I’m an undergrad student looking into graduate programs. I’m a PoliSci student and one of my professors recommended applying to the UCLA Masters in Social Science program.
I am interested in attending UCLA, but don’t know if this program is worth it. My professor had said that the program is good because its only one year, and students in the program conduct independent research and have the name recognition of UCLA which are both assets when applying to a top PhD program.
The program is considered a “Self-Supporting Degree program” so it seems that the program is solely funded by tuition paid by student fees (and not state-funded). The program seems to cost $48000+ a year and I’m not sure if this is worth it especially since I’m planning to pursue a PhD eventually.
Is there anyone who is/was part of a Self-Supporting Degree program at UCLA or any other UC? Is it affordable? Is it worth it? I’m really considering UCLA, but don’t know if its better to apply to other masters programs? ’
General info about me: my major gpa is a 3.8, and my upper division gpa is a 3.75 so I think that I have a good change of getting into most grad programs.
can’t comment on the program, but note Grad schools are gonna want to see all college grades, so your cumulative may hold you back from highly selective grad programs without a top GRE score. Here are some numbers for Duke, (top 15) for example:
All UCLA grad programs only take into account upper division work for GPA calculation. That is why I only included my upper division GPA.
The important question is - why do you want a graduate degree? It appears that you are aiming for a top PhD program, so then the second question is - what are you missing from your resume that you need for admission for a top PhD program? In other words, why not apply directly to a political science PhD program now?
You don’t need a master’s degree to apply to PhD programs in the U.S. Most PhD programs will grant you an MA along the way, but BA holders are admitted all the time. In fact, in some fields having an MA doesn’t really help you. For some fields (like anthropology, I believe) the programs are so competitive that having an MA is a help and it’s more common, but for others (like psychology) most students come in with a bachelor’s degree and maybe a few years of research experience after college.
It sounds like your GPA is excellent, so you don’t need to beef up your academic standing. After that, the only other good reason to pursue an MA before a PhD is to get more research experience, and there are lots of ways to do that other than paying a whole lot of money to an MA program. You could work for a nonprofit, NGO, think tank, government agency, or other organization as a research assistant/associate; you could work as a research manager/coordinator at a university (this is pretty common in lab-based social sciences like psychology; not sure how many positions there are look this in PS, but you should look around), you could do a post-baccalaureate research program like Hot Metal Bridge (that specific program rotates the fields every year and political science is not always offered, but there may be comparable programs). Or you could design your own version of this volunteering part-time while you work or something.
But if you already have or will have two years of research experience by the time your senior year rolls around, I would go ahead and apply to PhD programs directly and see what happens.
If you felt like you really needed an MA, then yes, it sounds like this program could be a good one. UCLA has good resources for research (which is more important than name recognition) and one year and the ability to do independent research are both great assets to someone preparing for a PhD program.
Where did you hear that at? The only thing I can find on UCLA’s MASS website is this:
which is actually quite different from what you said. This just speaks to basement-level program requirements, but that doesn’t mean that the program won’t take your entire GPA into account when they decide whether or not to admit you.
Be careful with that assumption, (and time to work on your critical reading skills).
UCLA’s Graduate Division requires a minimum of a 3.0 in the last 60 units (~two years) to be eligible to apply. But that does not necessarily mean department application readers will be ignoring lower division grades in their reviews.
That said, a 3.8 in upper division is excellent but there will be plenty of applicants to UCLA and other UC’s with a 3.8 for all four years. (Those folks will be your competition. And funded grad programs are extremely competitive.)
The reason I am considering this program is because one of my professors recommended it to me. Also, I don’t have any research experience. My professor said that this program is easier to get into than the PhD program. But it also seems to cost A LOT MORE than other programs at UCLA. I’m not exactly asking for you all to evaluate my chances of getting into UCLA per se. I’m asking instead about whether this program is worth applying to instead of the PhD program.
UCLA only allows you apply to one program so I don’t know which would be better to apply to.
I also plan to apply to PhD programs at UC Berkeley, UCSD, and UCD, and UCSB. But I just don’t know if I should apply for the PhD program at UCLA, or this MA program.
And I apologize. I misunderstood UCLA’s policy about GPA. Thanks for pointing that out bluebayou. If it’s worth mentioning, my cumulative GPA is a 3.77.
But again, I’m not necessarily asking you to chance me. The question isn’t whether I will be applying to UCLA or not (I definitely will be), the question is which program is better for me to apply to.
I’m working on getting research experience next semester, but I don’t know if that will be enough. I will applying this December.
If you’re unaware about this program, I suggest you omit yourself from commenting. Thanks.
One(?) semester of research is not even close to what is needed for the PhD programs at top schools, like the UCs. Head over to Grad Cafe and search for a UC school and department program to see the stats of your competition. GPA+GRE is only a threshold; even perfect scores won’t get you in. Top research schools are all about research. The more you have the better.
Good luck.
If you only have a semester of research experience, then you’re not competitive for political science programs.
Will the MA program help you get into a PhD program? Probably. You can get research experience while you are there, make connections with professors who will write your recommendation letters, develop a writing sample, take graduate-level classes and prove your ability to succeed, etc. At some schools it’s common for MA students to stay on and finish their PhDs there, so if you get into a department that has a top-rated PhD program, you might be set.
Is it worth it? For you, maybe, if you really want a PhD in political science. With one semester of research experience, you are not as competitive for the kinds of jobs that’ll get you more research experience that I listed in my earlier post. I would still try to seek them if I were you - especially since by the time you’d be applying for them you’d have about two (second semester senior year). I’d also look for less expensive options, like an MA in political science at a state university in your home state.