Can anyone speak to the experience of masters or graduate students at the University of Chicago? I have been accepted to the Masters Program in the Social Sciences and I would appreciate any opinions on the program or on graduate student life in general.
I’ve heard a couple of profs talk about it, both said there are some bright students in the program but the average student in it is inferior to the average Chicago undergrad. Undergrads in the social sciences definitely look down on the MAPSS students as PhD rejects, whether that’s justified or not. Can’t speak to employment or PhD outcomes.
@JHS had a kid at MAPSS at one point. One purpose for MAPSS may be that students wanting to pursue a PhD in the social sciences at a decent place but who don’t have good academic contacts for a rec. letter (either because they studied overseas or didn’t study in this field or perhaps didn’t study under anyone who’s known or prominent) can enroll in this or another terminal master’s program and form those contacts. UChicago undergrads would probably have a means to work with faculty through their BA thesis or capstone, though I suppose (for example) an undergraduate humanities major who, for whatever reason, was thinking to pursue a PhD in the social sciences might decide to join such a program in order to facilitate the transition or discern further. MAPSS seems to offer some merit aid and might be fairly selective for these types of programs. They say they have the highest PhD placement of any MA program in the world (assume they are referring to these terminal master’s programs) - the significance of that statistic depends on how many more are out there. Even more relevant would be to understand what percentage of MAPSS grads get place in a PhD program - and where.
Yes, my kid got a MAPSS masters. On the whole, the program was more than satisfactory, but there are definitely pluses and minuses. It will help to have a clear idea what you want out of the program, if not on day 1 then pretty quickly thereafter. It’s extremely flexible, which means in many ways that you get out of it what you put into it.
He definitely went in as a “PhD reject.” He had done two rounds of PhD applications in Sociology. In the first, he had gotten offers from programs that were decent programs, but not top-10 or whatever, and he had not been inspired when he visited them. In the second, he only applied to seven of the most highly selective programs, and crapped out, except that two of them (one being Chicago) offered him significant partial funding for their terminal masters programs, the idea being that he could use the year to build a better argument for his PhD admission. And there was definitely something to that. His honors thesis had been OK, but there was lots of room for improvement, and some of his technical analytical skills were spotty. There had also been some indications that his substantial part-time involvement in theater was a negative for PhD programs if he was not planning to study sociology of theater. He could use the year to fill in gaps in his skill base, show single-minded dedication to academics, and produce more polished written work and a more marketable Statement of Purpose.
Except, within the first few weeks of the program, he decided he didn’t want to pursue a PhD after all. Part of it was meeting all of the first and second year PhD students in the Sociology Department, with whom the MAPSS students interested in sociology shared classes, and part of it was getting more realistic about what pursuing a PhD would entail and what the job prospects would be at the other end of the tunnel. Another large part, I think, although unmentioned at the time, was an increasingly serious relationship, and his hesitation to pursue a career in which he might not be able to follow his future spouse to wherever she matched for her medical residency.
He shifted his focus to sharpening his marketable skills and looking for an interesting job. And the program worked pretty well on that score. He didn’t get the sexiest, hippest jobs for which he applied, but he got a good job he couldn’t have gotten without the degree, at a pay rate that easily justified the (discounted) investment (including opportunity cost) he had made in getting the degree. He also got a sociology-related part-time job during the year that both enhanced his resume and covered a lot of his living expenses. Most of his sociology-oriented classmates who were also looking for jobs, not PhD programs, had a similar experience, and were happy they had done the program. A former CC poster, Pizzagirl, who is a partner in a sophisticated marketing analytics firm, hired one of his friends, and was very happy with the hire.
I know less about what happened with kids who were looking to get into funded PhD programs. The placement rate could certainly have been high, if you didn’t care about the ranking of the program. My kid could have gotten into a funded program without MAPSS, and going through MAPSS definitely improved his skills and sophistication. What I don’t know, though, is how many of the MAPSS people made it into top-quality programs that might possibly lead to an academic career or real improvement in non-academic career prospects. I do think it was common for Chicago to take one or two MAPSS applicants, since (a) the faculty was in a great position to know the candidates’ abilities and potential well, and (b) doing that enhanced the program, which is a cash cow for the university and supports the department. But other top programs? I don’t have the information.
What were the downsides of the program? Mainly, the MAPSS students were last in line for faculty attention, behind PhD students and undergraduates, and they were pretty much on their own in terms of getting appropriate guidance and mentorship outside the classroom. There were not enough formal processes to make certain they got advisors. Obviously, kids with superstar qualities, and those skilled in working the academic ropes, did fine for themselves. But it was a real source of stress and disappointment to some of the students who were not comfortable being aggressive advocates for themselves.
One comment I would make about U of C undergrads looking down on MAPSS students (speaking as someone who attended a peer of the U of C for undergrad before getting a U of C grad degree):
Those kids haven’t accomplished anything yet (excelling in HS doesn’t really count for much in the grand scheme of things) which may lead to their insecurity.
Ultimately, life is what you make of it.
MAPSS would offer a ton of opportunities and resources (and being the U of C, plenty of folks full of themselves, rightly or wrongly) and too little time to take advantage of everything.
So you definitely want to have a good idea of what you want to do, possible goals, and how you will spend your time before you start the program.