Job offer $55K+ vs. Accepting offer for grad school (MPA, MPAff, MPP)

[studious_kirby]

If I got a job offer ($55K+) in my field of interest (philanthropy) before hearing back from any/all the programs I applied to, do you think I should take the job offer instead and decline/defer grad school to apply again in future, decline the job offer and go to grad school, or try to do the grad program part-time while working? I am in the interview process for 3 organizations that I'm decently excited about. And mindful that the avg salary upon graduating from many of the programs I applied for is $50-70K anyways..

Getting paid for FT work experience -- VS. ---- Paying for classes, exposure to professors & new network, capstone & short-term experience for my resume

 

Applied (haven't heard back from any yet): USC-Price MPA, UT Austin-LBJ MPAff (both DC and Austin programs), NYU-Wagner MPA, UW-Evans MPA, Brandeis-Heller MPP/Social Impact MBA dual degree, Georgetown-McCourt MPP 

I sought out programs with

• a strong foundation in: nonprofit management, public management, policy & data analysis, program evaluation, policy writing, fundraising, philanthropy.
• Strong connections to philanthropy and state/local govt in my cities of interest (see below)
• Experiential learning opportunities: fellowships/internships/research in philanthropy, nonprofit capacity-building, 
• Professors who have social justice & anti-racist values, critiques of structural inequality & imperialism, etc

Professional goals: philanthropy, nonprofit capacity-building, state/local government-level grantmaking, policy advocacy, or international development

Supplementary interests: community-based participatory research, participatory policymaking, participatory grantmaking and budgeting, philanthropic/nonprofit policy, urban planning, land use, health equity, tax policy, China affairs

Cities I'm interested in working in: LA, San Francisco, New York, DC, Chicago, Atlanta, Austin, Seattle (currently residing)

About me:

• 3 years out of undergrad (3.0 GPA in political science at top public university)
• GRE: 152Q / 157 V / 4.5 AW
• Work experience --- temped 1 year in diversity recruiting at top STEM company; 2-3 years contracting in public administration at local City government. Technically only 1 year of full-time work experience.
• involved in local community foundation, local politics, and grassroots community organizing

Thanks for any insights you can provide!

Edited February 5, 2021 by studious_kirby

[francophile_1]

Personally I'm leaning towards d) defer for a year and see how the job goes. I'm not too certain how grad schools look at deferring for a year, but it might be good to get more hands on experience and see if you actually like it before making a decision for or against going to grad school. If it turns out you love it, amazing - you're already in field of choice and can work quickly from there. If you hate it, you can always use that experience to apply to different schools and/or get more funding? 

[studious_kirby]

5 hours ago, francophile_1 said:

Personally I'm leaning towards d) defer for a year and see how the job goes. I'm not too certain how grad schools look at deferring for a year, but it might be good to get more hands on experience and see if you actually like it before making a decision for or against going to grad school. If it turns out you love it, amazing - you're already in field of choice and can work quickly from there. If you hate it, you can always use that experience to apply to different schools and/or get more funding? 

Thanks! Yeah, from what I've gathered you don't need a Master degree for the nonprofit sector, with philanthropy it is a mixed bag, and for government it depends on how technical a role is --- definitely seems to help. MPA/MPP definitely seems like logical launching pad for government jobs - which I'd like to stay open to!

[xmflti]

Although it may be a little different, I work in the nonprofit sector as a fundraiser – first in arts & culture and now for a social organization that focuses on gender equality/girls eduction. I got my masters in nonprofit management/arts admin a few years ago and I would recommend the second option, accepting the job offer and trying to do the grad program PT. I've seen so many of my friends take full-time jobs while going to grad school and I also took on like two internships every semester, so basically was working everyday. The fact that most are evening classes makes this doable. Also, it sounds like you are invested in this field of work, so I think grad school is a great next step for you to deepen your expertise. 

However, this depends on how much you want this specific job too, not just because it fits your interests but does this organization carry a mission you feel strongly about? do you see yourself as a good fit to its work culture? do you think you will like the people you work with? etc. These questions are especially important for nonprofit jobs because as you know, you don't get paid a lot. We are not doing it for the $, because if we were, we wouldn't have chosen this path in the first place! 

I don't know what level this position you were offered is and where it's based in (which will change whether $55k salary is a great offer or not) but if we say it's an entry level position at a nonprofit in NYC, $55k is pretty good and I'd say accept it and try it out. If you happen to not like it, then you can always leave and find another nonprofit to work for – they are always looking for people. 

That's my two cents. Hope it helps! 

 

 

[GradSchoolGrad]

15 hours ago, studious_kirby said:

If I got a job offer ($55K+) in my field of interest (philanthropy) before hearing back from any/all the programs I applied to, do you think I should take the job offer instead and decline/defer grad school to apply again in future, decline the job offer and go to grad school, or try to do the grad program part-time while working? I am in the interview process for 3 organizations that I'm decently excited about. And mindful that the avg salary upon graduating from many of the programs I applied for is $50-70K anyways..

