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After being rejected by two universities, I've begun to question my goals and future direction. My research is in a very specialist area and could be considered a 'passion project'. I've had a great deal of trouble finding a supervisor who's interested or available enough to take me on, and I'm wondering how best to proceed.
My options are to continue along the traditional route, keep looking for a supervisor and write up my findings in a detached, academic style I find difficult and don't enjoy or rework the idea as a more personal reflection and publish independently.
If I take the latter path, I will find a larger and more receptive, albeit niche, audience and complete the work in a matter of months rather than years. I will not, however, attain the credentials that will help me secure further teaching and research work in the years ahead.
My other concern, as ridiculous as this sounds, is disappointing my father. We've talked about this idea for several years and he's been one of my biggest supporters. I don't think he'll be nearly as enthusiastic if his only son doesn't earn the title 'Doctor' at the end of it all.
Last edited by scribbles76; 11-27-2018 at 08:27 PM..
After being rejected by two universities, I've begun to question my goals and future direction. My research is in a very specialist area and could be considered a 'passion project'. I've had a great deal of trouble finding a supervisor who's interested or available enough to take me on, and I'm wondering how best to proceed.
My options are to continue along the traditional route, keep looking for a supervisor and write up my findings in a detached, academic style I find difficult and don't enjoy or rework the idea as a more personal reflection and publish independently.
If I take the latter path, I will find a larger and more receptive, albeit niche, audience and complete the work in a matter of months rather than years. I will not, however, attain the credentials that will help me secure further teaching and research work in the years ahead.
My other concern, as ridiculous as this sounds, is disappointing my father. We've talked about this idea for several years and he's been one of my biggest supporters. I don't think he'll be nearly as enthusiastic if his only son doesn't earn the title 'Doctor' at the end of it all.
What’s your discipline and current education level?
I have an MA in Creative Writing and plan to switch back to English Lit for this if and when. My focus is on representations of disability in horror fiction. It couldn't happen without the autobiographical element.
I have an MA in Creative Writing and plan to switch back to English Lit for this if and when. My focus is on representations of disability in horror fiction. It couldn't happen without the autobiographical element.
I’m not very familiar with PhD programs in that area. Do they generally require you to locate an advisor prior to being accepted into the program?
After being rejected by two universities, I've begun to question my goals and future direction. My research is in a very specialist area and could be considered a 'passion project'. I've had a great deal of trouble finding a supervisor who's interested or available enough to take me on, and I'm wondering how best to proceed.
My options are to continue along the traditional route, keep looking for a supervisor and write up my findings in a detached, academic style I find difficult and don't enjoy or rework the idea as a more personal reflection and publish independently.
If I take the latter path, I will find a larger and more receptive, albeit niche, audience and complete the work in a matter of months rather than years. I will not, however, attain the credentials that will help me secure further teaching and research work in the years ahead.
My other concern, as ridiculous as this sounds, is disappointing my father. We've talked about this idea for several years and he's been one of my biggest supporters. I don't think he'll be nearly as enthusiastic if his only son doesn't earn the title 'Doctor' at the end of it all.
Those two things seem to be at odds. Are you sure that you want to pursue academia?
Acceptance into a PhD program is generally irrespective of making preliminary connection with a potential advisor. I don’t know how things work in the liberal-arts, but in engineering and the sciences, the chief impediment isn’t in getting accepted, but in finding funding. One needs to establish relationship with an advisor in the hope that the advisor has grant-money, and thus a research-topic. For this reason, prospective students express a range of interests, but the advisor ends up choosing the specific research topic, at least in initial terms, because that’s the topic towards which the advisor wrote the research proposal.
If however the student doesn’t need funding, either say by already having secured a fellowship, or being self-funded, then finding an advisor before entering the program is unnecessary… just apply to the program, and later choose an appealing (or least-unappealing) advisor.
In my neck of the woods (Australia), it's preferred if not essential to confirm a supervisor before applying, and everyone I've approached so far is either too busy, unavailable or conveniently absent. Long ago and far away, you declared your area of interest to the department and were allotted someone suitable. Nowadays you have to go door knocking, which I'd have no problem with if ever anybody answered the bleedin' door.
In my neck of the woods (Australia), it's preferred if not essential to confirm a supervisor before applying, and everyone I've approached so far is either too busy, unavailable or conveniently absent. Long ago and far away, you declared your area of interest to the department and were allotted someone suitable. Nowadays you have to go door knocking, which I'd have no problem with if ever anybody answered the bleedin' door.
Sorry you're having trouble. I don't know your situation, and so this may not help you. But, even if not, it may help others who stumble across this thread.
For me, and for most people in my field, a student who seeks to enter grad school with a "passion project" is a red flag, meaning, don't take on this student. There's nothing really wrong with someone having passions. The problem is that the passion project may or may not be a good vehicle for the student to learn what they need to learn. For example, after 3 weeks of training in grad school, the fundamental impossibility of doing the project may be clear to anyone who is not in the throes of passion. (Maybe its impossible now, but in 10 years it will become possible owing to new data or technology.) Or, it may become clear the project has already been done and there's little new value anyone can add. Will a person with that "passion project" basically refuse to get the message and move on?
If someone has a passion project, trying to get them to set that aside while they LEARN what they need to learn to actually deserve the title of "Dr." is not really in the college faculty job description. In other words, we cannot and do not want to stop anyone from doing what they want to do. There's a reason we are teaching adults and not children. What we can do and regularly do is withhold certification until the person does what they need to do -- pass various exams, complete projects to a specific level, complete projects we (given our expertise) deem worthy. A students ability to get in get done and get out is thus rarely related to intelligence. It is much more strongly related to the students' persistence and the presence of a balanced combination of "I want to do X" and "I am willing to do Y, at least for now".
If someone, with NO experience in grad school, already knows what they want to do, we aren't rejecting the possibility that the project would be a good thing. But we are aware that graduate programs are not the only path for someone to do some project they want to do, and if someone is that certain of what they want to do, grad school seems like a detour. Further, if someone with NO experience of gaining a doctorate already knows the path, they do not seem ready to be open to what grad school can give them. Indeed, some of your original post basically said you just want the credential. Someone with an already decided upon passion project, just looking for a credential, is not a good bet to be open, not a good bet to actually want to learn. So, maybe they should do their project, and reapply to grad school later when they get that project completed, and maybe are in a better space to actually want to learn. Or not reapply.
Obviously, applicants should have SOME idea of a few things they want to or are willing to do. But if they are so committed to producing one specific work that they can call it a passion, that is a level of commitment most would regard as a red (i.e., negative) flag. And if the person hides their passion and gets in, its usually just the beginning of misery for the student and the faculty. So, I would not advise hiding the passion.
Last edited by SocSciProf; 11-28-2018 at 01:55 AM..
Reason: Fixed typo
Thank you for the thoughts, Prof. Given the cool reception I have so far encountered and the lack of belonging or kinship I have felt in academic circles since my undergraduate years nearly a quarter century ago, today is not the first time I've articulated my doubts. A change of direction does not mean I have to abandon my ideas and interests altogether. Indeed, I might serve them better if I plough my own furrow rather than trudge along a trail others have set down for me.
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