Is it crazy to pay minimum 30k for the MA at Harvard over a fully-funded phd program?

[maorphd]

Hi! I guess the title says it all but just to reiterate, is it crazy to pay minimum 30k per year for the two-year long MA at Harvard over a fully-funded phd program, if both are in the humanities? I know the general rule of thumb is ‘Go where the money is!’ but I’m concerned about securing a teaching position after attending the phd program. (It’s ranked the 27th according to the US news) Please weigh in anyone!!

Edited April 10, 2020 by maorphd

[Sigaba]

5 hours ago, maorphd said:

Hi! I guess the title says it all but just to reiterate, is it crazy to pay minimum 30k per year for the two-year long MA at Harvard over a fully-funded phd program, if both are in the humanities? I know the general rule of thumb is ‘Go where the money is!’ but I’m concerned about securing a teaching position after attending the phd program. (It’s ranked the 27th according to the US news) Please weigh in anyone!!

Were I in your position, I would accept the funded offer. I would work as hard as I could and then reassess my opportunities after I earned a master's degree.

If you go to Harvard, you will be in a situation where you'll be competing for a spot in a doctoral program while you're finishing up your MA work. Add to these challenges the unknown impacts of COVID-19 and the upcoming presidential election.

If you do take the funded offer, I recommend that you work as hard as you can all of time time so that you can be in the strongest position at the end of each academic year in the event the funding package requires an evaluation. I also recommend that you keep current back up plans B and C in the event things get worse before they get better. (This planning would include picking research projects that can be executed without much travel or support.)