Difficult Decision between 2 (or 3) Schools (master's in higher education/student affairs)

[shinydrag]

Hi All!

I was accepted to a Master's in Student Affairs at UCLA and a Master's in Higher Education at Penn (Uni of Penn). I am having an extremely  tough time picking between the two. Both are one-year programs and will help me gain a career in Student Affairs (and eventually become a Dean of Students or similar). However, I kind of want to do some policy work too in the future (and I think Penn's program can prepare me for that more than UCLA's). UCLA is much cheaper to attend compared to Penn, however, I don't know if it is worth turning down an Ivy League school... 

I was also accepted to USC's Master's in Post-Secondary Administration and Student Affairs BUT I most likely won't go there due to the EXTREMELY high financial costs. But I am open to any USC advice as well!

Please reply and thank you in advance!

[edstudies]

I'm in the same boat and also a San Diego native!

 

Were you able to attend UCLA's preview day? I was not able to attend and I have not been able to get as strong a feel for UCLA's program as other schools. I like that it seems more practioner-based than other programs and that paid work is a central component.

[ZeChocMoose]

Both are one-year programs and will help me gain a career in Student Affairs (and eventually become a Dean of Students or similar). However, I kind of want to do some policy work too in the future (and I think Penn's program can prepare me for that more than UCLA's). 

 

In one year, it is going to be really tough to try to prepare simultaneously for a policy job and a student affairs job.  For a policy job, you are going to want to have a solid quantitative background and policy analysis experience which might be a little tricky to gain if the programs does not allow you to take many electives. 

 

Have you visited each program yet?  Visiting and talking to current students/faculty really helped me when I was deciding between a couple programs for my master's.  You can also ask them in what areas graduates typically end up.  What are your internship offers from each school?  If you have limited experience in the field, it is going to be more helpful to have an internship offer in an area you hope to go into after you graduate.  That is not to say that you can't switch areas if you discover you are better suited elsewhere, but generally hiring managers like to see that you have experience in X if you are applying for X.  Have you looked at the core classes?  I looked up the core classes for UCLA and Penn and they are fairly different.  Which set are you drawn to more?  

 

I also think that the cost of the degree should play a role too.  How much you value it is up to you but the salary for entry level student affairs jobs is about 35 - 45 K.  Depending on whether you have student loan debt from your undergrad, I would not suggest taking on more than 45 K combined in student loans.

 

Oh and wouldn't let the brand of the Ivy League sway you.  Instead, you want to focus on whether they have the courses you want to take, whether the practical experience you gain in the program is going to be helpful for future employment, and whether the costs of the program is reasonable given your financial situation.

 

Good luck!

Edited March 28, 2013 by ZeChocMoose

[shinydrag]

I'm in the same boat and also a San Diego native!

 

Were you able to attend UCLA's preview day? I was not able to attend and I have not been able to get as strong a feel for UCLA's program as other schools. I like that it seems more practioner-based than other programs and that paid work is a central component.

cool! we may be attending the same undergrad school? haha yeah, i visited UCLA's Preview Day a few weeks ago. it was GREAT! the cohort members were great, as well as the faculty. i feel the strong points of the program are:

-EXTREMELY ACCESSIBLE faculty

-TOP faculty in student affairs teaching courses

-can work more than one internship

-small cohort model (i think this year there is 17 people that were selected)

-small class size

-EMPHASIS of job placement at the end of program

-NASPA oriented

-BOTH theory and practitioner based

 

In one year, it is going to be really tough to try to prepare simultaneously for a policy job and a student affairs job.  For a policy job, you are going to want to have a solid quantitative background and policy analysis experience which might be a little tricky to gain if the programs does not allow you to take many electives. 

 

Have you visited each program yet?  Visiting and talking to current students/faculty really helped me when I was deciding between a couple programs for my master's.  You can also ask them in what areas graduates typically end up.  What are your internship offers from each school?  If you have limited experience in the field, it is going to be more helpful to have an internship offer in an area you hope to go into after you graduate.  That is not to say that you can't switch areas if you discover you are better suited elsewhere, but generally hiring managers like to see that you have experience in X if you are applying for X.  Have you looked at the core classes?  I looked up the core classes for UCLA and Penn and they are fairly different.  Which set are you drawn to more?  

 

I also think that the cost of the degree should play a role too.  How much you value it is up to you but the salary for entry level student affairs jobs is about 35 - 45 K.  Depending on whether you have student loan debt from your undergrad, I would not suggest taking on more than 45 K combined in student loans.

 

Oh and wouldn't let the brand of the Ivy League sway you.  Instead, you want to focus on whether they have the courses you want to take, whether the practical experience you gain in the program is going to be helpful for future employment, and whether the costs of the program is reasonable given your financial situation.

 

Good luck!

ZeChocMoose, thank you for your well-written response!! yeah, i attended UCLA's preview day and it was pretty informative. unfortunately, i couldn't attend UPenn's preview day but I am kind of biased to UCLA due to financial costs and being able to visit their campus. that being said though, UCLA's program seems pretty flexible (can choose four electives) in making it more policy like. for some reason, i couldn't find UPenn's curriculum (only broad information: take five classes per semester, etc). 

yeah, i am a little scared that one-year programs may not be seen as favorable for hiring managers due to only have one-year of experience...but i know that UCLA program staff works hard to place recent graduates into jobs (and supposedly everyone places in a job according to preview day).

[hesadork]

Without question, UCLA because of the cost.  At the master's level in this field institutional prestige is basically irrelevant.  But trust me, the debt you'd incur by going to Penn or USC is *very* real.

 

By the way, you're not going to get much policy exposure in any one year HE/SA master's program.  That will come in your doctoral program.

 

Best of luck with your choice!

[emvtgse]

I would also take into account the location of your program. Do you want to stay in CA after you finish or do you want to be somewhere else? Both are great programs but it sounds like UCLA feels right for you. I wouldn't second guess yourself too much. That being said Penn was the right program for me. I was deciding between two private universities and one public. But I would have gone to the public being from out of state and at the end of the day it will prob only be the difference of $5000-$10,000 more for a private institution for me. I want to live in New England and know that Penn's name will help me secure a job most likely at a higher salary so I know it's the right spot. I also picked the school that is in a more budget friendly city compared to the other private institution. So if you do want to move east after you finish school then you might want to look at Penn more closely. Not that you won't get a great opportunity with a degree from UCLA but you may have more connections going to school on the east coast. Good luck! PS-what a great problem to have, picking between three outstanding opportunities!