Should I try to get a PhD? Where? What don't I know about getting a PhD?

May 3, 2018 12:48 PM

I think I want to apply to Georgia Tech's Digital Media PhD program. Do I? Do I have a chance of getting in? What other programs should I be considering?

I have a background in theater, a BA from Stanford in Drama, an MFA from CalArts in Video for Performance (now called Interactive Media for Performance) and Integrated Media. I'm teaching now as an adjunct at CalArts in both of the programs I was in. Professionally, I've worked mostly in either theater or entertainment more broadly (mostly as an animator/programmer for video content on stages). I'm 35, if that matters.

I did zero writing in my MFA program, which I'm concerned about, and not sure how to deal with when applying to PhD programs. Can a writing sample be a paper I write on my own without institutional support or publication? What else should I do to make myself a strong candidate for PhD programs in general?

I think I want to go to a PhD program because during my MFA I felt like I was missing the strong theoretical underpinnings of the work I was doing. I want to spend time researching and writing about digital media design. I also think I want to pursue a career in academia, so getting a PhD seems like a reasonable thing to do. But also both of my parents have PhDs, so I think there's some unspoken/subconscious familial pressure to also pursue one.

I've been looking at Georgia Tech mostly because I think Janet Murray and Ian Bogost are really cool. What other programs should I be considering?

posted by hapticactionnetwork to Education (10 answers total)

I'm going to back up here and talk about getting a PhD more broadly. (I am a professor.)

There is a lot of evidence that getting a PhD isn't a great idea. The Professor Is In is the first stop on your exploration here. These posts are a good start.

Professor Is In has this list, which I shall annotate:
- You do not have substantial debt from your undergraduate degree, that is to say, debt above $15,000-$20,000.

She says this because doing a PhD will be 5-7 years of your life where you will make next-to-nothing AND will not be contributing to retirement savings. Many people take on debt during their PhD, so your total debt will be tremendous.

- You are offered a full funding package that includes tuition waiver, all fees, and a stipend.

She is right. If a PhD program doesn't give you this, you shouldn't do it. And you need to calculate if you can live on this. Remember that you won't be paid in the summer.

- You take out absolutely no new debt to undertake the degree. This means that you must either be prepared to live on a stipend of approximately $15,000-$20,000 a year, have a partner/spouse/family member who can augment that stipend, or work a second job to augment the stipend yourself.

See above.

- You go to one of the very best programs in the country, judged by funding available, prestige, and job placement rate. This is not because of elitism, but because only these programs deliver the financial support and connections that give you a fighting chance of a debt-free degree and permanent employment at the end.
- You avoid any second or third tier Ph.D. program like the plague, regardless of what they appear to offer by way of programs in your area of interest. Your Ph.D. will not be competitive for a wide enough range of jobs at the end. Online Ph.D.s are beneath consideration.

Georgia Tech has a good reputation, but look at other programs too.

- You align yourself, before signing on, with an advisor who is well known, who is at the peak of his/her career (no asst profs, no emeritii), who has recently placed other Ph.D.s in tenure track jobs before you, and who is genuinely and personally invested in your arrival to the program.

Are Janet Murray and Ian Bogost taking on new students? Do they want to work with you? Graduate programs and success are deeply dependent upon one's advisor. Also any program that you consider, there needs to be at least 2 people on the faculty that you would consider having as your advisor in case someone leaves.

- You understand that the system is entirely hierarchical and productivity-based, and you will be judged by your high-status output (publications in major journals, national grants, high profile conferences, famous recommenders) more than by the inherent “brilliance” of your ideas.

This is important. Academia is super stressful and unpleasant and you really have to be driven to succeed.

- You approach academic pursuits as a job, not a calling.
- You approach graduate school as vocational training for a job.
- You do everything I say in the column, Graduate School Is a Means to a Job, religiously and without excuses.

- You are under 35, and ideally, under 30. If you fail to find permanent employment within 3-4 years after completion of the Ph.D., this outcome will be far less disastrous if you are still in your thirties and can reinvent yourself for a different career track. The financial stakes for middle-aged people are exponentially higher, the risks exponentially greater, than for younger people.

Given your age, I'd also suggest that you think about this more carefully. As Professor Is In says, this can be really difficult for older people.

....

Let's talk about Georgia Tech in particular.

I'd advise against it for the fact that it is an interdisciplinary PhD and those can be much tougher than a historical discipline in terms of getting a job. You need to investigate the placement ratings of their graduates. Moreover, they don't actually have a lot of people finishing. Look at the list of dissertations (and notably Bogost isn't advising any of these people). And those graduates' jobs -some of these are okay places, but not entirely. But this isn't my direct field, just adjacent to it.

....

So, again, backing up. If you really want to do a PhD, it is probably a good idea to get a better idea of what it entails in the current climate. If I were you, I'd read heavily and make notes of scholars that you like their work and then read more of their work. Then investigate their departments. Then try your best to communicate with those scholars. Emails might work, but going to conferences and trying to talk to them is better.

