Help me choose between these schools please!

whenhen
Mon, 30 Mar 2015 06:49:45 +0000

@whenhen, Did she really? So what sort of degrees/career trajectories would you recommend for someone interested in a career in academia? I guess I just assumed a PhD would be the natural track, but if that’s not correct, I’m definitely open to other options

Yes. The phD is the natural track to become an English professor although whether or not it’s the best course of study is up for debate. The fact is, the types of professors you will have at an elite school such as Rice, Emory, or Yale, are not representative of academia as a whole. Increasingly schools are switching from full time positions to part time adjunct ones. Whether this will be true in 11-13 years (the time it takes to complete a bachelors and phD program) is anyone’s guess, but know that this is the current trend.

My professor argued that based on the time to degree, good chance of making poverty level wages for years after earning a doctorate (know that only 54% of recent top tier program graduates [found a tenure track position](https://chroniclevitae.com/news/897-where-do-english-ph-d-s-get-jobs-it-depends-on-where-they-studied)), getting an English phD is currently a terrible proposition.