Getting paid for FT work experience -- VS. ---- Paying for classes, exposure to professors & new network, capstone & short-term experience for my resume

 

Applied (haven't heard back from any yet): USC-Price MPA, UT Austin-LBJ MPAff (both DC and Austin programs), NYU-Wagner MPA, UW-Evans MPA, Brandeis-Heller MPP/Social Impact MBA dual degree, Georgetown-McCourt MPP 

I sought out programs with

• a strong foundation in: nonprofit management, public management, policy & data analysis, program evaluation, policy writing, fundraising, philanthropy.
• Strong connections to philanthropy and state/local govt in my cities of interest (see below)
• Experiential learning opportunities: fellowships/internships/research in philanthropy, nonprofit capacity-building, 
• Professors who have social justice & anti-racist values, critiques of structural inequality & imperialism, etc

Professional goals: philanthropy, nonprofit capacity-building, state/local government-level grantmaking, policy advocacy, or international development

Supplementary interests: community-based participatory research, participatory policymaking, participatory grantmaking and budgeting, philanthropic/nonprofit policy, urban planning, land use, health equity, tax policy, China affairs

Cities I'm interested in working in: LA, San Francisco, New York, DC, Chicago, Atlanta, Austin, Seattle (currently residing)

About me:

• 3 years out of undergrad (3.0 GPA in political science at top public university)
• GRE: 152Q / 157 V / 4.5 AW
• Work experience --- temped 1 year in diversity recruiting at top STEM company; 2-3 years contracting in public administration at local City government. Technically only 1 year of full-time work experience.
• involved in local community foundation, local politics, and grassroots community organizing

Thanks for any insights you can provide!

Are you trying to go to grad school for a pay raise or a career change? Most likely it is a little bit of both, but what is your core angle here?

[studious_kirby]

12 hours ago, GradSchoolGrad said:

Are you trying to go to grad school for a pay raise or a career change? Most likely it is a little bit of both, but what is your core angle here?

Pay raise + exposure (to a new city, new issue areas, networks, internship/fellowship opps), technical skill-building (policy writing, evaluation, data & policy analysis). The exposure is a big part of it, because I've never lived in another city, and would probably say I have little in-depth exposure to my supplementary interest areas (urban planning, health equity, land use, tax policy).

Would you say most ppl go to grad school once they feel they've "hit a wall"? If I'm getting invitations to interview from a lot of places, it seems like maybe I still have momentum and don't need grad school to continue progressing?

[GradSchoolGrad]

14 hours ago, studious_kirby said:

Pay raise + exposure (to a new city, new issue areas, networks, internship/fellowship opps), technical skill-building (policy writing, evaluation, data & policy analysis). The exposure is a big part of it, because I've never lived in another city, and would probably say I have little in-depth exposure to my supplementary interest areas (urban planning, health equity, land use, tax policy).

Would you say most ppl go to grad school once they feel they've "hit a wall"? If I'm getting invitations to interview from a lot of places, it seems like maybe I still have momentum and don't need grad school to continue progressing?

see my post about defining walls on another thread.

on another line of thought, I will say that, no matter where you go to grad school, I recommend you really structure your thinking on 1-3 focus areas for your grad school interests. The saddest thing to see in grad school are smart people completely mess up jobs market recruiting because they suffer from decision paralysis and cannot coherently explain what they actually want to do when they grow up. 

[Boolakanaka]

On 2/5/2021 at 2:49 AM, studious_kirby said:

Thanks! Yeah, from what I've gathered you don't need a Master degree for the nonprofit sector, with philanthropy it is a mixed bag, and for government it depends on how technical a role is --- definitely seems to help. MPA/MPP definitely seems like logical launching pad for government jobs - which I'd like to stay open to!

While an entry level position is certainly obtainable with just an undergraduate degree, if you look at most of the larger foundations and their senior and executive staff, you will find come some of the most educated individuals in any sector —many with multiple professional and graduate degrees. It is one of the most over-educated industries around....

[bugajskj]

Real world experience trumps “education.,”in most cases. Dedicate yourself to your craft at your new position, make a difference, and work hard. Graduate school will always be there; besides, real work tends to shift your point of view in priorities, including what you want to attain your masters in. 

[studious_kirby]

How do I tell my LOR writers that I might not even end up going to grad school this year, which would have made their time arguably "wasted"? I'd been planning to email my thank you's to them around now.

@GradSchoolGrad @Boolakanaka @bugajskj @xmflti @francophile_1

[GradSchoolGrad]

Just now, studious_kirby said:

How do I tell my LOR writers that I might not even end up going to grad school this year, which would have made their time arguably "wasted"? I'd been planning to email my thank you's to them around now.

@GradSchoolGrad @Boolakanaka @bugajskj @xmflti @francophile_1

Have you thought about applying and then deferring for a year? Then you might not have to tell them they wasted their tme. 

LOR are hard to come by.

[bugajskj]

42 minutes ago, studious_kirby said:

How do I tell my LOR writers that I might not even end up going to grad school this year, which would have made their time arguably "wasted"? I'd been planning to email my thank you's to them around now.

@GradSchoolGrad @Boolakanaka @bugajskj @xmflti @francophile_1

They don’t have to know. Just tell them that the opportunity did not present itself for you to attend grad school and that you have not given up and need their LOR again.