Columbia MA in sociology: encouraging responses only please

[elindy]

I posted a bit earlier on this but have basically made up my mind to attend Columbia's MA program, so what I'm looking for is encouragement. Reading the comments about "if they don't fund you it's a money-making scheme" and all that is getting me down and I want to be excited about this. Basically, I applied to the Columbia PhD program and didn't get in but was accepted into the Masters. Even though I was hoping for the PhD (to a large extent because of the funding) I was still quite excited to be chosen for the MA. To me it feels like a big deal. (I was rejected from CUNY and NYU, FYI) and I kind of wish I'd never gotten on the forum and read all of the negatives. Like I've said in other posts, I know it shouldn’t bother me what others think but the process of applying has been so stressful and I think it's left me feeling quite vulnerable. I know it's expensive, I get that, but I'd like to hear from people who think that despite that fact, in the long run name recognition, contacts with respected professors in the field, etc. do make a difference. 

 

P.S. I've been in the Continuing Ed program and took a grad-level course in the department and it was great and the students were wonderful, so I really should just stop worrying about all of this...

[GeoDUDE!]

Despite that fact, in the long run name recognition, contacts with respected professors in the field, ect. do make a difference. 

[elindy]

Thanks, in rereading the comments on the other forum I realized they weren't nearly as negative as I'd taken them to be. I guess my brain wasn't ar 100% capacity and I took personally some things that weren't even meant as indicators that one shouldn't do an MA. If anything they were encouraging about it, so I'm sorry if I jumped the gun on my interpretations. I'm glad I visited the thread again, it made me feel much better.

[uselesstheory]

Hey -- I know I responded to you on the sociology thread, but I do have some advice on this, especially because your background isn't in sociology (though a lot of this is obvious):

 

You could, in theory, pay for the MA and get an elite institution's name on a degree with nothing else to show for it. This is the general picture we (the sociology thread people) have in our minds when we critique the sociology MA program at Columbia.

 

However, you will be attending an elite institution, which means access to incredible faculty, incredible research resources/funding/opportunities, and, as a result, the ability to obtain incredible letters of recommendation if you work hard in your program, conduct good research, and publish. If you can really push yourself to do the best work/networking/conference presentations/pubs possible while at Columbia, you will absolutely do wonders for your career, and the Columbia MA will be more than worth it, especially if you have some money saved to make it less financially difficult.

 

I know I am basically reiterating a more basic point I made on the other thread, but the Columbia MA can either be a way to lose money or it can be the opportunity for you to establish yourself as a noteworthy scholar and I have no doubt you can make the latter happen if that is what you envision for yourself.

[Coindinista]

I think the key take away is to be strategically oriented, and ask yourself if this is a stepping stone in that direction.  If I did not get accepted into my preferred programs (and even if I got accepted into programs I wasn't really in love with), I'd opt for the MA if it kept me in the trajectory toward those goals. At the end of the day, it's Columbia--and despite the nay-sayers in the soc forum, it's an elite establishment with a selective MA. You have accomplished something by being admitted into that program--but the important thing here is to make it mean something as well.  You do that by ensuring that you're not taking it because you don't know what else to do, and coming at it with everything you have.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about what the soc forums say.

1) Soc people are generally the most pissy bunch of bratty students (look at the rejection results for comments to qualify that)

2) Most of the people downing your accomplishment have racked up a healthy load of rejections and bitterness

3) "Elite" anything gives them the willies

4) MAs aren't 'money making schemes,' it's how a lot of universities pay for the PhD students' funding--and we don't see anyone with funding complaining about the ethics of that

 

So go, research, write, publish, learn and thrive in a wonderful location with outstanding faculty.  Good luck--and you should probably stay off these boards if you're seeking some sort of positivity in your life or any sort of relief from anxiety.

[uselesstheory]

 

I wouldn't worry too much about what the soc forums say.

1) Soc people are generally the most pissy bunch of bratty students (look at the rejection results for comments to qualify that)

2) Most of the people downing your accomplishment have racked up a healthy load of rejections and bitterness

3) "Elite" anything gives them the willies

4) MAs aren't 'money making schemes,' it's how a lot of universities pay for the PhD students' funding--and we don't see anyone with funding complaining about the ethics of that

 

 

This was unnecessary.

[Coindinista]

5) Are humorless

[patois2015]

Hey elindy, I'm in the same boat! I applied to the Columbia PhD program but was offered admission to the MA--and I'm pretty excited about it! Mostly for financial reasons, I was really trying for the PhD fellowship, but I just got my BA last year and I thought I'd try and see if I could get into a program without an MA, but that doesn't seem to be the case, so MA it is! I'm still waiting for a response from NYU but I'm assuming it will be a rejection at this point, so I'm planning for the MA. Most of the responses I've gotten are that it can be positive if you are really proactive about connecting with professors, going to seminars, becoming a grading assistant, etc., as soon as you get there. I've read and agreed with all the articles critiquing unfunded MAs as a money-making tool by universities, but I think there's a lot of power in recognizing and naming that if you find yourself in the position of having to navigate your way within the system. I know the problems with it, and I'm going to do my best to succeed in spite of them. 

 

Jessica