cave to employer pressure and defer?

[bookwrm]

Hello all,

This is a bit long, but bear with me.

I have a dilemma: I've been admitted to a good, public, (international) school for a MA in Political Science, but my current employer really, really wants me to give the company another year, offering to pay some of my eventual tuition if I stay and then go somewhere local. There are lots of schools around here, but none are better for polisci then the school I'm already admitted to.

Strong draws for the school include faculty doing interesting work, a strongly pre-academic focus (rather than a professional focus like many other polisci ma programs), an amazing city, and a tuition low enough that the Bank of Mom and Dad are willing to pay whatever my TAship doesn't cover. My parents are pushing hard for me to go this year, indicating that they are willing to pay now, but can't guarantee to have the discretionary income to help next year. They're also working the

[UndraftedFreeAgent]

Your job situation sounds rather similar to mine and I had some employer pressure to stay as well, though they quickly realized that they weren't going to convince me to stay.

One thing to consider is the placement record of the program you are considering. If you are planning to go on to a PhD program, what percentage of the MA program's students do that and how successful are they in getting good admits? If your current admit is definitively better in these regards than your local options, then now is certainly the time to go. Your parents are right, in that now is the "cheapest" time for you to go. After another year in the company, you would likely be earning a somewhat higher salary, tuition will have increased (assume a 5% hike), and living costs will have risen as well. Also, if you have a TA-ship, then that should already cover most, if not all of your tuition and some living costs. Most people on the forum who have assistantships also have some level of tuition waiver. Again, if academia is your goal, then the sooner you can get started, the better.

I'm assuming that you have an academic future in mind, but if you are thinking of moving up in the think tank world, that would be the time to really consider your employer's offer. In the eyes of employers, particularly in government, experience is far more valuable than education. The pay grade system the federal government uses counts a BA + 1 year experience the same as an MA, and an MA + 1 year experience the same as a PhD (note: this is what the pay grade definitions say, not what will necessarily get one a job). You would also want to get the details of an offer of tuition assistance from your employer in writing, as a verbal agreement could easily disappear or turn out to be much less than you were hoping. The only people I know accepting employer tuition assistance are going for MBAs, but in each case, they were required to dedicate an extra number of years to the company after graduation.

Another option, if you are considering returning to a think tank after your degree(s), is that you could ask for a leave of absense from your employer. Since your bosses clearly like you, they might be happy to welcome you back after you've had time to build your skill set on someone else's dime.

I know I'm hoping wave goodbye to the private sector for good when I leave for my new program, but working at a think tank with an MA or PhD would also be a great option.

[edk]

well, it sounds like you are struggling with your employer vs your parents.

but I think the question is what do you want to do? It kind of sounds like you want to defer and work at the think tank for another year.

I was in a reverse position where my parents wanted me to defer because I got accepted into mid-range schools and didn't apply to any top 10s because of geographical reasons. Additional parents funding was also on the table. I decided to go to school because that's what i wanted to do. In the end, i think you should do what makes you happy and not worry about anyone else.

[ukiitm]

Aside: I think in the long term you will not be very happy if you keep not giving a sh!t about anyone else, especially people that're close to you and those who really wish you well.

[bookwrm]

UFA and edk:

thank you both for your responses- you raised very important points to think about. I decided that since this MA is hopefully going to take me on to academia (plan A) rather than industry (plan , I am going to go this year. Woot!

ukiitm, I'm not sure I understand what point you are trying to make.