Cartesian

I'm being privately funded, yes.

I've been accepted at Columbia and Duke's M.A. programs in polisci. I have until May 31 to decide. I am technically enrolled at Duke but did not put down any money so could switch to Columbia without real ramifications (I believe.) I have a couple of years of experience in D.C. as a consultant, and know that there are plenty of jobs I want – even within our firm – that require a master's, so this will be as much a professional as an academic exercise for me. Duke's program is two years, whereas Columbia's is one. I will probably want to pursue another master's degree after I complete this one, ideally HKS, so interested in how each program would position me for that. Maybe a PhD but beginning to think that's not a great idea for what I want in life. I was a bit concerned that Columbia's M.A. was a rich-kid-finishing-school like Georgetown's MAAG program, but after meeting with a professor I feel better about Columbia's offering. I do worry that I won't learn much in a year compared to two, though. Duke's program is clearly academic and will "make me a scholar," as one professor put it, but it is also deeply quantitative. I absolutely want those skills but that doesn't really align with my research interests as of now and I am beginning to balk at the notion of being asked to retool my thesis because it isn't data-heavy enough (I know, early days.) Though, since Columbia is one year, don't really think I would be writing a thesis at all. But I get the Ivy League cachet on my resume. Also interested in the Duke vs. Columbia network value in DC / NY / Boston and beyond. Money isn't an object here – I'm fully funded. I received my B.A. in Political Science from a respected department at a private liberal arts college. Thanks for reading and interested in everyone's thoughts. I am incredibly lucky to have acceptances at each of these programs and am very excited to return to my studies and the classroom.