Grad School?

[in love w/ fs shuvs]

Posts are too long to sift through all of them, but does anyone have any info on grad school in math/physics/neuro/engineering?

I got no problem at all working like a savage, I've grown well accustomed to it. But I'd hate to invest a bunch of time/money into something that either won't pan out or isn't worth it.

I'm not talking right after graduation though, I plan on working for years before even thinking about it, I just wanna make sure I can keep the learning ball rolling. It'd be a fucking shame if I did shit work after college and all my strength in math just atrophied away.

Bumping this. Got an offer to PhD in Materials Engineering (trynna to work on renewable energy or co2 sequestration) but not sure if I should just dip and make pharmaceutical drugs and cash out... have to figure out by tomorrow. thanks all.

[mj23]

Expand Quote

Posts are too long to sift through all of them, but does anyone have any info on grad school in math/physics/neuro/engineering?

I got no problem at all working like a savage, I've grown well accustomed to it. But I'd hate to invest a bunch of time/money into something that either won't pan out or isn't worth it.

I'm not talking right after graduation though, I plan on working for years before even thinking about it, I just wanna make sure I can keep the learning ball rolling. It'd be a fucking shame if I did shit work after college and all my strength in math just atrophied away.

[close]

Bumping this. Got an offer to PhD in Materials Engineering (trynna to work on renewable energy or co2 sequestration) but not sure if I should just dip and make pharmaceutical drugs and cash out... have to figure out by tomorrow. thanks all.

I finished a phd degree in information science recently. It's kind of a stem/social science hybrid field so not exactly the same as yours but i think i saw enough of my peers in math and computer science to have a general idea of what to expect. first, getting a phd is like a compulsion. it's something you mainly do because you're slightly sick in the head and just can't imagine doing anything but research and teaching and other big-brain freakazoid shit. if you have that compulsion it's like the only path forward. if you don't you will undoubtedly go thru periods of intense difficulty as you make shit pay and work crazy hours for 4+ years with uncertain payoff. That is, of course, asssuming you are dead-set on finishing. Not everyone is.

Second, and related, is this: You're in a sort of hard-STEM field, so post-grad employment opportunities are probably pretty good. I know a lot of people in my field just quit their PhDs halfway thru bc they got jobs at Facebook or Google or something like that. Assuming you have a decent funding package, you could treat grad school like a way to get health insurance for a few years while you build up skills and connections for an eventual industry gig.

Hope that helps!

[in love w/ fs shuvs]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Posts are too long to sift through all of them, but does anyone have any info on grad school in math/physics/neuro/engineering?

I got no problem at all working like a savage, I've grown well accustomed to it. But I'd hate to invest a bunch of time/money into something that either won't pan out or isn't worth it.

I'm not talking right after graduation though, I plan on working for years before even thinking about it, I just wanna make sure I can keep the learning ball rolling. It'd be a fucking shame if I did shit work after college and all my strength in math just atrophied away.

[close]

Bumping this. Got an offer to PhD in Materials Engineering (trynna to work on renewable energy or co2 sequestration) but not sure if I should just dip and make pharmaceutical drugs and cash out... have to figure out by tomorrow. thanks all.

[close]

I finished a phd degree in information science recently. It's kind of a stem/social science hybrid field so not exactly the same as yours but i think i saw enough of my peers in math and computer science to have a general idea of what to expect. first, getting a phd is like a compulsion. it's something you mainly do because you're slightly sick in the head and just can't imagine doing anything but research and teaching and other big-brain freakazoid shit. if you have that compulsion it's like the only path forward. if you don't you will undoubtedly go thru periods of intense difficulty as you make shit pay and work crazy hours for 4+ years with uncertain payoff. That is, of course, asssuming you are dead-set on finishing. Not everyone is.

Second, and related, is this: You're in a sort of hard-STEM field, so post-grad employment opportunities are probably pretty good. I know a lot of people in my field just quit their PhDs halfway thru bc they got jobs at Facebook or Google or something like that. Assuming you have a decent funding package, you could treat grad school like a way to get health insurance for a few years while you build up skills and connections for an eventual industry gig.

Hope that helps!

Congrats on your PhD! Honestly, I'm not sure. I like skating and having the freedom to shoot the shit in my free time. I am a bit of an energy nut tho, i like the idea of working on solar or shit like that. I'd be bummed to go through with it just to end up at facebook collecting user data, would prefer to just skate in that scenario.

[TheLurper]

I finished a phd degree in information science recently. It's kind of a stem/social science hybrid field so not exactly the same as yours but i think i saw enough of my peers in math and computer science to have a general idea of what to expect. first, getting a phd is like a compulsion. it's something you mainly do because you're slightly sick in the head and just can't imagine doing anything but research and teaching and other big-brain freakazoid shit. if you have that compulsion it's like the only path forward. if you don't you will undoubtedly go thru periods of intense difficulty as you make shit pay and work crazy hours for 4+ years with uncertain payoff. That is, of course, asssuming you are dead-set on finishing. Not everyone is.

