Grad school woes
Jul. 22nd, 2007 04:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixieMeep. I've been researching grad programs in English this weekend, and, uh, I'm kind of starting to think I'm not nearly dedicated/ambitious/driven enough for any of them. Far from having an area to study, I don't even know if I want to do English or history! (There's also the M.A. in Public History, for museum work, which sounds cool as well. And plain old Museum studies M.A.s.)
Although I did find this M.A. in Irish Literature and Culture at Boston College (...of course), and that sounds highly awesome. And if I did that, then went on to get a Ph.D somewhere else, the Irish language courses might count as my foreign language, maybe? Although funding, as for most M.A.-only programs, is, shall we say, limited, whereas a place like Vanderbilt (which I would never get into) pretty much completely funds everyone who does the five-year Ph.D-with-M.A.-along-the-way program.
And there's also a slew of MFA programs, including such oddballs as the MFA in Writing Popular Fiction at Seton Hill in Pittsburgh.
And there's still always the MLS/MLIS, which, if I played all my cards right, I could eventually turn into a life of part-time library work, part-time freelance writing, maybe, and keep a hand both in research and information organization and in writing?
SO MANY CHOICES, AHHHHHHHH! *head implodes*
I suppose, since Americans now change careers an average of seven times in their lives, it's good to want to do many things. Unfortunately, practically everything I want to do requires a different terminal degree. Damn.
Although I did find this M.A. in Irish Literature and Culture at Boston College (...of course), and that sounds highly awesome. And if I did that, then went on to get a Ph.D somewhere else, the Irish language courses might count as my foreign language, maybe? Although funding, as for most M.A.-only programs, is, shall we say, limited, whereas a place like Vanderbilt (which I would never get into) pretty much completely funds everyone who does the five-year Ph.D-with-M.A.-along-the-way program.
And there's also a slew of MFA programs, including such oddballs as the MFA in Writing Popular Fiction at Seton Hill in Pittsburgh.
And there's still always the MLS/MLIS, which, if I played all my cards right, I could eventually turn into a life of part-time library work, part-time freelance writing, maybe, and keep a hand both in research and information organization and in writing?
SO MANY CHOICES, AHHHHHHHH! *head implodes*
I suppose, since Americans now change careers an average of seven times in their lives, it's good to want to do many things. Unfortunately, practically everything I want to do requires a different terminal degree. Damn.
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no subject
Date: 2007-07-24 02:28 am (UTC)Ehh, it's not like I had a choice. I pity tha fool who gets an MAT voluntarily.
(Then again, I had nine months of unemployment in which I produced diddly squat. Maybe if I had deadlines...except everything I write to deadlines tends to suck...)
This summer is making me incredibly happy, because I have free time and I'm actually writing. A lot of it is crap, but it's more than I've written all year.
Anyway. She also cited being around interesting people who're researching interesting things -- which, YMMV clearly, but if it works, I can see how it could be a constant source of inspiration.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-25 10:26 pm (UTC)My dad got one, but I'm pretty sure it was as part of his certification or something like that. (Then again, the man taught middle schoolers for twenty-odd years. There's no telling how crazy he can get!)
This summer is making me incredibly happy, because I have free time and I'm actually writing. A lot of it is crap, but it's more than I've written all year.
Meanwhile, I had nine months of total free time and I wrote...twenty pages. At most. And not all of the same thing. Sigh.
Anyway. She also cited being around interesting people who're researching interesting things -- which, YMMV clearly, but if it works, I can see how it could be a constant source of inspiration.
Hmmm. I can sort of see that. And yet, theoretically that was what writing seminars at Kenyon were like, and I hate most of what I turned in for all three of those. But I think that says more about me than about any kind of writing program...
no subject
Date: 2007-07-26 02:50 am (UTC)I think that's better than writing twenty pages of the same thing.
Hmmm. I can sort of see that. And yet, theoretically that was what writing seminars at Kenyon were like, and I hate most of what I turned in for all three of those. But I think that says more about me than about any kind of writing program...
Maybe, maybe not. I had two really good seminars, and one Kill All Humans (with a linoooooooooeum kniiiiiiiiiiiiife) seminar -- and that was without having to deal with Clarvoe.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-26 01:45 pm (UTC)Heh.
Maybe, maybe not. I had two really good seminars, and one Kill All Humans (with a linoooooooooeum kniiiiiiiiiiiiife) seminar -- and that was without having to deal with Clarvoe.
*tamps down murderous rage at the mention of Clarvoe*
The two seminars I had with Brkic were really good; maybe part of the learning process for me is writing stuff I hate while I'm in the seminars, so I an write stuff I like outside of them.