Soc MA programs

[jazzyyy]

Hello. 

I am graduating this year with a BA in sociology. Woo. My main interests are semiotics of food and gender/sexuality. I am certainly a qualitative kinda galllll. I am looking to apply to PhD programs this fall, but I would also like to apply to some MA programs because I am really worried/scared/insecure that I will not get into any decent PhD programs. I know people have a lot of negative things to say about terminal MA programs (e.g. waste of money, waste of time, etc.), but I feel like I would greatly benefit from refining my research interests and skills before entering a PhD program. Anyway, I am just wondering if ya'll have some advice. Any MA or PhD program recommendations given the very vague and broad interests I mentioned above? I have heard that most sociology MA programs are geared toward quantitative research. Is that true? Maybe I should apply to MA programs outside of sociology? And to what extent does having an MA boost your chances of getting into a PhD program? I have been told that getting an MA in and of itself is essentially worthless and that going into an MA program is only useful if you publish something or do something spectacular during your time there. Any info is useful info! Thanks ? 

 

 

Edited May 2, 2019 by jazzyyy

[lkaitlyn]

UChicago MAPSS is known for getting a lot of people into PhD programs, if that's the goal. It's expensive (like most MAs) but they often offer scholarships for some amount off tuition. I think it's only one year, which also helps.

Not sociology, but I know Wisconsin has a Gender Studies MA that might have some decent funding.

[jazzyyy]

Thank you @lkaitlyn! I have heard good things about UChicago MAPSS. And I will take a look at Wisconsin. 

[jazzyyy]

OH! I have another question. I'm not sure if I should start a separate thread for the following but here it goes. My professor (she is Canadian and got her PhD in sociology from University of Toronto and is now working in the States) advised against going to school in Canada. She said it will be difficult finding a job as a professor in the States (which is where I'm from) and that people will wonder why the heck I went to Canada. Thoughts? 

[dakotadakota]

14 hours ago, jazzyyy said:

OH! I have another question. I'm not sure if I should start a separate thread for the following but here it goes. My professor (she is Canadian and got her PhD in sociology from University of Toronto and is now working in the States) advised against going to school in Canada. She said it will be difficult finding a job as a professor in the States (which is where I'm from) and that people will wonder why the heck I went to Canada. Thoughts? 

That may be true in some cases, though I think that wouldn't apply to schools with names such as U Toronto or McGill. Also - U Toronto has a lot of food-focused sociologists that may fit your interests and you actually have to apply for the MA before applying for the PhD too so that may be a good fit. 

It's true that most MAPSS students get PhD offers after completion of the program, though I think some people expect that they'll receive these offers from schools of the same rank as U Chicago, which doesn't happen for a lot of folks (see placement source below). This may be an important factor to consider, as the vast majority of applicants receive only partial funding. Taking on tens of thousands of dollars of debt may not be worth it if the student is placed in a PhD program they could've already managed to get into with their BA. There's also the issue of attention, as you won't receive the same guidance as you would in a PhD program since there are about 100 students in the program per year. When I was considering my offer from MAPSS, I read some really negative threads about how the students aren't treated with much respect by the faculty and PhD students. I suggest you click around these threads to hear some firsthand accounts. Perhaps you're already aware, but if you apply to the PhD program at UChicago and they reject your application (as they did to me lol), they'll often send your app to the MAPSS grad committee. It may be worth doing this '2 apps for the price of 1' approach rather than applying directly to MAPSS.

I think Columbia and Brandeis both have small sociology MA programs. You may also want to look into schools abroad to get your MA for cheap. Freie University in Berlin, for example, has a great MA program and it's taught in English.

https://mapss.uchicago.edu/careers-placement/phd-placement

[lkaitlyn]

Something tells me that MAPSS's 2017 Sociology WashU in St. Louis PhD placement wasn't correct. Just a guess. ?

Edited May 3, 2019 by lkaitlyn