Second, and related, is this: You're in a sort of hard-STEM field, so post-grad employment opportunities are probably pretty good. I know a lot of people in my field just quit their PhDs halfway thru bc they got jobs at Facebook or Google or something like that. Assuming you have a decent funding package, you could treat grad school like a way to get health insurance for a few years while you build up skills and connections for an eventual industry gig.

Hope that helps!

What exactly is information science? Is this the same as data science? What programs did you have to learn in this field? Is it just quantitative research? Is there any qualitative work? Is it more about analyzing the quant data or cleaning the quant data to be analyzed? Or, both?

How much of a shift is it for those who already know basic stats (up to OLS regressions)/social science shit? Do they teach actual social science theories (is it mostly psych theories?)?

Bumping this. Got an offer to PhD in Materials Engineering (trynna to work on renewable energy or co2 sequestration) but not sure if I should just dip and make pharmaceutical drugs and cash out... have to figure out by tomorrow. thanks all.

What did you decide? Either way it sounds like you are in a position to make decent money (as a worker... sadly, the real money seems to go to those who don't do shit (i.e. management)).

[IUTSM]

just registered for classes for the last year of an MSW program. It's been a pretty rough experience, with folks who are younger and haven't worked much in the field calling people out for perceived micro aggressions and flexing their wokeness. It's been hard to converse in that the attitude in half the cohort doesn't focus on much other than an over arching battle against White Supremacy and the other half is focused on getting through the program while simultaneously working in the field, raising kids, and trying to keep up with the language of the other half of the cohort. It's really a battle field at times. I feel bad for everyone because they're all hurting pretty hard. I really just want to get it done. The difference between the MSW program my partner went through at a top 10 MSW program and this small state school Generalist MSW program are night and day. At least I won't have any debt to go with my low paying gig

All I'm trying to do is work toward the LCSW, work part time with kids in a school and the other portion of the time in private practice, exploring mindfulness based psychotherapy and psychedelic assisted therapy. Might be good to get working with some Vets as well.

[Jean-Ralphio Zaperstein]

I'm doing a phd in materials science right now. It's in canada tho so probably not entirely the same as the US.
It's a nice way to extend your "student" status and also to work in a lab if you're into that. Pay is shit of course.

[in love w/ fs shuvs]

Expand Quote

Bumping this. Got an offer to PhD in Materials Engineering (trynna to work on renewable energy or co2 sequestration) but not sure if I should just dip and make pharmaceutical drugs and cash out... have to figure out by tomorrow. thanks all.

[close]

What did you decide? Either way it sounds like you are in a position to make decent money (as a worker... sadly, the real money seems to go to those who don't do shit (i.e. management)).

I have to make a choice by April 15th. I would rather not go down this niche rabbit hole for 6 years as I'd be 30 by then and have wasted 10 years in school. It's extremely likely that I'd have to move away from home for work unless I try and make my own company. I was really into the environment since I learned about it in high school tho so it would be cool to potentially get some good impactful work done...

I'm doing a phd in materials science right now. It's in canada tho so probably not entirely the same as the US.
It's a nice way to extend your "student" status and also to work in a lab if you're into that. Pay is shit of course.

I'll pm you maybe.

[pugmaster]

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Bumping this. Got an offer to PhD in Materials Engineering (trynna to work on renewable energy or co2 sequestration) but not sure if I should just dip and make pharmaceutical drugs and cash out... have to figure out by tomorrow. thanks all.

[close]

What did you decide? Either way it sounds like you are in a position to make decent money (as a worker... sadly, the real money seems to go to those who don't do shit (i.e. management)).

[close]

I have to make a choice by April 15th. I would rather not go down this niche rabbit hole for 6 years as I'd be 30 by then and have wasted 10 years in school. It's extremely likely that I'd have to move away from home for work unless I try and make my own company. I was really into the environment since I learned about it in high school tho so it would be cool to potentially get some good impactful work done...

Expand Quote

I'm doing a phd in materials science right now. It's in canada tho so probably not entirely the same as the US.
It's a nice way to extend your "student" status and also to work in a lab if you're into that. Pay is shit of course.

[close]

I'll pm you maybe.

Spending a decade in school is definitely worth it.  I can't tell you how good it feels when you're on a plane and you hear the panicked scream of someone asking, "Is there a doctor on board?!", knowing fully well that you are, but also, not.

If you aren't 100% invested in doing a Ph.D., I am not sure I would advise starting one. What percentage of resolve do you have to complete it?

[in love w/ fs shuvs]

If you aren't 100% invested in doing a Ph.D., I am not sure I would advise starting one. What percentage of resolve do you have to complete it?

90%. I'll leave after two years if it looks like I won't get promising results.

[brycickle]

I'm finally working on my bachelor's degree in EMS so that I can eventually apply to physician assistant school. Mostly because I'm too old to go to medical school. But not really, I just don't want to be 50 when I'm finally finished with training. Unless I decide to do it anyway. Probably PA school though.

