MA/MS New School, Teachers College. Anyone have info?

[EnjoyThePsunshine]

Hi all, I was accepted to New School and think the program, research and faculty are great. I have to let them know by this Friday and put down the (non-refundable) deposit. I was also accepted (on Monday) to Teachers College MA program, which I am not as familiar with but trying to pick up. After the MA, I'll be pursuing a PhD in Clinical Psych.

Anyone have New School advice, pros/cons? Specifically, competition within the cohort for those 15 spots in the PhD program and faculty approach-ability/support. Also, are they generally regarded as having a good MA and Clinical program? Do they have a good reputation within the field of Psychology?

Also, anyone have any Teachers College experiences? Is the MA program highly regarded and do many students successfully go on to PhD programs? Can MA students get involved with research quickly? The cohort seems huge, is it easy to build connections with faculty members?

I did see a similar post from early 2015 but just wanted to see if anyone had updated info since then. I have experience as an RA, did psych in undergrad, had a poster at a national conference, etc.
Thank you in advance

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[Ollie123]

Friend attended TC and described it as "miserable." People there sounded vicious vs. collaborative and it didn't seem like a healthy environment. That was almost a decade ago though, so the culture may have changed. They had an awful reputation for quite some time.

New school has a middling reputation. They are certainly not a research powerhouse if that is a goal. A quick check on reporter indicates no one has an active federal grant and has not for some time, which is not a good sign. Glancing at their faculty list, its a mix of somewhat productive people (with a few recognizable names) and some wildly unproductive ones. I suspect a lot will depend on who you end up working with. It may be a similar situation where there is competition to work with the "right" people, but I have no way of knowing.

 

[psychrat]

There has been a lot written about the New School if you use the search function. I went there for my research MA (and elsewhere for my PhD) and did not like the environment or experience. Very large classes, cut-throat attitude, not very diverse, expensive, and competition within labs for attention. I haven’t heard good things about TC either. Honestly, I would recommend re-applying to a better funded doctorate program and forget about the MA. I feel that it was just wasted money for me.

 

[EnjoyThePsunshine]

Thank you so much for your responses! Yes, I've been reading up on TC and New School quite a bit on here (and talking to grad students) for the past few weeks.

My goals are (mainly) the GPA boost in grad courses (undergrad gpa wasn't stellar), research experience and network. I do have great RA experience and I love working in labs, so I hope to continue to do it!

 

[DynamicDidactic]

Search the previous threads, we have had this come up before, especially TC. I had stated my experience there.

 

[EnjoyThePsunshine]

Thanks for your response! I have looked at previous threads, I'll be sure to read about your experience!