<p>I was wondering if people have heard anything good or bad abt the MAPSS (MA of Social Science) program. I applied directly to it because i liked that i could structure my own program from pol sci, committee on IR, committee on human rights, latin american/caribbean studies and history. Many things i read lead me to believe people see it as a cash cow, and i dont want to get a degree that no one will respect. would i be better going to another program? or is this a credible degree? does anyone know how successful past MAPSS people have been? (There are many discussions on MAPH at UofC, but not so many about MAPSS). Thanks for your thoughts!</p>
<p>MAPSS is seen as a cash cow because alot of people who get rejected from UofC's PhD get admitted to MAPSS sans funding. MAPSS and MAPH basically are piggy banks for Chicago, but they that doesn't make them laughable or without matter. It works alot in the same way as Masters degrees at the London School of Economics. Basically they offer you a very good degree that will be respected in your field, but they also want your money. Thats why most people in MAPSS aren't getting any funding and why NOBODY at LSE gets any funding. Some people are irritated by the fact that schools would actually admit you partially as a way of funding PhD students, but in some ways, its a fair trade off; you pay them, they give you a respected degree.</p>
<p>Still, if that little amount of money is being invested into the program and its students, it makes you wonder about the quality of teachers, their availability for advising, etc...</p>
<p>Blazing makes a goods point. I have heard that MAPSS and the MAPH program have graduate classes with like, 300 students in them. That is proposterous. You go to grad school to get face time with profs that you wouldn't get in undergrad.</p>
<p>What about CIR? This seems like a similar Chicago program. It it viewed in the same vein?</p>
<p>I've heard great things about MAPSS, actually, from more than one source. Apparently, its graduates have some of the highest PhD admission rates in the country, and UChicago uses MAPSS as a pool from which to select its own PhD classes (essentially, it's students for whom they see promise at the doctoral level but want to see gain a little more academic experience first).</p>
<p>I realize this thread has been done for more than 2 years now, but feel like I should add a different perspective. I am actually in the MAPSS program now. I was accepted to PhD programs elsewhere, but went with MAPSS instead. Why?</p>
<p>1) Many people actually do receive funding for this program. I got more money from UChicago than I did anywhere else (eg, Georgetown, Columbia)</p>
<p>2) It is a great program. There are about 170 of us this year, but we are subdivided and work mostly by department, so I am really in a group of about 14 political science students and not the totality of the group. Of the other hand, I have friends that are studying sociology, history, anthropology, etc. that I would not have met in a traditional MA program. It’s neat to talk about different perspectives on the same readings.</p>
<p>3) PhD chances are GREATLY improved. The statistic I hear thrown around quite a bit is that non-MAPSS PhD applicants have something like a 5-10% chance of acceptance and MAPSS graduates’ odds sky-rocket to 50%+. I think everybody from last year’s cohort that applied to a PhD program got in somewhere and with funding. </p>
<p>I will also say that you have incredible access to professors, TAs, preceptors despite the size of the group. There are just more people to help you. You also have the chance to take classes outside of “your department” so you can broaden the scope of your research. </p>
<p>In short: NOT just a “cash cow,” NOT difficult to meet with professors, great education.</p>
<p>hi, i’m interested in MAPSS and trying to get some idea of the GRE numbers and GPA values of accepted students. Would anyone be willing and able to tell me what kind of stats they applied with. Thanks!</p>
<p>I applied to MAPSS this year as a sort of transition and exploratory measure to academic social science (likely in poli sci) from my undergrad and work background which is mainly focused on medical, policy, and global health. I figured that I did not have enough of a track record and focus solely in my phd field(s) of interest (especially recs), so I did not apply to PhD programs. Also I missed the PhD deadlines and I think my credentials are good, but not the best one ever heard of. Other than MAPSS, I applied to some MA in poli sci progs (Columbia,NYU, LSE), Yale’s MA in African Studies (no poli sci option) and Johns Hopkins SAIS (this is not as academic, unfortunately, but out of inertia from my prior background, i applied…and they do have some amazing scholars there like francis ***uyama there.)</p>
<p>The only school I heard back from so far is MAPSS at U Chicago, and I was accepted w/ 1/3 of tuition (14000-odd dollars).</p>
<p>for gator242: I have a GPA of 3.7/4.0 cumulative from a top 5 undergrad school (3.9/4.0 in my major, which is an interdisciplinary biology and social science/policy program). </p>
<p>On GRE I scored 740V 780Q 5.0 writing. This was my second try, however; first try (which I did not really prepare for, as you can see by the big gap in scores) was 760V and 680Q 4.0 writing…pay attention to and practice the timing, if you haven’t taken
the test already.</p>
<p>I’ve found this thread (and the couple of others on college confidential that come up w/a “mapss” query) quite helpful as I consider my options. The grad cafe website is also informative, with people who sound like they know what they are talking about ( [Chicago</a> - MAPSS - The GradCafe Forums](<a href=“Chicago - MAPSS - Political Science Forum - The GradCafe Forums”>Chicago - MAPSS - Political Science Forum - The GradCafe Forums) ) </p>
<p>In general, it seems that a master’s degree anywhere is a cash cow for a university. While MAPSS is not a professional degree and the boost in earning power you’d get from using it as a terminal degree may not be economic, it does seem that it would be quiteuseful for its main purpose, which is to significantly enhance an application for PhD programs. For me, a big part of this will be to help me refine my academic plans and understand better what I’ll be getting into. I’m going to try and get more money from them but will probably pick MAPSS over any of the other choices, if i end up having them–the others are not as tailored to my situation, and they take longer for the same or possibly lesser career value. </p>
<p>If anybody has a more informed opinion that doesn’t jive with what I’ve said, I would appreciate hearing it. Thanks.</p>
<p>Hi, I agree with a lot of what scocimed and others have said here. It is a big financial investment, but you have access to pretty much any grad school class you want in the social sciences.</p>
<p>You take classes with students in the Ph.D programs. For example, in all of my classes there are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year graduate students. It’s not like you are seen as a “lesser student” or anything like that. If anything, my experience has been that professors go out of their way to help MAPSS students because they know we only have a year to complete our thesis. My professors have allowed MAPSS students to write their final papers on topics that will help us complete our thesis.</p>
<p>It is a lot of money though, so the decision will have to be a personal one and based on each individual’s financial situation. </p>
<p>I am in the mapss program now and am blogging about it.</p>