please help me with MA decision

[applebee]

I'm interested in studying political science (theory focus) and religion. I applied to uchicago MAPSS, uchicago divinity school MA, and Harvard divinity school's MTS. I've been fortunate to have gotten accepted to both programs at uchicago, and im waiting to hear back from HDS (interviewed last month). Uchicago divinity offered me full scholarship that covers tuition for 2 years, but MAPSS only offered me 15k in scholarship. Id be covering 2 years of living expenses if I do the MA, and 1 year of living expenses + 60k in tuition and fees for MAPSS, which is A LOT and I cannot possible afford that. My long term goal is to pursue a phd in political theory (with a focus on political theology, politics and religion etc). I know MAPSS has a great track record for phd placement, and offers great training in political science methodologies, but uchicago's divinity school is also a top program that has multiple great faculty members that do religious ethics/political theology. I also heard MAPSS is heavily quant focused, which is slightly of concern as well. I have a strong math background but I'm more interested in theory for grad studies. 

What do y'all think my better option is if my long term goal is phd in political theory? should I try to negotiate with MAPSS and see if they could offer more funding? I know students commonly negotiate for more funding with offers from competing schools, but my situation is slightly different. is another offer from a different department at the same school a good leverage to bring up?

 

TIA and I hope everyone gets into their dream schools!!!

[Uull6739]

Hi, as a general rule, do not go into significant debt for any masters program unless you are in an employable field (think LSE EME, Finmath programs, etc). Given your interests, do not go to MAPSS. MAPSS, like other US and UK PhD-feeder masters programs, gives scholarships based on who they think will be successful at PhD admissions. Given they only offered 15k, they do not think you are overly competitive, both relative to the incoming cohort of MA students or for PhDs as a whole. I would highly recommend taking the funded divinity offer instead (be it Harvard or UChicago), as it will allow you to take pol theory classes while costing less. Again, I cannot stress how much you should not take the 15k offer.

 

[01anonymous]

Second this! Please always choose a funded offer! It's really not worth going into debt for!

[A Dalek]

Chicago MAPSS is a cash cow for the university. TBH I can't recommend any of the fancy MAs out there. If your undergrad has a 4+1 MA, that's fine if you want to take some grad courses before applying to PhDs but otherwise just apply directly to PhDs in the US.

[SoyTriangle]

MAPSS alum here. Started with an interest in political theory but shifted to another subfield after taking some courses. I will offer my two cents. 

-The political theory job market, and as a consequence, PhD admissions in political theory, is dwindling and becoming increasingly competitive. If you are unable to go to a top top school in PT, your job prospects look increasingly grim by the year. I am certain the Trump administration won't help this. Keep this in mind. 

-Whether you are set on PT or another subfield, MAPSS can be valuable under a narrow set of circumstances. These are: 

1) You are dead certain you want to do a PhD in a social science and do not think you will be able to get into a top program without doing MAPSS. 

2) If (1) is true, you need to hit the ground running and gear your MAPSS experience to securing a PhD admission at a top program after completing your MA year. This means making strong connections with full time, tenure track faculty, performing exceptionally well in their classes (speaking in class, writing good papers, etc), going to the workshop in your subfield (there is a PT workshop at UChicago) and, above all else, writing a great thesis supervised by a full time, tenure track faculty member. If you are in a subfield other than PT, you definitely need methods training, and should try to do quant and qual if you can. 

3) If (1) and (2) are true, you need to be able to afford whatever MAPSS and living in Chicago for a year can cost you without it ruining your financial life. 

 

1, 2, and 3 were true for me, and I have managed to turn it into being admitted to a top 15 program. If this had not happened, it would've been a colossal waste of money. Having a MAPSS degree did not help my job prospects at all upon graduation, and I ended up in an entry level job that I could've gotten straight out of college. 

 

Best of luck making your decision. PM me if you want to talk more in detail.