Getting a second Master's...at Harvard

[edu_21]

Hello!

In this application season, I've received two PHD offers from mid-tier universities in the field of education. And then this week, I was accepted into a Masters in Education at Harvard! I was shocked to say the least, and after the celebrations cleared, I found myself seriously thinking about getting a second Master's. Both my Bachelor's degree and my Master's degree that I currently have are from the two institutions that have offered the PHD programs to me. The Master's that I currently hold in education was more concentrated on getting me ready to become a certified teacher in my state, whereas the Master's from Harvard, while still centered on education from a teaching and learning perspective, is more broad and more of a meta-understanding of education. Harvard's is a year-long Master's (9 months) as compared to other programs that are closer to two or three years.

My question is: If Harvard gives me adequate funding to attend, would this second Master's degree be worth it?

[Jacko]

It's ALWAYS going to be worth it to have Harvard on your CV, especially if that credential will only take a year. Those PhD programs will still be there once you are a Harvard grad, believe me. And congrats!

[edu_21]

17 minutes ago, Jacko said:

It's ALWAYS going to be worth it to have Harvard on your CV, especially if that credential will only take a year. Those PhD programs will still be there once you are a Harvard grad, believe me. And congrats!

Thanks! That's literally the thing that I have been tossing around. Whether or not I will still get in, or if they will think that I don't know what I want because I went back for a Master's degree.

[A2018]

6 minutes ago, edu_21 said:

Thanks! That's literally the thing that I have been tossing around. Whether or not I will still get in, or if they will think that I don't know what I want because I went back for a Master's degree.

Going back for a Master's degree from Harvard is always a good idea. 

Edited March 4, 2018 by A2018

[LibraryLivingJT]

1 hour ago, edu_21 said:

Hello!

In this application season, I've received two PHD offers from mid-tier universities in the field of education. And then this week, I was accepted into a Masters in Education at Harvard! I was shocked to say the least, and after the celebrations cleared, I found myself seriously thinking about getting a second Master's. Both my Bachelor's degree and my Master's degree that I currently have are from the two institutions that have offered the PHD programs to me. The Master's that I currently hold in education was more concentrated on getting me ready to become a certified teacher in my state, whereas the Master's from Harvard, while still centered on education from a teaching and learning perspective, is more broad and more of a meta-understanding of education. Harvard's is a year-long Master's (9 months) as compared to other programs that are closer to two or three years.

My question is: If Harvard gives me adequate funding to attend, would this second Master's degree be worth it?

I say go for it! Not only will it look great on your CV, but I bet that it will be an incredible experience.

[edu_21]

11 minutes ago, A2018 said:

Going back for a Master's degree from Harvard is always a good idea. 

 

6 minutes ago, LibraryLivingJT said:

I say go for it! Not only will it look great on your CV, but I bet that it will be an incredible experience.

Thank you both for the vote of confidence! I've read in a couple of places that you really have to know what you want in a 2nd Master's so that it differentiates itself from the first. Is there enough differentiation there?

[Bayesian1701]

I think it would only be worth it if it was funded because the COA is almost $80,000 if I found the right program.   If it’s  funded and you think it’s worth spending an extra year in school maybe it is a good idea.  But I don’t think it’s smart to turn down a funded PhD offer for an unfunded masters. 

[edu_21]

12 minutes ago, Bayesian1701 said:

I think it would only be worth it if it was funded because the COA is almost $80,000 if I found the right program.   If it’s  funded and you think it’s worth spending an extra year in school maybe it is a good idea.  But I don’t think it’s smart to turn down a funded PhD offer for an unfunded masters. 

I was initially thinking that. I think that I certainly qualify for a fellowship that funds full tuition and health fees. But I don't know if they would fund me for my other expenses other than telling me that I need to pull out loans, to the tune of 10 to 15K. Would it still be worth it then, IYO?

[ZeChocMoose]

What do you plan to do with your career when you graduate?  Getting a second master's in another education field is usually not worth it especially since they are close in topic and education as a field values experience over degrees.  How are the offers at the two PhD programs? Are they fully funded?  Do those programs have a good track record of placing graduates in careers that you would want?  If not - I would stay in your job, build up more experience, and apply to more PhD programs in the future.  Taking out any loans for another master's degree in education is not going to help you much - if at all.

