Columbia and NYU MA in Political Science

[GoGo or Not]

Dear all,

I applied to a little less than 6 Ph.D. program at Princeton, Columbia, UCB, NYU and etc, but got rejected by them all.

My GPA is 3.8 in my last ma program in IR.

Toefl: 107/120, GRE V156/Q169

However, I received 2 consolation MA admission by Columbia Unversity (one year I guess) and NYU (3 semester to 2 years), without funding. 

Now the dillema is twisting and making me pretty dismay as I'm deeply afraid both of the programs are so-called cash cow programs. As I'm looking forward to work in NYC or broadly the US, I don't know if these two programs are adding value to my job prospect. 

 

So I'm really looking forward to comments and suggestion by anyone who knows about these programs in terms of the quality, the evaluation, both academic and from the perspective of job market. Really appreciate it!

[Ella16]

Hi, I agree with your assessment that these are cash cow programs. Since you already have an MA I would suggest you not take these offers, especially since they come with no funding and I honestly doubt they will help with job prospects all that much. An MA might help if you had bad undergrad grades and needed a stepping stone to boost you up to phd competitiveness but I don't think that's worth it for the amount you'll have to pay, considering that if you do get a phd later, even with a scholarship you won't really be making money and will have a hard time paying it back. So, I'd adivse you not to go and instead get some research experience and reapply next year. 

[rising_star]

Why pay that kind of money for a second MA? It would make more sense to apply more broadly next year and ensure you have a good research fit at each PhD program.