[MA English - unranked school]

Thank you all very much for your advice! You have all given me different perspectives about going into a funded MA vs unfunded MA. I am now also leaning towards the funded MA. And congratulations Toasterazzi! I'm glad it all worked out for you!

[Asking for funding at my current school]

Thanks for your help, rbamattre! I got in touch with the head of department but she told me that the department doesn't offer any fellowship or assistantship to MA students. She referred me to other sources of funding though, but I'm afraid they would not be enough.

 

Anyways, thanks for your help!

[Asking for funding at my current school]

Hello everyone,

 

I got into the MA program at my current school but they have not offered me any funding yet. The program coordinator for graduate studies at the university said that I should get into contact with the department about funding options. I know a few professors well (one of them even asked me to let him know if he could do anything for me about my grad school apps) in the department. I was wondering how I could contact them about funding, i.e., I want to ask for their support for funding without sounding too pushy or bold (I'm still taking classes with them, so I don't want to make things awkward)? Do you think it's ok to contact them about funding? If so, any ideas about how I could do that?

 

Thank you!

[MA English - unranked school]

Hello everyone,

 

So, I've applied to various PhD programs in English. Given that my undergraduate major is in Physics, I did not get into any PhD program. However, I got into a few MA English ones, including U of Chicago (MAPH program), George Washington U. etc. Unfortunately, I got funding only from an unranked program, which offers only a terminal MA . I'm hesitating to accept that school's offer because I'm worried that going for an MA in an unranked program will decrease my chances of getting into a good PhD program. Yet, I'm not sure I want to take on a loan to fund myself through, say, U of Chicago's program. 

 

I was wondering what are your thoughts on the importance of ranking for an MA program? Also, in your experience, is it worth it to take a loan for a Master's degree when you would go on to a PhD afterward (i.e., will not be earning money right after the end of the MA)?

 

Thank you!