I'll be going into college teaching as a professor, which is what most people use a PhD in lit. for, though there are a few other rare possibilities such as work in an archival library. A doctorate is a huge commitment though. If you're thinking about what your undergraduate major is going to be, then it partly depends on your individual circumstances. I assume you're trying to decide between a degree in lit. and something more "practical." The question would be whether you are interested enough in literature and the work of reading, writing, and/or teaching to want to follow a career path in it. Teaching is, of course, the most common option for lit. majors. The major is also good for getting jobs in publishing: copy editing and other editorial positions, freelance writing for magazines and such, technical writing etc. And, of course, there are lots of lit. majors who take that as a major because it's a subject they love, and then go into one of the many jobs out there that's more interested in just seeing that you have college degree of some kind than what the specialization was. I have some lit. major friends who got hired into companies because they had the college degree, and the company also thought that the lit. major was a plus in that it indicated that they would be good at communicating effectively with customers and associates. The lit. major is also considered good preparation for law school, since it indicates an alacrity with words and language and the ability to create well structured arguments in your writing. The crazy among us also go on to do the PhD thing, but you've got to be really, really passionately mad about the subject and willing to sacrifice significant chunks of both your sanity and social life to contemplate that.
So, those are a few of the options for lit. majors. I imagine your decision also depends upon whether there's an alternative major that is something you love just as much, or if it might lead to a career you'd like more than the options you have studying lit. You could always just do a double major or a minor in one subject too. Mostly though, I would say that, much as it's an important decision, don't feel like choosing a college major is so momentous a decision that it's pre-determining the rest of your life for you. You may have a variety of different careers ahead of you. Also, if you're just starting college, or have not yet started (it sounds like you're early in the process from your post), then you'll also have time once you get into your college classes to think things out and, as many college students do, change your major a few times before you settle on one. Spend your first year in college taking classes that really interest you and/or are introductory courses in the majors you're thinking of. Being in the coursework can really help you see whether this is a subject you'd like study more in depth. Good luck!
In research work it's necessary to have some off time if you're going to come up with productive ideas, in fact the best ideas often come when you're not trying to think about coming up with one. Anyway, thanks again everyone, and now I have the free time to do a proper job of showing a leprechaun around Chicago.
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Originally Posted by Petrarch's Love
I have no experience of Oxford interviews but I applied for a scholarship from Germany's leading scholarship org. once (and got the scholarship). Just smile. If you can't answer a question straight away, tell them you'd like to think about it for a second. To many questions there is no straightforward answer, or there's more than one answer. So if they ask you a weird question, don't clam up, just do your best.
i always get stuck on the 'have you got any questions' bit of interviews.
