UChicago MAPSS

[sdelehan]

Now that I have heard back from all of my schools I am wondering about the MAPSS program at Chicago. I applied for 8 History PhD programs, got rejected at 7, wait listed at Northwestern, but Chicago did accept me into the MAPSS.

 

I have been reading up on the program and while it may have somewhat of a reputation as a cash cow for Chicago I still think it could be really good for me. I'm suspecting that the fact that I am a 22-year old recent grad with little in the way of "experience" may have played into the way my applications shook out and this program may be a good way to get a more solid footing for next time.

 

I also think that the interdisciplinary nature of the program could be a help to me, as my research interests sort of skirt the line between history and political science or public policy work. I would just be very interested to hear about someone else's experience with the program and to know if they would recommend it.

 

Thanks!

[ccc376]

I'm also interested in hearing more about MAPSS. I applied to a ton of PhD programs…waitlisted at 1, waiting to hear from 1, rejected from all others. In addition to MAPSS, I also have MA offers at UMass and Brown (waiting to hear from BU and BC, as well as funding at UMass)…while some of these programs are a better fit/closer to home, the 90%+ success rate for funded PhD offers that MAPSS boasts seems hard to turn down...

[dr. t]

I got into MAPSS last year. I turned it down because I had a better financial offer from my current MA program, and because I didn't really want to have to figure out the gap year business, or the moving to Chicago and leaving my wife for a year business.

 

The MAPSS program is significantly better than the MAPH program - the latter seems to be the real cash cow - and Chicago does seem to pull a good number of PhD students from MAPSS. The program itself looked really exciting and interesting to me, but I would mark a couple caveats:

 

• It's only worth it if they've given you a decent (say, 1/2 off) tuition offer. $45k Tuition + living expenses is frankly ridiculous. The size of this offer also reflects the relative regard with which your application was held, and thus your future prospects.
• If you're in a language-heavy discipline, it's not the best option. You will be discouraged from taking the language courses you need.
• Make sure the professor you'd like is not going to be on sabbatical the one year you're there

I'd definitely say go to the admitted student day before you decide - it was a lot of fun and had me second-guessing my decision on my current program, even with all the caveats above.

Edited March 10, 2014 by telkanuru

[codeswitching]

This is slightly off topic, but does anyone here know something about UChicago's Committee on International Relations MA?

I was accepted with only partial tuition remission, but it may be my best choice with the application season I am having.

 

For reference my BA is from a less-than-prestigious state school; I do work using Spanish and Mandarin languages...

[thedig13]

This is slightly off topic, but does anyone here know something about UChicago's Committee on International Relations MA?

I was accepted with only partial tuition remission, but it may be my best choice with the application season I am having.

 

For reference my BA is from a less-than-prestigious state school; I do work using Spanish and Mandarin languages...

Sorry if I'm about to ask a stupid question, but what does your undergraduate program's prestige have to do with anything?

[codeswitching]

Sorry if I'm about to ask a stupid question, but what does your undergraduate program's prestige have to do with anything?

It doesn't relate to the CIR MA, but it does affect "the application season I'm having" and, presumably, my options. I'm thinking of taking some loans out for the MA and reapplying thereafter

[drodrige]

Hi. I'm new here, but I wanted to ask a question about the average GRE scores needed in order to have a shot at MAPSS. I've just taken the GRE, and I got 161V & 161Q (p87 & p81, respectively). I haven't found so much information about this, and I don't know if those scores are gonna be enough. I suppose verbal may be, but not so sure about math. I've considered taking the GRE again because I felt that I could have done so much better at quantitative (averaged around 163 and 166 in practice exams), but at the risk of affecting my verbal score. So what would be your advice?