Prestige v. Price

[foster3693]

Hello everyone,

 

I'm a frequent visitor of GradCafe and really appreciate all the insight provided by everyone in their various steps of grad school applications.

 

I have a bit of a quandary regarding grad school for next Fall that I hope you can help me with.

 

I have applied early decision for UW's MPA program and feel that I have a good chance of getting in. I've lived in Washington for the past year so would qualify for in-state tuition (about 20 G a year), but am finding the idea of taking out more loans for grad school quite daunting. I am currently serving a second term of AmeriCorps so my income doesn't allow me to save a lot.

 

I have been on the AmeriCorps website a few times to check out schools that match the ed award. Most offer scholarships for alumni of around $1000 to $5000. Illinois State's Political Science Masters program, however, offers a tuition waiver for the entire program, a GA for the first year (monthly stipend of $900) and an 11 month internship the second year (monthly stipend of $1800).

 

So if you were in my shoes and accepted to both programs, what would you prioritize - prestige or price?

 

My concerns: That if I pick the cheaper option it will hurt me in the long run and limit my opportunities post-grad. (Ideally, I would like to work for international non-profits or for the state department).

 

Thoughts?

 

 

 

 

[iphi]

It seems with your career goals it really doesn't matter as much. What will matter will be your research/work experience. For something such as academia the school prestige matters more. I don't see a huge difference between your schools, to be honest.

[garlica]

Hard to say, I know people who have went for prestige with their undergraduate and they are waitresses, and I have classmates from my state school who are doing great. I also know people with MPAs in jobs that only require a bachelors degree. I think prestige is one of many factors that set you up for success but doesn't make or break you. In my opinion, how good you are at networking, what your focus is (or if you have a focus), and a variety of other factors weigh equally with the prestige.

 

I am also in the Americorps this year. I promised myself I am not going to pursue any school I get into if I have to take out more than $10k total in loans. I have a little bit of wiggle room because of the Americorps Ed award and I have a matched college savings account through a nonprofit in Oregon-----I encourage everyone to see if your state has a Individual Development Account program! What made me decide this is that I also have a considerable amount of debt from my undergraduate degree. If that were to vanish I would probably go with the prestige and be willing to take more of a financial hit for it. 

 

This was all a long winded way of saying it depends on what your situation is. I don't think prestige alone makes or breaks your career. 

[Usmivka]

I don't see a huge difference between your schools, to be honest.

I do, and in my opinion the University of Washington has significantly more name recognition and will provide more opportunities to network and really sell yourself given the NGOs and nonprofits centered in the area (eg Gates Foundation). Also, rankings are generally pointless, but slightly less so for professional programs: UW is ranked top 10 for its MPA program, Illinois State doesn't break the top 100 for either MPAs or PoliSci masters (or even get ranked as far as I can tell). Finally, I like Seattle, so bonus points.

 

However, I also believe that nobody should be paying for grad school when there is an alternative that gets you the same degree while being paid (not the same degree here, but you are equating them so I'll assume you view them interchangeably). I don't think it makes sense to go into debt for a degree that may or may not pay that debt off in a reasonable amount of time. Maybe the UW would make it a little easier to make the connections that lead to greater financial rewards, but a lot of that will come down to you and not the program. Getting paid (rather than paying the school) seems like a pretty clear win.

Edited January 31, 2014 by Usmivka

[ohcoture]

I would do UW hands down, I think it will open a lot more doors for you.

[Boston Bound]

I am not in this major, I am a social work major.. but this is a little conundrum for me too. For undergrad I went to a state school and I applied to private grad schools. One of my professors had gone to Boston College, and he dropped some wisdom that may help. He said that if I wanted to stay and working in my state, that is fine because the program is known... But if I wanted to go to another state to get a job, a more well known University, would hold most likely hold more weight because it is more universally known.

