Pacifist101

Best of luck to you as well!

@TheHessianHistorian European history. What about you? I'm also waiting on a couple more schools.

Just got an acceptance letter from Texas Tech for master's. They're offering me a TA and a recruitment fellowship. Pretty good for my first decision this cycle.

Got an email from a POI saying he's glad to see that I have applied to their program and that the decisions will be made within the next few weeks. Hoping to know my options for the next year in a couple of weeks. I'd be fine with both staying where I am now for another year and with starting an MA program, so I'm excited to find out what it will be.

@ashiepoo72 it's nice to hear that it's possible based on someone's experience.

That is exactly what I am worried about. I am afraid that by taking an offer from a funded MA program from a non-prestigious school I may be closing doors to the very top PhD programs. Based on what I've read and seen, it appears that connections matter the most when it comes to applying for these programs. That is, there is a strong preference for applicants from prestigious master's and bachelor's schools. I may be wrong since I am relatively new to all of this as I am switching fields, but this is my number one concern at this point.

Since the waiting it out period has now started for me as well, I'm overthinking everything. How much would you read into a POI encouraging you to apply? Means nothing, close to nothing or maybe a little more than that? I feel like I know the answer, but I'd like to see what you guys think.

@OHSP would you mind sharing what made you choose your school? Was it just a better fit overall?

@OHSP you make a good point. I guess I should've been clear about what I meant by "decent programs", which is mainly them being somewhere a little below top-10. My goal isn't necessarily an Ivy League school but one that'd be best for me. Since I'd like to get a tenure-track position, I shouldn't be aiming low for my doctoral education. So to answer your question, it doesn't have to be an Ivy. I was just using a term that'd give an indication of my ambitions.

I have a similar question, guys. I've applied to a couple of schools that aren't prestigious but offer funding to master's students. I am a little worried about my chances of getting accepted by top PhD programs later on if I end up going to one of the MA programs I applied to. It seems like one of them sent people off to decent PhD programs in my sub-field but not Ivies, and another one had someone go to an Ivy League school, but it seems like an exception rather than the rule. How much does the rank of the school and the connections of your POI play a role in the PhD programs' admissions process? Or is it just that lower ranked schools typically don't have as many monetary and intellectual resources to produce many applicants competitive for top 10 schools?

@TMP @AP Thanks for your input, guys! Research support and track of putting previous MA students into good PhD programs have been some of my main questions for potential master's programs. So far, I have three programs on my list, and I can see myself going to any one of those if accepted. I have a couple of other programs I may want to apply to, but I'm not sure if I should if I'm not as excited about those, compared to the three I really like.

Hey everyone, I am switching to history from a very different field, so I am applying for master's programs this cycle. I know that where you get your PhD plays a tremendous role in your future career, but how much does where you get your master's matter? Top schools don't really offer funding to MA students, so I am applying to some lower ranked schools that do. I saw that earlier in the thread, someone said that if it's not a top program, don't go. I'm curious, what you guys think about unfunded MA at a top-10 school vs funded MA at a top-100 school? I know that it varies by field and, in my current one, an unfunded top-100 master's would be the go-to. Will I be making a mistake if I get my master's from a lesser known school? I want to go to a top-10 PhD program later on and it seems that most current grad students at such programs came from prestigious schools.

I guess that's true because my current field has much more variety when it comes to academic background. The field I am switching to is history.

Thanks for your input, fuzzylogician! I have spent some time looking at students' profiles and I expected to see more diversity in terms of their educational experience prior to starting their PhDs. Most of them got their MAs and BAs at top schools, which made me wonder if going to a lesser known school for a funded master's may hinder me later in my career.

Hi everyone, I will be switching from the field in which I did my undergrad to something very different for grad school. I will apply for master's programs this year, and I am currently making my list of schools. My ultimate goal is a PhD and, hopefully, academia. Based on what I've seen, virtually all professors at decent schools got their degrees from top 10 grad programs in the field. So, if I want to get a job in academia, I need to aim pretty high for my PhD training. Having that in mind, how much weight should I give to ranks of MA programs I am looking at? I know that it's important to find a good fit and do my best wherever I go. However, there are not that many funded MA programs that have research in my area of interest, with some programs ranked below top 100. So, my question is: how low is too low in terms of the potential MA program's rank? How much does this rank affect PhD admissions chances? I know that there are many factors in the admissions process, and I'm just wondering where the rank of your school stands in there and if going to a little known school could affect my career later on?

Guys, those who got accepted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, could you pm me the initials of your PIs? Did you have interviews? My boyfriend and I applied to the same schools and this one is our top choice, but he hasn't heard anything, so I'm really worried.