertations include “The Write to Stay Home: Southern Black Literature from the Great Depression to Early Twenty-first Century,” “Profaning Theater: The Drama of Religion on the Modernists Stage,” and “Sentimental Borders: Genre and Geography in the Literature of Civil War and Reconstruction.”
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We offer a Ph.D. in English. We do not offer a terminal M.A. Students pursue slightly different tracks depending on their degree (BA/MA) on admission. See “ How to Apply ” to learn about applying to our program. That page also describes the spirit of our program, while this page is focused more on the program’s structure.
Seminar descriptions covering a range of topics are listed on the website every quarter. To fulfill the course requirements, students entering with a B.A. are required to take 13 seminars; students entering with an M.A. are required to take 9 seminars. A normal course load is taking at least 2 seminars per quarter. Students may take seminars outside of English, and they may work with a select number of outside faculty in their exams and dissertations. Students are encouraged to take additional coursework, as necessary, based on their field of study.
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Several programs are available to doctoral students interested in undertaking extra coursework and research as a way of adding to their specialized expertise. These require working with a department outside English, and they include the Designated Emphasis in Speculative Fictions and Cultures of Science (SFCS); in Southeast Asian Studies (SEAS); and in Archive, Museum, Manuscript, and Print Studies (AMMP). A full list of Designated Emphasis application forms can be found on the Graduate Division website here .
Qualifying Exam I is a portfolio-based exam taken by students entering with a BA. This exam is normally taken in the spring of one’s second year. This is the equivalent of an MA exam, taken on the way to getting a Ph.D., and the student usually applies for their MA degree after passing it. The portfolio includes two revised seminar essays and an introductory essay. This is the basis for a one-hour oral examination with two faculty.
Qualifying Exam II is also a portfolio-based exam. Students prepare this portfolio over a period of roughly nine to twelve months after all their coursework is completed. This portfolio is centered on an article, a dissertation prospectus, comprehensive readings lists in three fields of expertise, and pedagogical materials. This exam culminates in an oral examination with three primary committee members and two additional faculty (including one from outside the department). On passing this exam, the student submits a dissertation prospectus to the designated Ph.D. committee and advances to candidacy. At this point, one becomes eligible for ABD (“all-but-degree”) dissertation fellowships. (See Funding, below, for more on this.)
The dissertation is the final piece of doctoral work in our program and generally consists of 4 chapters and an introduction, written over the period of approximately 12-18 months. Our department marks the completion of the dissertation with an oral defense. This is a public presentation and discussion of one’s research with departmental faculty, students, and select outside experts.
The standard/expected time to the Ph.D. degree is 18 quarters (6 years). We work with students to make sure they access TAships and/or fellowship support which carries them through to the completion of their dissertation. In their final year, we work closely with advanced students to prepare them for the academic job market.
All of our Ph.D. students receive a commitment of five years of financial support and are eligible to apply for support in their sixth year. Support, here, means tuition and a stipend (fellowship) and (more often) a teaching award (through which one receives a salary and tuition).
Ph.D. students entering with a BA do not teach in their first year. Ph.D. students entering with an MA and with teaching experience may be offered a mix of fellowship and TAship support in their first year.
Students admitted to our program are sometimes, on admission, awarded campus-wide fellowships, such as the Eugene Cota Robles Award, or the Provost’s Award. These awards blend fellowship and TAship support, and may include additional funding.
Students may apply for a range of campus-based and UC-system awards, including the Graduate Research Mentoring Fellowship and Dissertation Year Program Fellowships. For more details on graduate funding at UCR, see the Graduate Division website.
Renewal of support from year to year requires making adequate progress in one’s work (maintaining good standing through a full program of study) and, in the case of TAships, meeting established minimum requirements with regards to one’s work in the classroom.
For more information see “ Funding Opportunities ” on the Graduate Division Website.
Our graduate students work as Teaching Assistants (TAs) supporting a wide range of classes in the department (leading sections in large lectures, and collaborating with faculty in smaller courses for majors). Nearly all of our students teach for the University Writing Program at some point during their time at UCR; for many students, this is the mainstay of their TAship support. Students with interests in developing their work in writing instruction have a range of opportunities to do so through mentoring, administrative and leadership positions within UWP. Depending on the departmental budget, advanced students are also often eligible to teach upper-level undergraduate lectures in their fields of expertise.
Students also work at TAs supporting Media and Cultural Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Southeast Asian Studies, and several other campus programs (usually leading sections for large lectures), and sometimes win competitive TAships from the college.
Graduate student instructors are unionized and represented by UAW 2685.
To get a PhD or not to get a PhD? That is the question.
Valerie David
Lifestyle and Career Expert
Reviewed by Hayley Ramsey
Entering the job market for the first time can be a stressful experience, especially if you don't feel completely prepared. When deciding how to take those first steps toward your ultimate career , and how to give yourself a chance at the best jobs, you may find yourself asking: “Should I do a PhD?”.
While academics looking forward to a life of learning may consider this a no-brainer, there are important factors for everyone to consider. Finances, job prospects and quality of life issues can greatly affect the success of furthering your education.
To help you decide if the time and effort of a PhD is worth it, here are the major benefits and disadvantages of getting that doctorate.
After four or more years of intellectual pursuits, adding a PhD may seem like overkill. Before you make your choice, let's look at all the benefits that are exclusive to earning the most advanced degree.
