Harvard vs Vanderbilt: Higher Ed Masters

[chigirl2014]

What did you decide?

 

I'm HEAVILY leaning towards Vanderbilt.  Here are the reasons why:

 

1) as someone directly out of undergrad I think the two year program is better because it will give me the chance to get the experience I need.  If I already had a career in this field and simply wanted to get a degree to advance my career then a one year would be better... but I'm not.

 

2) Vanderbilt has an entire ten building campus for it's school of education.  While Harvard's is limited to "a few buildings." The amount of funding and energy the school puts into their program says a lot.

 

3) Vanderbilt is invested in ME. They want to help with my resume, my interview skills, they want to put the effort into getting me a job and know where I am 5, 10, 15 years down the road (and most of this starts before I even get there).  With both schools at 95%+ job placement within 3 months of graduation... I think I'm fine career-wise going to either.

 

4) Vanderbilt's school of education is ranked number one in the country.  They have this reputation for a reason, and more than anything going to grad school is about learning and developing skills for the future. I think I will learn more at Vandy.

 

5) The chances of me getting hired at Vanderbilt out of a GA/Internship when I graduate are greater than the chances of getting hired at Harvard

 

6) Nashville > Boston for me

 

7) Finally, I've realized that going to a school just for the name is not a good enough reason to go there unless you are also absolutely in love with it. I don't want to regret missing out on a school I really love for the name somewhere else. (And let's not forget that Vanderbilt is also a "name" school)

[SCGH]

Cool - glad to see you've thought hard about it. Are you going to visit days at Harvard?

[chigirl2014]

I think it's going to be pretty impossible for me to get off work.  Plus, I used to live in Boston so it's not really necessary for me to go.

[JackOfStyle]

Nice rational thinking, chigirl.

 

When you think about it, the 1-year program at Harvard (and Stanford too) seems to have been created more for the schools' benefit than the students. They can turn students in and out twice as fast and attract more students who will pay full sticker (30-40k for an education over one year vs. double that for 2 years). I think you make a good point, chigirl, when you say it seems Vandy might be more invested in you - seeing you as a scholar rather than a product. One year may seem great at the outset, especially if you plan on diving right back into the field - you can have a degree so fast! - but if you want to build relationships, get the attention needed to develop your skills, and stay in academia, maybe the 2-year Peabody program is better? 

 

And, my two cents: I think the fact that there are so many threads here where people agonize between Vanderbilt and Ivy Schools/Stanford shows that Vanderbilt's name recognition and reputation have increased quite a bit in recent years. 

[birdy-bear]

When you think about it, the 1-year program at Harvard (and Stanford too) seems to have been created more for the schools' benefit than the students. They can turn students in and out twice as fast and attract more students who will pay full sticker.

 

This has been my impression exactly. An HGSE student once told me that Master's students only exist at Harvard to fund the Ph.D. students. I don't know how true this is (don't research grants typically fund Ph.D. students?), but the whole high cost/short time thing is definitely something worth considering.

Edited March 14, 2014 by birdy-bear