Need Help Choosing an MA Program!

[meezusleft]

Hi All,

I was fortunately offered admission into American U's MA in Psych program (in the track I wanted) as well as Boston U's MA in Psych program. I am leaning towards AU because I was given an offer of a graduate assistantship alongside the program, as well as its less intensive (2 yr vs. 1 yr) program. I also feel like I would rather live near DC than in Boston. However, I know that BU has a more prestigious program and faculty (given that the school has a stronger Psych. department). For those who attended an MA in Psychology program, do you think choosing prestige is an important factor to consider, or is that more important when it comes to actually getting a clinical psych. PhD? Also, I am still waiting on a decision from Teachers College MA program, but my deadlines for the aforementioned schools are coming up in about a week. The TC at Columbia program is my top option, but I wanted to know from those who have potentially attended what they think of the program and if it's worth waiting on it. In general, any advice on which program to choose, the importance of prestige for a masters psych. program, and any other input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

[Rerun]

Hi! I don't go to either school but I live in Boston and have quite a good exposure to BU. I would say it's not prestigious, but the school itself is really connected. I don't really have a program that match 100% with what I am looking for, but part of me want to be in BU because I just love how rich each school is in terms of expertise. But that's probably my bias given my interdisciplinary perspective in psych-sociology-religion-public health. Look at the faculty list again and check the research center. And not to mention how much I love Boston, such a lovely place. I'm pretty bias here. But that's from my perspective. Congrats on being accepted at both! RA is also definitely a big consideration. But think again about network in the future too. Many things to consider. Follow your heart and know that you would like to be there for sure.

[PsyZei]

I'm not familiar with either and my PhD program is Couple and Family Therapy, but I wanted to emphasize Rerun's point about networking when it comes to applying for PhDs. When applying to PhD programs this last season my interview offers and rejections with interview were split exactly based on my networking. I applied to 8 school and I had networked with 6 of them... those were the ones I was offered interviews at. The 2 I had no network connections with were the ones that rejected me outright.

That said, not all of the 6 were networked with because of connections from my school... but three them were only networked with through connections from my school's faculty (included one that I never managed to interact with at all, but the PI I was interested in working with was a good friend of one of my professors- I assume that network connection still have a lot to do with my getting an interview). The other three (including two of my top three picks) were ones that I literally hunted down at conferences and made an over-enthusiastic fool of myself to make sure they would remember me and how much I liked their program. Of those three, two of them had no connections to anyone at my school, but I was still offered admission to them. So it's not an end all situation if you don't have the connections from your school, but in either case my experience is that networking is extremely important. So if you go to a school with less network connections (and really regardless of which school you go to), I would encourage you to be planning now for conferences &/or other ways to make connections with those in the programs you are interested in.

[PsyDuck90]

If you peruse this forum, the masters at TC has a bit of a reputation for being a major cash cow for the department. While many have said they are happy with the education they received, the cost is huge and not necessarily commensurate. Research and advisor research fit are arguably the two most important factors in getting into clinical psych PhD programs. If you have a low undergrad GPA or come from a non-psych background, getting a masters can be helpful. Otherwise, many people often opt for full-time paid research coordinator gigs. I say this as someone who did an MA and wish I knew about this option then. If you are set on the masters, I would choose the cheapest one (exuberant MA debt isn't worth it) with faculty who match your research interests and definitely make sure there is a thesis option that you do. I would also spend that time trying to present posters at conferences and maybe even submit a publication. 

[psychpsychpsych]

Certainly reputation plays a factor in this (but also which is cheaper or gives you funding is really important), but after just completing my MA, I think it's most important to see which advisor or program is gonna help you the best get into a PhD program. Is the advisor willing to work on a project you're interested in, is there a chance you can get first authorship on a paper, could you go to conferences with research you conducted with them, do they know people in your area of studies, do they seem to want to help you network, etc. I also think it may help to analyse your own profile as an applicant, and see why you want to go to get an MA and see where you may be lacking (not meaning this in an offensive way at all) in your application and try to see if the MA can help you boost that area. Hope this helps!