Fair enough, but are strong recommendations and a polished writing sample worth $40,000? If money is no object, maybe. But very few people can afford to pay that much for a one-year master's degree. I, along with everyone else in the world, was admitted to the MAPH, and I received a frankly insulting email telling me that I should choose the MAPH because a Ph.D. program would offer me "no reasonable hope of a future." Because taking out $40,000 in loans for a terminal MA would promise me a brilliant future.
Luckily, I had three Ph.D. acceptances, so I was never tempted to take Chicago up on an offer that seemed more like a slap in the face. I still respect the U of C and its English department, but the MAPH business left a bad taste in my mouth. Go if you can afford it, I suppose, but it seems like a bad idea otherwise.