Hello all,

I'm have something of a dilemma on my hands and was wondering if you lovely people could lend me some thoughts and advice.

At the moment, I'm nearing the end of my Masters degree in English Literature, and I very much want to continue my studies onto a Phd but I'm having so much trouble deciding my topic of research.

Thus, I'm considering taking on a second Masters Degree after I finish, in the view it will help me finalise my research idea and topic for the future.

My question is, is it really worth having two Master Degrees? And would it even help in my application for a Phd?

Due to the rise of tuition fees, my parents are eager for me to stay on for another year, but I can't help but feel a second Masters Degree would be something of an overkill.

Any thoughts?

Thanks :-)

I'd agree it's overkill (and something that might suggest eternal student to employers) unless it was something like a research methods training programme, which might strengthen a phD application. I'd get advice from lecturers on this.

Hi,

I am having exactly the same dilemma as you. I have struggled for a very long time to think of a PhD topic and just when I think I may have one it is too close to most studentship deadlines to prepare a good proposal. I plan to do another master's degree in research methods as for social sciences all PhD students do this for the first year of their PhD anyway so I hope it will help me when applying next year. I am not sure this is the case with arts PhDs that is something you would need to check. Alternatively you could volunteer to do some research for free for your lecturers. It would be cheaper than another master's degree, would help you choose a topic and prove you are capable of research to prospective funders.