Embarking on a PhD programme means delving into your preferred subject in a much deeper way than you have in any of your previous studies. The beauty of this advanced degree is that it allows you to sail in uncharted waters. Your goal is to find new information, draw new conclusions and, hopefully, make a significant contribution to your field.
Your intensive research, travel, collaboration and study will lead you on an unpredictable path to telling a story that no one has heard before. For some students, this pursuit of knowledge and discovery is enough to make all the hard work of earning a PhD worth it.
One of the key benefits of a PhD is that it opens doors to careers at the highest levels. This can include leadership positions in science and engineering, government roles in economics and political science, and prestigious teaching posts for English and arts majors. Even if an advanced degree isn't required for the job you want, that PhD can give you an extra air of authority in your field and an edge over other candidates.
Another obvious upside to continuing your postgraduate studies is that landing these powerful positions can lead to large financial rewards. Some areas of study, like medicine and the law, tend to be more lucrative, but it can also depend on the type of job. For example, a university professor or researcher post can pay well for a wide variety of disciplines. Check out sites like the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Careers Service to investigate potential salaries.
A study arranged by the National Commission on Writing discovered that blue-chip businesses (long-standing companies with stable stock growth) are spending more than $3 billion a year on remedial writing course for current employees. This includes staff with undergraduate degrees.
So, when a hiring manager peruses your résumé and sees that you've earned a PhD, they'll know immediately that you've spent years honing your skills at compiling research, organizing mountains of data and writing about your results in a cohesive and persuasive way. This will clearly set you apart from your competition, while landing your dream job will prove that pursuing that advanced degree was worth it.
While pursuing your undergraduate degree, you likely noticed that you were learning more than just the subject matter taught in each class. Completing your studies also required time management skills , focus and problem solving .
Getting a doctorate degree requires even more of the soft skills that employers look for in applicants . Your intensive study and finished thesis should lead to improvements in your problem solving, critical thinking , patience and adaptability . These desirable skills won't just help you land a job but also excel in whatever career you choose to pursue .
When weighing the pros and cons of earning a PhD, consider all the professional contacts you'll make during the course of your studies. Working closely with professors, department heads, experts in your field, as well as fellow researchers, helps you develop an important resource. This network of colleagues can provide continual assistance with references, job leads, career advice and collaboration.
Job prospects may not look that promising when you've completed your undergraduate degree, or even after you've been in the workforce for a few years. While there's no guarantee things will improve after a delay, some students may appreciate the benefit of a steady graduate assistant salary while they work on enhancing their résumé with a doctorate.
If you couldn't get a good internship during or after your undergrad studies, the PhD work also gives you the time to build that professional network . These contacts could prove to be the key to breaking into a specialized or highly competitive field.
You may still be thinking about all that time and commitment and wondering, “Is a PhD worth it?”. While there are always positive results from improving your education, there are some downsides to getting your doctorate.
This is a substantial factor for many students when weighing the merits of pursuing a PhD versus entering the job market right away. If you already have student loans , continuing your education will just increase your burden and add substantial pressure when you eventually begin your job search.
If cost is a concern, investigate graduate assistant jobs that help with expenses. Some programmes offer tuition assistance in return for teaching or research work. For those who already work full time and are hoping a PhD will help them advance in their career, consider keeping that job and pursuing your studies on a part-time basis.
Despite your interactions with professors and other students, pursuing a doctoral degree is ultimately a solitary pursuit. Your thesis topic is unique to you, and you'll spend a lot of time alone doing research and writing. Your social life can suffer, especially if you're also working in addition to your studies.
Career experts often talk about the necessity of work-life balance for physical and mental health, and this is just as important for PhD students as anyone else. It may take you a little longer to complete your degree, but it's worth taking the time to visit family and hang out with your friends. These positive interactions can help you stay motivated through the most tedious parts of your work.
Pursuing a PhD may seem like a noble and interesting endeavor, and extended life as a student can appear more attractive than wading into the job market. You must be aware, however, that getting a doctorate can be a very stressful and frustrating experience.
A topic that seemed intriguing at first may not live up to years of scrutiny, causing boredom at best or requiring a complete thesis change at worst. Not all programmes are well-run, either, and you may have a supervisor who is too critical, offers poor advice or is just unavailable and unhelpful.
The difficulties of a PhD programme lead to rather substantial dropout rates. In the US alone, only 57% of PhD students obtained their degree within a decade of enrolling. If you want to be in the successful half of those stats, take extra time to review your choice of supervisor and topic focus. Ask every professor you have for advice on making the right decisions and talk with current graduate students to see what their experience has been.
While getting a PhD can qualify you for better and higher-paying jobs , it can also put you in a position where you're competing for an extremely limited number of job openings. This is especially true of university jobs, where the number of advanced degree graduates far outpaces the need for full-time instructors, researchers and administrators.
Earning your PhD with a very obscure thesis in a niche speciality can also limit your options. When there are only a handful of jobs that suit your expertise, and they're already occupied, it can make you feel that your doctorate was a waste of time. Consider the job market before you make decisions about getting another degree. If you're determined to study in a niche area, think ahead of time about related fields or industries where your knowledge and skills will also prove useful to employers.
While most studies concur that having a PhD increases your income potential substantially over the lifetime of your career, it's not a guarantee of job security or a financial windfall. A study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that 5 years after earning their doctorates , 45% of grads in Germany were still on temporary contracts and 13% ended up in lowly occupations.
Other European countries, including Slovakia, Belgium and Spain, had similar results. In the US, in fields like engineering, the difference in pay scales between employees with a master's degree and a PhD was a mere 7%. When that small bump in salary is weighed against the amount of debt taken on in order to get your degree, you may decide it's not worth it.
