piscean21 Posted April 12, 2013 Posted April 12, 2013 Having a hard time making a decision and of course the deadline is next week. Here's some background about myself. I've been teaching English overseas for the last several years and have decided to go back to school for a Masters. I've been involved in a lot of technology related work in TEFL and applied for the Applied Linguistics program at Iowa State with a Computer Assisted Language Learning specialization. I also applied to Harvard's TIE program which isn't language related and is more generalist in the eventual case that I wanted to get out of teaching TEFL. It was also a long shot, but I thought I would give it a try. I was accepted to both programs with full funding at Iowa and only loans at Harvard. Harvard is my dream school and the possible opportunities are exciting, but the cost is significant when you consider the tuition, the cost of living, and one year of work lost. It would also take a significant chunk out of my savings, which is also my retirement money because I haven't been able to invest in a 401k or an IRA living overseas. I've appealed for more money at HGSE, but my appeal was denied. Both schools seem to have supportive faculty and the students I've contacted have really enjoyed what they were doing. Any thoughts?
JungWild&Free Posted April 12, 2013 Posted April 12, 2013 What do you plan on doing with the degree? In general, people say not to go into debt for a degree unless you are going to make that money back quickly once you have your degree (e.g. law degrees, MDs, MBAs, etc). If you are planning on teaching at high schools, I would say that the debt is probably not worth it. katieliz456 1
annieca Posted April 13, 2013 Posted April 13, 2013 It would be so much easier if money wasn't a factor, wouldn't it? I'm an Iowan myself so I'm a bit biased against Iowa State so take my advice with a grain of salt. Normally you don't get funding for a Master's, but you were lucky enough to get funding so that brings it into the equation. Yes, Harvard is hellishly expensive. Last time I checked (last year sometime), Boston was the most expensive place to live in the US - I think due to the fact there aren't huge high-rise apartment buildings like in L.A. or New York. Harvard has prestige, but is it worth the debt? And... does the Harvard program have a great career services for your program? Name recognition can only get you so far. How hands-on are they? My experience with the Ivy's is that they are either super hands-on and want to make the investment or they are more like "Give us your money and we'll give you a degree with the school's name and that's what'll get you a job." Which isn't totally how it works. But... here's a real question: do you drive? Ames has a bus system but it's not great. You can get to Wal-Mart, the grocery store (Dahl's is mid-price) on a bus but that doesn't mean your apartment will be on the right line. Iowa is definitely a state to have a car in! And when you get bored with Ames (and trust me, even those that absolute LOVE ISU get bored of it at some point) you're stuck with the Greyhound or the Jefferson bus lines to get anywhere. That being said, it isn't too far from Des Moines which has it's own scene that you can get to somewhat fairly easily. And finally, where do you want to end up? Not career wise but location wise? Of course, just because you go to ISU or Harvard doesn't mean you have to stay in Ames or Cambridge. But, if you want to stay on the East Coast, I would say Harvard. If you want to move around, ISU. And finally, here's the thing - if you find my comments about ISU offensive or go on the defensive, take that as a sign. Most people don't defend a school they don't want to go to. Hope that helps!
ZacharyObama Posted April 14, 2013 Posted April 14, 2013 Calculate how much debt Harvard will put you into using this: http://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/understand/plans/income-based/calculator - and then ask yourself is it really worth it. Do you think the Iowa State program is a solid one that will get you where you want professionally? If the answer is yes, I would say take the money.
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