Part-time PhD...Doable?
- Thread starter Old One
- Start date
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Fenris
Adventurer
Old One,
Well I am in a different field, but I am in the last year of my Ph.D. The best bet you have is to work those contacts to get a fellowship or a grant. If you can walk in with funding, any advisor will kill to have you, and you will be treated a lot better. That also means not having to teach as many classes, since most TAs at that end are treated pretty poorly by the profs who see you as slave labor rather than mentoring a future teacher. I have been very fortunate and have only had to TA 3 quarters in my (gulp) 6 years for my PhD (not that doesn't count the 2 years for the MS that I left without). But money drives theses things, big time. As Nakia said they want to see serious students and as an older student they fear that you will take too long to finish. If you can though skip the masters and head dtright into a Ph.D. program 9if that is viable in your field).
the soon to be Dr. Fenris (well not soon enough)
Well I am in a different field, but I am in the last year of my Ph.D. The best bet you have is to work those contacts to get a fellowship or a grant. If you can walk in with funding, any advisor will kill to have you, and you will be treated a lot better. That also means not having to teach as many classes, since most TAs at that end are treated pretty poorly by the profs who see you as slave labor rather than mentoring a future teacher. I have been very fortunate and have only had to TA 3 quarters in my (gulp) 6 years for my PhD (not that doesn't count the 2 years for the MS that I left without). But money drives theses things, big time. As Nakia said they want to see serious students and as an older student they fear that you will take too long to finish. If you can though skip the masters and head dtright into a Ph.D. program 9if that is viable in your field).
the soon to be Dr. Fenris (well not soon enough)
nakia
First Post
I just thought of another potential obsticle to the part time PhD plan -- time for dissertation research.
As a history PhD, you are going to have to get into primary sources for your dissertation. That often takes considerable amount of time and travel. While combing the monestary for unfound documents sounds cool, it takes time, money and energy. And probably some foriegn language skill -- if you want to focus on Normandy, that is.
As far as being treated differently/professors spending energy on full timers, most of the time it isn't really that self-serving on the professor's part. They're human and have limited resources (time, money, etc) and want to put those resources where they think they'll do the most good. From a "finishing the PhD and constributing to the field" standpoint, a part-timer is a longshot that's hard to back.
My advice is to look into a quality, terminal, local MA program. Those may be hard to find, as most places just give out MA's as a PhD consolation prize. Use the MA program to really figure out of going on is worth your time as well as make some contacts. Like I said, having a quality advisor who understands your situation, is knowledgable and connected in the field, and is remotely interested in what you are interesting in researching makes ALL the difference. In your case, I'd evaluate faculty in that order -- you want to look for someone who is clear about your goals and situation and is down with that. Just make sure that MA work is going to count for something (credit/time served -- wise) if you do move on.
Getting a terminal MA at a good program was key for me -- it gave me contacts, discipline, and allowed me to really figure out what I was interested in. It also allowed several of my friends to figure out they were NOT interested in academia and move on to other pursuits. My terminal MA in philosophy took two years going full time. (27 hours of courses and 9 for thesis research -- 36 total). Granted, full time was only 9 credits a semester, but the work load was high.
Phil, if you want to email me at nakiaspope AT gmail DOT com, I'll be happy to help out more.
As a history PhD, you are going to have to get into primary sources for your dissertation. That often takes considerable amount of time and travel. While combing the monestary for unfound documents sounds cool, it takes time, money and energy. And probably some foriegn language skill -- if you want to focus on Normandy, that is.
As far as being treated differently/professors spending energy on full timers, most of the time it isn't really that self-serving on the professor's part. They're human and have limited resources (time, money, etc) and want to put those resources where they think they'll do the most good. From a "finishing the PhD and constributing to the field" standpoint, a part-timer is a longshot that's hard to back.
