Do you have any advice for a sophomore?
I'm currently an undergraduate sophomore, and have just declared as a Philosophy major. Ideally, I would probably be an English major, but I attend a small school that has a pretty weak English department. The Philosophy department, on the other hand, is one of the school's strengths (they run the only PhD program at my university).
My question is ( Read more... )
My question is ( Read more... )
First, I was just reading for my comps and I read two books by former students at a school that I applied to and didn't get in. Reading these books I thought: THANK GOD. If this is the method that they're using, I wish I hadn't wasted the money to apply. So, my first piece of advice is to read... a LOT. Pay attention in reading scholarly works/secondary sources to what method people are using and how they're approaching the works. When you find works that you really like, see who they're by and (a) where those people are teaching now and (b) where they went to school. Especially if you read books that were based on dissertations, pay attention to WHO they thank in their preface. This will help you a lot in figuring out where you want to go and what schools will be a good fit but because reading so many books takes time (unless you're preparing for exams and that's all you're doing, like I was) you're going to want to start things now. Meet with an advisor in your department and talk about your interests and the fact that you're interested in graduate school and ask them for suggestions of books to read.
Second, I highly recommend minoring in English if you think that you'd be interested in taking that route. I discovered halfway through my M.A. that with the exception of two programs (one that I'm in now) with my interests I'd be better off in a history program than religious studies/theology. At that point, I really regretted that I had only taken the minimum two history classes in undergrad.
Third, I definitely second brittdreams's suggestion about languages. It's much easier to learn them now than it will be in grad school. German and French are pretty standard in most fields, but as you figure out what you're interested in studying, you may find that another language will be more useful.
And finally, Purdue has a philosophy and literature program that one of my friend's is in. I don't know anything beyond that she's in it and that it exists, but if you're interested in both philosophy and English as possible fields, something like that might be perfect for you.
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