Reed College Masters Program

[portlandian]

This is my first time posting and I am uncertain about the right place to post this, so my apologies if this is in the wrong place....

 

If all goes according to plan, I will likely begin teaching in Portland in the next few years. My undergrad GPA is not fantastic due to digging myself into a whole my freshman year. I eventually want to go for a PhD in English, so I thought getting a better GPA with a masters in English could help. In Portland my options for a relevant degree are Portland State University for a M.A. in English or Reed College for a Masters of Liberal Studies. Reed has an excellent reputation, but I don't know how that applies to its masters program and the degree is less specific. Does anyone know anything about Reed's graduate program? How important is specificity v. rank in this situation? At the point of applying to doctorate programs I'll have either a M.Ed. or a M.A.T. from a top ten education school so does it even make sense to go for a second masters?

 

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[ZacharyObama]

I really doubt you would need a second masters degree, but the impression I get is that English PhD programs are extremely competitive.

 

I attended Reed for my undergrad. The general consensus among Reed undergrads was that the grad program there was perhaps one of the more useless grad programs in the country. The grad program is only a couple courses a semester that are largely identical to the undergrad courses, in fact, on occasion in a few courses we had a grad program student audit our courses. Now if what you're looking for is the Reed experience because you didn't do undergrad at Reed and wish you had or you wish to relive your Reed experience then it's probably pretty great.

 

On the other hand, and without having access to statistics to back it up, it's probably not what you want to do if you're looking to swiftly advance into a PhD program. It is an expensive program, and I really doubt you get much grant money for it as it is not a primary focus of the college. In fact, I spent four years there and hardly knew the program existed - it is that small (I think like only generally 10-15 students).

 

I doubt it would really be useful to advance your teaching career either compared to a master degree in education (well unless you were trying to teach private prep school or something). In short, go to PSU (which is generally decent), save some money, and check out some events at Reed from time-to-time. Reed is a fucking awesome place but it's grad program is hardly the happening thing.

 

If you've got questions about Reed in general I would be more the glad to answer them to the best of my knowledge and ability.

 

I did have a blast while working myself into the ground in undergrad. Also, Portland fucking rocks - keep Portland weird

 

http://www.reed.edu/catalog/programs/grad_program.html

Edited February 27, 2013 by ZacharyObama

[datini]

ZacharyObama's glib and snide comment on the Reed MALS program is unfair and uninformed.  Reed undergraduates are in a poor position to judge MALS, in part because they take no MALS classes but mostly because they are too young and generally very self-involved.  The common opinion among undergrads about MALS is worthhless.  Reed MALS includes very intelligent people, people with complex experiences in life, and people with very strong academic backgrounds.  MALS courses are watered-down versions of undergrad courses; the assertion that they are is plain wrong. They generally are courses the instructor wants to experiment with; they are always interdisciplinary, and the standards are not a whit different from those prevailing throughout Reed.  MALS also take (not "audit") upper-division undergraduate courses; these can be up to half the program of study, so MALS education is as good as Reed undergrad studies and in some ways tougher.  MALS degrees are not, it is true, teaching or research degrees.  Many MALS at Reed and elsewhere seek uninstrumentalized learning, in the oldest and most profound sense of a liberal education.  But it is also the case that many MALS students proceed to disciplinary PhD and MA programs at very good research universities throughout the country.  Finally, the commenter says that MALS is expensive. To the contrary, MALS is cheap.  You pay for your credits only, taken at slow or fast paces.  At this date that is 9 full Reed credits at $4000. each.  So the entire course of study, at $36,000, is less than an undergrad year at Reed, less than most if not all terminal MA programs at private schools, and about the same as 2-3 years of a terminal MA program at a public university.