[matty_c]

Tech school by deerhunter is a good one

[Alan]

I'm finally working on my bachelor's degree in EMS so that I can eventually apply to physician assistant school. Mostly because I'm too old to go to medical school. But not really, I just don't want to be 50 when I'm finally finished with training. Unless I decide to do it anyway. Probably PA school though.

Sick. Good luck!

[Deputy Wendell]

i am too up to my neck in it to read through this thread, so sorry if i repeat anyone above.

i have a BA in English Honors and Film from Wayne State University in Detroit and an MA in the Humanities from the University of Chicago, and working on and earning both were incredible experiences that i value greatly. i am an adjunct professor at this point, and getting enough offers for classes between the two universities that i have been teaching at the past few years, that i actually had to turn classes down for the Fall 2021 semester.

i am also working on my PhD in "English," achieved candidacy almost two years ago, and honestly i am very disillusioned with things--luckily i love and believe in what i am researching and writing on in my dissertation though, so all of the other disciplinary and "professional" shit isn't discouraging me from seeing this through...i'm going to be sending my second chapter out to my committee in the next month or so, i am giddy to say...

...i'm not sure about how it works in other fields, but i can tell you that in the Humanities, take the time to make sure your committee can work together, because over the past few years it has become painfully clear that the two younger professors on my committee clearly hate the chair of my committee, and all of their petty, personal bullshit has come to the surface during my QE process and--especially--during my prospectus process...in fact, it took two different defenses of my prospectus, to get it approved, and in retrospect, i can see that the first attempt was totally a mess because of the issues amongst my committee members.

also, unfortunately the chair of my committee has been dealing with some serious professional issues the past year or two (had a kind of forced sabbatical and all because of them), and although he is incredibly committed to any students he works with, i see how it has gotten in the way at times. i owe him a lot, so i hate to complain--because of him, i had full funding to travel and research in Berlin for a week a couple of years ago, and likewise any of the conferences i've traveled to, but it has been a lesson on how much your committee's own lives and "careers" will impact your work.

ok, i just went back and skimmed through this thread and see that it was bumped for someone in the STEM fields (i think), but i'll go ahead and post this anyway...bottom line, like someone said above, you have to be about it to see it through, and you have to believe in the importance of the process and your work, at least close to as much as you do to what follows in your life after you have the degree.

best wishes to everyone in here, on what they're working on and pursuing!

[mj23]

Expand Quote

I finished a phd degree in information science recently. It's kind of a stem/social science hybrid field so not exactly the same as yours but i think i saw enough of my peers in math and computer science to have a general idea of what to expect. first, getting a phd is like a compulsion. it's something you mainly do because you're slightly sick in the head and just can't imagine doing anything but research and teaching and other big-brain freakazoid shit. if you have that compulsion it's like the only path forward. if you don't you will undoubtedly go thru periods of intense difficulty as you make shit pay and work crazy hours for 4+ years with uncertain payoff. That is, of course, asssuming you are dead-set on finishing. Not everyone is.

Second, and related, is this: You're in a sort of hard-STEM field, so post-grad employment opportunities are probably pretty good. I know a lot of people in my field just quit their PhDs halfway thru bc they got jobs at Facebook or Google or something like that. Assuming you have a decent funding package, you could treat grad school like a way to get health insurance for a few years while you build up skills and connections for an eventual industry gig.

Hope that helps!

[close]

What exactly is information science? Is this the same as data science? What programs did you have to learn in this field? Is it just quantitative research? Is there any qualitative work? Is it more about analyzing the quant data or cleaning the quant data to be analyzed? Or, both?

How much of a shift is it for those who already know basic stats (up to OLS regressions)/social science shit? Do they teach actual social science theories (is it mostly psych theories?)?

Information science is a discipline that straddles librarianship on one side and computer science on the other. It grew out of scientific/technical data management in the mid-20th century, when the military industrial complex suddenly started to generate huge bodies of research and data that needed to be sent around to different agencies using early telecom/digital networks. So most of the early luminaries were trained as archivists/librarians with a focus in some scientific/engineering field.

Nowadays this means that it can span all the way from critical/qualitative research (Journal of Documentation is the big outlet here) to data science and CS (Journal for the Association of Information Science and Technology/JASIST is the big pub on this side).

Depending on your department, institution, mentors, etc, you could be learning theories from psych, sociology, cog sci, or even continental philosophy. The technical skills that I personally learned were R, Python, and various shell scripting stuff to run virtual machines or forensic toolkits (I specialized in digital preservation/digital archives). If you wanted to take your quant social science skills into info science you would definitely find a lot of people doing and supporting similar work, although it’s slightly outside of my own wheelhouse. I always recommend our field to people who want to learn technical skills that will be “marketable” while not going full STEM-lord.

[IUTSM]

^^^
A friend of mine has a PhD in Information Science. She started as an MLS in a university library. Now she is a tenured professor on sabbatical, coauthoring a book. Its a pretty sweet deal

[TheLurper]

Information science is a discipline that straddles librarianship on one side and computer science on the other. It grew out of scientific/technical data management in the mid-20th century, when the military industrial complex suddenly started to generate huge bodies of research and data that needed to be sent around to different agencies using early telecom/digital networks. So most of the early luminaries were trained as archivists/librarians with a focus in some scientific/engineering field.

