Is a great MA program worth the debt?

Just to reinforce the decision you've already made, I clicked on this link fully expecting to say "yes! do it! it worked for me." But seeing the actual number you'd be asked to spend changed my mind. I paid for a one-year MA at a top program, and it was totally worthwhile for me. I had been out of school for a while, and dipping my toe into graduate studies helped me to clarify my focus, re-learn some of the skills that working in marketing had pounded out of me, and reinforce my conviction that yes, this is what I'm meant to do. And now, after a year in school and a year working at the school I attended, I'll be moving on to a top tier PhD program this August. All that said, I paid a whole lot less than $110k. Feel free to memail me if you have any questions about what that process was like for me. (and yeah, those gradcafe folks are crazy.)

Not just no, but hell no with strawberries on top. As has been said, it's a bait and switch, with them hoping you will help fund their phd program. There are a million things you could do with $110k that would be more valuable to you; this should not be on your list of options. (For example, in cheaper markets $110k is not a downpayment on a house -- it is a house. Or, imagine how many years you could live a happy hippy lifestyle on a southeast Asian beach for that kind of money.) And don't even begin down this path without some serious thinking about the realities of the academic job market in the humanities. Everyone scoffs, but it is seriously brutal right now -- I know of people coming out of top programs, who have published books, who can't even get a one-year visiting position. Then, after thinking through those realities, look at average salaries in your prospective field, and calibrate the amount of debt you are willing to take on relative to that number. Especially if you don't get that magical tenure track job straight out of grad school, you are looking at potentially quite a few years after graduating of low earning -- not the situation in which you want an extra $110k of debt to service.

The market for Ph.D's in English right now is ridiculously bad. To gamble 55k on the hopes of getting into a program that will leave you further in debt, only to leave it to a horrendous job market seems fiscally irresponsible. That's not to say you shouldn't do it (if you can't live without it, you've made your choice) but your partner definitely should have a say in the hundreds of dollars per month for many years you'll be spending on this instead of, say, buying a house or retiring early. What's your Ph.D worth to you and what's it worth to your partner?

Don't do it. Reapply next year, see what happens. Coming up with an alternate plan would be a good idea, though.

You're being really smart by questioning the amount of debt you're taking on for this. I would say look into the British and Australian programs if you want to do an MA/PhD.

I'm in English. This is an absolute NO. The university will happily profit off of your fees in order to fund...the doctoral candidates. Unless you're feeling extraordinarily charitable, don't do it. (Also, be aware that, depending on departmental and university confidentiality rules, it may not be possible for anyone to answer questions about improving your graduate application.)

They see you as a cash cow. Don't be that cow. As others have said, even overseas tuition rates for a taught MA/MPhil or similar would likely be reasonable by comparison.

Okay, thank you for the resounding "no." Yes, I am absolutely unenthusiastic about the program and the toxic debt it would incur, but with other people getting flat-out rejected, many of whom have Ivy degrees and 4.0 GPAs and stellar essays, I actually felt briefly ungrateful for turning down the chance to pay for an MA. I never even applied to MA programs because I didn't want to be the cash cow. I've had encouraging, personally-written responses from several DSGs of the top programs that rejected me, but when one of the universities wound up accepting 7 out 684 applicants (holy fuck) for the PhD program and 15 PhD would-be applicants for the MA program, I didn't feel I could scoff willy-nilly at the second-best offer. (*cough* gradcafe *cough*) Yes, gradcafe hath ruined my perspective. Those people are nuts. Anyways, consider this my scoffing. Scoff! Scoff!

It's a fully funded PhD from a top 10 school (otherwise I have even less chance at a real job) or bust. Here is some totally unsolicited advice: US News & World Report (and other) rankings just don't tell you the whole story. They're a terribly insufficient way to gauge the "quality" of a school and how likely that program will be to put you in the best possible position for a job. Not all top 10 PhDs are created equal; it really depends on the field you want to study in. If you're looking to do something more mainstream, you may find a greater percentage of overlap between the top 10 and your field's top 10, but even then, I'd wager that you would be very wise to include programs that fall outside of that ranking. Every program has particular strengths, so going to an Ivy-league program that doesn't have a really well-developed (in terms of faculty, prior record of successful graduate students, support, research materials, etc) specialization in your field may, in fact, not be preferable to a program outside the top 10 that is very well-established in your specialized field. As I'm sure you know, it really comes down to fit, to the place you can do your best work. Ivy league cache only gets you so far if you aren't able to the produce your best work.