NYU@ma in psychology or WakeForest@neuroscience, which is better

[UM-999]

Hi guys,

I received two offers:  M.A. in Psychology from New York university and Neuroscience MS from Wake Forest university a couple days ago. I am an international student( I only have a papers/rank based impression of university/department → usnews) and my ultimate goal is to apply for a PhD position in psy/neuroscien. During my undergraduate study (majored in applied psychology), I worked as a research assistant in three laboratories and have some publications.  I don't see people comparing this two projects side by side and I am curious about which one is more advantageous for me to apply for a top PhD program.  

NYU@MA in psychology (#28 in nation and #30 in world; this two-year program belongs to GSAS; no mention of the ratio of courses or research → flexible?; can choose a MA thesis)
advantage: ①have a good reputation on both psychology (#21 in world) and neuroscience (#13 in world) ②many interested studies & labs
disadvantage: ①high price tag(wonder if it's worth the price, around 15k?) and no scholarship ②Someone mentioned in the forum that enrollment 100~200+ (I don't know if that conflicts with 'Our classes have an average size of 15 students' which is mentioned on the official website ) 
By the way, some one mentioned in this forum they had no chance to participate in the experiment, does professors discriminate against (to some extent ) MA students? A big part of what attracted me to this program is the opportunity to participate in the labs there.

WFU@neuroscience MS (#28 in nation and #425 in world;this two-year program belongs to the Medical school; 50%class + 50%research; need to finish a a separate project)
advantage: ①I passed the interview with PI ②A separate project needs to be completed before the end of the project ③scholarship around 35k ④this university seems to have a good reputation in US
disadvantage: ①the professional ranking does not seem to be very prominent

 

Thanks in advance!
 

[PsyDuck90]

Go with Wake Forest. Where are you getting these rankings? Grad school is different from the undergrad rank lists you see everywhere. NYU uses the bulk of their MA programs as cash cows. Will you learn? Sure. Will you learn more than at Wake Forest? No. Also, the research experience is what will make you competitive for PhD programs, so if there is no guarantee that you will get extensive research experience at NYU, that's a major red flag. Wake Forest has an excellent reputation at feeding their students into fully funded PhD programs. 

[transfatfree]

Definitely Wake Forest. Its general reputation is great and many of their students got into PhD programs. For big MA programs like NYU, where research is not a major requirement, students may have to seek out research opportunities themselves. Also some MA students may not have done a psych major in undergrad, which may give professors a pause as they need to be trained. Without a formal course for research participation (some undergrads do), how much time an MA student can invest in a lab can also be questionable. Typically labs communicate expectations clearly to make sure both parties are getting the most out of the research experience. 

I don't think NYU lies about the class size; their students likely choose to do different courses to begin with. For compulsory courses, they likely have multiple professors teaching them to maintain a small class size.

Ultimately, research experiences/products are essential in applications for PhD programs, and Wake Forest seems to be able to offer more.