Oh well... I just heard back from Stellenbosch and they will NOT be entering me into their PhD program for English. They said something about not believing that I was prepared for undertaking the rigors of the program (that is a paraphrase). I believe it was based upon my current educational acheivements, not upon abilities. I really am not too upset. I was feeling them out more than anything, and perhaps that showed in my inquiries, leading to their decision. My plate is actually pretty full right now anyway. I was considering Texas Tech as well, but am now thinking I might just hold off altogether for now. I am not sure that I have the committment for this next step at this point.
You are going through the same soul searching that I am. It's a huge undertaking. You will be giving up a bit of your life to make this accomplishment; are you willing to do that?. Is it worth it to you? Those are the questions I'm asking myself and I do not currently have definitive answers.
Sure. We have talked about them here before. I have a BA in English from the University of Texas at San Antonio (B&M) and an MAT in English from the University of West Alabama (DL). I really think my MAT was the hangup, though they didn't say so. There was not Masters Thesis involved and I bet that was what threw me off track. Now, I also have some other non-degree stuff, such as 18 grad hours in religious courses from Abilene Christian University and two years in a denominational ministerial training school (it is not a degree granting institution, so I don't normally claim it on anything, since it isn't worth anything, academically). As MO stated, it is a big undertaking to do a PhD and I am not really sure I want to step off the deep end just yet. I might get motivated in the future, but I am really thinking right now that I will just pass on it, no matter what school.
Hi, From my point of view, it is impossible to go from a MAT to a PhD of English but you can try to contact directly to a professor and ask for help. If they think that your proposal is really interesting, they will help.
I wonder if they would be open to letting you do a research only MA in order to transition from the MAT to the PhD. We don't do that here in the States, but in the UK, South Africa, or Australia the research only MA would be very common. Might be worth a shot if you are serious about doing the PhD in the future.