Nowadays this means that it can span all the way from critical/qualitative research (Journal of Documentation is the big outlet here) to data science and CS (Journal for the Association of Information Science and Technology/JASIST is the big pub on this side).

Depending on your department, institution, mentors, etc, you could be learning theories from psych, sociology, cog sci, or even continental philosophy. The technical skills that I personally learned were R, Python, and various shell scripting stuff to run virtual machines or forensic toolkits (I specialized in digital preservation/digital archives). If you wanted to take your quant social science skills into info science you would definitely find a lot of people doing and supporting similar work, although it’s slightly outside of my own wheelhouse. I always recommend our field to people who want to learn technical skills that will be “marketable” while not going full STEM-lord.

Thanks for the detailed response.

[palelight]

i am too up to my neck in it to read through this thread, so sorry if i repeat anyone above.

i have a BA in English Honors and Film from Wayne State University in Detroit and an MA in the Humanities from the University of Chicago, and working on and earning both were incredible experiences that i value greatly. i am an adjunct professor at this point, and getting enough offers for classes between the two universities that i have been teaching at the past few years, that i actually had to turn classes down for the Fall 2021 semester.

i am also working on my PhD in "English," achieved candidacy almost two years ago, and honestly i am very disillusioned with things--luckily i love and believe in what i am researching and writing on in my dissertation though, so all of the other disciplinary and "professional" shit isn't discouraging me from seeing this through...i'm going to be sending my second chapter out to my committee in the next month or so, i am giddy to say...

...i'm not sure about how it works in other fields, but i can tell you that in the Humanities, take the time to make sure your committee can work together, because over the past few years it has become painfully clear that the two younger professors on my committee clearly hate the chair of my committee, and all of their petty, personal bullshit has come to the surface during my QE process and--especially--during my prospectus process...in fact, it took two different defenses of my prospectus, to get it approved, and in retrospect, i can see that the first attempt was totally a mess because of the issues amongst my committee members.

also, unfortunately the chair of my committee has been dealing with some serious professional issues the past year or two (had a kind of forced sabbatical and all because of them), and although he is incredibly committed to any students he works with, i see how it has gotten in the way at times. i owe him a lot, so i hate to complain--because of him, i had full funding to travel and research in Berlin for a week a couple of years ago, and likewise any of the conferences i've traveled to, but it has been a lesson on how much your committee's own lives and "careers" will impact your work.

ok, i just went back and skimmed through this thread and see that it was bumped for someone in the STEM fields (i think), but i'll go ahead and post this anyway...bottom line, like someone said above, you have to be about it to see it through, and you have to believe in the importance of the process and your work, at least close to as much as you do to what follows in your life after you have the degree.

best wishes to everyone in here, on what they're working on and pursuing!

From a fellow (sorta former) Humanities grad (MA in Classics), this post hit me. I ran into much the same sort of petty grievance politics which led me to bail on a PhD (so congrats for persevering!), I dabble with the idea of going back sometimes but... yeah.

Anyway, question, you mentioned being an adjunct, was this when you only had an MA/before becoming a PhD candidate? Being an adjunct was my initial intention when I was an upper-year undergrad, but I was quickly disabused of that notion and told MA's do not get teaching gigs, period. Tutorials and low-volume classes get farmed out in-house to MA and PhD students, with no outside hires. Checking with other universities (I'm in Canada), it was much the same. Long-winded way of me saying, I think it's pretty cool if that's the case in your situation.

[Star Whores Episode I: The Fellatio Menace]

Just finished my last lecture for my M.S. in Data Science.

[Deputy Wendell]

Expand Quote

i am too up to my neck in it to read through this thread, so sorry if i repeat anyone above.

i have a BA in English Honors and Film from Wayne State University in Detroit and an MA in the Humanities from the University of Chicago, and working on and earning both were incredible experiences that i value greatly. i am an adjunct professor at this point, and getting enough offers for classes between the two universities that i have been teaching at the past few years, that i actually had to turn classes down for the Fall 2021 semester.

i am also working on my PhD in "English," achieved candidacy almost two years ago, and honestly i am very disillusioned with things--luckily i love and believe in what i am researching and writing on in my dissertation though, so all of the other disciplinary and "professional" shit isn't discouraging me from seeing this through...i'm going to be sending my second chapter out to my committee in the next month or so, i am giddy to say...