New forms of technology continue to change how organizations operate, and those changes can happen fast. If you've already spent several years in school, toiling away in solitary study of obscure subjects can cause you to fall further behind in learning the skills you'll actually need for a future career.
Before you invest in getting a PhD, research your chosen field and learn which type of degree will give you the most value. Many scientific, financial and computing careers rely more on skills acquired on the job, rather than in coursework that can quickly become outdated.
You’ve listed out the pros and cons, but that still may not be enough to help make your decision. When it comes to a life-altering change like getting a doctorate, it’s okay to take enough time to ask yourself specific questions to ensure you’re making the right move. Consider asking yourself the following:
Unfortunately, you may not have the answer to every one of these questions, because let’s face it, you don’t know what you don’t know. You might not know how it will affect your relationship with family or friends, but why not ask them? Reach out to those closest to you and see how you pursuing this degree could trickle down to them and allow that to play into your decision. Evaluate the answers to these questions and use it to help you make an educated decision on your future moving forward.
If you’ve weighed out the pros and cons, asked all the important questions, and now you’re set on getting your PhD, congratulations! To help you along the way, let’s look at a list of the most valuable PhD programs to start you on your way to this degree.
These fields are rapidly growing and are among the highest-paying doctorate degrees in 2022 , so they might be worth considering as you start your journey.
Key takeaways
Pursuing your PhD requires an incredible amount of commitment, and it's important to take the necessary time to make the decision. As you’re evaluating a doctorate degree, remember the following:
Who knows, this may prompt you to move on to postgraduate study — never stop achieving!
Have you decided to pursue your PhD, or are you still considering your options? Join us in the comments below and let us know what’s stopping or encouraging you from getting a PhD.
Originally published on July 24, 2019. Updated by Shalie Reich.
Continuing Education
Courses and Qualifications
The DPhil in English is intended to develop the skills and understanding necessary to undertake and present original research at a high level, and provide a thorough foundation for a career in research.
Under the guidance of your supervisor, you will complete a thesis of 80,000 to 100,000 words. A typical term will involve a great deal of independent research, punctuated by meetings with the supervisor who will be able to suggest direction and address concerns throughout the writing process.
In addition you will have the opportunity to attend a wide range of classes, seminars and lectures in order to learn bibliographic and research skills, interact with other researchers or gain new perspectives on your work. You may also be encouraged to attend the research skills courses available as part of the master's (MSt) programme, depending how much of this training has been covered previously.
The English Faculty is not responsible for providing teaching opportunities for research students as most undergraduate teaching in Oxford is organised by individual colleges. Teaching is not a compulsory part of the DPhil. But research students may wish to gain some teaching experience, so long as it does not interfere with their own progress. Those research students who wish to gain teaching experience are invited to attend Faculty-run preparatory teaching workshops and seminars, as well as enrolling on a Teaching Mentor Scheme.
The faculty's research degrees are not available by distance learning. Although there will be no requirement to reside in Oxford, part-time research students must attend the University on a regular basis (particularly in term-time: October and November, mid-January to mid-March, and late April to mid-June) for supervision, study, research seminars and skills training.
The faculty appreciates that part-time research students will have non-standard attendance and work patterns. To ensure a comprehensive integration into the faculty's and University's research culture and with their full-time peer groups, a pattern of attendance at training events and research seminars would form part of the general study agreement for part-time students, alongside the individualised arrangements between supervisor and student. You cannot be enrolled in the part-time course if you need a visa to study in the UK.
As a part-time student you will be required to attend seminars, supervision meetings and other obligations in Oxford for a minimum of 30 days each year. Part-time students are expected to be present in Oxford for Faculty induction, college induction, and an initial meeting with supervisors in order to decide upon the programme of study for that term and to develop a plan for the coming year’s work. These are usually all held in 0th week of Michaelmas term of the 1st year. There will be some flexibility in the dates of term-time attendance which will be determined by mutual agreement with your supervisor, but part-time students are expected to be in Oxford in order to participate in key Faculty activities, which will occupy on average 20 days per term.Attendance outside of term-time is determined by mutual agreement with your supervisor.
Part-time students are expected to spend some periods in Oxford in at least two terms per year in the first two years.Part-time students are expected to attend at least half of the Faculty's (usually weekly or fortnightly) research seminar meetings in their subject area and to contribute to them as much as full-time students do over the length of their course.
The allocation of graduate supervision for this course is the responsibility of the Faculty of English and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff. Under exceptional circumstances a supervisor may be found outside the Faculty of English.
It is expected that you will have at least two substantial supervisions in each term (or for part-time students, at least one each term). In the case of students who require specific help to adjust to an academic programme or to a new range of skills, the supervisor will work with them to ensure that they have additional support.
You will be enrolled initially as a Probationary Research Student and will then apply to transfer to full DPhil status during your first year (or for part-time students, by the end of your second year). A further assessment of your work and progress takes place during the third year of the programme (for part-time students, this would be completed by the first term of your sixth year).
In the final year of your course, you will need to submit a thesis of 80,000 to 100,000 words for assessment by an internal examiner, from within the University, and an external examiner, from beyond. There will then be a ‘viva voce’ oral examination with the two examiners.
Graduates from the English Faculty are employed across a wide range of sectors. Many take up academic positions in the UK and overseas. Other graduates pursue careers in occupations including teaching, the arts, heritage, librarianship, journalism, publishing, law and the civil service.
