One of the most important decisions for those MA History students who are not in either the Archives or the Public History Program is whether to take the thesis MA option or the non-thesis MA option.

Early Decision Not Necessary
In making this decision, the first point for students to keep in mind is that it is not necessary to choose one option or the other immediately. Both options require 5339, 5340 or 5341, two seminars, and two colloquia. Of course students can enter the program knowing which option they wish to take, but since the first course requirements for both options are the same, they can also wait and make their decision based on their experience in the program.

Which Option is Most Appropriate for Future Ph.D. Prospects?
Some students wonder if the thesis option is the one to take if they plan to seek a doctoral degree in history. The answer to this question is far from clear. Some Ph.D. Programs do prefer a student to have written an MA thesis before applying, but many do not care which option prospective students have taken. Most Ph.D. Programs will want to see a writing sample from a research seminar, but not necessarily a thesis. If students are concerned about the impact their decision will have on the possibilities for their acceptance into Ph.D. programs, the best way to satisfy this concern is to contact the graduate programs to which they are likely to apply and ask what those programs’ preferences are.

Which Option is Most Appropriate for a Career in Teaching?
Students who are planning careers in either secondary education or community college teaching might well benefit most from the non-thesis option, since that path will give them more course background to draw upon for the classes they will teach. However, completing a thesis could serve this purpose as well.

Time to Completion
Students often assume that because the thesis option requires 30 hours of credit and the non-thesis requires 36 hours of credit, the thesis will take less time to complete. This is rarely the case. More frequently the thesis option takes more time to finish because the thesis requires intensive work over an extended period of time. First drafts of theses usually must be completed by the end of the first month of the semester in which the student intends to graduate.  Preparing a first draft requires at last one additional semester and frequently several more. Time should not be a consideration in making the decision of whether or not to choose the thesis option.

Experience in the Program is the Key to the Decision
Ultimately, the decision of whether to take the thesis or the non-thesis option should be informed by the experience students have in the first graduate courses they take. In particular, their experience in the seminar courses should guide them in deciding if a large research project is what they wish to focus upon. They will also discover in these courses if there are faculty with whom they would like to work on such a project.

Decision is a Process
All entering students are placed in the non-thesis option by default, but every semester, as the clearing process for enrollment takes place, students will have the opportunity to discuss this decision and the basis for making it with the Graduate MA Advisor. In addition, decisions that students make can always be reviewed and changed as they think through which option makes the most sense for them.