...i'm not sure about how it works in other fields, but i can tell you that in the Humanities, take the time to make sure your committee can work together, because over the past few years it has become painfully clear that the two younger professors on my committee clearly hate the chair of my committee, and all of their petty, personal bullshit has come to the surface during my QE process and--especially--during my prospectus process...in fact, it took two different defenses of my prospectus, to get it approved, and in retrospect, i can see that the first attempt was totally a mess because of the issues amongst my committee members.

also, unfortunately the chair of my committee has been dealing with some serious professional issues the past year or two (had a kind of forced sabbatical and all because of them), and although he is incredibly committed to any students he works with, i see how it has gotten in the way at times. i owe him a lot, so i hate to complain--because of him, i had full funding to travel and research in Berlin for a week a couple of years ago, and likewise any of the conferences i've traveled to, but it has been a lesson on how much your committee's own lives and "careers" will impact your work.

ok, i just went back and skimmed through this thread and see that it was bumped for someone in the STEM fields (i think), but i'll go ahead and post this anyway...bottom line, like someone said above, you have to be about it to see it through, and you have to believe in the importance of the process and your work, at least close to as much as you do to what follows in your life after you have the degree.

best wishes to everyone in here, on what they're working on and pursuing!

[close]

From a fellow (sorta former) Humanities grad (MA in Classics), this post hit me. I ran into much the same sort of petty grievance politics which led me to bail on a PhD (so congrats for persevering!), I dabble with the idea of going back sometimes but... yeah.

Anyway, question, you mentioned being an adjunct, was this when you only had an MA/before becoming a PhD candidate? Being an adjunct was my initial intention when I was an upper-year undergrad, but I was quickly disabused of that notion and told MA's do not get teaching gigs, period. Tutorials and low-volume classes get farmed out in-house to MA and PhD students, with no outside hires. Checking with other universities (I'm in Canada), it was much the same. Long-winded way of me saying, I think it's pretty cool if that's the case in your situation.

cheers palelight...i've found that many of the most bitter, juvenile, hypocritical, privileged assholes that i have dealt with in my near 50 years on the planet, have ironically been people in the Humanities--god bless us all when these are the people in academia supposedly most interested in things like "values" and "meaning"...

...which is a long way around the barn to say that i don't blame you for walking away, although i'm sorry to hear it.

regrettably, i believe you were advised correctly regarding teaching gigs with an MA, but i know plenty of people with MAs who are colleagues at the two main universities at which i am fortunate to teach, although i do not know the routes they took to get there. me personally, the PhD program that i'm part of, began with a 4-year funding package as a GTA (the "assistant" designation is a joke, considering i was teaching a 2-l load from the very start on my own), and with that experience and some conscientious higher-ups in my department, i have been steered towards the other teaching positions that i have found. but again, for me, the PhD program and GTA gig started it all.

hey, as i suggest above, i did not even start university work until i was in my early 30s--too busy being a transient skate rat up to that point--and it really is never too late to go back to it...

[TheLurper]

Just finished my last lecture for my M.S. in Data Science.

Can you explain what data science is? How is it different from just doing stats in a regular social science?

[Star Whores Episode I: The Fellatio Menace]

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Just finished my last lecture for my M.S. in Data Science.

[close]

Can you explain what data science is? How is it different from just doing stats in a regular social science?

Broadly speaking, you're using modern computing science and math theory to run large scale models on big data. It can include statistics (and basically started as statistics), but grew to include calculus, linear algebra and probability.

That's my definition, however, there's plenty of debate within the DS community about what data science actually is. So, I'm sure other people have different definitions.

[mj23]

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Expand Quote

i am too up to my neck in it to read through this thread, so sorry if i repeat anyone above.

i have a BA in English Honors and Film from Wayne State University in Detroit and an MA in the Humanities from the University of Chicago, and working on and earning both were incredible experiences that i value greatly. i am an adjunct professor at this point, and getting enough offers for classes between the two universities that i have been teaching at the past few years, that i actually had to turn classes down for the Fall 2021 semester.

i am also working on my PhD in "English," achieved candidacy almost two years ago, and honestly i am very disillusioned with things--luckily i love and believe in what i am researching and writing on in my dissertation though, so all of the other disciplinary and "professional" shit isn't discouraging me from seeing this through...i'm going to be sending my second chapter out to my committee in the next month or so, i am giddy to say...

...i'm not sure about how it works in other fields, but i can tell you that in the Humanities, take the time to make sure your committee can work together, because over the past few years it has become painfully clear that the two younger professors on my committee clearly hate the chair of my committee, and all of their petty, personal bullshit has come to the surface during my QE process and--especially--during my prospectus process...in fact, it took two different defenses of my prospectus, to get it approved, and in retrospect, i can see that the first attempt was totally a mess because of the issues amongst my committee members.

also, unfortunately the chair of my committee has been dealing with some serious professional issues the past year or two (had a kind of forced sabbatical and all because of them), and although he is incredibly committed to any students he works with, i see how it has gotten in the way at times. i owe him a lot, so i hate to complain--because of him, i had full funding to travel and research in Berlin for a week a couple of years ago, and likewise any of the conferences i've traveled to, but it has been a lesson on how much your committee's own lives and "careers" will impact your work.

ok, i just went back and skimmed through this thread and see that it was bumped for someone in the STEM fields (i think), but i'll go ahead and post this anyway...bottom line, like someone said above, you have to be about it to see it through, and you have to believe in the importance of the process and your work, at least close to as much as you do to what follows in your life after you have the degree.

best wishes to everyone in here, on what they're working on and pursuing!