My advice is to look into a quality, terminal, local MA program. Those may be hard to find, as most places just give out MA's as a PhD consolation prize. Use the MA program to really figure out of going on is worth your time as well as make some contacts. Like I said, having a quality advisor who understands your situation, is knowledgable and connected in the field, and is remotely interested in what you are interesting in researching makes ALL the difference. In your case, I'd evaluate faculty in that order -- you want to look for someone who is clear about your goals and situation and is down with that. Just make sure that MA work is going to count for something (credit/time served -- wise) if you do move on.
Getting a terminal MA at a good program was key for me -- it gave me contacts, discipline, and allowed me to really figure out what I was interested in. It also allowed several of my friends to figure out they were NOT interested in academia and move on to other pursuits. My terminal MA in philosophy took two years going full time. (27 hours of courses and 9 for thesis research -- 36 total). Granted, full time was only 9 credits a semester, but the work load was high.
Phil, if you want to email me at nakiaspope AT gmail DOT com, I'll be happy to help out more.
Fenris said:
Fenris,
Thanks for the thoughts. Any idea what level of grants/fellowship $s makes them happy? I am ass(uming) that there are probably some differences in the funding levels on the Science/Tech side vs. the Humanities, but I could be wrong.
Just to be clear, I would be looking to do this while still gainfully employed...which sounds like somewhat of an impediment.
Both my parents taught at the college level (my dad is a PhD and my mom finished everything but her dissertation) and my dad has a ton of experience in grant writing. I also have a significant number of other contacts in acedemia...so this angle bears some more exploration.
On skipping the MA and going right to a PhD program, I was under the impression that you could only really do this if you were essentially going to be a full-time student...is that not correct.
~ OO
~ OO
nakia said:
Nakia,
Thanks again. I will probably just arrange to buy you a beer on my next Charlotte trip (10/31 - 11/3) and pick your brain in person...I usually make a run to Columbia while I am there, so that would probably work well if you are going to be around.
One of my thoughts was to check with several programs that I might be interested in teaching at (the service academies, Citadel/VMI, etc) and see what they are looking for in either adjunct or permanent faculty and then backwards plan from there. Is there any merit to that approach or does it leave far too much to chance?
~ OO
nakia
First Post
Old One said:
If you have contacts at those places, use them! If you are just sending blind emails, you are likely to get pretty generic replies, if you get replies at all. You can also check out The Chronicle of Higher Education. It's where all (and I do mean all) the jobs get posted, so that will give you a sense of what's out there. You can get an on-line subscription at a reasonable rate.
Cool you are coming down! Just send me an email and I'll get you my contact info. We'll work out a time to get together.
Fenris
Adventurer
Old One said:
OO,
Yeah I am on the science side so there is more money floating around. Most institutions won't accept you if they can't fund you. But usually you're fielding multiple offers. We actually had to sign forms saying that we wouldn't take an outside job as part of our funding packages. But I have all my fees paid for plus I receive a stipend, so I am truly paid to be a student. But if you can get a grant that will pay for your Fees, you are on the right track.
Most PhD programs will discourage outside employment, it takes away from your time to do research as nakia has said you have to go to places to do these things. Look for a school that has a large repository of the subjects you liek to cut down on travel. But the big problem you will run into is the dreaded "Normative Time" This is the time line that a department sets down as a guideline and says you should be doen with this program by X date.
Nakia's comment about a MA are dead on though. Start there and see if this s what you really want to do . It is a lot, a LOT of time and energy. And to get into a PhD prgram striaght away you often have to demonstrate that you can do graduate level work. But a masters program can give you focus, skills and contacts as Nakia said, as long as it counts it's OK.
But money makes many things easier. As Nakia said find the advisor, find the school, see if they will do part time ( part time Masters programs will be MUCH easier to find than PhD) and if you can walk in with grants or get grants (contact the Adult Re-entry programs and Veterans Affairs offices on those campused for some great assistance) that will always smooth the way as it shows you have intiative to get the grants on your own and are motivated to finish as you have a deadline to finish within your grant.
Fenris
ABD: All But dissertation. Very common nomencalture
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