The University will seek to deliver this course in accordance with the description set out in this course page. However, there may be situations in which it is desirable or necessary for the University to make changes in course provision, either before or after registration. The safety of students, staff and visitors is paramount and major changes to delivery or services may have to be made in circumstances of a pandemic, epidemic or local health emergency. In addition, in certain circumstances, for example due to visa difficulties or because the health needs of students cannot be met, it may be necessary to make adjustments to course requirements for international study.
Where possible your academic supervisor will not change for the duration of your course. However, it may be necessary to assign a new academic supervisor during the course of study or before registration for reasons which might include illness, sabbatical leave, parental leave or change in employment.
For further information please see our page on changes to courses and the provisions of the student contract regarding changes to courses.
Proven and potential academic excellence.
The requirements described below are specific to this course and apply only in the year of entry that is shown. You can use our interactive tool to help you evaluate whether your application is likely to be competitive .
Please be aware that any studentships that are linked to this course may have different or additional requirements and you should read any studentship information carefully before applying.
As a minimum, applicants should hold or be predicted to achieve the following UK qualifications or their equivalent:
The undergraduate and masters' degrees should be in English literature and/or English language, or exceptionally in a related subject that prepares the applicant for the particular course of study they propose.
For applicants with a degree from the USA, the minimum GPA sought is 3.75 (with at least 3.85 in the major) out of 4.0.
If your degree is not from the UK or another country specified above, visit our International Qualifications page for guidance on the qualifications and grades that would usually be considered to meet the University’s minimum entry requirements.
No Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or GMAT scores are sought.
This course requires proficiency in English at the University's higher level . If your first language is not English, you may need to provide evidence that you meet this requirement. The minimum scores required to meet the University's higher level are detailed in the table below.
Test | Minimum overall score | Minimum score per component |
---|---|---|
IELTS Academic (Institution code: 0713) | 7.5 | 7.0 |
TOEFL iBT, including the 'Home Edition' (Institution code: 0490) | 110 | Listening: 22 Reading: 24 Speaking: 25 Writing: 24 |
C1 Advanced* | 191 | 185 |
C2 Proficiency | 191 | 185 |
*Previously known as the Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English or Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) † Previously known as the Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English or Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE)
Your test must have been taken no more than two years before the start date of your course. Our Application Guide provides further information about the English language test requirement .
If your ability to meet the entry requirements has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic (eg you were awarded an unclassified/ungraded degree) or any other exceptional personal circumstance (eg other illness or bereavement), please refer to the guidance on extenuating circumstances in the Application Guide for information about how to declare this so that your application can be considered appropriately.
You will need to register three referees who can give an informed view of your academic ability and suitability for the course. The How to apply section of this page provides details of the types of reference that are required in support of your application for this course and how these will be assessed.
You will be required to supply supporting documents with your application. The How to apply section of this page provides details of the supporting documents that are required as part of your application for this course and how these will be assessed.
Interviews are not normally held as part of the admissions process.
Your application will be assessed purely on your proven and potential academic excellence and other entry requirements described under that heading.
References and supporting documents submitted as part of your application, and your performance at interview (if interviews are held) will be considered as part of the assessment process. Whether or not you have secured funding will not be taken into consideration when your application is assessed.
An overview of the shortlisting and selection process is provided below. Our ' After you apply ' pages provide more information about how applications are assessed .
Students are considered for shortlisting and selected for admission without regard to age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, race (including colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins), religion or belief (including lack of belief), sex, sexual orientation, as well as other relevant circumstances including parental or caring responsibilities or social background. However, please note the following:
Information about processing special category data for the purposes of positive action and using your data to assess your eligibility for funding , can be found in our Postgraduate Applicant Privacy Policy.
All recommendations to admit a student involve the judgement of at least two members of the academic staff with relevant experience and expertise, and must also be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies or Admissions Committee (or equivalent within the department).
Admissions panels or committees will always include at least one member of academic staff who has undertaken appropriate training.
The following factors will also govern whether candidates can be offered places:
If you receive an offer of a place at Oxford, your offer will outline any conditions that you need to satisfy and any actions you need to take, together with any associated deadlines. These may include academic conditions, such as achieving a specific final grade in your current degree course. These conditions will usually depend on your individual academic circumstances and may vary between applicants. Our ' After you apply ' pages provide more information about offers and conditions .
In addition to any academic conditions which are set, you will also be required to meet the following requirements:
If you are offered a place, you will be required to complete a Financial Declaration in order to meet your financial condition of admission.
In accordance with the University’s obligations towards students and staff, we will ask you to declare any relevant, unspent criminal convictions before you can take up a place at Oxford.
The facilities for English graduate students in Oxford are outstanding. In the faculty building you will find superb computing resources, a graduate common room, a café and an excellent discipline-specific library.
The English Faculty Library holds over 110,000 volumes and a wide range of print journals; it also provides regular information skills training to support teaching and research in English. Graduate students have access to all of Oxford's libraries, numbering over one hundred and including the world-famous collections of the Bodleian Library.
You will have the opportunity to hear lectures and papers by leading writers, critics, and theorists from inside and outside the University. You are encouraged to participate in the many research seminars and reading groups that run throughout term time, many of which are coordinated by graduates themselves.
There is an active and lively graduate organisation funded by the faculty, English Graduates at Oxford (EGO), that organises study skills, training and career development seminars, as well as social events and conferences.
