I am seeking advice for the Master's programs at University of Chicago CIR (Committee on International Relations) and at Columbia University (Political Science). I originally applied to the PhD programs in PoliSci but was transferred to these 1-year MA programs. I received 2 PhD offers from rank 40/50 schools and decided to decline in order to increase my chances of better placement in the next cycle for PhD.
My field of interest is International Relations with geographic emphasis on East Asia (esp. China, Korean peninsula) - security studies.
So far I have a break-down of the pros/cons of each program:
Chicago CIR
PROS
Received $42k funding for tuition
POI: John Mearsheimer, Bruce Cumings, Dali Yang
Program admissions committee is highly responsive.. I appealed for additional fellowship and was granted
MA Thesis that can be used for writing sample in next PhD app
Lower cost of living, esp. with fellowship
CONS
Not too many faculty in IR - East Asia focused faculty mainly in history or CP
Not really a con, but I am told that UChicago (while very good rep in field) is not quite as high as Columbia
Columbia PS
PROS
Ivy League institution, high rep in field (as I am told by grad students/profs/etc)
POI: Robert Jervis, Jack Snyder
NYC is preferred city for me personally
Program is specifically Political Science
CONS
NO fellowship.. tuition combined with cost of living/other student fees will be approx. $73k
to my understanding, NO required MA thesis
Higher cost of living than Chicago
Granted, I did not visit Columbia as they are rolling admissions and do not have a specific Admit Day or similar event. I did attend CIR's Campus Day and was thoroughly impressed by the helpful preceptors, grad students, etc.
To be completely honest I am highly tempted by the name of Columbia but my ultimate goal is placement into a PhD program ranked top 20-25. Also, while my parents are helping me with grad school tuition, 73K is no joke compared to the fellowship I received from Chicago.
If anyone has any advice for me, or if anyone has graduated from either of the programs please let me know, would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!!