Loyola Chicago

[LiteratureMajor]

Is anyone familiar with Loyola's master's program in English? Have you received funding for this, were (are) you better equipped for PhD study? Is the environment welcoming and effective for graduate students? Someone in a previous post mentioned being offered a "possibly funded" MA position or a PhD waitlist option.... Is going for the MA at Loyola essentially worth it? Please discuss your experience and any insider knowledge about the department and program. Many thanks.

[mares]

I can't offer any definitive insight into the questions you are asking, being as I have not applied for their program, but I do know that I have an English professor-- whom I respect very much-- who is a Loyola Chicago alum (MA/PhD) and I told him that if the MLIS program that I applied to does not accept me, then I will apply for an MA in English. I also told him I had looked at Loyola Chicago for their medieval lit program. He could not stop singing Loyola's praises-- of course, being a successful, well-published alum with tenure at his home university (he is only at my university as a visiting profesor for four years, but my uni was his undergrad university as well... digression), he might be a bit biased. Anyway, I guess it depends on what you're looking to study within an English MA program, but from what I have read and from what he says, it seems to be a very strong program. To me, an MA from Loyola seems worth it.

Edited to add: For what it's worth, he also told me that doing my MA there would be a good way to see if I would want to/be able to handle the rigors of a PhD program if I decided to go that route.

Edited February 19, 2010 by Mary

[hadunc]

Is anyone familiar with Loyola's master's program in English? Have you received funding for this, were (are) you better equipped for PhD study? Is the environment welcoming and effective for graduate students? Someone in a previous post mentioned being offered a "possibly funded" MA position or a PhD waitlist option.... Is going for the MA at Loyola essentially worth it? Please discuss your experience and any insider knowledge about the department and program. Many thanks.

I've also heard good things about their program. Grad students and faculty seem to be very happy with the school. However, from what the email that I got said I think the MAs will only be partially funded and they are only offering them to a couple of students. Personally, I wouldn't want to pay anything for an MA regardless of the school, but that's just me. Also, Loyola's funding even for PhDs is pretty low and living in Chicago is very expensive. If you do an unfunded or partially funded MA there you should probably expect to end up significantly in debt.

[Pamphilia]

Loyola's funding even for PhDs is pretty low and living in Chicago is very expensive. If you do an unfunded or partially funded MA there you should probably expect to end up significantly in debt.

I don't know what the funding situation is like for Loyola MAs, but living in Rogers Park (where Loyola is) really isn't too bad. It's one of the cheaper neighborhoods (not as cheap as the scarier ones; RoPo is getting gentrified, so there's less and less crime but it is still city living) and it's super cute and lakeside. Chicago in general is expensive when it comes to things like taxes, etc., but the Rogers Park area is quite affordable for a city. Then again, if the funding is scant "affordable for a city" doesn't mean much.

[hadunc]

I don't know what the funding situation is like for Loyola MAs, but living in Rogers Park (where Loyola is) really isn't too bad. It's one of the cheaper neighborhoods (not as cheap as the scarier ones; RoPo is getting gentrified, so there's less and less crime but it is still city living) and it's super cute and lakeside. Chicago in general is expensive when it comes to things like taxes, etc., but the Rogers Park area is quite affordable for a city. Then again, if the funding is scant "affordable for a city" doesn't mean much.

Rogers Park is affordable if you're comparing it to the rest of the north side, but from what I hear from my friends who live in nearby neighborhoods, safety is still an issue there, especially at night. But then again, we all live in neighborhoods where we feel comfortable walking around at 2am, so the crime problem may be exaggerated.

Bottom line, if you're ok with paying a lot of money for tuition and cost of living in Chicago, it's a good program, but it unfortunately comes with a high price tag.

[janielou]

I'm finishing my master's at Loyola right now, and I love it-- the faculty are great, and I feel like I'm getting everything I looked for in a graduate education. Like everyone else here, I'm not funded (although I did receive a small fellowship for an internship fundeda few weeks ago), but so few MA programs are funded anyway; you should probably expect that. Also, if you consider that it's a one-year MA and you do your research about tuition costs in the Chicago area, it's a great deal.

You do need to be committed about going somewhere else afterward, though-- they don't keep their own for the PhD.