Oxford’s Faculty of English Language and Literature is by far the largest English department in the UK and has a very distinguished research record, awarded top grades in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework. The faculty leads the Complete University League Tables (2023) and QS World University Rankings (2022) for English Language and Literature. Teaching has been graded ‘excellent’ in every quality assurance review.
The faculty currently has 80 permanent members of academic staff, including 9 statutory professors. This is in addition to a further 100 or so members teaching in the colleges and temporary members of staff. There are currently around 900 undergraduate students (with roughly 260 admitted each year to the single honours school and a further 20 to joint honours school programmes). The Oxford English Faculty has the largest graduate school in the country, with approximately 95 master's students, with a further 120 graduate research students. For the publications and research interests of particular faculty members, please consult their individual webpages.
Oxford’s Faculty of English Language and Literature is the largest English department in the UK, with over 300 graduate students. The faculty has a very distinguished research and teaching record covering all periods of English literature.
The size and distinction of the faculty’s graduate school, as well as the intellectual diversity of its graduate students, make Oxford a very stimulating environment in which to study English.
The faculty’s taught master’s courses are designed to serve both as autonomous degrees and as a solid foundation for the pursuit of more advanced research in literature in Oxford or elsewhere. One of the special features of these courses is that, unlike many master's programmes, they offer you the opportunity to pursue topics across period boundaries if you so wish.
Research in English at Oxford covers a wide range of work in literature and language over all periods to the present. The Faculty has a lively programme of research seminars in which staff and students have the opportunity to give papers on their work, and to meet specialists from other universities and institutions from the UK and abroad.
View all courses View taught courses View research courses
The University expects to be able to offer over 1,000 full or partial graduate scholarships across the collegiate University in 2024-25. You will be automatically considered for the majority of Oxford scholarships , if you fulfil the eligibility criteria and submit your graduate application by the relevant December or January deadline. Most scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic merit and/or potential.
For further details about searching for funding as a graduate student visit our dedicated Funding pages, which contain information about how to apply for Oxford scholarships requiring an additional application, details of external funding, loan schemes and other funding sources.
Please ensure that you visit individual college websites for details of any college-specific funding opportunities using the links provided on our college pages or below:
Please note that not all the colleges listed above may accept students on this course. For details of those which do, please refer to the College preference section of this page.
Further information about funding opportunities for this course can be found on the faculty's website.
Full-time study.
Home | £12,540 |
Overseas | £30,790 |
Further details about fee status eligibility can be found on the fee status webpage.
Home | £6,270 |
Overseas | £15,395 |
Course fees are payable each year, for the duration of your fee liability (your fee liability is the length of time for which you are required to pay course fees). For courses lasting longer than one year, please be aware that fees will usually increase annually. For details, please see our guidance on changes to fees and charges .
Course fees cover your teaching as well as other academic services and facilities provided to support your studies. Unless specified in the additional information section below, course fees do not cover your accommodation, residential costs or other living costs. They also don’t cover any additional costs and charges that are outlined in the additional information below.
Following the period of fee liability , you may also be required to pay a University continuation charge and a college continuation charge. The University and college continuation charges are shown on the Continuation charges page.
The Fees and Funding section of this website provides further information about course fees , including information about fee status and eligibility and your length of fee liability .
There are no compulsory elements of this course that entail additional costs beyond fees (or, after fee liability ends, continuation charges) and living costs. However, please note that, depending on your choice of research topic and the research required to complete it, you may incur additional expenses, such as travel expenses, research expenses, and field trips. You will need to meet these additional costs, although you may be able to apply for small grants from your department and/or college to help you cover some of these expenses.
Please note that you are required to attend in Oxford for a minimum of 30 days each year, and you may incur additional travel and accommodation expenses for this. Also, depending on your choice of research topic and the research required to complete it, you may incur further additional expenses, such as travel expenses, research expenses, and field trips. You will need to meet these additional costs, although you may be able to apply for small grants from your department and/or college to help you cover some of these expenses.
In addition to your course fees, you will need to ensure that you have adequate funds to support your living costs for the duration of your course.
For the 2024-25 academic year, the range of likely living costs for full-time study is between c. £1,345 and £1,955 for each month spent in Oxford. Full information, including a breakdown of likely living costs in Oxford for items such as food, accommodation and study costs, is available on our living costs page. The current economic climate and high national rate of inflation make it very hard to estimate potential changes to the cost of living over the next few years. When planning your finances for any future years of study in Oxford beyond 2024-25, it is suggested that you allow for potential increases in living expenses of around 5% each year – although this rate may vary depending on the national economic situation. UK inflationary increases will be kept under review and this page updated.
If you are studying part-time your living costs may vary depending on your personal circumstances but you must still ensure that you will have sufficient funding to meet these costs for the duration of your course.
Students enrolled on this course will belong to both a department/faculty and a college. Please note that ‘college’ and ‘colleges’ refers to all 43 of the University’s colleges, including those designated as societies and permanent private halls (PPHs).
If you apply for a place on this course you will have the option to express a preference for one of the colleges listed below, or you can ask us to find a college for you. Before deciding, we suggest that you read our brief introduction to the college system at Oxford and our advice about expressing a college preference . For some courses, the department may have provided some additional advice below to help you decide.
The following colleges accept students for full-time study on this course:
The following colleges accept students for part-time study on this course:
Our guide to getting started provides general advice on how to prepare for and start your application. You can use our interactive tool to help you evaluate whether your application is likely to be competitive .
