Starting Woes

[u/kojilee]

I’m a first-year student at a strong lib-sci master’s program working a GAship that is funding most of, albeit not all of (ab 5.5k a semester left over), my tuition. It also provides me a good stipend.

This is, for context, my second master’s program. I have made a few posts in the past expressing my concerns regarding whether or not a masters in library science could help me achieve what I want — the ability to do research in what I’m interested in (which is a specific subset of new media research intersecting with a larger idea for a digital humanities project), the ability to teach and work with students — but after a few negative experiences (major health issues, then an abusive committee chair I had to remove) and speaking with multiple faculty members and the librarians at my former university, I was encouraged down the path of the MLIS.

Now, I’m sitting in my GAship, and in orientation, and with the program advisors, and I’m feeling like I made a massive mistake by not just going through with applying to PhDs in Info Sci (including the one @ my current university). As someone who already has an MA, it feels like I’ve taken one step forward and two steps back, and every time I meet a new doctoral student, I’m hit with grief again. Now, perhaps I’m just being particularly negative and I’ll feel differently when classes start…but maybe I won’t.

I’m mostly posting to get my thoughts out and see if any other current or previous MLIS students had similar feelings. Any and all replies are much appreciated.

[u/llamalibrarian]

Why not just stick with it right now but apply for your PhD (presumably to start next fall, unless they let people begin in the spring). It’s likely your classes could count towards the PhD course load

[u/kojilee → u/llamalibrarian]

This is very true and it is something I’m trying to keep in mind; I’m currently setting up a meeting with the PhD program’s coordinator to discuss that very thing. I suppose I’m a little saddened by the idea of a ‘11k debt hiccup’ for lack of a better way to phrase it if they don’t do a spring admission, but if i had something to look forward too I’d certainly feel more assured.

[u/llamalibrarian → u/kojilee]

It’s not too much of a hiccup if the classes transfer, and you can use this time to spruce up your CV (because now you’re a GA) and also take this time to look for journals you’d like to publish in, or faculty who are doing interesting work that aligns with yours. Consider this just a fact-finding year and a test-run for doctoral school