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General Discussion => WHATEVER => Topic started by: pugmaster on January 28, 2011, 10:02:50 PM
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I am going to grad school under my own volition but don't really know too much about it. Can you get accepted before actually completing your b.a.? How long should you give professors to write letters of recommendation? I have looked at all that crap online but SLAP has never let me down EVER so I figured I would ask. Thanks in advance
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I just figured I could click on some links and get an application, bullshit some shit, send transcripts, and win.
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yeah I just figured that people that have been through it might have additional tips that one might not be able to inquire from a department's website.
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Every grad student I know talks about how much they hate being a grad student.
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what would you be going for? take a year off, work and figure out what you really want to do. you will have just finished 16+ years of school. take the time to figure shit out, travel or do whatever. grad school will still be there if you decide it's the right thing to do.
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Letters of recommendation are kind of a hassle, the better the teacher knows you, the easier it is for them to write. So teachers with smaller classes would be better candidates. The earlier you ask, the better. You may not be the only one in the class that wants a reference letter written for them. It only took my professors a couple days to actually write and send them in though.
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Every grad student I know talks about how much they hate being a grad student.
DING DING DING we have a winner
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Every grad student I know talks about how much they hate being a grad student.
This is what I'm dreading :(
Yes you can get accept before receiving your BA, your student advisers will tell you when it's the best time to apply. I would maintain at least a 3.5 GPA, some grad schools will not look at your GRE if your GPA is 3.5 or higher (this is my goal, I suck at taking tests). Get your teacher recommendations ASAP, the sooner the better. Also if you are required to do papers for classes, research topics that will help you later in your area of interest...grad schools might ask for a sample paper that you have written. And the most important thing volunteer, internship, etc in your field. Grad schools look and like to see you have some experience in the field. Good luck!
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YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obTNwPJvOI8#)
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I took my GREs while in undergrad, then worked at a huge management consulting firm before applying to grad school. Most schools require your letters of rec be sealed by the author- so you can't look at them. Since I worked for a few years, I got them from managers, not profs. I did my MS in EE while working full time. It sucked, but was worth it in the end. I probably make 25% more a year because I have my MS.
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Every grad student I know talks about how much they hate being a grad student.
That's funny, every grad student I know is hungry as hell, and about it.
Grad school means one thing more than anything else--research! If you dig laboriously digging for information and understanding, than you're it!
I am waiting to hear back from six PhD programs right now, and can't fucking wait to get back into the classroom (and/or conference room).
This makes a big difference--whether you are just going for a terminal Masters, or a PhD.
Nobody will give you any money if you merely go for a Masters. If you commit to the PhD, and get accepted into a program...FELLOWSHIPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Seriously, in every PhD program I have applied to, acceptance automatically comes with a mouth-watering fellowship with full tuition, gnarly/yearly living stipend, health benefits, and summer research grants. You are expected to have something groundbreaking and publishable after you've successfully defended your doctoral thesis, but that's just another bonus.
Letters of Rec.--Start as ahead of time as possible, professors are really busy people.
Definitely a bonus if in your undergrad time, you did some kind of Honors/independent study research, and the resulting paper (which should be at least 20 pages long), is related to the direction you want to follow in your grad research.
Which reminds me, everything I am saying here, is based on the Humanities. In the Humanities, you are expected to have at least some kind of general idea of what you want to concentrate on in your research--this is not the case in other fields.
And finally, perhaps nothing is more important than your statement of purpose, so get it into as many hands as possible, and plan on having to revise it oftener than anything else you have written. An outstanding statement can offset mediocre grades and shitty GRE scores (by the way, a lot of schools consider the GRE scores the least important facet of your application). But seriously, as you will read anywhere, it is difficult to overstate the importance of an incredible statement.
Good luck brother!
Edit: With regards to the whole Masters/PhD decision you have to make, keep in mind that, in a way, some schools kind of penalize you for having a masters, because they will not give you advanced standing on that work--especially if it was done at another institution. I'm not real clear on the determining logic and politics behind all of this though.
