Howard Ph.D. vs. current small M.A. vs nothing. Mind swarming

[Psych Student]

Notes: I am aiming for a Ph.D. in Social, Personality, or Experimental Psychology. My UG GPA is 3.67, psych GPA is closer to 3.85. I presented once at EPA and may present at a state-level conference in June. Quantitative GPA is around 70th percentile, verbal is 77%.

After applying to five grad schools, I was only accepted into one - the current school I'm attending as an undergraduate. I was accepted into the Master's program for general/theoretical psychology. The other schools were Ph.D. programs.

I'm hesitant about accepting the offer because I'm concerned about what it will do to my chances of getting into a Ph.D. program. Where many Ph.D. programs accept 10+ post-bachelors students, they often only accept one or two Master's students. I'm afraid that once I get my Master's, it might be harder to get into a Ph.D. program. Then again, I'm also concerned about never ever getting accepted into another school again.

Today I got a call from Howard University saying that they're considering me for their Ph.D. program, although it's last minute. However, when I've been doing my research, I've found that it's in in the city (Washington D.C.) and in a pretty . . . not so safe area. I read some comments on different sites about how there is a considerable amount of crime.

I'm a small town girl and . . . well, a very sensitive soul. The first time I rode a public bus was this year. I come from a school of about 2,000 students, which I thought was huge when I came from high-school. It's also about five hours away. I really don't know if this is something I can handle.

So what should I do? Should I take this offer I have before me and start with my master's, go to Howard, or wait a year and reapply to Ph.D. schools?

[JacqlynD]

Hi there - If you aren't excited about living in DC, aren't comfortable living/working in a gritty neighborhood and/or feel out of place on a campus that's 99% African American (I'm assuming you know that Howard is a prominent HBC - historically black college), you will be pretty unhappy. I've lived in DC for a decade, love the ease of public transportation, the ethnic restaurants (there's a delicious "soul veg" spot across from Howard that's run by black, vegan, Ethiopian Jews - no joke!), the crowds and the mix of cultures. The Howard/Shaw neighborhood is cheaper than most and improving...but it is one of the city's more rough-and-tumble neighborhoods, the area around campus looks really run down, and the Howard area is not somewhere I'd walk alone or at night. DC's housing is also incredibly expensive (1 bedrooms from $1400 to $3200), so the cost of living is a lot more than you'd see elsewhere.

The city is an unbelievable perk for people who love it...but would make for a miserable 5 years if you're not happy here. As a fellow small-town PA girl, I'd recommend visiting the school if you haven't already, walking around the neighborhood, taking the bus and metro and seeing if you'd feel comfortable. It sounds to me like you'll be happier somewhere smaller and less urban, so don't be afraid to wait for the right fit. If you got into one PhD program, you'll get into another!

[svh]

Hi, I lived in DC for four months, and I gotta say that I loved it. However, I lived in the northeast quadrant which is the safest area of DC. You could maybe live closer to the west side and commute? The transit system is really good in DC. However, if you're not all that passionate about Howard, then I would say don't do it. In terms of going for a masters or not, I don't know what to tell you. You should ask your advisors. When meeting people at interviews, a lot of them either had a masters or spent more than a few years after college doing research and lab managing at either their UG institution or some other one. Not many came straight out of UG.

[stereopticons]

I'm hesitant about accepting the offer because I'm concerned about what it will do to my chances of getting into a Ph.D. program. Where many Ph.D. programs accept 10+ post-bachelors students, they often only accept one or two Master's students. I'm afraid that once I get my Master's, it might be harder to get into a Ph.D. program. Then again, I'm also concerned about never ever getting accepted into another school again.

I don't think I understand this part of your post? I don't see that having a Masters will ever hurt you when getting in to a PhD program. Honestly, it's gotten so competitive that not many people do end up going into PhD programs directly after undergrad, it seems.

Anyway, I agree with what everyone has already said about living in DC. It's a cool place full of interesting things to do and experience, but it is expensive and a little sketchy in some parts. If you're ok with public transportation, trying to live in a different part of the district, or even outside of it, may be your best option. If you're really uncomfortable with it, go to the Masters program.

[rockandroll]

Notes: I am aiming for a Ph.D. in Social, Personality, or Experimental Psychology. My UG GPA is 3.67, psych GPA is closer to 3.85. I presented once at EPA and may present at a state-level conference in June. Quantitative GPA is around 70th percentile, verbal is 77%.

After applying to five grad schools, I was only accepted into one - the current school I'm attending as an undergraduate. I was accepted into the Master's program for general/theoretical psychology. The other schools were Ph.D. programs.

I'm hesitant about accepting the offer because I'm concerned about what it will do to my chances of getting into a Ph.D. program. Where many Ph.D. programs accept 10+ post-bachelors students, they often only accept one or two Master's students. I'm afraid that once I get my Master's, it might be harder to get into a Ph.D. program. Then again, I'm also concerned about never ever getting accepted into another school again.

Today I got a call from Howard University saying that they're considering me for their Ph.D. program, although it's last minute. However, when I've been doing my research, I've found that it's in in the city (Washington D.C.) and in a pretty . . . not so safe area. I read some comments on different sites about how there is a considerable amount of crime.

I'm a small town girl and . . . well, a very sensitive soul. The first time I rode a public bus was this year. I come from a school of about 2,000 students, which I thought was huge when I came from high-school. It's also about five hours away. I really don't know if this is something I can handle.

So what should I do? Should I take this offer I have before me and start with my master's, go to Howard, or wait a year and reapply to Ph.D. schools?

I've actually never heard of what you're saying about schools accepting so few master's students. I'm a psychology student, and I'm doing my MA in general/experimental psych this year, then applying to Ph.D. programs. While I'll likely end up staying at my master's school for my doctorate, no one has ever said to me, "If you do your master's at one place, you'll have a more difficult time getting into a Ph.D. program somewhere else." Master's degrees are intended to beef up your credentials and hone your skills and interests, often if you aren't qualified for a Ph.D. program right out of college, or if you don't know exactly what you want to do yet (I was in the second camp when I applied). If you don't think you'll like the Ph.D. program that you might get accepted to, I honestly doubt that doing your master's would ever hurt your chances of getting into a doctoral program. It's not worth committing to like, six or seven years at a school that you don't seem to feel strongly about at all.

[Grind12]

Hi there - If you aren't excited about living in DC, aren't comfortable living/working in a gritty neighborhood and/or feel out of place on a campus that's 99% African American (I'm assuming you know that Howard is a prominent HBC - historically black college), you will be pretty unhappy.

As an African American I must say that most schools, excluding HBCUs, are mostly White. According to your claim there should be a lot of unhappy Blacks, Latinos, and Asians. Also, being in a majority Black environment does not equate to being unhappy just so you know. Minorities can be very successful in predominantly White environments and White people can also be very successful in majority Black environments.

I know I know you said one of those three things could do the trick but I wonder: Do you normally warn Black students about attending predominantly white schools like Columbia, Harvard, Stanford, Univ of Maryland, Univ of Delaware, etc? Or how gritty cities are in general?

For the record, I applied to all predominantly White institutions, except for Howard. No one has ever said "at UIUC you may feel out of place, the only Black psychology student just graduated this year so now there are no Black students, so you could be really unhappy, the department is like 85% white, 14% asian, and 1% Other"