What would you do? stress levels: elevated

[thaitea]

For a masters program- if you had one program that was a perfect research fit, ideal environment and location versus another program that was an okay research fit, not ideal location/environment, but was fully funded + stipend. I'm having a hard time, because my heart says the first school, but my head says it might be more practical to choose the second. Help! 

[thaitea]

The first program is unfunded and would be about 18,000 per year.

[Nothalfgood]

I would choose the funded one, but that's a very personal decision with lots of needed nuance. Your choice should depend on lots of things.

If you are going into a really marketable topic like data science, then you probably need not be too averse to risk. If instead you are going into, say, art history, then there is good reason to weigh your financial situation greatly. Since you are pursuing a Master's and not a Ph.D. (at least not yet), I am inferring that you are pursuing a career that doesn't demand prestige (like academia) and is more skill-based. If that's the case, then a Master's program with a poor research fit is probably not mean that much. I don't know the situation, so I can't rightly judge this point.

If you are interested in pursuing a Ph.D. eventually, or if your subject is super research-oriented, then it seems like this is a non-decision: you have to choose one which is the best research fit. You may save money going to a program with funding, but it's a big waste of time getting a degree that you don't want!

Would you like to share more about the kinds of program you are getting into?

[thaitea]

@NothalfgoodThank you so much for responding! I am interested in delving fully into academia, hoping to pursue a research based PhD in Clinical Psychology and eventually work towards becoming a researcher/professor. I am not interested in pursuing clinical work, but instead interested in obtaining research experience and staying in academia for my career. I should also add that the unfunded masters program has a funded PhD program at the school that is highly regarded in my field, and a lot of masters students seem to end up there after their degree. Everything is a perfect fit research wise and program wise for the unfunded program, but I don't know if I'd be a complete idiot for turning down a fully funded program with a stipend in exchange for student debt.