If it's important for you to have your application considered under a particular deadline – eg under a December or January deadline in order to be considered for Oxford scholarships – we recommend that you aim to complete and submit your application at least two weeks in advance . Check the deadlines on this page and the information about deadlines and when to apply in our Application Guide.
An application fee of £75 is payable per course application. Application fee waivers are available for the following applicants who meet the eligibility criteria:
You are encouraged to check whether you're eligible for an application fee waiver before you apply.
If you're currently studying for an Oxford graduate taught course and apply to this course with no break in your studies, you may be eligible to apply to this course as a readmission applicant. The application fee will be waived for an eligible application of this type. Check whether you're eligible to apply for readmission .
You are not expected to contact a potential supervisor before submitting an application. However, if the proposed research topic is unusual, you may find it useful to review the faculty members and research sections of the faculty website to see if supervision is likely to be available from among the permanent members of staff.
Please note that the allocation of graduate supervision is the responsibility of the Faculty of English and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff. Please note also that a faculty member's willingness to supervise is no guarantee of admission.
You should refer to the information below when completing the application form, paying attention to the specific requirements for the supporting documents .
For this course, the application form will include questions that collect information that would usually be included in a CV/résumé. You should not upload a separate document. If a separate CV/résumé is uploaded, it will be removed from your application .
If any document does not meet the specification, including the stipulated word count, your application may be considered incomplete and not assessed by the academic department. Expand each section to show further details.
Under the 'Field and title of research project' please enter your proposed field or area of research if this is known. If the department has advertised a specific research project that you would like to be considered for, please enter the project title here instead.
You should not use this field to type out a full research proposal. You will be able to upload your research supporting materials separately if they are required (as described below).
If known, under 'Proposed supervisor name' enter the name of the academic who you would like to supervise your research. Otherwise leave this field blank.
Whilst you must register three referees, the department may start the assessment of your application if two of the three references are submitted by the course deadline and your application is otherwise complete. Please note that you may still be required to ensure your third referee supplies a reference for consideration.
The Faculty of English expects three academic references in all but exceptional cases, and never fewer than two academic references.
Your references will support intellectual ability, academic achievement and motivation.
Your transcripts should give detailed information of the individual grades received in your university-level qualifications to date. You should only upload official documents issued by your institution and any transcript not in English should be accompanied by a certified translation.
More information about the transcript requirement is available in the Application Guide.
The research proposal should be an outline of the research plans, written in English. The overall word count should include any bibliography.
If possible, please ensure that the word count is clearly displayed on the document.
This will be assessed for:
Academic essays from your most recent qualification, written in English, are required. Extracts from longer pieces are welcome but should be prefaced by a note which puts them in context. The word count does not need to include any bibliography or brief footnotes.
It is better to submit essays related to the area and in the subject in which you wish to work.
This work will be assessed for analytical and critical acumen; ability to construct and defend an argument; and powers of expression.
To submit one longer piece of work in your application instead of two shorter pieces, you should upload this document in the first 'Written work' slot on the 'Supporting Documents' tab of the Application Form. In the second 'Written work' slot, you should upload a PDF document with the following statement:
' I have included one long essay in lieu of two short essays. I have checked the course page to confirm this is permitted for this course. '
You can start or return to an application using the relevant link below. As you complete the form, please refer to the requirements above and consult our Application Guide for advice . You'll find the answers to most common queries in our FAQs.
Application Guide Apply - Full time Apply - Part time
Closed to applications for entry in 2024-25
Register to be notified via email when the next application cycle opens (for entry in 2025-26)
12:00 midday UK time on:
Friday 5 January 2024 Latest deadline for most Oxford scholarships Final application deadline for entry in 2024-25
Full Time | Part Time | |
---|---|---|
Course code | RD_EL6L1 | RD_EL6L9P1 |
Expected length | 3-4 years | 6-8 years |
Places in 2024-25 | c. 31 | c. 3 |
Applications/year* | 212 | 6 |
Expected start | ||
English language |
*Three-year average (applications for entry in 2021-22 to 2023-24)
This course is offered by the Faculty of English Language and Literature
Advice about contacting the department can be found in the How to apply section of this page
✉ [email protected] ☎ +44 (0)1865 281140 or +44 (0)1865 271541
See the application guide
We are unable to sponsor student visas for part-time study on this course. Part-time students may be able to attend on a visitor visa for short blocks of time only (and leave after each visit) and will need to remain based outside the UK.
Field: Renaissance
Interests: Ecocriticism; Transnational Anglophone / Postcolonial and African American Literature; Gender...
Field: 20th Century
Interests: Renaissance / Early Modern, Transnational Anglophone /Postcolonial and African American Literature,...
Field: 19th Century British
Interests: 18th Century / Enlightenment, 19th Century American, Law and Literature
Field: Medieval
Interests: Criticism & Theory; Cultural Studies
Interests: Medieval, Renaissance, The Novel, Drama and Performance, Medical Humanities, Comparative Literature,...
Field: Criticism and Theory
Interests: 20th-21st Century American and Transnational Anglophone, Queer Theory, Visual Cultures and...
Interests: History of the Book, Literature and Visual Art and Comparative Literature
Field: Renaissance
Interests: Literature and Visual Art and Comparative Literature, Music and Literature, Criticism and Theory
Field: Transnational Anglophone/Postcolonial
Interests: Multiethnic Literature of the US / Poetry 21st Century / Contemporary...
Field: Poetry
Interests: Poetry, Literature and Visual Arts, Performance Theory, Multiethnic Literature of the US, Transnational...
