<p>I'm looking to go to grad school in a humanities subject. I recently finished my undergraduate degree in Europe.</p>
<p>Here's my question: what would be better, going to the US, or staying in here?</p>
<p>The main impetus for applying in America so far would seem to be that it's easier to get funding there. But then again, the whole process takes much longer in the States. In Europe, I could have a PhD in 4 years (5 at the very most) since my undergraduate degree was highly specialized. The idea of putting in an extra 2-3 years is very off-putting. I love learning and all, but it would be nice to be <em>earning</em> too!</p>
<p>Am I missing something in this whole equation?</p>
<p>I want to preface my answer by stating that I don’t know anything about humanities programs, but I thought I would just ask you some questions and perhaps that will answer your question for you.</p>
<p>(1) Are you planning on pursuing a career in the US or would you prefer staying in Europe?
(2) Do you feel the quality of education and the prestige of whichever European school you go to matches that of the US programs you are interested in?
(3) Do you see people in your field in Europe preferring US graduates or does it not matter? Are there a lot of people in your field who have US degrees?</p>
<p>If you plan on living in Europe and coming to the US offers you no advantage, it might only be worth coming if you end up at a very prestigious program. If, however, the funding is drastically different and the quality is different as well, then yea apply to US programs. If you are still unsure, try applying to a few here and majority in Europe just so you have choices in case you change your mind.</p>
<p>My cousin, for example, is coming to the US for an MBA because that degree from pretty much any school in the US is highly valued. He will probably get into a low ranked school but it is advantageous for him regardless.</p>
<p>I’ll just start by answering your questions:</p>
<ol>
<li>I don’t have a strong preference at the moment, but I definitely wouldn’t be opposed to working in the US. </li>
<li>I am only applying to a few well-regarded universities here (Oxbridge etc), and I think they’re about equal in prestige to American programmes. Although I did my undergraduate degree at Oxford and could conceivably do the PhD there as well. A lot of the teachers there did that and are ‘home grown’, so to speak, but I hear that might be looked down upon outside Oxbridge?<br></li>
<li>See above. I also know that in Germany (and France), they tend to prefer their own students for academic jobs, although American superstars are obviously welcome.</li>
</ol>
<p>Let me pose the problem in this theoretical way:</p>
<p>If a student had an undergraduate degree from Oxford, and an offer to do a PhD at either Yale or Cambridge, with equal funding - but the Yale degree would take 2-3 years longer - which should he/she take?</p>
<p>(Not my current situation, unfortunately, but taking the ideal case might be helpful as a discussion aid…)</p>
<p>IB, trust me, I am aware of the bad job market - that’s one of the reasons that it would seem to make sense to start working as early as possible, so that if you have a couple of years of precarious living, you have them at age 26/27, and not 29 or 30…</p>
The longer you are in graduate school, the more time you have to </p>
<p>– Present at conferences
– Make connections with professors in your field at other universities
– Get published</p>
<p>…while being funded! Lately there has been an embarrassing trend for students to attempt to draw out their PhDs as long as possible, in fact, leading certain universities like Princeton to start putting caps on the length of PhD programs (i.e. finish or leave).</p>
<p>Well, I suppose that’s a valid point - just the kind of counter-opinions I was hoping to get, so thanks.</p>
<p>I guess the whole system is quite foreign to me, here you generally get funding for a specific amount of time (generally three years), if you get it at all.</p>
<p>Still, it does seem counter-intuitive to draw something out unnecessarily. Sure, you get publications and connections - but you could get connections while working (post-docs etc) and publications, too? And then you would be earning and would be able to get an idea about how you will fare on the job market (i.e. whether your shots of getting a good job are any good) reasonably early…</p>
<p>I’m just going to bump this up and see if anyone else has any input.</p>
<p>What are the benefits to a US PhD versus one done abroad, in your eyes? (I know it’s mostly Americans here - you’re the ones whose opinions I want to hear!)</p>
<p>Fellow European seeking American postgrad here.</p>
<p>My reasoning for a US PHD is mainly connected to my study interests. However, bonuses are;
-US funding is incredible. In Ireland you pay them to let you do a PHD. Not the other way<br>
around.
-It’s nice to have a foreign university for graduate work. My old man worked as a lecturer and said it’s a bonus to show an ability to adapt for foreign institutions.
-sources.</p>
<p>Cambridge and Oxford are extremely prestigious, so you would be able to market yourself anywhere, provided, of course, that your work there was top-rate and that there are job openings in your area. They have the international name recognition of Harvard and Yale, even though most don’t know the individual colleges within those UK universities. Once you get lower than that tippy-top level of prestige, then you might be well-served by taking MaceVindaloo’s advice about deciding where you want to spend your career. It’s not that you CANNOT get a job in Europe with a degree from, say, Penn State (it depends on how familiar the European department is with the quality of the US program), but that it may be more difficult. Likewise, getting a job in the US from a lesser known European university may not be easy. Some countries view any US degree as impressive, while others may only be impressed if they’ve heard of the university. Of course, the scholarly work that you publish as a graduate student will greatly affect your prospects, no matter where you go. </p>
<p>The main advantages of going to the US are that there are many famous universities here (most countries have one or two) and that PhD students are generally supported. I wouldn’t worry about a year or two spent in additional study – you’ll be that much more qualified. When you look back later, those years will be a mere hiccup.</p>
<p>Kickouthtejams, is there an Irish equivalent to the research councils? If you had an offer of research council funding, would you still go to the US for the other reasons you mentioned? (What do you mean by ‘sources’, by the way?) </p>
<p>Momwaitingfornew, thanks to you, too. You mentioned that a doctorate from Oxbridge would have a lot of cachet in the US as well - do you think having done the whole course (BA, MPhil, DPhil - which is what Oxford gives instead of the PhD) at Oxford or even just the BA and DPhil, would be a problem in American universities’ eyes? Like I said, a lot of the lecturers at Oxbridge have followed that path, but I do hear that American universities prefer people who have moved around a bit…</p>
<p>I probably wouldn’t go to the US for undergrad as it’s not really what I’d like to be doing (I like the degree I’m currently doing), but for my PHD idea, the US is the only place to go. Wouldn’t know about the research councils I’m afraid.</p>
<p>Sorry, I should’ve been clearer. I’m hoping to do a PHD in history and most of the sources on IRish emigration are concentrated on the East Coast.</p>
<p>Sorry kickoutthejams, I should have explained about the research councils - basically, they are institutions in the UK that get money from the gov’t to fund research. They divide it up between the universities, who (as of this year I believe, before you had to apply to the research councils directly) then decide which postgraduate students they want to give it to. Most studentships I’ve seen advertised amount to tuition plus about £13000 p.a. maintenance for doctoral students, but of course not everyone gets one.</p>
<p>So…what I meant that if you had a chance to get a fully funded PhD done in Ireland/the UK/Europe in a shorter time, would you do that? (Seems you’ve answered the question, but I wanted to clarify anyway!)</p>
<p>U.S. universities encourage their undergraduates to pursue their graduate work at other institutions, although some will still accept a select number to continue on. We can do that because there are many world-class options available to students. The top ten universities for any given field provide equally rigorous and respected training, and the only distinguishing factors may be research foci and individual faculty members.</p>
<p>It will not reflect poorly on you at all if you complete your entire education at Oxbridge, just as it would not reflect poorly on an American student who completed her entire education at Harvard. What is much more widely discouraged is obtaining a first faculty position at the institution where one received a PhD, but that still happens, albeit rarely.</p>