Onetwothree Posted April 6, 2012 Posted April 6, 2012 I am so troubled by this decision. School A is McGill with a great reputation. School B is mcmaster with a good reputation. McGill will give me no money and Mac is offering a scholarship and full TAship. Can I ask McGill to reconsider my funding decision? I have extensive research experience and can be a great RA. Should I contact individual profs myself and secure my own funding? This is for an MA in economics btw. Thank you for the suggestions!
Ancient CS Grad Posted April 9, 2012 Posted April 9, 2012 Ask!!!! The worse case is that they say no. You can still go without the funding if they do say no but if you don't ask you will never know. As I have said in other posts "Life is too short." In this case you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain by simply asking. From my own point of view I would go with the funding. It shows that they value you. Since my major is a bit different I can not judge the programs but in my own major I decided to go with a lower rated department before I received all my acceptances based on the faculty I would be working with. Reputation of the department is only part of the picture.
TakeruK Posted April 9, 2012 Posted April 9, 2012 Definitely ask McGill. Don't be afraid to tell them what mac has offered you! Reputation is mildly important, but like the above said, a department that offers funding shows that they value you as a graduate student and a colleague, while McGill may just treat you as a "lowly student". Do you know if funding is the norm for MA Economics programs in Canada? Also like the above, I chose to go to a lower reputation school because I wanted to work with a specific faculty member. I'm not sure about your field, but sometimes the reputation of a specific person can outweigh the reputation of the department. Finally, even if McGill "wins" in faculty and reputation etc. you should not feel bad about taking Mac's offer for pure financial reasons. Grad school is a big investment of time, effort, and potentially money, so you should pick the one that helps your life goals the most. I wouldn't recommend choosing a school because of a few thousand dollars difference in funding, but full funding vs. zero funding is a huge difference!! katiemk1230 1
Onetwothree Posted April 9, 2012 Author Posted April 9, 2012 thank you so much guys. you raise great points. I will certainly ask McGill. I feel like they are seeing me as a "lowly student" as I'm sure other people in the department have secured funding. The norm is that top programs don't offer much funding at the MA level, but again great students do get it. I have two years of full-time research experience so I will try for RA work.
felicidad Posted April 9, 2012 Posted April 9, 2012 If you are a top candidate, most schools who have access to additional funds will not let money be the reason you don't attend. When you contact them, make sure that they understand that the only thing standing between you and accepting their offer is funding. Good luck!
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