Masters program vs. RA job?

[dancedementia]

Planning to apply for fall 2018 matriculation for PhD programs (have a few financial situations I need to sort out before then). I have some offers from experimental psychology programs prior to that. Do you think it would be better to go ahead with the masters program (very research focused, allows for thesis), or should I just find a RA job and work that for 2 years instead?

[rising_star]

Does the master's program offer you any funding?

[dancedementia]

3 hours ago, rising_star said:

Does the master's program offer you any funding?

No, but comparatively cheap due to in-state tuition (tuition is approx $8-9k per year...) Or maybe I just think it's cheap since I've been wallowing around Boston for the past couple of years haha.

[rising_star]

Getting a research assistant position and making money seems preferable to me, but I'm also extraordinarily debt-averse. For me, anything that didn't set me back financially and still gave me good experience would be the priority. But, a bird in the hand is also better than two in the bush (in this case, an offer to do something is better than the unknown). Do you have any leads on RA positions? Can you furiously apply to those now in the hopes that you can land one before you have to decide about the master's programs?

[didion10]

unless you have a crappy undergrad GPA or weren't a psych major (ie, have something to compensate for) I would RA all the way. Instead of wasting your time writing papers for classes you could be getting actual publications or posters with your name on them. My RA work helped much much more it seems than my MA. though one school says they will accept the thesis so I don't have to write it again. The other two say I will have to rewrite one.

plus you mentioned financial situations so I would say that's double support for RA.

[mylifeinshambles]

I was in the same dilemma a couple of years ago and opted to be an RA instead. Many people, even faculty will recommend you to do that because you're essentially getting the same experience (maybe even better) than doing a masters but being paid for it. I have two papers, numerous conference presentations and talks from being an RA in this lab for ~2+ < 3 years. 

[Applicant 1746]

I'll cast another vote for an RA position, because as others have said, you'll be making money instead of going further into debt (plus, I've had an amazing experience as an RA, and definitely feel it was the best thing I could have done for my applications this cycle). 

One thing to consider, though, is the kind of RA jobs you'd expect to land and whether they would be in labs that are similar to the labs you would be applying to for grad school. If you can get an RA job in in your POIs' general area, that will help your applications immensely. On the other hand, if you can only land unrelated RA positions, doing a masters where you can choose to do an independent thesis in the area you plan to apply to grad programs in may do more to show your interest in your field of choice. I say this because going on the RA job market was VERY tough -- I must have applied to 100 or so positions (literally), got about 10 interviews, and ultimately 2 offers. The 2 offers I did get weren't in the area I thought I wanted to go into at the time (though this has turned out to be a blessing, because I've fallen in love with this new area and will likely choose a graduate program in it). So, these are some more questions to weigh.

[dancedementia]

10 hours ago, didion10 said:

unless you have a crappy undergrad GPA or weren't a psych major (ie, have something to compensate for)...

Unfortunately that's the exact situation. 2.8 GPA, Economics major. I'm honestly afraid that with my stats/background, I won't be able to find a psych RA job that will let me do more than just data entry and transcription, haha.

Thanks for everyone's feedback though. It's definitely not a decision I have to make overnight - have at least a month to decide, so I'm definitely weighing options and seeing what paid options I can find.

[didion10]

7 hours ago, dancedementia said:

Unfortunately that's the exact situation. 2.8 GPA, Economics major. I'm honestly afraid that with my stats/background, I won't be able to find a psych RA job that will let me do more than just data entry and transcription, haha.

Thanks for everyone's feedback though. It's definitely not a decision I have to make overnight - have at least a month to decide, so I'm definitely weighing options and seeing what paid options I can find.

ah ok. yea I had  A 3.1 and so I did the masters and it definitely helped. Definitely don't get anything less than a 3.8 because that'll hurt your app, but a nice 3.8+ MA GPA can certainly help and may (combined with stellar GRE) may be the only way to compensate.

 

Fortunately, I was never asked my GPA when applying to RA jobs and managed to land some amazing ones (harvard, NYU) so don't sell yourself short. you do not need to put your GPA on your resume.

good luck!