[close]

From a fellow (sorta former) Humanities grad (MA in Classics), this post hit me. I ran into much the same sort of petty grievance politics which led me to bail on a PhD (so congrats for persevering!), I dabble with the idea of going back sometimes but... yeah.

Anyway, question, you mentioned being an adjunct, was this when you only had an MA/before becoming a PhD candidate? Being an adjunct was my initial intention when I was an upper-year undergrad, but I was quickly disabused of that notion and told MA's do not get teaching gigs, period. Tutorials and low-volume classes get farmed out in-house to MA and PhD students, with no outside hires. Checking with other universities (I'm in Canada), it was much the same. Long-winded way of me saying, I think it's pretty cool if that's the case in your situation.

[close]

cheers palelight...i've found that many of the most bitter, juvenile, hypocritical, privileged assholes that i have dealt with in my near 50 years on the planet, have ironically been people in the Humanities--god bless us all when these are the people in academia supposedly most interested in things like "values" and "meaning"...

...which is a long way around the barn to say that i don't blame you for walking away, although i'm sorry to hear it.

regrettably, i believe you were advised correctly regarding teaching gigs with an MA, but i know plenty of people with MAs who are colleagues at the two main universities at which i am fortunate to teach, although i do not know the routes they took to get there. me personally, the PhD program that i'm part of, began with a 4-year funding package as a GTA (the "assistant" designation is a joke, considering i was teaching a 2-l load from the very start on my own), and with that experience and some conscientious higher-ups in my department, i have been steered towards the other teaching positions that i have found. but again, for me, the PhD program and GTA gig started it all.

hey, as i suggest above, i did not even start university work until i was in my early 30s--too busy being a transient skate rat up to that point--and it really is never too late to go back to it...

This is super key imo. Grad school and academic careers work best for people who are already accustomed to and prepared for the realities of choosing modest lifestyles with personal freedom, rather than good paychecks and a daily grind. I always joke that I hate my job during midterms and finals, but love my job during summer, winter, and spring breaks.

[palelight]

cheers palelight...i've found that many of the most bitter, juvenile, hypocritical, privileged assholes that i have dealt with in my near 50 years on the planet, have ironically been people in the Humanities--god bless us all when these are the people in academia supposedly most interested in things like "values" and "meaning"...

...which is a long way around the barn to say that i don't blame you for walking away, although i'm sorry to hear it.

regrettably, i believe you were advised correctly regarding teaching gigs with an MA, but i know plenty of people with MAs who are colleagues at the two main universities at which i am fortunate to teach, although i do not know the routes they took to get there. me personally, the PhD program that i'm part of, began with a 4-year funding package as a GTA (the "assistant" designation is a joke, considering i was teaching a 2-l load from the very start on my own), and with that experience and some conscientious higher-ups in my department, i have been steered towards the other teaching positions that i have found. but again, for me, the PhD program and GTA gig started it all.

hey, as i suggest above, i did not even start university work until i was in my early 30s--too busy being a transient skate rat up to that point--and it really is never too late to go back to it...

No doubt. I'd hate to paint an entire faculty with such a broad brush, but every one has its contingents of deeply unpleasant pricks. Unpleasant pricks often make great scholars unfortunately. Near the end of my MA I shared (whinged more likely) to a professor/friend about it, he recommended I read Stoner by John Williams and be prepared to deal with some form of 'that' if I chose a career in academia. Probably only half-jokingly...

And good to know that I wasn't completely ill-informed. There were definitely a few (near retirement) lecturers that had only MA's with no intention of doing a PhD, which is probably where I got the misplaced idea it was a common/easy route. As much as I loved scholarship, teaching wigged me out utterly. I was very ignorant of the whole process, so I'd hoped to get my feet wet as a lecturer to see if I could hack that angle of the job (before committing to a PhD). In comparison, MA students of other departments would have logged 50+ hours teaching by the time they finished/defended, whereas we very much were glorified assistants. Every department is different obviously, mine was a bit miserly and a lot bureaucratic ... sorry "traditional."   

And absolutely, it's always an option to go back, and that's a privilege I shouldn't complain about.

[ballintoohard]

BS in Political Science with a focus on International Security, statistics, and Iran, MA in International Relations with a focus on Political Psychology and Counterterrorism.

Basically we would gather text data from terrorist leaders and use Natural Language Processing to assess cognitive traits. I also worked on a project that gathered movement of extremist groups to predict insecurity events.

After my masters I attempted to work, but had issues as I did not have a security clearance and was competing against former military for the same few jobs at the same few agencies. I worked in various tangential industries for a few years and debated a PhD. At one point I even had a very well respected professor willing to support my dissertation, but the funding was piss poor and we were living in DC. My then girlfriend made next to nothing.

