Re: PhD QuestionsbibliorexOctober 8 2007, 23:55:54 UTC
I'm happy to talk about doctoral programs. In general, the due dates for almost all fields are around December. For most, you need GRE scores from the last few years, a writing sample of something related to your field, some kind of statement about why you want in, and three or so recommendations. For those, I used bosses, since I had been out of school so long.
My sense is that most social sciences/humanities programs require a single foreign language, unless you want to do comp. lit. Those poor fools need two or three, as do historians who aren't doing US or British history. The way they test your proficiency (generally) is through a translation test. In my case, I had to translate an 800-900 word passage in two hours with a single dictionary. One major or three minor mistakes allowed. If you don't have the language fluency for that, lots of people take translation/reading knowledge classes alongside their other classes and that's perfectly acceptable. You still have to take the test, but the classes are geared toward helping you pass.
I'd say think about it really hard before taking the plunge. It's definitely a lifestyle, and not for the faint of heart. If you do it full-time, you should get a stipend that's enough to live on, but just barely. It will take 5-7 years. I think we're starting to see the stresses in other people's relationships when one person is in a PhD program and their partner is not. The non-students tend to resent the fact that their partner is spending twelve hours a day, seven days a week study, reading, writing, teaching, etc. Your time is no longer your own. There's always something else you should be doing for school. It's got to be a true passion.
And unfortunately, I think we'll probably be out of town for Christmas (I think we're going to California this year, but we don't have the dates settled yet).
My sense is that most social sciences/humanities programs require a single foreign language, unless you want to do comp. lit. Those poor fools need two or three, as do historians who aren't doing US or British history. The way they test your proficiency (generally) is through a translation test. In my case, I had to translate an 800-900 word passage in two hours with a single dictionary. One major or three minor mistakes allowed. If you don't have the language fluency for that, lots of people take translation/reading knowledge classes alongside their other classes and that's perfectly acceptable. You still have to take the test, but the classes are geared toward helping you pass.
I'd say think about it really hard before taking the plunge. It's definitely a lifestyle, and not for the faint of heart. If you do it full-time, you should get a stipend that's enough to live on, but just barely. It will take 5-7 years. I think we're starting to see the stresses in other people's relationships when one person is in a PhD program and their partner is not. The non-students tend to resent the fact that their partner is spending twelve hours a day, seven days a week study, reading, writing, teaching, etc. Your time is no longer your own. There's always something else you should be doing for school. It's got to be a true passion.
And unfortunately, I think we'll probably be out of town for Christmas (I think we're going to California this year, but we don't have the dates settled yet).
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