[lbjane]

I'm not one to put too terribly much weight in the name of a school, but a quick look at the websites for both programs makes it seem like they're very different programs.  The UW program seems very applied whereas the ISU program seems more academically focused, though with an option for an applied track.  So, I think you probably need to take a close look at both programs and see if they're both a good fit.  Maybe they are, but maybe one or the other is a better fit in terms of the program.  So, see if you can get some info from both programs about what their grads go on to do and/or see if you can talk with some alums from both programs.  If both programs place people in positions that sound interesting to you, great, but if not, that might help you figure out which one is a better fit.  If the ISU program isn't a good fit, then it's probably not a good deal, even if it's free. 

 

Also, do you know yet whether you've gotten any financial aid from UW?  The sticker price does seem higher w/o the Americorps benefit at ISU, but maybe UW will offer you some aid.  I wouldn't get too close to making a decision until you know more about the full financial picture for both places.

[foster3693]

Thanks for all your input. Really provided me with a lot to think about. 

 

garlica - Nice to meet another AmeriCorps member in the same boat! I find that AmeriCorps helps open quite a few doors for Grad school, but still doesn't set you up to afford the full tuition. I also have some undergrad loans left over (I graduated with 19 G in debt, but will only have 8 G left when I use my ed awards - not huge, but the interest rate is high) 

 

In regards to the difference between the two programs, I would say that I am more inclined towards the MPA because I can specialize (international development most likely), and also because I have a little more flexibility with the course selection than the MA at ISU. But as quite a few of you have mentioned, there is still some question about whether the choice will really have that long of an effect. 

 

lbjane - I won't hear back from UW for another month (mid-March), so I'm jumping the gun a bit when it comes to deciding which program would be best. I'm a little stressed about the entire issue and I thought if I got a few opinions from people in the same boat it would help me chill out a bit. Receiving financial aid from UW would definitely sway my decision but my stats are only a bit above average when compared to acceptance stats so I don't have too much confidence that I'll receive a lot (or any) aid. UW has a very good track record with setting up alumni at well known public organizations, but ISU alumni often get hired at the organization they intern for in their second year. 

 

I think both programs have their merits - I studied Poli Sci in undergrad so it would be nice to continue studying it in Grad school, but an MPA would be more targeted towards working for public organizations I think. 

 

Anyway, thanks for all the input and feel free to address some of the issues I've brought up in this post too. 

[foster3693]

I am not in this major, I am a social work major.. but this is a little conundrum for me too. For undergrad I went to a state school and I applied to private grad schools. One of my professors had gone to Boston College, and he dropped some wisdom that may help. He said that if I wanted to stay and working in my state, that is fine because the program is known... But if I wanted to go to another state to get a job, a more well known University, would hold most likely hold more weight because it is more universally known.

 

I definitely agree that name recognition would be helpful if I wanted to move out of state. I can't imagine living in either state (Washington or Illinois) forever, so it would be good to have some flexibility. 

 

But I wonder if gaining a few years of relevant work experience in each state would outweigh the case of name recognition? For instance, maybe there's a work experience equivalent to name recognition:

 

MA from ISU + three years work experience = MPA from UW + 2 years of work experience   ??

[TimB]

I am also an Americorps allum!

 

Foster3693, one thing I'd suggest you look into is the matching awards many grad programs offer for Americorps grads. NYU offered to match my award when I was speaking with their office during my term of service. While paying off $5,000 in student loans right now is great, if you end up attending a school with a grant matching program you might be able to get $10,000 deducted off future loans if you save your award now. Also, grad school loans from the Fed's come at higher interest rates than undergrad loans, so you're better off paying down the principal on those first.

 

I left my Americorps program a little less than 3 months early for another job offer so I ended up losing 100% of my award. It's too bad they don't pro-rate it for how long you've worked with them, but I can understand that they want to control costs. In the long run I think the savings from my work will balance out losing the award.

 

On the main question: I don't think it matters much unless you can get into a top tier brand name school. Most of the people I've met who work in government or non-profit hiring positions are not going to know what the 15th or 21st best ranked MPA programs in the nation are, however names like Harvard, or Princeton will stand out. Plus, rankings change a lot over time, my undergrad institution has fallen from top 30 to out of the top 60 in the 5 years since I left. Brand names have staying power. That said, I think it is very wise to pick based on how much the program seems to fit your needs, and I think job placement stats are another big thing to look at. 

Edited February 3, 2014 by TimB