[edu_21]

10 hours ago, ZeChocMoose said:

What do you plan to do with your career when you graduate?  Getting a second master's in another education field is usually not worth it especially since they are close in topic and education as a field values experience over degrees.  How are the offers at the two PhD programs? Are they fully funded?  Do those programs have a good track record of placing graduates in careers that you would want?  If not - I would stay in your job, build up more experience, and apply to more PhD programs in the future.  Taking out any loans for another master's degree in education is not going to help you much - if at all.

I have an Anthro background, did Teach for America, and still teach at my placement Title I school (about 8 years total). With what I've done in my district, I already have plenty of experience. The other two have given me assistantship offers of full tuition and health, but only about 15k stipend for the year, which is really low. I don't see myself primarily doing the whole "become a professor" thing, rather, I'd like to work at a non-profit education org. or with schools developing teachers and curriculum. If I'd get to research and become a professor that would be great, but academic tenure is not my focus.

[ZeChocMoose]

5 hours ago, edu_21 said:

I have an Anthro background, did Teach for America, and still teach at my placement Title I school (about 8 years total). With what I've done in my district, I already have plenty of experience. The other two have given me assistantship offers of full tuition and health, but only about 15k stipend for the year, which is really low. I don't see myself primarily doing the whole "become a professor" thing, rather, I'd like to work at a non-profit education org. or with schools developing teachers and curriculum. If I'd get to research and become a professor that would be great, but academic tenure is not my focus.

Is the stipend amount just for the academic year?  I know in my master's and PhD programs, you could make substantial money over the summer working part or full-time. 

Have you gone on a campus visit to the two PhD programs?  Since you are leaning away from the academic track, I would go with one of the PhD programs assuming that you can get good experience in curriculum development and you don't have to take out that many loans given that the salaries in education are not particularly high.

IMO, the only point to getting a second master's is if it is in a very different field than your first master's or if you want to end up in a PhD program at that school.  Although, the latter is fairly risky as selective PhD programs don't tend to want their master's students.  In my PhD program, every couple of years a master's student would get into the PhD program, but it wasn't common enough that I would recommend that path.

[edu_21]

2 hours ago, ZeChocMoose said:

Is the stipend amount just for the academic year?  I know in my master's and PhD programs, you could make substantial money over the summer working part or full-time. 

Have you gone on a campus visit to the two PhD programs?  Since you are leaning away from the academic track, I would go with one of the PhD programs assuming that you can get good experience in curriculum development and you don't have to take out that many loans given that the salaries in education are not particularly high.

IMO, the only point to getting a second master's is if it is in a very different field than your first master's or if you want to end up in a PhD program at that school.  Although, the latter is fairly risky as selective PhD programs don't tend to want their master's students.  In my PhD program, every couple of years a master's student would get into the PhD program, but it wasn't common enough that I would recommend that path.

Yes, the stipend amount is just for the academic year. I could look into working part-time since I have family and friends in both cities. As for the campus visits, I am currently scheduling both for next week since they are both nearby and I will have Spring Break to do so. I am definitely going to hunt for some more information and perspective. I guess that I am trying to ask if there is any validity to Harvard boosting my PHD chances. I was denied from two other, more favorable PHD programs in education at UCLA and Stanford. If going to Harvard to secure another Master's would boost my chances, I would definitely consider it.

[StellaBa]

I'm in the exact same situation as you are! I was rejected from my top choices of PhD programs in education but admitted to two fairly good PhD programs and Harvard's Master's program. The only difference is that I don't have a masters and I'm coming straight from undergrad. I'm wondering if spending 9 months in the Master's program will make a significant difference in my academic ability + strengthen my CV. My career goal is to have a job in academia, if that makes a difference. I also don't think I'm eligible for any fellowship so that's also a huge con for Harvard. I feel like I'm babbling, but I guess what I want to know is if all the time and money will be worth it. This is such a difficult decision!!

[ZeChocMoose]

54 minutes ago, StellaBa said:

I'm in the exact same situation as you are! I was rejected from my top choices of PhD programs in education but admitted to two fairly good PhD programs and Harvard's Master's program. The only difference is that I don't have a masters and I'm coming straight from undergrad. I'm wondering if spending 9 months in the Master's program will make a significant difference in my academic ability + strengthen my CV. My career goal is to have a job in academia, if that makes a difference. I also don't think I'm eligible for any fellowship so that's also a huge con for Harvard. I feel like I'm babbling, but I guess what I want to know is if all the time and money will be worth it. This is such a difficult decision!!

