Am I wasting my time (or getting taken advantage of) if I'm not getting funding?

[gryphonbones]

To start off, I'm coming straight from undergrad with a degree in Political Science. I'm applying to Master's programs.

I have been accepted to the Policy programs at ASU, USC, Chicago Harris, and Washington Evans. On top of that I have been accepted to U of M's School of Natural Resources and Environment. (My only rejection came from Ford school). I'm looking to enter the professional field of environmental policy.

While I'm excited about getting accepted to all of these schools, I have not received any notification of funding or scholarships from any of them, other than Washington, which offered me instate tuition and a $500 a month stipend.

My question for you guys is, is it worth it to pursue any of these degrees with my current offer. I know that this question can only be answered by myself, but I want to make the right decision.

 

Any and all advice will be hugely appreciated. Thanks!

Edited March 19, 2014 by gryphonbones

[bsharpe269]

Were you accepted to masters or phd programs?

[gryphonbones]

Were you accepted to masters or phd programs?

Oh, I'm sorry. These are Master's programs.

[Gov2School]

What do you plan to do after you get your degree? How do you think your Master's Degree will help you achieve those goals? 

[Prestomanifesto]

So I went through the "should I do it unfunded?" thing a few years ago.  There are a few questions you should ask yourself:

-Does my field require an advanced degree for an entry-level job?
If yes, proceed.  If not, think seriously about why you are going directly into graduate school and not into the workforce. 

-Can I afford it?
I didn't understand until I began paying my undergraduate loans, but loans are pricey and constant.  Make a budget with your ideal post-MA job including your city.  Make sure your loans fit into that budget.  If you're living in an expensive city and already have undergraduate loans, you might just be scraping by...which is not ideal.

-Would I ever get funding?
GPA and GRE are the most important for funding.  Sure, there's always outliers like that random candidate who has some amazing, completely unique post-grad work experience to go along with a dismal GPA and lackluster GRE and still gets full-funding...but most of us mere mortals have to be sure our GPAs are above a certain point to get funded.  Also, the GRE!  It's a ridiculous test but, given time and commitment it can be mastered.  If you're honest with yourself, can you get a higher GRE score?  AND before any of that is even considered, does your desired program even dole out much funding?  Know what's available and where your profile fits into those expectations.  Call the admissions office and find out the average GPA and GRE of funded candidates.  Some schools are great for funding (as a general rule: privates can be harder to get into but more generous with their funding) while others are stingy.


I don't know the unfunded degree is "worth" it, only you do.  But if you are really committed to grad school AND want to be funded then you can always get work experience.  It sounds ridiculous when you're in school, but it really DOES help prepare you for graduate school and procures significant amounts of funding and good references if you play it right.  I got into a program unfunded 2 years ago and decided to wait.  I got into a much more prestigious school with some funding this time around and all of the schools I applied to last round (but no funding from them!See point 3!).  I'm happy I decided to wait and I feel about 30923908X more prepared and excited than I was back then.

Also, someone once commented on here that after about 6 years out of undergrad the straight-to-grad-school and the work-exp-first professionals had just about equalized--but one group had a significantly larger debt to pay back.  Another reason I back the work experience route!

Sorry for the novel (I obviously gave this a lot of thought a few years ago) and good luck with your decision.  I know it's not a fun one to consider after the long process and all the acceptances.

[gryphonbones]

So I went through the "should I do it unfunded?" thing a few years ago.  There are a few questions you should ask yourself:

-Does my field require an advanced degree for an entry-level job?

If yes, proceed.  If not, think seriously about why you are going directly into graduate school and not into the workforce. 

-Can I afford it?

I didn't understand until I began paying my undergraduate loans, but loans are pricey and constant.  Make a budget with your ideal post-MA job including your city.  Make sure your loans fit into that budget.  If you're living in an expensive city and already have undergraduate loans, you might just be scraping by...which is not ideal.

-Would I ever get funding?