I finally got a job working for a tech startup as a Data Scientist, which was a new title then. My experience in gathering data and building models to predict behavior was pretty useful. That company offered to move me to CA, but the same week I also got an offer for my “dream job”. The choice between zero pay for a PhD, halfway decent pay and dedicating at least 20 years to the same job/lots of lifestyle limitations, and getting paid well too move to CA was tough.

I chose CA and spent the next 7 years as a Data Scientist, which is a role that has past its bubble in popularity. All these years later not figuring out a way to do my PhD and at least try is my biggest regret. I’ve enjoyed a small percentage of my work, mostly the problem solving aspect, but at the end of the day I specialize in figuring out ways to target users and encourage specific outcomes so companies can extract more profit. When I started it wasn’t really a field but now all the really smart people from the sciences have realized their gen eds can make them 2-3x have joined and bloated the field and lots of methods have become rote.

I left that job in November and am taking a management role in gaming, so hopefully that somehow pans out, but that job is proximal to a school with a few staff that work in my weird niche area of Poli Sci, so maybe one day.....

[Kanye Omari West]

just registered for classes for the last year of an MSW program. It's been a pretty rough experience, with folks who are younger and haven't worked much in the field calling people out for perceived micro aggressions and flexing their wokeness. It's been hard to converse in that the attitude in half the cohort doesn't focus on much other than an over arching battle against White Supremacy and the other half is focused on getting through the program while simultaneously working in the field, raising kids, and trying to keep up with the language of the other half of the cohort. It's really a battle field at times. I feel bad for everyone because they're all hurting pretty hard. I really just want to get it done. The difference between the MSW program my partner went through at a top 10 MSW program and this small state school Generalist MSW program are night and day. At least I won't have any debt to go with my low paying gig

All I'm trying to do is work toward the LCSW, work part time with kids in a school and the other portion of the time in private practice, exploring mindfulness based psychotherapy and psychedelic assisted therapy. Might be good to get working with some Vets as well.

About to register for my last semester of classes for my MSW. Ayeeee. Me and you probably have different career goals but the money can be great unless you have a specific population you want to work with that doesn't particularly get you paid. To be straight up I'm not even really looking to working with a population exclusively. Get in where I fit in style. My program is focused on administrative more than clinical but I still do plan on getting my clinical license but I'm just looking forward to the experience of getting into the field period at this point.

[IUTSM]

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just registered for classes for the last year of an MSW program. It's been a pretty rough experience, with folks who are younger and haven't worked much in the field calling people out for perceived micro aggressions and flexing their wokeness. It's been hard to converse in that the attitude in half the cohort doesn't focus on much other than an over arching battle against White Supremacy and the other half is focused on getting through the program while simultaneously working in the field, raising kids, and trying to keep up with the language of the other half of the cohort. It's really a battle field at times. I feel bad for everyone because they're all hurting pretty hard. I really just want to get it done. The difference between the MSW program my partner went through at a top 10 MSW program and this small state school Generalist MSW program are night and day. At least I won't have any debt to go with my low paying gig

All I'm trying to do is work toward the LCSW, work part time with kids in a school and the other portion of the time in private practice, exploring mindfulness based psychotherapy and psychedelic assisted therapy. Might be good to get working with some Vets as well.

[close]

About to register for my last semester of classes for my MSW. Ayeeee. Me and you probably have different career goals but the money can be great unless you have a specific population you want to work with that doesn't particularly get you paid. To be straight up I'm not even really looking to working with a population exclusively. Get in where I fit in style. My program is focused on administrative more than clinical but I still do plan on getting my clinical license but I'm just looking forward to the experience of getting into the field period at this point.

fellow msw candidate. word. good luck with it, man. The course work of this program is more administrative/case work based than clinical as well, but the internship can be clinical. Other than a couple shit jobs, in my 20s I either worked in public education or in group homes for youth (behavioral, clinical, criminal). Because of the experiences I gained in the field back then mostly with no training, it takes a lot to get me worked up/bummed out, and I really, really learned the value of relationship building. Oh man, that's so damn important, the human connection. Like I said up there, I just wanna do a couple different jobs, for quality of life reasons. I spent time doing the same job, same place, 6 days/week, all day, collecting 2ndary trauma, and getting burned out. At the time, going to bat for the kids was the most important thing I could do. Now, I've been working for myself the past 6 years and reckon it's best for me to maybe make a little less and keep working for myself via private practice. That's the biggest reason I'm working on this degree/LCSW rather than use the teaching license I've got. I need flexibility and creativity.

What are you trying to do for work?

[Kanye Omari West]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

just registered for classes for the last year of an MSW program. It's been a pretty rough experience, with folks who are younger and haven't worked much in the field calling people out for perceived micro aggressions and flexing their wokeness. It's been hard to converse in that the attitude in half the cohort doesn't focus on much other than an over arching battle against White Supremacy and the other half is focused on getting through the program while simultaneously working in the field, raising kids, and trying to keep up with the language of the other half of the cohort. It's really a battle field at times. I feel bad for everyone because they're all hurting pretty hard. I really just want to get it done. The difference between the MSW program my partner went through at a top 10 MSW program and this small state school Generalist MSW program are night and day. At least I won't have any debt to go with my low paying gig

All I'm trying to do is work toward the LCSW, work part time with kids in a school and the other portion of the time in private practice, exploring mindfulness based psychotherapy and psychedelic assisted therapy. Might be good to get working with some Vets as well.