Then do a research-based MA to both learn how it all works and get some things to add to your CV.

I've been on PhD admissions committees and candidates without experience or a research MA don't typically do well. They don't have a writing sample to go off of. They don't have letters of recommendations that speak to their abilities.
posted by k8t at 1:34 PM on May 3, 2018 [17 favorites]

Also look at Bogost's CV and then google his former advisees to see where they ended up. Honestly, in my skimming, I don't see him advising many people as chair and I don't see his advisees finishing their PhDs.
posted by k8t at 1:41 PM on May 3, 2018 [2 favorites]

The deal with having a PhD is that it can make you overqualified for a lot of jobs. Like, most jobs. Also way more people have PhDs than there are jobs for people with PhDs. I know a lot of PhDs who then retrain to do a more 'typical' job like accounting. Or carpentry.

Getting a PhD often doesn't make financial sense. You spend 5 years making less than 20k, with no retirement savings. If you'd be making 60k otherwise, you lose out on 200,000 in salary PLUS retirement that a real job might give you. Plus interest on retirement/potential savings. Then you may be lucky to find any job when you finish because the supply far outstrips the demand in most areas.

Also, academia is broken. A lot of professors create a hostile work environment for their students. There are always more students and they have been given nearly infinite power. It's hard to tell this until you've chosen a group and spent some time on it. Some professors are wonderful people. Some are abusive monsters. You are more likely to find a nice professor at a lower ranked school in a less famous lab. But that will negatively impact your potential job outcomes and connections. So don't get a PhD.

Also, nobody cares if you have a PhD. No one is going to call you doctor or respect you more (in my experience). But if you have to have one, I'd go to a lower rank school and learn to eat a lot of rice and beans (which can in fact be delicious). Because getting a PhD is kind of like a lifetime vow of poverty. Also, second hand shopping.
posted by Kalmya at 2:01 PM on May 3, 2018 [4 favorites]

Another thought about Bogost as an advisor, via his CV. It appears that he goes to about one conference a year (and often in Georgia and not the "national" conference of any importance) and the conferences that he attends are really broad. People don't get jobs if their advisors don't talk them up at the important conferences. This would be a death wish in my field.
posted by k8t at 3:29 PM on May 3, 2018

I can't find Murray's up-to-date CV, but her conference schedule looks sparse. She chairs a very small number of students. And I'd guess, based on her age, that she is going to retire soon and not take on anyone new. I would not recommend someone going into that situation.
posted by k8t at 3:34 PM on May 3, 2018

I'm not saying you should get a PhD, because it is a terrible idea, but if you do decide to pursue it, I think you'd be far happier in NYU's MCC program than you would be at Georgia Tech. The concerns people are listing above are serious ones. MCC has a decent track record of graduates finding good employment, often tenure-track, and some of the instructors there are excellent. It's highly interdisciplinary, and it's a better match for your interests. Lots of conferences to attend in NYC and environs, and many great networking events at NYU particularly. Admissions are competitive, but your background could help you make a strong case, I believe. And funding is good, as humanities-adjacent fields go.
posted by halation at 4:02 PM on May 3, 2018 [1 favorite]

I’m not in your field. You should not get a PhD unless it is the only way to do the things you want to do and you will not lose money doing so. Then, see above for caveats specific to program and advisor.
posted by OrangeVelour at 4:40 PM on May 3, 2018 [1 favorite]

I took a class nonmatriculated in the PhD program I wanted to go to, then used the paper I wrote for the class as my writing sample and got recommendation from that professor. Helps if you already live in the area of target school.
I disagree with above about treating it like a job. For me, its a calling and that’s only way it would have worked for me. Plus, by being a purist/idealist about it, you can separate yourself from all the classmates who are taught to be resentful about the interest they missed out on from their hypothetical 401k from an alternate universe.
posted by Buddy_Boy at 5:52 PM on May 3, 2018 [2 favorites]

k8t and The Professor Is In have got it all pretty much covered and I (professor in an adjacent field) agree you shouldn't pursue a Ph.D.

Because !!**you already have a terminal degree in your field**!!

which qualifies you to:
-go to conferences that interest you and make new friends / collaborators for new conversations
-teach TT ("enter academia")
-write a book or articles about topics that interest you
-get fat grants

Something a dear friend told me once was that "artist" is a job title that no one can give you and no one can take away. For better or worse! Do the work. Do the work. Do the work.
posted by athirstforsalt at 11:37 PM on May 3, 2018 [7 favorites]

Yeah, I agree with athirstforsalt - go forth and read and write and talk to people.

If you really know that it will make you more money, then sure. Or if you know that you can afford to do it just for the challenge of it (and then feel okay leaving it off your CV, if needed), then sure. But otherwise it will probably hurt you rather than help you.
posted by heyjude at 7:10 PM on May 4, 2018