Changing my decision?

[cities]

Hi all,

 

I would love some advice on how to proceed with a decision.

 

In April, I accepted a great offer to a master's programs that came with a GA which gives me nearly free tuition and a 15k stipend. The school is not within the top 25, and has a smaller program, meaning fewer professors who share my interests. But, it seems like somewhere that really wants me to attend, where I would get a lot of personal attention.

 

Later in April I was accepted off the waitlist to a school that is the top 5 in that field.This school has many, many more faculty members whose interests match mine, and I have no doubt that going there would enable me much more choice as to type and location of job after school. It seems like a place that would be more intellectually stimulating rather than just teaching professional skills. I finally received information about funding, and it seems like it would be harder to attain since it is not guaranteed, but possible to get TA/RA positions, and they are giving me a fellowship award for the first semester. But this school would probably cost 45k more to attend.

 

My first question is which decision sounds better? Does it make sense to take on more debt in the short-term for long-term gains? Additionally, if I do decide to accept the offer from the school I was originally waitlisted at, is there anything specific I need to do for the school I originally accepted at, other than write a very apologetic email? I never signed any official document accepting their offer, but I just paid my deposit and then emailed that I would be attending their school.

 

Thank you in advance for the input!

[ak48]

If it were me, I'd probably go to the 2nd school (waitlist acceptance). The main difference is funding, right? Because the 2nd place appears to have much better research opportunities.

Is it 45K on top of the fellowship? That's a crazy price (or tiny fellowship?)

Not sure what your field is or what your goals are, but if you were in an engineering discipline with decent job prospects, it's probably worth the debt now to get a better job in 1-2 years.

No input on the logistics of switching, although i'd suspect you're in the clear with an email.

[hesadork]

What field is this?  Outside of certain professional sciences I am hard pressed to undertstand how $45k in debt for a master's could ever be worthwhile.

[JungWild&Free]

If you did decide to switch schools, you would need to contact the school you have already accepted and see if they will release you from your commitment.  You should also be prepared to lose your deposit completely. 

 

I would agree with ADLNYC though, unless you are going into a high-paying field, you shouldn't be shelling out that kind of money for a masters.  $45,000 is a lot of money if School 2 isn't going to give you a significant amount of job prospects you wouldn't have had coming out of School 1.  Also, what is the reputation difference of the two schools outside of rankings?  If it really isn't that much of a difference, I would stick with School 1.

[nugget]

Are you planning to do a PhD? By reading comments from other posters on the forum, it seems that a good number of people applying to PhD's on the forum agree that if you did your Masters at a school that's not top tier if shouldn't prevent you from getting into a PhD program at a top tier university later on. Therefore, to me it would make more sense to put more of an investment into a PhD program and not accumulate too much debt for the Master's.

 

Anyhow, the choice is yours. If you expect to be getting a very high salary after graduation it might be worth the investment otherwise I would try to avoid debt as much as possible. You will be paying it back for a very long time, with lots of interest.  

[misskira]

I would keep my commitment and follow funding personally.