Thread: Pursuing a doctorate

Just started.

My MA was a terminal master's- I'd have to go back and do some work before I could go on. Years ago I had felt like I had quite enough of being a student- I had been in college all of my adult life, and felt like it was time to move on to getting a job, buying a house, etc, was tired of never having any $$, etc. So I halted myself there, figuring if the will and the means existed later I could go back and get one. If I did, I'd probably get a phD in history. But so far, I've not found the will, and the means are a bit out of my grasp. As far as parental expectations, I beat those a long time ago.

Probably, but not for a year or so at least. A close friend of mine earned his a few years ago. He deals with the same stuff I do, plus some. It also doesn't guarantee a good university position. For me it would be a pursuit of challenge. I'm not ready to leave high school yet.

I would eventually like to teach at a University, but so far I've only earned my Bachelor's. I did not really enjoy the theoretical math classes that I had to take, and so have come to a bit of a halt. It may be that in a few years, I'll enjoy that type of work more, but for now, I am quite happy teaching high school.

I'm not planning in it right now, which is why I entered "no." I still have one year left in college for my BS in Secondary Ed., but I have been toying with the idea of at least getting my masters later on. I say "later on" for the specific reason that up here a lot of the districts, if you're there for five years or more, will remburse you for your masters.

Originally Posted by Cerulean

I'm not planning in it right now, which is why I entered "no." I still have one year left in college for my BS in Secondary Ed., but I have been toying with the idea of at least getting my masters later on. I say "later on" for the specific reason that up here a lot of the districts, if you're there for five years or more, will remburse you for your masters.

This wouldn't be too uncommon. I've checked the academic history of a lot of my professors and have found that 95% of them have five to fifteen years between their BA/MA and MA/Ph.D. You do have those odd ducks who go straight through and earn all three by the time they are 25 or so, but then again, what do they have to show for it experience wise? I had fifteen hours of my master's under my belt when I student taught, it was the only thing I had to do that semester, so it wasn't too challenging. I didn't take any graduate courses my first year of teaching, that would've made me a glutton for punishment. 8O