Second Tier Terminal Funded MA, Top Tier MA, or a Thirds Tier PhD?

[histrybuff]

Hello all,

I'm finishing my BA up and would like to teach some day. My specializations will be 20th c urban American, with minor interest in transnational border cities.

I need help deciding on some offers. My offers are as follows:

1) Terminal MA at 80th or so ranked program. Promise of fully funded TAship for two years, as well as funding for summer and J-term research. 2-3 people with whom I would be excited to work. Good record of placement in top 25 PhD programs (Stanford, UCLA, Columbia, etc). Close to home, middle of nowhere. Offer of editorship on journal. No PhD program.

2) Terminal MA at top 25 program. No guarantee of funding, but possible--around 50% funded at any given time. 5-10 people with whom I'd like to work. In a cosmopolitan city I love, refreshingly removed from the midwestern state in which i grew up. No offer of editorship, PhD students likely get most love, but real chance to matriculate there after MA. 

3) PhD at 120th ranked program. Guaranteed 5 year package. 0-2 people with whom I'd like to work. In a city close to where I grew up, in state that I'm desperate to escape from.

I'm thinking I won't take the PhD offer, though I'm flattered, because I don't think the school has a) enough faculty to work with b. enough of a name to land a job c) the distance from home and the cosmopolitan feel I'm looking for in my PhD. 

So, should I go with option 1 (good funding, less than a wealth of faculty, middle of nowhere and rural) or option 2 (uncertain funding, lots of faculty, big name, cool city)? Both have one faculty member who'd be great to work with.

Help please!!! Thanks in advance.

[nevermind]

3 hours ago, histrybuff said:

 

So, should I go with option 1 (good funding, less than a wealth of faculty, middle of nowhere and rural) or option 2 (uncertain funding, lots of faculty, big name, cool city)? Both have one faculty member who'd be great to work with.

Help please!!! Thanks in advance.

Don't take out loans to do an MA. Go with the funded Master's program, if you can't get funding at option 2. Spending 2 years in a rural environment isn't bad and you can hopefully move to a Ph.D. in a city (and with faculty) that excites you. 

[TMP]

Turn down the PhD offer.  You need a lot more faculty support during your PhD years than your MA years.  Go with #1.  There are plenty of hidden expenses during the PhD program that you will have to pay so the less debt you enter the PhD program with, all the better.  That said, go with #1.

[rising_star]

Option 1 sounds like a great choice. Do it and don't look back!

[Neist]

2 hours ago, rising_star said:

Option 1 sounds like a great choice. Do it and don't look back!

Yup, I echo this comment. Everything you've mentioned sounds excellent for option 1.

[histrybuff]

@Neist @rising_star @TMP @nevermind

Hi all! Thanks so much for the advice. You're echoing thoughts I've had myself.

A bit of clarification: Option 2 offers one to two year GAships around campus, while Option 1 is a full two year promise. One has to accept Option 2's offer of admission before they tell you what your GA offer is.

During admit day, I spoke with students at Option 2 and they told me "There's a good chance that you'll be funded, but have a contingency plan in case it doesn't work out." This is not at all comforting. Option 1's offer certainly is, especially considering its offer of J-term funded research and a funded summer without TA or GA responsibilities.

The DGS at Option 2 literally said "No one will throw you in jail if you decide not to come." But if I do accept their offer, will I be in breach of contract if I decide to attend Option 1 after I see Option 2's likely meager offer? I just don't want to regret having not tried. 

Option 1 does seem pretty safe, but I'm getting really starry eyed at Option 2's shiny brand name, its high ranking, proximity to archives of note, the caliber of its scholarly production, its location. Option 2 has a PhD program, but Option 1 doesn't. Eeek save me from myself!!!!!

Yours in research and mounting student debt,

histrybuff

Edited March 23, 2016 by histrybuff

[Neist]

2 minutes ago, histrybuff said:

One has to accept Option 2's offer of admission before they tell you what your GA offer is.

So, do they tell you if you have an offer at all, and you just don't know the details until you accept? Or do you have to accept before they confirm either way?

If it's the former, then it makes that option slightly better, I admit.  However, for me personally, the offer of an editorship sounds appealing. It might be a good experience.

[histrybuff]

Just now, Neist said:

So, do they tell you if you have an offer at all, and you just don't know the details until you accept? Or do you have to accept before they confirm either way?

If it's the former, then it makes that option slightly better, I admit.  However, for me personally, the offer of an editorship sounds appealing. It might be a good experience.

Neist: It's sadly the latter. They haven't indicated whether or not I'll gain a GAship, much less its duration or level of remuneration.

Should I worry about being bound up in a contract if I accept? 

Editorship would be great, yes!

[Neist]

Just now, histrybuff said:

Neist: It's sadly the latter. They haven't indicated whether or not I'll gain a GAship, much less its duration or level of remuneration.

Should I worry about being bound up in a contract if I accept? 

Editorship would be great, yes!

I wouldn't do option two unless they told me upfront, but then again, I'd have severe anxiety about the burning of bridges if I broke a contract. I can't see myself ever putting myself in that situation. It'd be bad for me. However, such a decision is very personal, and I can't say that doing so would be bad for you.  

