Admitted to unranked private school

[kar86]

I've been admitted to an unranked masters program in Computer Science at a a private school (my background is not in computer science). My goal is complete a thesis masters and then continue to a PhD in Computational Biology. The tuition at the school I have been accepted to is about twice that of local public schools (two of which are higher ranked programs). My question is, am I better off taking classes at one of the higher ranked and cheaper public schools in the hopes of being admitted after a year, or should I just take the offer I have? The school I am admitted to is a fine program that will not hinder my odds of getting into a doctoral program. This decision is strictly a matter of finances and possibly time, if attending another program as a non-degree seeking student might require an extra year.

 

Thanks for any advice or perspectives.

[GeoDUDE!]

I would not pay for a graduate degree, especially one that involves a thesis. 

[kar86]

Do you have any advice for my actual situation? I'm changing fields, so being admitted straight into a fully funded graduate program is not a possibility. It's great that you didn't have to pay, but not everyone has that option.

Edited June 19, 2015 by kar86

[GeoDUDE!]

Do you have any advice for my actual situation? I'm changing fields, so being admitted straight into a fully funded graduate program is not a possibility. It's great that you didn't have to pay, but not everyone has that option.

 

I'm sorry you feel that wasn't advice. There are other options besides going to graduate school and paying. Going into a program where you must research and take out loans is a type of stress you should not consider. You are destined to fail. Some people come through ok, but many don't. Research is a fickle thing, sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. Do you really want to wrack up debt on something that variable?

 

I'll let you know that I also switched fields, got into a single funded masters program and used that to leverage myself into the PhD program of my choosing. you can do this too, I had terrible grades in undergrad. Luck plays a role, figure out a way to get lucky.

Edited June 19, 2015 by GeoDUDE!

[dr. t]

Do you have any advice for my actual situation? I'm changing fields, so being admitted straight into a fully funded graduate program is not a possibility. It's great that you didn't have to pay, but not everyone has that option.

 

A couple things:

 

1) Everyone has the option not to pay. You just don't go to the program. This is usually the better option.

 

2) Funded MAs in the sciences are not exactly unicorns, even for someone changing fields. There are also degrees of funding, e.g. partial tuition, tuition, tuition and stipend.

 

3) You say the program is unranked. Is the institution ranked, and, if so, where?

 

4) Just because you don't like the advice doesn't mean it's not advice.

[TakeruK]

This is a very personal decision so I can only give advice if I was in your situation. It is impossible for me to give advice on what you should do since I don't know you well enough!

 

If I was in this situation, I would reapply to funded programs in the future. If I am not able to get into a funded program, I would not attend graduate school and pursue a different career path. You are right that changing fields makes it tougher to get a funded program. I suppose one alternative, if I could afford the cost, would be to do an unfunded course-based Masters program (or a post-bac type program) with the intention of filling in whatever gaps you might have due to the change in field. I would only do this if I think it is worth the investment (i.e. having these courses will actually make the difference). I'm not sure how much this would cost, I'm thinking from a Canadian school perspective (i.e. costs around $7000 for a 1 year program). Otherwise, I would try to reapply with a focus on fully funded multidisciplinary programs where your different field is celebrated rather than a negative.

[bsharpe269]

I have a master's in bioinformatics so I know about the comp bio field. You don't need a good background in CS to get into a funded program and you definitely don't need a CS masters. You will be able to take programming classes your first year in a PhD program. Comp bio is an interdisciplinary area so you are expected to come into the program weak in some areas. Plenty of the PhD students at the school I did my MS had no programming experience at all when they came into the program. I would look for a research position. Youll gain research and programming skills through this method, just like you would during a masters. You'll get paid instead of paying though! If your uGPA is reasonable and do you well on GRE quant then you should be able to apply straight into computation bio PhD programs after gaining some research experience.

[juilletmercredi]

Don't do the unranked master's. At the very least, if you do have to pay for a master's, make it an affordable, reputable program at a local public university. But in the sciences funded master's are much more common, so I'd listen to these folks above and look for a funded (at least partially) master's program instead.