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human
Is an MA in Medieval Studies a waste of time and money?

Hello and sorry for the long post. I would like to get some fresh insight about whether it's worth following an academic path in Medieval Studies in the UK. I hold a BA in English and I absolutely loved doing my dissertation on medieval literature and I got a First too. I've been thinking to follow an academic career for a while now and I now hold 2 offers to do an MA on Medieval Studies or Late Antique/Byzantine Studies in two prestigious unis in England. But the thing is that the tuition fees are ridiculously high and I would need to take a loan which really puts me off given that these degrees aren't exactly sought after. I had hoped that for the second course I would get a scholarship but the history department said they wouldn't release any scholarship this year, which was frustrating because they received millions of pounds from some foundation and some of it was supposed to go to scholarships.

Anyway, I was told that to land an academic post (especially a permanent one) is super hard, unstable and a lot depends on luck too. If I don't land one then I'm not sure what else I could do with such niche qualifications and a lot of debt... Plus, I would need 4 years to get my MA and PhD and by that time I would be 31-32. I take it that while other friends will have started building their lives, I would be moving here and there in short-term contracts (which aren't even certain). But even that would be fine if there was at least some guarantee at the end. My old supervisor said that those who are good and determined always make it at the end but then again he landed a permanent post two decades ago.

How do you see the situation for medievalists in unis? Is it really that grim as been presented to me? If one can't get an academic job, what else do they end up doing even remotely similar? I can't decide whether I should follow this path or just get an industry job and pursue my scholarly interests in my free time. I was reading some old essays of mine today and I got emotional knowing that I might not do literary research again but then again maybe I could become an independent scholar or write articles? I'm just worried that I might shoot myself in the foot while building castles in the sky.
gpt
A lot of people will give you similar advice:

- Only you can make the final call about pros and cons
- There are no secure jobs, unless you are exceptionally talented AND lucky AND well-connected. Or unless you are prepared to go work at unis in Asia or the Middle East (which can be a nice career for those who are suited to it).
- If you do it, have a realistic backup plan. Accept that you will be starting at the bottom of the ladder in your early 30s.
- Don’t pay to go to grad school. Especially, don’t get in debt for it. If you break this rule, know that by following your dreams you will be sacrificing your future security. If a department thinks your research field is important, they should be willing to pay for it.
- Only go to grad school if you literally can’t see yourself being happy doing anything else.