You lucky english MA's (I think) don't have to go through the existential year-long soul destroying process of a thesis. It certainly slows down the progress of conferences and publication, but at least you end up in the university library.
Maybe there are some other advantages in doing a thesis but I can't think of any...
Yes, yes, Mr. Y hints at a good point. Does the thesis count as a publication? It ends up in various libraries and is published electronically. Hmmm...
if by 'good point' you mean 'grasping desperately, and futilely, for some sort of justification for enduring the pains of doing a thesis', then yes, he does.
more and more programs are moving toward doing away with the MA thesis, so i was indeed lucky. funny aside, though? an english program with no MA thesis was my only PhD refusal, so it evidently didn't hurt me.
but at least you have the experience, right? you've learned from the rigors of, like, an advisor breathing down your neck and setting deadlines and you, like, meeting those deadlines and stuff. or, you know, you've at least learned from not meeting those deadlines...right?
Wait, I'm still hopelessly naive when it comes to postsecondary education... If your programme didn't involve a thesis, Neil, what did it involve? My limited understanding of MAs in liberal arts/social science areas always included a thesis. I am clueless. Anyway, I'll never make it out of undergrad so I clearly lose on all counts.
the ma, like the ba honours, has traditionally had a thesis component, yeah. but like the ba honours, a lot of programs are moving away from it - most english programs in canada have dropped it and many other programs are experimenting with allowing students the 'option' - oise at u of t will offer such an option to all incoming ma students starting this year.
the idea is, of course, that a lot of good students spend years doing their ma thesis and end up becoming soured on the whole grad school experience. and given the anecdotal stuff that i've picked up from nearly everyone but victoria...it seems to be true.
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Maybe there are some other advantages in doing a thesis but I can't think of any...
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my answer would be 'no', though. :)
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but at least you have the experience, right? you've learned from the rigors of, like, an advisor breathing down your neck and setting deadlines and you, like, meeting those deadlines and stuff. or, you know, you've at least learned from not meeting those deadlines...right?
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the idea is, of course, that a lot of good students spend years doing their ma thesis and end up becoming soured on the whole grad school experience. and given the anecdotal stuff that i've picked up from nearly everyone but victoria...it seems to be true.
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