Tips for Potential Grad Students: English

By Nick Mount

First, unless you're independently wealthy, I wouldn't do a graduate degree in anything without scholarship support of some kind. It's an intensely competitive environment, and if you're not being offered support I'd take that as a sign that the university wants the money you'll bring with you more than it wants you.

The MA in English is typically only a year long, so it's a reasonable degree to do after your BA to see if grad school is for you. The PhD is very different: statistically, it lasts longer than most marriages, so think long and hard before committing to it. For either or both degrees, I'd go somewhere different, to some city you've always wanted to live in. You only get to do this once, and the experience of a new place and new people might end up being the best thing you get out of the degree.

Nick Mount, English Department, University of Toronto, and 3M National Teaching Fellow.

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