I’m looking to get a terminal Master’s degree in research methods. I’m not opposed to getting a PhD route in the future but it’s not what I want right now. I really want a job in the field. My background is in psychology and I fell in love with research and the research process, so that’s what I want my next job to be based in. So far I’ve been accepted to:
Columbia Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences (QMSS) - Master's
Seton Hall Experimental Psychology (with Data Visualization and Analysis certificate) - Master's
and still waiting to hear from:
NYU Applied Quant Research (AQR) - Master’s
Fordham Applied Psychological Methods - Master’s
Does anyone have any grounds for comparing these programs? I applied to them because they all have strong research foundations and are based in social science research. The price difference is a big factor for me but not a total write-off (Columbia would come out to be $52,000-$62,000, depending on if I do it in 2 or 3 semesters, Seton Hall would be about $40,000 but they gave me a $10,000 scholarship, and Rutgers would be between $30,000 and $40,000).
Does anyone know the reputation of these programs? It’s hard to find info on that. Or how alumni of any of these programs fare in the working world? Thanks very much!
Hi, I went to Columbia and specialized in quantitative methods, but in public health & psychology. I almost went to the QMSS program myself, though. Out of the ones you’ve already been accepted to, Columbia has the best reputation. Their quantitative chops are quite well-respected - they’ve got an excellent statistics department and lots of other departments through which you could take quantitative and substantive classes. The psychology department has classes and you could also take classes at Teachers College in psychology. The QMSS program also hooks you up with a faculty mentor; we had a QMSS student in my lab at Columbia.
Fordham’s applied psychological methods master’s program is also very excellent; graduates tend to go onto in-house consulting-type positions. Fordham is pretty well known for the strength of their psych methods/psychometrics program, and I think they are in the same department. NYU also has a strong reputation particularly in New York/the Northeast, but elsewhere, too. AQR is in sociology, though; the curriculum looks the same, but you are more focused on quant methods specifically. In QMSS and at Fordham you will take a combination of classes in the social sciences and in quant methods.
Is Seton Hall $40K with the scholarship, or after? We’re talking about ~$35K for Rutgers, $40K for Seton Hall and $57K for Columbia. I think it depends on how realistically you think you could finish in two semesters at Columbia…I would definitely pay the $10K difference to go to Columbia (great place to be a grad student, and better reputation), but $25K makes a difference. Honestly, I think I would definitely choose Columbia over Seton Hall and probably over Rutgers, but if you got accepted to NYU or Fordham I would make that decision based primarily on costs and financial aid.
This is, of course, assuming that you have little to no undergraduate debt.
Thanks for your reply, that was really helpful. I just found out that I’ve been accepted to Fordham and NYU, too. And I have no undergraduate debt at this point.
Seton Hall is $40K before the scholarship, so would be around $30K. They also have a lot of assistantships available that pay half or full tuition.
My choices would be between Columbia, Fordham, or NYU - unless Seton Hall was nearly free due to assistantships, and they’d have to offer me the assistantships before I enrolled (not just told me that they were available).
I haven’t gotten any financial aid packages yet. And no scholarships from anywhere else (also extremely few opportunities for grad assistantships, so not counting on those). I just wonder if the name of the school matters that much? I think one could make an argument either way…
On the graduate level, yes, name matters more. It’s not so much the “name” either as it is the network that the school has and connections that it can get you, but reputation is more important on the graduate level than undergrad. If you’ve ever seen my posts on the undergrad boards, you know that I’m usually a “follow the money” type person; however, the money has to be substantial enough and the program has to be good enough. Besides, for a master’s you kind of expect to finance the entire thing with loans, so you borrow an amount that’s manageable. I would say a quantitatively trained person in this field could expect to make around $60-70K in the first job post-college (assuming you stay in New York, but even outside), so I think you could comfortably borrow up to about $60K.
Seton Hall and Rutgers-Camden would only save you about $20K over Columbia (or Fordham or NYU), and I think paying an additional $20K at Columbia (or NYU or Fordham) is well worth the cost. Personally, having attended Columbia for graduate school myself and having been privy to the amazing resources and connections that they have as a university, plus people’s reactions when I tell them I went there, I would choose them. Fordham’s program is great too, though; like I said, they are pretty well known for quant methods and psychometrics in psychology. I don’t know much about that specific program at NYU but NYU is well-known as well. Either of those three programs, IMO, will give you an advantage over Rutgers or Seton Hall.