musalaha

I’ve had several people inquire about the process of doing a Ph.D. recently and so I thought I would post a few brief notes here.

Initial considerations:

1. A Ph.D. will be one of the most difficult things you do. It will require intellect as well as research, thinking, and writing skills. But more than these, it will require intense discipline and focus. You will be spending countless hours by yourself and several years consumed with one, relatively narrow topic. There will be deadlines and numerous sources of pressure. If you aren’t naturally disciplined, then make sure you implement this trait/skill well before you embark upon doctoral work.
2. A Ph.D. will take a tremendous emotional toll on you, but it will do the same for your spouse/family. Is your family prepared for this emotional toll? Are you in a situation that will allow you/them to bear it?
3. A Ph.D. is a tremendous financial investment. Can you shoulder the expenses or do you have resources (sholarships, funding ) that will?
4. Do you need – absolutely need – a Ph.D. to carry on your vocation? If it isn’t absolutely necessary, then don’t do it. Being admitted  to a doctoral program is highly competitive and the job market for those with Ph.D.’s is more so; if you don’t really need a Ph.D., then help the rest of us out by not doing it.

Best way to prepare:

1. Tailor your M.A. work to fit your Ph.D. work.  If you know you’ll need certain languages to get into a doctoral program/complete a research topic, try and fit those into your M.A.
2. Many doctoral supervisors want to be assured of your research and writing skills. So, insofar as it is possible, complete a major writing project as a part of your M.A. work.
3. Courting strong references in your M.A. program is important, but try and get to know a potential Ph.D. advisor (even if by email) for help in the best way to prepare. This will bolster your ability to get into your doctoral program of choice as well.

Steps along the way (in order of importance):

1. As you complete your initial post-graduate work, settle on a topic that you feel has strong doctoral potential (is it researchable? does it make a unique scholarly contribution?). This topic doesn’t have to be a watershed topic, just something that is worthy of doctoral-level consideration. Don’t rush this process; let it come as a natural out-growth of what you’re working on presently.
2. Having settled on a topic, find the top scholars in that field and do what you can to complete your doctoral work under one of those persons. This is vastly more important than the school you wish to attend.
3. Find out where those scholars are and begin to make a decision on where to apply/attend. In the end, go where the best scholar is, even if the institution is not as presitigious as another, but make sure practical considerations are attended to as well.

Example: You are attracted to the prestige of Harvard where there is a good scholar in your field, but find that the top scholar is at UCLA where they also have better resources for your topic. Insofar as it is practically possible, go to UCLA.

But let’s say that your family lives in Massachuesetts and the scholarship/stipends at both schools are comparable. Your family is settled where they are and your children are in a good school. Perhaps settling for Harvard in this case is the best choice.

For me, the best scholars in my field were in Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden (there were some in the States, but I wanted to do my doctoral work in Britain/Europe – a topic for another post). Each of these schools and scholars would shape the trajectory of my scholarly career in slightly different ways. To be honest, the schools in Leiden and Lund were arguably more prestigious than the school I chose in Britain, but the scholar where I chose to go was best for my topic and the direction I wanted to take in the long-term. Additionally, the school I chose in Britain had developed a strong reputation as a centre in my field and had attracted some of the strongest scholars and resources in recent time. Finally, my wife planned to complete her M.A. wherever we ended up. Since neither of us knew Dutch or Swedish very well (the languages for M.A.’s in Leiden and Lund), this “sealed the deal” for our choice to go to Britain. Of course, looking back these choices were very much providentially guided, but these are just some of the scholarly and practical concerns that go into choosing a place to study. In the end, I was accepted into a very fine program and supervised by the finest scholar in my field, and for this reason, I am quite happy with my choice.

To summarize: 1) weigh the cost; 2) pick a topic; 3) find the best scholar. Of course, there are other matters to consider, but these are some major ones. If any of them provoke questions, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll be sure to respond.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 10th, 2009 at 11:01 pm and is filed under General Musings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.