PoliSci MA program at columbia vs. PhD at BU

[montcg]

Choosing between the fully funded 5-year PhD program in political science at Boston University and the 1-year MA program at Columbia University.

Definitely want to do a PhD and pursue a career in academia, so the PhD program is tempting, but the ranking of BU’s program (#56) might make finding a decent job as a prof more challenging than kickstarting a PhD elsewhere with an MA in Columbia (ranked #7).

[HBLB]

Is the masters at Columbia fully funded? If not its still alot of money to justify and theres no guarantee that it would lead to a better phd program. What about research interests, which school has more professors aligned with what you want to study? Its a tough call. There was a paper/article in 2012 that basically said that half of all tenure track political science professors come from elite institutions (see link below). While the article didn't include Columbia, I would think Columbia PHDs would be part of that elite group of institutions. I guess I would try to determine where Columbia MAs go for their PHD and if they placed predominantly at these elite institutions that produce more tenure track positions. Link to article-http://gppreview.com/2012/12/03/superpowers-the-american-academic-elite/ 

[montcg]

The masters is not funded at all. It would mean ~30K for the one year program and no thesis or dissertation. Columbia has more professors in my subfield, but I'm concerned that professors generally are not focused on MA students (though there are only 20 admitted per year and MA students are linked with an advisor in their field of study).

I'm having trouble finding the placement records for Columbia MAs - many I know don't pursue PhD's and opt for jobs in consulting, gov't, business, law, etc. I can't find any info about how many pursue PhDs and where they are placed.

[Psyhopeful]

If you pay $30k plus living expenses and then go into a phd program you have basically spent money on nothing becauseost programs still require you to follow their curriculum. You will be in debt and like montcg said there’s no guarantee you’ll get into a better program next year. A fully funded PhD, is a really great opportunity. I can’t speak to your job prosy, but have you looked at the program’s placement? If you want to go into academia, I would pick the PhD. Especially if you’re not going to get the same treatment as the PhD students at Columbia. 

[sinni]

As someone who is very familiar with BU's Poli Sci department I have 2 things to say: 1. It has some fantastic faculty, especially co-teaching in the IR department, and 2. It has virtually no reputation and awful placement record. 

[frenchphd]

Neither. And especially, do not attend Columbia's MA program in anything (maybe a comp sci masters is ok -- it pays off). I really want people to recognize that these programs exist purely to make money for the university and the department.

[juilletmercredi]

Well, just because a program exists to make money for a department/university doesn't mean it's not a quality program that can act as a stepping stone into a PhD program. A program may offer zero funding and may still be very good at getting any student who wants to go into a well-reputed PhD program. I went to Columbia, and while I don't know about the political science department specifically, I do know that a lot of the expensive cash-cow MA programs in social science and humanities departments at Columbia are pretty good about getting their students into great PhD programs (sometimes, their own). I also know several people who have gotten MAs at Columbia and parlayed them into successful professional careers, so they're not useless.

However, if you think you need to improve your profile for another cycle of PhD programs, a one-year MA program may not do much for that.

[Sigaba]

On 4/15/2019 at 3:54 PM, Psyhopeful said:

If you pay $30k plus living expenses and then go into a phd program you have basically spent money on nothing because [m]ost programs still require you to follow their curriculum. You will be in debt and like montcg said there’s no guarantee you’ll get into a better program next year. A fully funded PhD, is a really great opportunity. I can’t speak to your job prosy, but have you looked at the program’s placement? If you want to go into academia, I would pick the PhD. Especially if you’re not going to get the same treatment as the PhD students at Columbia. 

And also, if you find that the program at B.U. does not suit your interests/aspirations, you can always "transfer" after earning a M.A. As @Psyhopeful points out, you'll have to follow the curriculum of your new program but you won't have the debt if you go to Columbia.

I would strongly advise you not to go into any doctoral program with prior thoughts of transferring to a better school.