University of Chicago MAPSS or Find a Job?

[universal]

Hello all,

So, I got into UChicago MAPSS. I applied to MAPSS in large part because am interested in switching fields from something more humanities-oriented to social psychology and thought the MAPSS program would be really a great way to transition fields before applying to social psychology PhD programs.

I am fortunate enough to have received a scholarship which makes the program within the realm of affordable. Nevertheless, I'd need to take out a good amount of money in loans and spend all of my savings on living costs. Because of these costs, I'm a bit nervous about pursuing MAPSS as opposed to finding an RAship or research-oriented job. I'm especially nervous about taking on debt at a point in my life where conventional financial advice says it's critical for me to be saving.

In my mind, the main advantage of turning down MAPSS to find an RAship/job would be that I won't be living with debt for the next x years of my life. The disadvantage of not doing MAPSS would be that my alternative plan of getting hired to a position relevant to social psychology research (ideally an RAship, but also adjacent jobs like survey research, decision sciences etc.) might not be realistic since I don't have immediate experience in that area of research. I have transferable skills, but there are plenty of candidates with those skills and direct experience. I'm also worried that some PhD committees might be suspicious of a prospective student who is lacking in demonstrated commitment to that field through a research degree. 

I figured I'd ask the lovely people of the internet for some advice on the matter. Excited to hear what y'all have to say

Edited March 27, 2020 by universal

[DeadAccount]

Hello! I don't have much advice to offer. But I'm kind of in the same boat. I want to go for my PhD ultimately, but didn't apply right out of undergrad because I'm not sure which of the two fields I studied in undergrad would be more appropriate for my long term goals when it comes to PhD programs. Instead I took a gap year and applied to MAPSS because I thought this would give me additional training, plus a chance to take some more classes to determine which path I want to take (I'm actually becoming more interested in switching to social psychology, as well, despite being in sociology and anthropology as an undergrad.) I'm a bit apprehensive, because of the loans I would need to take out. I am also nervous because there seems to be a lot of negativity about MAPSS online and I'm not sure if that is to be believed or not...

[DeadAccount]

I will say, I tried getting research-related jobs during my gap year, and despite having good experience (conducted an independent research study during undergrad in which I collected original quantitative data on my own, presented my findings at an academic conference, and am currently working towards publication) I couldn't get anyone to even give me a chance (no calls, emails, or interviews)..That was very depressing and the job I have now isn't bad, but it's not really related to what I want to do.

[universal]

Now with the Coronavirus I'm even more nervous hahaha

[DeadAccount]

 

On 4/17/2020 at 2:58 PM, universal said:

Now with the Coronavirus I'm even more nervous hahaha

Me too! Have you accepted yet? We have to accept by Friday night... But didn't they say if they go online, we can back out of going?