GPA and GRE are the most important for funding.  Sure, there's always outliers like that random candidate who has some amazing, completely unique post-grad work experience to go along with a dismal GPA and lackluster GRE and still gets full-funding...but most of us mere mortals have to be sure our GPAs are above a certain point to get funded.  Also, the GRE!  It's a ridiculous test but, given time and commitment it can be mastered.  If you're honest with yourself, can you get a higher GRE score?  AND before any of that is even considered, does your desired program even dole out much funding?  Know what's available and where your profile fits into those expectations.  Call the admissions office and find out the average GPA and GRE of funded candidates.  Some schools are great for funding (as a general rule: privates can be harder to get into but more generous with their funding) while others are stingy.

I don't know the unfunded degree is "worth" it, only you do.  But if you are really committed to grad school AND want to be funded then you can always get work experience.  It sounds ridiculous when you're in school, but it really DOES help prepare you for graduate school and procures significant amounts of funding and good references if you play it right.  I got into a program unfunded 2 years ago and decided to wait.  I got into a much more prestigious school with some funding this time around and all of the schools I applied to last round (but no funding from them!See point 3!).  I'm happy I decided to wait and I feel about 30923908X more prepared and excited than I was back then.

Also, someone once commented on here that after about 6 years out of undergrad the straight-to-grad-school and the work-exp-first professionals had just about equalized--but one group had a significantly larger debt to pay back.  Another reason I back the work experience route!

Sorry for the novel (I obviously gave this a lot of thought a few years ago) and good luck with your decision.  I know it's not a fun one to consider after the long process and all the acceptances.

Thank you for the great response! Every bit of information is precious to me. The debt is something that I'm really worried about, but I really do feel like most degrees in my field that I've looked at require a masters. Not only that, but my liberal arts didn't really prepare me with marketable skills to get into any field that I'm interested in. It gave me a basis and interest for the environmental policy issues.

A dilemma I am having is visualizing the exact career. Do environmental policy analysts actually exist, or do they show up in the form of environmental consultants, or upper level government?

Also in that space I'm curious if the MS from U of Natural resources program would be better than an mpa or mpp with specialization in environmental policy...

[MaxwellAlum]

Have you looked for jobs in local government? You wouldn't be working on climate change, but local governments deal with issues like waste management, stormwater management, etc.  I don't work in the environmental field so I'm definitely not an expert, but I do work in local government, and it's a great sector to get experience in and get a sense of what you like. 

[chocolatecheesecake]

Good suggestion from SyracuseStudent. There's also a lot of jobs in the non-profit sector that are very entry-level and will give you a good idea if that's the kind of work you want to do. City and urban planning often have to work with environmental concerns a lot. I know it seems pretty clear what you may be doing, but if there's still doubt in your mind about the MS versus the MPP, it may be a good idea to go head to work for some savings, some clarity, and time. I piled up four years of work and a few graduate classes while I was working in order to make sure I was ready and knew what I wanted to do, so some time is not a bad idea.

[TimB]

Ask yourself: do I know what I want to do enough that I'm willing to spend $60-100k on it? Some people know what they want by the time they are 16 but I didn't have a clue till 2-3 years out of school.

 

Look at job prospects in your intended field. Learn what environmental policy grads do, how competitive it is to get a job, and if you even want those jobs. See if other people with no experience and just a master's are getting hired or if there are lots of people chasing a few jobs. The last thing you want is to be racking up $400 a month in interest working for $11 and hour when you get out.

 

See how much interest your initial debt load racks up a month. If you're paying sticker that'll be $200-500+ most likely. Keep in mind that grad loans are lent out at 5.8% . 

 

Don't forget cost of living, you're going to pay $12,000 and up over full tuition- $18,000 in places like NYC most likely.

 

IMO if you're not sure, and you're going to take on debt levels which will limit your options quite a bit, don't rush into school. Everyone's needs and family financial backgrounds are different but I can't see taking out more than $20-30,000 in debt for an MPP. 

