chestrockwells

I thought I'd come out and ask for some help regarding my decision. I've been accepted to a few great MA programs - a couple of private universities and one public. The public university provided the best funding package out of the four. (I wouldn't have to take out any loans, I'd live comfortably, and I'd gain teaching experience.) However, the public school is my alma mater, so I'm a little hesitant about getting my MA from the same place as my BA as a few of my professors have said it doesn't look great. The next best offer is a full tuition scholarship at a private university; however, I'd have to take out a small amount in loans to cover living expenses, and I wouldn't have a graduate assistantship, but I believe their placement in Ph.D. programs is better. Long story short: I can get my MA at my alma mater for free OR I can get my MA at a university (that more than likely places in higher ranked programs), but I'd have to take out a few thousand in loans to cover basic living expenses. Right now, I'm heavily leaning toward my alma mater because of the financial reasons, but I thought I'd ask whether or not attending the same school for a master's degree would hurt my chances in my next application cycle! Thanks so much, and also, congrats to everyone for making it through this application cycle!!

Hey, guys! I've been a longtime lurker, but I thought I'd create an account to give an update on funding. I emailed Jessica Marr about funding offers (if they'd all gone out) a few days ago, and she replied, saying: " We made our first round of funding offers last week, and we are waiting to hear back from the prospective students to whom we have extended those offers. It is our experience that a number of them will decide to go elsewhere, and I can assure you that your application for a funded associateship is still very much under active consideration. The prospective students to whom we've offered funding have until April 15 to respond to the offer, although we hope that some of them will let us know earlier than that, especially if that would mean that we could make the offers to other excellent and deserving applicants. " I also asked the typical hourly wages for these positions, and she said they were about $18/hour last year for 10 hrs/week. (So while I'm disappointed I didn't get an offer, I don't think I could've made it work in DC with that stipend alone.) Hope this information helps you guys out!