Again, thanks for this series. My perspective as someone who made the choice to do a fully funded MA (I don't need to take out any loans at all, although I have had some supplemental income from contracting work and paid internship work in my field) is that even when people are telling you "find a fully funded program!" it's hard for tha…
Again, thanks for this series. My perspective as someone who made the choice to do a fully funded MA (I don't need to take out any loans at all, although I have had some supplemental income from contracting work and paid internship work in my field) is that even when people are telling you "find a fully funded program!" it's hard for that message to sink in. I had to really think about what people meant by that, about how much I already made in my full time job in the field (not a lot), about my earning potential after the program, and my ideal lifestyle, and whether I COULD actually budget in any debt or loans at all. I realized I couldn't. But that type of thinking takes, among other things, an understanding of what it is to work in your desired field AND to be financially independent -- something many students coming straight out of undergrad have no measure of. When I was 22 and got offered my first full time job, I thought the 37k I was offered (in NYC) was amazing. It sounded like a huge amount of money. Now some years on and trying to plan for more expensive adult things, like a bigger apartment, or ultimately buying a place, or having kids, it becomes apparent just how little that is. And if I can expect to make 50k after my MA, I don't want a cent of that going to loans. I think that these programs really target students who are just graduating with their BA, or maybe have tried and failed to find full time work for one or more years, and are getting desperate -- while also not truly being equipped to understand these financial elements of funding and the decision. It seems like a no brainer to do the prestigious MA for these people who may think it's their ticket to a great job, but many people I spoke to while applying actually hadn't found full time employment after finishing the programs, which was a big red flag. Unfortunately, I think it all ties into the scarcity of particular types of jobs for new graduates, the competition which keeps pay low, and (as is often joked about on twitter) the ever-increasing qualifications needed for 'entry level.' And these MA programs 100% bank on all this being true and the endless supply of students to whom it LOOKS like a valuable next step, even if it isn't.
Again, thanks for this series. My perspective as someone who made the choice to do a fully funded MA (I don't need to take out any loans at all, although I have had some supplemental income from contracting work and paid internship work in my field) is that even when people are telling you "find a fully funded program!" it's hard for that message to sink in. I had to really think about what people meant by that, about how much I already made in my full time job in the field (not a lot), about my earning potential after the program, and my ideal lifestyle, and whether I COULD actually budget in any debt or loans at all. I realized I couldn't. But that type of thinking takes, among other things, an understanding of what it is to work in your desired field AND to be financially independent -- something many students coming straight out of undergrad have no measure of. When I was 22 and got offered my first full time job, I thought the 37k I was offered (in NYC) was amazing. It sounded like a huge amount of money. Now some years on and trying to plan for more expensive adult things, like a bigger apartment, or ultimately buying a place, or having kids, it becomes apparent just how little that is. And if I can expect to make 50k after my MA, I don't want a cent of that going to loans. I think that these programs really target students who are just graduating with their BA, or maybe have tried and failed to find full time work for one or more years, and are getting desperate -- while also not truly being equipped to understand these financial elements of funding and the decision. It seems like a no brainer to do the prestigious MA for these people who may think it's their ticket to a great job, but many people I spoke to while applying actually hadn't found full time employment after finishing the programs, which was a big red flag. Unfortunately, I think it all ties into the scarcity of particular types of jobs for new graduates, the competition which keeps pay low, and (as is often joked about on twitter) the ever-increasing qualifications needed for 'entry level.' And these MA programs 100% bank on all this being true and the endless supply of students to whom it LOOKS like a valuable next step, even if it isn't.