Will the fact that I have an MA in history help my chances of being accepted when applying to PhD programs?

Question

My BA and MA are both in history, and now I'm applying to PhD programs after being out of school since 2003. All of the programs I'm applying to admit people who have MA's and people who only have BA's. Will the admissions committees look more favorably on me because I already have an MA? Also, will my GPA at the MA level matter more than my GPA at the BA level?

Answer 1

You will be looked at separately from those that only have a BA.

And the university from which you received your MA will determine whether your Master's or Bachelor's GPA will count more heavily. (Some MA programs are rigorous, some are not so rigorous.)

If your bachelor's GPA was marginal, and if you have a 4.0 at the Master's level from a very reputable and highly ranked program, then your Master's work will be very helpful in terms of admissions.

Your GREs will likely determine whether you receive support (fellowship/assistantship), and your letters of recommendation will count heavily. These should be from your Master's level professors.

Best wishes to you!

Answer 2

Did they tell you that there is a glut of History MAs and PhDs, and no jobs?
Many History MAs and PhDs want to know why the number of PhDs and the focus of their education are out of balance with job prospects and career expectations.
Between 1983 and 2006, the number of doctorates earned annually in History tripled.
The percentage of History MAs and PhDs finding jobs continues to shrink.
For History PhDs overall, after five years only about 7% of graduates hold a full time job.
"You talk to anyone running a faculty job search anywhere and they are getting on average 200 applicants," says a History PhD from Yale.

They keep admitting students to History PhD programs to keep the programs going but there are a ton of unemployed people out there right now.

Answer 3

The MA certainly won't hurt -- especially if you did well and it is from a decent school. They will probably weight your graduate GPA higher.

At some schools, they get so many good applicants, that the only way to get in is to signal your ability by already doing well in a graduate program. In my PhD program at Berkeley, they only accepted nine people out of over 250. Eight of the Nine had already done graduate work (two already having PhDs and two more already at the PhD stage in other disciplines).

Answer 4

intense GRE rankings do not assure you receives in, yet somewhat low ones can rule you out. Admissions are carried out by the dep., yet they must be approved with information from the graduate college, and commonly the graduate college gadgets minimum stats for admission or for funding. it truly is an administrative mission that has to do with rankings and such. when you consider that your field contains no math (i anticipate), your branch may be prepared to strive against the overhead for you over the Q score. Your writing score would do you in, although. because you're literally not a foul author, i'm prone to believe that's a mistake, both on the scorers' section or on your section in case you by some skill managed to purely submit between both writing routines. real tale: I took the GRE the first 12 months it coated a writing section. I were given a letter months after my unique rankings went out to exhibit regret that the writing score that they had pronounced changed into .5 below what it changed into meant to be. obviously, the correction purely went out after grad faculties had made their judgements, and ETS did not even provide money back. i do not understand if .5 made a distinction, and that i did get right into a top software, yet i changed into nonetheless miffed. Did they say they could refund the $50 rescoring cost in the journey that they discover out that they made a mistake? that's nicely worth it. each and everything else sounds solid, however it is demanding to assert for particular. in case you don't get any provides, perchance you'll get feedback on your software. often you won't be able to anticipate it, yet when there's a professor that you're feeling you recognize nicely, it is nicely worth asking, truly about even if the GRE held you decrease back. then you could opt for even if to reapply and the thanks to strengthen your possibilities in case you do. Grad classes are very aggressive and tutorial jobs are 20 circumstances better so. there is countless probability in touch and factors you have not got any administration over. save that in recommendations, both by your self vanity and for useful causes as you intend your occupation.

Answer 5

Other answers already decent. Grad GPA will certainly count more; is a better measure of how well you will perform at the graduate level (duh).

Good luck.