Field: 19 th Century British/Romantics/Victorian
Interests: Criticism and Theory, Literature and Science, Science and...
Interests: Medieval/Music and Literature/History of the Book
Field: 20th C. American & 21st C./Contemporary American
Interests: The Novel; Modernism and Postmodernism; Periodization; Criticism &...
Interests: American Literature
Selected Works: Literary...
Education: A.B. 1963 Yale; A.B./A.M. 1966 Cambridge; Ph.D. 1968 Princeton.
Interests:...
Education: B.A., Harvard University (1973) Ph.D., Harvard University (1978)
Interests: Eighteenth Century and Restoration; Romanticism;...
Education: B.A., Swarthmore College (1966) Ph.D., Yale University (1969)
Interests: Shakespeare; Modern Drama, Dramatic Theory, and...
Education: B.A., New York University (1973) M.F.A., University of Iowa (1978)
Interests: English Poetry; American Poetry; Contemporary...
Education: B.A. 1953 Amherst College; Ph.D 1962 Harvard University.
Selected Works: ...
Education: B.A., Brandeis University (1980) M.A., Columbia University (1982) Ph.D., Columbia University (1988)
Interests: American poetry...
Education: B.A. 1951 Harvard University; A.M. 1953, Ph.D. 1957 Harvard University.
Education: B.A., Princeton University (1973) M.Phil., Oxford University (1976) Ph.D., Yale University (1980)
Interests: English Language...
Education: B.A., University of Melbourne (1976) M.Phil., University of Oxford (1980) Ph.D., University of Cambridge (1996)
Lauren oversees the administration of the undergraduate concentration, and is a resource to concentrators and prospective concentrators on matters of...
Education: B.S.E., Duke University M.A.L.S., Weleyan University (1991) M.A., Purdue University (1993) M.Phil., Ph.D., Yale University (1998)...
Education: B.A., Indiana State University (1994) M.A., Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (1997) M.F.A., University of Iowa Writers’...
Education: B.A., University of Bombay (1970) MPhil., M.A., D.Phil, Christ Church, Oxford (1990)
Interests: Cosmopolitanism; human rights in...
Education: B.A., Concordia University, Montreal QC (2005) Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania (2014)
Interests: Modern and contemporary...
... Read more about Stephanie Burt
Education: B.A., Vassar (1991)
Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley (2002)
Interests: The Literature,...
Education: B.A., Yale (1993) Ph.D., Harvard (2001)
Interests: Nineteenth-century American literature; Victorian literature; trans-...
Education: B.A. 1996 Kalamazoo College M.A. 2000 SOAS, University of London M. Phil. 2006 Columbia University
Interests: Fiction writing...
Education: B.A. 2009 Arizona State University M.F.A. 2012 Vanderbilt University
Interests: Poetry and Creative Nonfiction writing; visual...
Education: BA Yale (2007) ...
Education: B.A., University of Dallas (1978) M.Phil., University College Dublin (1981) Ph.D., Yale (1986)
Interests: Old English; Middle...
Education: A.B., University Pittsburgh (1963) M.A., Harvard University (1966) Ph.D., Harvard University (1971)
Interests: American Novel...
Education: B.A., Oberlin College (1984)
Interests: Narrative journalism; essay; memoir; travel writing; literary science writing.
Education: B.A., Yale University (1973) M.A., University of Cambridge (1974) Ph.D., University of Cambridge (1979) Interests: African and...
Education: B.A., Yale (1964) M.Phil., Cambridge (1966) Ph.D., Yale (1969)
Interests: Shakespeare; Early Modern Literature and Culture;...
Education: B.A., Yale University (2002) Ph.D., Stanford University (2011)
Interests: Asian American literature; modern and contemporary...
Education: B.A., St. John's College, Annapolis (1986)
M.F.A., Columbia University (1990) ...
Education: B.A., Cornell University (1992) M.A., Harvard University (1996)
David Levine's work encompasses theater,...
Education: B.A., National Autonomous University of Mexico (2007) ...
Education: B.A. Hons., University of British Columbia (1983) A.M., Ph.D., Stanford University (1992) Interests: Eighteenth-century and Romantic-...
Education: B.F.A., NYU Tisch School of the Arts M.F.A., Brown University
Sam Marks, playwright: World Premieres include THE...
Education: B.A., Amherst College (2006) Ph.D., Princeton University (2018)
Interests: African American Literature; Modernism; Feminist,...
Education: B.A., Pomona College (1973) M.A., Columbia University (1975) Ph.D., Columbia University (1980) Interests: 19th and 20th Century...
Education: B.A., Columbia University (2011) M.A., New York University (2014) Ph.D., New York University (2019)
Interests...
Education: B.A., Yale University (1987) M.A., University of Cambridge (1989)
Interests: Fiction writing
Selected Works: Kant's...
Education: B.A., Yale University (2004) Ph.D., Stanford University (2013) Interests: Theater History; Copyright; Law and Performance; Economics...
Education: B.A., Jadavpur University, Calcutta (1991) M.A., Oxford University (1994) Ph.D., Cambridge University (2000)
Education: B.A. Hons., University of Alberta (2004) M.A., University of Toronto (2005) Ph.D., Stanford University (2014)
Education: A.B. 1957 Brown Interests: Rare books; Bibliography Selected Works: A...
Mfa lecturers.
Fiction Writer
Sarah iqbal.
Charity young, phd lecturers.
