batata

Hahahahah yes there seems to be a MAPSS debate every year! And the perspectives are so extremely different that I've come to the conclusion that MAPSS is just entirely what each person makes of it. My admission letter said that around 200 people matriculate in the program every year and that's a lot. A lot of opinions from which it's quite difficult to extrapolate an accurate perspective of the program (maybe that's actually one of its major drawbacks--too many people). 
I agree with you that doing this program might be a delay of 2+ years to start a PhD when I can just apply again for fall 2017 but I'm terrified that a repeat of this year will again play out in the next. My research interests are so darn specific that I applied to only 4 schools (I really wanted to apply to only 2 but added the other 2 to be "reasonable"). I know that this could certainly change as I read and explore more before the next application cycle and learn about other scholars who I'd like to work with. 
Chicago is a great school, and I appreciated that they offered funding for an MA. Last year and this year, I was admitted to the MA at Columbia and that was just a joke (last year I actually applied to the MA myself and this year it was a consolation admission). They offered no money at all and so rejecting the offers was automatic (though painful because Columbia is my dream school). 
Aside from the delay in starting a PhD, my two concerns with this program is what some people have noted as the dismissiveness with which some professors treat MAPSS students and how intensely competitive it is. I don't mind working hard to prove myself but I don't want to grovel or have to worry about "keeping up" rather than learning. In other words, I don't want a possibly negative experience through MAPSS to put me off from grad school entirely. But again other people like @jellyfish11 had such a positive experience that make MAPSS seem like it's worth it. Ugh. 
Thank you guys for weighing in; I really appreciated reading each of your opinions. 

I'm a MAPSS alum and I had a great experience. I disagree that profs don't take you seriously. The top MAPSS students work with the top professors, but many professors only want to take on one or two MAPSS students. I started meeting with my advisor early and worked really hard on my proposal. If you take a class with the prof and do well, they will almost always take you on. Every top professor in the anthro department took at least one MAPSS student my year. If you look for an advisor early, take a class with them, and write a good thesis proposal, you will have no problem getting the top profs to work with you. 
Chicago is a competitive place for sure, and that's true in MAPSS and in the phd programs. If you are a weaker student or if your proposal is bad, top professors will turn you down in favor of other MAPSS students.
Everyone knows that ma and undergrad tuition help universities fund phd students, but since MAPSS is one year and they give scholarships, it's less expensive than many ma programs. Most of my cohort had part time jobs while in MAPSS (myself included). people of all economic backgrounds do MAPSS, and several of my friends revieved snap benefits (food stamps) during their MAPSS year. No one ever treated me like a rich kid who paid my way in. sometimes phd students in my classes were rude or condescending to MAPSS students, but once I proved myself in class discussions, they began to respect me and treat me as a colleague. If anything, I would say that since MAPSS is so big, there is a range of abilities and everyone knows that. It's not very competitive to get into MAPSS, so you have to prove yourself in classes once you get there.
I learned so much in MAPSS and really enjoyed it. I'm so glad I did it. I got great phd offers this time around and got accepted to 3 top programs with funding and waitlisted at two more. Anyone can feel free to pm me if you have questions!

This round of apps I used a writing sample from 2006 or 2007. I wrote it before dropping out of an MA program. I edited it a lot. It isn't related to my current research at all but it seems to have done the trick.  I got into two schools.  One with a full ride. I also used it for a fellowship app and once again things seemed to work out in my favor.  All this being said I'm glad I'll never have to read that paper ever again.

I used parts of my MA dissertation from 2011. I didn't have to do too much with it as there have been very few changes to the situation I was discussing (fortunate for me, very unfortunate for the people concerned...) and just made sure content, structure, grammar, spelling and style are sound. It must have been decent as I'll be going to my number 1 choice. So I wouldn't worry about dated material - 3 years seem to be very reasonable. 

As someone who went into debt for an MS, I have to comment on this.  DO NOT DO IT.  THERE IS ANOTHER WAY.  FIND IT.  Student loan debt on that level will take over your life, regardless of whether it ends up being useful to you in some other way or not.  WAIT.  Do a master's IF AND ONLY IF it is FULLY funded (including living expenses) --- or if you can pay cash for everything it will entail.  It doesn't matter how good the program is.  Ask all the people who went to top tier medical, law, and business schools.   This particular risk is absolutely not worth it, especially in the humanities and/or social sciences.

Congrats everyone! 
 
One question: were any of you admitted to the MA in socio-cultural anthro in lieu of Ph.D. at Columbia? Are any of you at all familiar with the MA program? Is it a bad idea? Too much debt for nothing?
 
Thank you:)

Well, I guess what would be the fun of being Columbia if not to mess with people's heads!

Yeah, I am in exactly the same boat. It probably only means that their system is slow and whatever and that we will get our rejections soon enough but, annoyingly, it leaves this vague glimmer of hope. Oh life!