Edited March 23, 2014 by TimB

[CarefreeWritingsontheWall]

I think an additional thought to consider would be that just because your initial offer does not have funding doesn't mean you won't have opportunities to apply for grants or additional sources once you arrive (even in first year). There may also be application based scholarships you'll be eligible for by your second year. The best thing you could do is try to get ahold of the financial aid office at each institution and ask them these questions to get a sense of which university might have more options. In addition, a number of businesses/or jobs may have scholarships you could apply for if you're hired there. It's not guaranteed, but it's something worth looking into, on top of everyone's advice to consider what a monthly payment would look like on loans etc.

[Gov2School]

Thank you for the great response! Every bit of information is precious to me. The debt is something that I'm really worried about, but I really do feel like most degrees in my field that I've looked at require a masters. Not only that, but my liberal arts didn't really prepare me with marketable skills to get into any field that I'm interested in. It gave me a basis and interest for the environmental policy issues.

A dilemma I am having is visualizing the exact career. Do environmental policy analysts actually exist, or do they show up in the form of environmental consultants, or upper level government?

Also in that space I'm curious if the MS from U of Natural resources program would be better than an mpa or mpp with specialization in environmental policy...

 

If you're having a problem envisioning your exact career, or if you're asking some basic questions about what kinds of jobs exist/don't exist in your field and where, you're probably not quite ready to go back to school for a Master's yet, and you could very possibly end up wasting your time. Even if you had gotten a great scholarship, if you've got those kinds of concerns, you'd still be better off waiting until you have a little more experience.  You might find after working in your field that what you think you want isn't what you want. Or you may find some other great policy issue that you like more and haven't yet explored yet.  

[method]

I would say you are wasting your time.  You're coming straight out of undergrad.  Not only do you have a degree in Political Science, but you're not going to have any work experience.  How does a masters in policy substantially change your situation?  In my opinion, it doesn't!

 

I would say go work for 2-3 years in a field you're interested in.  If you're still interested after that time, then think about a masters degree.  You'll be more competitive for funding and your learning experience will be much higher with some real world experience under your belt. 

[samiam]

I agree with the last couple of comments - if you're that undecided about what you want to do, hold off on further study. It's just going to defer that uncertainty down the track.

Another factor is that you will probably get significantly less value out of your classes if you don't have real work experience to give some context to the material you're learning. I really noticed this when I did my first grad classes - the gulf between the students with even a couple of years of work experience and those straight out of undergrad was huge.

[usdenick]

-Would I ever get funding?

GPA and GRE are the most important for funding.  Sure, there's always outliers like that random candidate who has some amazing, completely unique post-grad work experience to go along with a dismal GPA and lackluster GRE and still gets full-funding...but most of us mere mortals have to be sure our GPAs are above a certain point to get funded.  Also, the GRE!  It's a ridiculous test but, given time and commitment it can be mastered.  If you're honest with yourself, can you get a higher GRE score?  AND before any of that is even considered, does your desired program even dole out much funding?  Know what's available and where your profile fits into those expectations.  Call the admissions office and find out the average GPA and GRE of funded candidates.  Some schools are great for funding (as a general rule: privates can be harder to get into but more generous with their funding) while others are stingy.

 

 

I agree with most everything that Prestomanifesto says, but I actually do think that some work experience can help you in the admissions process. The trick is getting relevant work experience. You may have to work for a year or two, network, and do your due dilligence before you can land that "impressive" job that will be relevant to your degree goals and potentially help you in the admissions process.

 

That having been said, it's completely true that some schools don't give funding at all (no matter how long you have worked), but some schools that give lots of funding (WWS, for example) pretty much require work experience. And, if you have terrible GRE and GPA stats you may not qualify even if you have good work experience.

 

I think that taking out a lot of loans and dedicating two more years to school is not a decision that should be taken lightly, so I think it's good you're being deliberate in your decision making. I think one additional benefit of working for a little while is that it will give you additional time to research the various options (career paths, degrees, etc) that are out there by researching and talking to professionals. You may find that there's another interesting career path that works better for you, and you'll likely be better prepared to enter the job market after you graduate if you do already have some work experience on your resume.

Edited March 28, 2014 by usdenick