Visiting Lecturer
Joseph F. Martino ’53 Lecturer
Mfa students.
Susanna cupido.
Zibusiso mpofu.
Phd students, maria al-raes.
Maxwell burlew.
Bethstyline chery.
Multilingual Writing Tutor
Tanner crunelle.
Reymundo escobedo.
Corbin jones, lauryn jones.
Aditi shenoy.
Hillary warolin.
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The real question is why you want a PhD. If you want to teach at university/college level, then a PhD will be an advantage, and you should do it. If you are interested in researching a particular issue, a PhD might be worth it, or you could consider a research-based Masters. But (based on my own experience), if you are "caught up in indecision ...
By all means, if you're going to get a PhD in English, aim for one of the most reputable programs that you can (and be sure to weigh the program above the university). But you need to anticipate that the job market will still be brutally overcrowded. 1.6M subscribers in the AskAcademia community.
It's not like majoring in English where you'll get a well rounded education— the whole point is the focus on your work and your interests. SOP: Talk about faculty, yes, but focus on what the program already offers for you. What kinds of courses (you can generally look that up on the website) might be of use to you.
Doing a PhD doesn't just teach you about your topic; it teaches you about being thorough, exploring the state of the art, problem-solving, organisational skills, and so on. These make you very valuable if you use them well. I know what I want to create. And I know what's stopping me is not my 6 missing years; it's my unwillingness to confront ...
Here's a glimpse into the exciting array of non-academic careers English PhDs are well suited for: 1. Content Strategist and Brand Storyteller: English PhDs thrive in the realm of content strategy and brand storytelling. Their profound understanding of narratives and language nuances can transform English PhDs into sought-after content ...
i'm a high school senior, going into college as an English major this fall. my original plan has always been to go to law school and become a lawyer, largely because that allows for freedom in undergraduate major selection, which would allow me to spend 4 years doing what i love. but when i think about it, i find myself dreading the idea of law school and life as a lawyer, and only feeling ...
40-60% of graduate students don't finish their PhDs. The only reason to do a PhD is if you are sufficiently passionate about a field that you want to devote 4-5 years to mastery of a highly specific component of it. If you don't have that level of passion, you won't finish. As for career prospects: it's a crapshoot.
University of Michigan--Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor, MI. #8 in English (tie) Save. 4.6. Earning a master's degree or doctorate in English can improve your writing skills, sharpen your analytical ...
30 Best PhD Programs in English. Quick Highlights: Our #1 ranked school for a PhD in English is University at Buffalo, followed by University of California, Berkeley. PhD English programs focus on comprehensive English language and literature knowledge. They require coursework, exams, and a dissertation.
The graduate program in English is a five-year program (with multiple opportunities for funding in year six) leading to the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). Students may not enroll for a Master of Arts degree. During the first two years, students prepare for the General Examination through work in seminars, and directed or independent reading.
The Stanford English department has a long tradition of training the next generation of scholars to become leaders in academia and related fields. Our Ph.D. program encourages the production of ambitious, groundbreaking dissertation work across the diverse field interests of our prestigious faculty. Fusing deep attention to literary history ...
Find the best online English Phd programs. Take the steps toward earning your degree today, and prepare for a career you'll love.
The Department of English offers a PhD in English. Applicants choose one program pathway of study (Composition and Rhetoric, English Language and Linguistics, or Literary Studies). Applicants applying to the Composition and Rhetoric program must already hold an MA degree. The department also welcomes applications from well prepared applicants ...
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So if your PhD is in certain, in-demand subjects… It can be a good decision. My humanities PhD, on the other hand, was a mistake. I'm 5 years out now, and I've learned how to use it and make money with it. That's the great news. But I'd never recommend that anyone get a PhD in the humanities. Sorry. I really wish I could.
Many graduate students go to graduate school as a family tradition. Their parents/relatives are academics. They were raised to be academics. Most (if not all) graduate students have trouble with their course/research works in school one time or another. Many graduate students lose their interests in the school. Some quit. Some stay.
The Ph.D. in English is an innovative program that integrates digital humanities, writing studies, literature, rhetoric, discourse, and cultural studies, offering opportunities for creative reinterpretation of these fields within the discipline of English. Students may pursue full- or part-time study through a combination of on-campus and distance learning courses.
The graduate program in English provides you with a broad knowledge in the discipline, including critical and cultural theory and literary history. This solid foundation enables you to choose your own path based on the wide variety of areas of concentration. Our flexible program allows you to take courses outside the department to further ...
Our department marks the completion of the dissertation with an oral defense. This is a public presentation and discussion of one's research with departmental faculty, students, and select outside experts. The standard/expected time to the Ph.D. degree is 18 quarters (6 years).
3. You'll experience extreme stress and frustration. Pursuing a PhD may seem like a noble and interesting endeavor, and extended life as a student can appear more attractive than wading into the job market. You must be aware, however, that getting a doctorate can be a very stressful and frustrating experience.
The English Faculty is not responsible for providing teaching opportunities for research students as most undergraduate teaching in Oxford is organised by individual colleges. Teaching is not a compulsory part of the DPhil. But research students may wish to gain some teaching experience, so long as it does not interfere with their own progress.
James Engell. Gurney Research Professor of English and Professor of Comparative Literature. Interests: Eighteenth Century and Restoration; Romanticism;... [email protected]. Thursdays 3:00-4:30 in Northwest Bldg B103 and by appointment via email. Marjorie Garber. William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of English and Visual and Environmental ...
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