Going straight on from undergraduate to PhD in education is really not recommended.  It will make it a lot more challenging to find a job when you graduate because you won't have any full-time experience in education.  You should look at academic postings in your subfield to see what they are requesting for tenure-track assistant professors.  The ones that I have seen lately usually state that the candidate needs to have x number of years in education - sometimes often saying this needs to be as a K-12 teacher, school administrator, curriculum coordinator, etc.  Sometimes that is for accreditation reasons or due to the kind of courses they want you to be able to teach and the type of mentoring that their students need.

Getting a master's degree and then working for a couple years is a good idea before you go back for the PhD.  It will improve your chances at the highly selective PhD programs and lead to a better first job after graduation.

6 hours ago, edu_21 said:

Yes, the stipend amount is just for the academic year. I could look into working part-time since I have family and friends in both cities. As for the campus visits, I am currently scheduling both for next week since they are both nearby and I will have Spring Break to do so. I am definitely going to hunt for some more information and perspective. I guess that I am trying to ask if there is any validity to Harvard boosting my PHD chances. I was denied from two other, more favorable PHD programs in education at UCLA and Stanford. If going to Harvard to secure another Master's would boost my chances, I would definitely consider it.

The problem with any 1 yr master's is that you'll need to start applying a couple months into your new program (assuming you are not taking any time off). You'll have to be really strategic about making connections with faculty to get decent recommendations - and it might be hard to get a strong recommendation since they will have only known you for a couple of months.

When I was on the admissions committee for my program, applicants that got a boost had research experience in the field. (I did my PhD at a research intensive place though.) Pedigree of one's master's degree wasn't something that came up as important.  It was helpful when the committee knew your recommenders which tends to happen when the program is more well-known.  

If you were going into the academy - it might make sense to do a second master's (if it is relatively inexpensive) to boost one's chance at being admitted to a prestigious PhD program eventually. Still fairly risky, but I can see why people go that route as long as they are not disappointed if it doesn't work out.  Since you said that is not your career goal, I would pick one of the PhD offers you already have assuming you like the program when you visit.

[edu_21]

On 3/5/2018 at 11:23 PM, StellaBa said:

I'm in the exact same situation as you are! I was rejected from my top choices of PhD programs in education but admitted to two fairly good PhD programs and Harvard's Master's program. The only difference is that I don't have a masters and I'm coming straight from undergrad. I'm wondering if spending 9 months in the Master's program will make a significant difference in my academic ability + strengthen my CV. My career goal is to have a job in academia, if that makes a difference. I also don't think I'm eligible for any fellowship so that's also a huge con for Harvard. I feel like I'm babbling, but I guess what I want to know is if all the time and money will be worth it. This is such a difficult decision!!

I completely agree with ZeChocMoose on this one. You should definitely get a Master's first and work with some practical experience in the field. It would definitely assist in your undertaking of a PhD.

[edu_21]

On 3/6/2018 at 12:57 AM, ZeChocMoose said:

Going straight on from undergraduate to PhD in education is really not recommended.  It will make it a lot more challenging to find a job when you graduate because you won't have any full-time experience in education.  You should look at academic postings in your subfield to see what they are requesting for tenure-track assistant professors.  The ones that I have seen lately usually state that the candidate needs to have x number of years in education - sometimes often saying this needs to be as a K-12 teacher, school administrator, curriculum coordinator, etc.  Sometimes that is for accreditation reasons or due to the kind of courses they want you to be able to teach and the type of mentoring that their students need.

Getting a master's degree and then working for a couple years is a good idea before you go back for the PhD.  It will improve your chances at the highly selective PhD programs and lead to a better first job after graduation.

The problem with any 1 yr master's is that you'll need to start applying a couple months into your new program (assuming you are not taking any time off). You'll have to be really strategic about making connections with faculty to get decent recommendations - and it might be hard to get a strong recommendation since they will have only known you for a couple of months.

When I was on the admissions committee for my program, applicants that got a boost had research experience in the field. (I did my PhD at a research intensive place though.) Pedigree of one's master's degree wasn't something that came up as important.  It was helpful when the committee knew your recommenders which tends to happen when the program is more well-known.  

If you were going into the academy - it might make sense to do a second master's (if it is relatively inexpensive) to boost one's chance at being admitted to a prestigious PhD program eventually. Still fairly risky, but I can see why people go that route as long as they are not disappointed if it doesn't work out.  Since you said that is not your career goal, I would pick one of the PhD offers you already have assuming you like the program when you visit.

I really appreciate your perspective on this matter, ZeChocMoose. It has definitely made me think more strategically about my next steps.