I need help on my grad school admissions!

Question: I’m thinking of applying to the MA program in either History or English at UC-Boulder, UW-Seattle (is there another UW?), UC-Berkeley, UCLA, Syracuse, and maybe even NYU or Columbia.  However, I have no clue what my grades are going to have to be to get me in (I’m currently a 3rd year student at UT-Knoxville who’ll be an undergrad for the next 4-5 semesters), nor do I know what my test scores will be.  My GPA’s currently a 3.33 after 52 hours, and that’ll probably be up slightly after this semester.  Does anyone have any idea what the average grades are for the incoming class of out of state MA students at any of these schools?  I would appreciate any help.

BTW, in case it makes any difference, I’m planning on going on to a PhD and becoming a college professor.  If only I could make up my mind as to what subject I want to teach…

Answer: First, you are going to have to increase your grades a lot in order to get into a PhD program. Think about it, college professors are the best at what they do; in order to be one you should be among the best in your classes.

Second, many PhD programs admit students right out of college. You don’t always need to get an MA first, although getting an MA from an MA-only program or a lesser known PhD program can be a second chance. An MA in a liberal arts field is pretty useless on its own, except maybe for your intellectual growth. :) I have two MAs and am fairly certain that my “odd” MA (outside my PhD field) is what got me my first tenure-track job; it was evidence that I was able to work outside one discipline. An MA is *anything* will get you a higher salary in a government job, will make you more attractive to employers in a variety of fields, and in some cases may be the ticket to a job that is almost as good a PhD recipient will get. Think about community colleges; the MA is the accepted degree for the faculty in most of them still, despite the trend toward PhDs in recent years.  If you want to teach, putting two years into an MA program at a smaller school (where you’ll get teaching experience despite not being a PhD student) can set you up in a job that is dramatically better than teaching high school, is easier to get than a position at a four year college, and will even leave you with geographic options for yor job hunt.

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