Need Advice on what to do

[Ajb415]

As the April 15th deadline approaches I am unsure what is the right decision to make. My options are 

1. University of Florida Ph.D program - Full funding + 20k a year stipend/ 4 years 

2. UCSD Global policy school M.A - Full funding

3. UVA Ph.D program - Waitlisted currently

4. Columbia M.A - No funding

Option 1. Take UF offer. Its close to home, good funding, summer job at nearby college.

Option 2. Take UCSD MA offer. Strong political science program, potential to transfer to Ph.D program

Option 3. Wait until 11th hour for UVA offer. If no offer, back to either 1 or 2.

Option 4- Retry next cycle with strong SoP and Quant GRE score. 

 

At a total loss currently

 

[Dwar]

3 minutes ago, Ajb415 said:

2. UCSD Global policy school M.A - Full funding

 

Does the funding include a stipend? and if not, would you be able to cover those living expenses? or would you need to take out loans to cover that? If you can either pay your own way, or if they give you a stipend, then I think this is a good option. But, if you would have to take out loans or go into debt to pay for it then I would caution against it. It isn't like people in this field make a massive amount of money, especially right out of grad school. So a large debt would probably hurt you financially for years to come. 

 

4 minutes ago, Ajb415 said:

Option 3. Wait until 11th hour for UVA offer. If no offer, back to either 1 or 2.

 

If UVA is your dream school then I would suggest you do this regardless of which of the first two decisions you make, it can never hurt to wait, although be sure to give yourself enough time to accept another offer before the deadline. 

 

5 minutes ago, Ajb415 said:

1. University of Florida Ph.D program - Full funding + 20k a year stipend/ 4 years 

 

I am a personal advocate of not looking a gift horse in its mouth. U of Florida looks like a good program, and while it isn't as highly ranked as others, it seems to have some nice placements. I guess you have to ask yourself if you like their placements, can you see yourself working where their grads end up? would that satisfy your career goals?

 

Also, just putting this out there, if you try next cycle, even with a higher GRE score and new LOR, there is absolutely no guarantee that you will get in anywhere, much less someplace higher then Florida. These applications are such a crap shoot that absolutely nothing is guaranteed, so I would think long and hard before turning down a fully funded offer.