[close]

[close]

fellow msw candidate. word. good luck with it, man. The course work of this program is more administrative/case work based than clinical as well, but the internship can be clinical. Other than a couple shit jobs, in my 20s I either worked in public education or in group homes for youth (behavioral, clinical, criminal). Because of the experiences I gained in the field back then mostly with no training, it takes a lot to get me worked up/bummed out, and I really, really learned the value of relationship building. Oh man, that's so damn important, the human connection. Like I said up there, I just wanna do a couple different jobs, for quality of life reasons. I spent time doing the same job, same place, 6 days/week, all day, collecting 2ndary trauma, and getting burned out. At the time, going to bat for the kids was the most important thing I could do. Now, I've been working for myself the past 6 years and reckon it's best for me to maybe make a little less and keep working for myself via private practice. That's the biggest reason I'm working on this degree/LCSW rather than use the teaching license I've got. I need flexibility and creativity.

What are you trying to do for work?

Dope. As long as it's fulfilling for you then you can't go wrong. I'm looking at a couple different options. Either start out working with a treatment team type of thing at a private facility to get a better feel for the clinical aspect or take something less glamorous with the state and get more familiar with how policy and laws affect the population and whatnot. The state job will allow me to get more experience with the system and likely lead me to a federal level position quicker. I'm gonna be earning my license on the side for a couple years eitherway so that's the main goal. Get that shit and then bounce while getting experience in the meantime. Currently I'm in FL and the licenses out here are more difficult to get than a lot of other states so it kinda allows you to practice almost anywhere else in the country. They see you're more or less battle tested and it holds more weight. I'm definitely looking to get out of a red state because they're so shitty for human service jobs plus the culture out here sucks. Not to mention I gotta go where the money is but at the same time my bleeding heart wants to actually be able to assist people out here stuck with a shitty fucking system plus the state is developing and beginning to change it's values and go in a more progressive direction which is quite the paradigm shift considering the history. I got some plugs out here for job prospects so I know I'll be able to get tapped in whatever route I choose so I'll consult my OGs and see what they think is best considering my situation. My only exception to a population is I'd rather not work with the elderly but other than that I don't have a preference. I got a lot of plans man. Get some everyday kind of self counseling social media presence out there. Mental health awareness. Family counseling on the side. Life coach. Integrate some wellness in there. Sky's the limit and that's the best thing about social work. There's no rules and you can literally permeate any job sector with it (aside from manual labor of course).

And to revisit the whole being older, I feel that big time. I only decided to go into a BSW program to finish my last couple years when I was in my late 20s while the rest of my classmates were just entering theirs. I didn't say shit to anybody unless it was required group work. I was on a mission to really make shit happen in the program and honestly everybody else in my classes was still kinda maturing. There was just that mentality gap and I felt super alone but I had my priorities in check which was to get my coursework done, work my day job and get to grad school. I wasn't there to make friends but if I somehow linked up with like minds then hell yea. The grad program has been a lot easier to bridge the gap this time around. People don't bullshit but we can vibe out too. Good mix of priorities and fellowship has made the ride much easier this time but the coursework has been scathing. I'm doing an advanced standing program so it's a one year grad program and double the work. I'm working through it though.

[lampshade]

Grad school is nice.  I was lucky to have my company pay for it.  So I got an MS in EE for free.  The best part for me was that most people have real world experience, unlike undergrad where people are showing up to class super hungover in pajama pants and trying to bang the hottest girl in their row. 

The professors respect you more.  Class is more like a discussion among adults.  People will be like, "At company A we use this tech and would address the problem like this, someone else would say how their company would address it, and someone else would chime in how it would be addressed in the military." 

[brycickle]

After my masters I attempted to work, but had issues as I did not have a security clearance and was competing against former military for the same few jobs at the same few agencies.

Not intending to sound like a dick, but why didn't you just apply for a security clearance? Plenty of civilians work in the security sector.

[ballintoohard]

The level I would need would likely require employer sponsorship and the background check portion is quite extensive and runs between $3k and $15k, sometimes more. Given that I didn’t have any money saved and don’t have anyone I can just ask for that.

I have never met or heard of a single person with any top level clearance doing that are you sure that it’s even possible? Granted, I was mostly interested in working at the DIA, CIA, and DNI CT office. Private sector firms did not seem interested unless you went to a top 3 program (mine was ranked 5th, I was tied for first in class in GPA so it’s not like I sucked) and even then I never came across anyone that didn’t either have a clearance going or had a PhD and thus was worth more to sponsor.

My original post was a long winded way of saying I wish I did my PhD and that a MA was useless except for the stats and Econ stuff I managed to swing into a Data Science career, which hasn’t been all that fulfilling.