If option 1 was a PhD program, I might be more concerned about its rank. But, since it's not, I'd think that the experiences you'd gain there might contribute to future PhD applications wonderfully. More so than PhD programs, I think MA programs are what you make of them, regardless of where you are. As long as you're supported and happy (and it definitely sounds like they are supportive), most programs are going to be enjoyable, assuming the fit is right.

[TMP]

I still stand with Option 1.  Turn down Option 2.  

1) Option 2 has a PhD program, which means you are likely to be compared with the present PhD students.  You want to be able to stand out on your own.  Option 1 doesn't, which means 100% attention on MA students.  Professors are also more likely to take those PhD students more seriously than MAs.  The fact that Option 2 has a terminal MA program in addition to the PhD program is telling: the terminal MA serves to add warm bodies to graduate seminars.  It may be that the number of PhD students is so low that the department needs more students to meet the minimum enrollment requirement (as posed by the University Registrar).  It also doesn't hurt that a terminal MA program brings cash to the university.

2) Option 2 is still holding its cards on the money and not show until you show first.  If your stakes-- getting into debt-- are too high for you, then fold the cards.  You can ask for another look at your application when you apply there for the PhD program if you still want to go there.  Nobody will hold a grudge, especially when your CV shows that you have been funded during your MA.  Professors understand that students have to follow the money.

3) Option 1 is throwing a lot of money at you.  Funded summer and J-term?  Please!  I will bet that you will not be able to get research funding at Option 2 (PhD students over MA students, remember).  You need the funding to carry out a successful MA thesis.  You need that funding handed to you for  your own research, not for you to find a summer job to support yourself (and be distracted away from your research).  I could not have done my MA thesis as well as I did if I wasn't funded for the summer as I had to take research trips.  Moreover, working as an editor will likely improve your own writing as you read other people's works.  Those former MA students didn't just get into Stanford and Columbia-- Option 1's funding package added glitter to their CVs.

 

[gsc]

8 minutes ago, TMP said:

I still stand with Option 1.  Turn down Option 2.  

1) Option 2 has a PhD program, which means you are likely to be compared with the present PhD students.  You want to be able to stand out on your own.  Option 1 doesn't, which means 100% attention on MA students.  Professors are also more likely to take those PhD students more seriously than MAs.  The fact that Option 2 has a terminal MA program in addition to the PhD program is telling: the terminal MA serves to add warm bodies to graduate seminars.  It may be that the number of PhD students is so low that the department needs more students to meet the minimum enrollment requirement (as posed by the University Registrar).  It also doesn't hurt that a terminal MA program brings cash to the university.

Yes. My program has a terminal MA track and it operates exactly like this. It's not to say that it isn't a good experience for people who choose it, but it's very obvious that it's meant to bring in funds we're not getting from the university. In that situation, PhD students get priority: they get the most face time with professors, the most professional development, and precious summer funding (often carved out from already scarce resources). 

[histrybuff]

@bibliomancer, I saw your post on another MA thread. I wonder if you have thoughts on my situation? Sounds like you're of the opinion that higher rank is more important than funding?

Thanks all for your advice! I do feel enticed by Option 1, but still unsure.

best

[Neist]

4 minutes ago, histrybuff said:

I don't know if this changes anything, but the schools are UMaryland's HiLS program and the MA at Miami University. Just for specificity's sake.

Is the HiLS program option 1 or 2 (not sure what rankings you were using)? Also, do you have library experience?

A funded MLIS program is exceptionally rare, and if that's the funded program, I'd definitely advise to take it. With a little experience a MLIS makes you a fair bit more flexible in career paths, even if you later pursue a PhD. If the HiLS program is option 2, it'd make the decision a little bit more difficult for me, personally.

Obviously I'm a little bias. I chose the MA/MLIS route.  However, it is a good option.

[TMP]

2 hours ago, histrybuff said:

Hello all,

I'm still pulling my hair out! 

Spoke with the DGS at Option 2 just now. 

He mentioned that it's likely that I'd gain a GAship, but that there was no guarantee. And that most people who gain a GAship retain it for the duration of the program. Also, the biggest risk is to not be funded for the first semester of the program.

I mentioned Option 1 and she said it's a reputable enough program. But certainly not the rank of Option 2. 

I don't know if this changes anything, but the schools are UMaryland's HiLS program and the MA at Miami University. Just for specificity's sake.

Does any of this info change the advice you're offering?

 

Take the offer at Miami.  I have colleagues at Maryland- one a PhD student and the other a MA and they both have had different academic experiences (and interactions with professors).  Living in Oxford may not be much but if your eventual goal is the PhD, then go there.  You need all the money you can get to fund your education and research so you do not need to use any of your previous time to find jobs to keep you afloat.  DC has become quite expensive, even if you find housing in Silver Spring or near UMD, the life there is quite hectic.  However, if your long-term goal is to get a non-academic job or work around DC area, UMD may be a better option.

Remember, if you use your student loans, factor that in your post-graduate life budget.  Not quite find when you realize that $500 is going towards your loan payments when you could use that for something else.... more immediate

[Septerra]

Option 1, there is no contest here.

[Katzenmusik]

I'd say take the guaranteed-funded MA at Miami.  Make the most of every opportunity there and come back strong for your PhD apps in a few years.