What I do know is, it is rare for a school/program to require anything more than a BA for consideration for acceptance.
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YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XViCOAu6UC0#)
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Don't let these bums discourage you. what is your field of study? Usually to have a good chance of getting in gradschool, you want to show that you've done some real work in your field. Participated in research with your professors, done summer internships, or even done your own independent research.
Gradschool is pretty sweet. Not only do they pay for your masters degree but you are paid a stipend while you are working towards your PhD (at least in the sciences). You have to work hard, but for the first time in your life you are really doing real work, and that's a big motivator.
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You have to work hard, but for the first time in your life you are really doing real work, and that's a big motivator.
Couldn't agree more.
I heard someone say it something like this: pursuing a PhD is for people that are simply about the kind of scholarly work and engagement, that it is difficult to put a dollar amount on.
The doctorate, and the publishing of some substantial body of research is simply the gnarly bonus at the end (and also hopefully a sick tenure track position somewhere, right away!).
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Luckily my field only requires a masters, a doctoral degree is too much.
I hate to take over some one's thread, but how difficult is it to volunteer or internship somewhere?
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Luckily my field only requires a masters, a doctoral degree is too much.
I hate to take over some one's thread, but how difficult is it to volunteer or internship somewhere?
easy but start applying for the summer positions now.
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I'm hyped on my master's program. A lot of cool research, and if you go to a university with a prestigious department, the people who give the department that prestige almost always teach grad school courses only. The classes are small and you really get to know them too. Its rad, a lot of theory and studies have come out of my department that I have read, and if I have a question about it or just the general field they do the research in, I can ask. I have had some of the most amazing, several hour long intellectual discussions of my life with professors, which alone is worth it.
Oh, and know, you will work your ass off. You better be into what you study.
In terms of what gets you in, it seriously varies by program, and field of study. Some want legit experiences in the field, others care about test scores, its such a random thing.
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So I rarely post on slap, but I thought that maybe because I actually am in graduate school for a master's in counseling with a specialization in addiction studies I could probably guide you in the right direction. In graduate school I like to think there are two types of degrees: hard science and soft science. Hard science graduate degrees such as chemistry, biology, or medical degrees want high GPA's around 3.5 or higher and a High GRE(or MCAT for M.D.) score in the math section, and are willing to accept lower scores in the English and writing section. Their letters of recommendation have to be related to the subject that you are studying or from professors in that field of study or a related hard science. Depending on the prestige of the university you are applying to sometimes if you don't meet the minimum for their scores, GPA, or you turn in an application with the three recommendation letters they put your file in the not accepted pile (which I have witnessed).
Soft Sciences (Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology) are a little more forgiving in all these areas because they usually take a more holistic approach and look more at what you can contribute to the field or the community rather than how awesome you are academically. This isn't to say that they have incredibly low standards, but you won't be looked at if your GPA is less than 3.0, your GRE scores are less than 1100, and your writing sample is less than 4. Experiences are very vital to getting in also depending on what you want to do, Anthropology usually wants experience in other cultures, Psychology wants direct experience with marginalized populations or clients in a mental health setting, and Sociology usually wants you to have worked within systems such as non profits or government organizations.
I hope this helps and I hope that you do not go into Law School (unless it's tier 1), get a Ph.D in Art, a Ph.D in English, or a Ph.D in Philosophy because that will be the biggest waste of money, time and you won't find a job.
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I hope that you do not go into Law School (unless it's tier 1), get a Ph.D in Art, a Ph.D in English, or a Ph.D in Philosophy because that will be the biggest waste of money, time and you won't find a job.
"You won't find a job," unless you are pursuing a PhD to teach (and continue to research, write, and publish) at the university level in the first place, which is exactly why people pursue these degrees.
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I hope that you do not go into Law School (unless it's tier 1), get a Ph.D in Art, a Ph.D in English, or a Ph.D in Philosophy because that will be the biggest waste of money, time and you won't find a job.
"You won't find a job," unless you are pursuing a PhD to teach (and continue to research, write, and publish) at the university level in the first place, which is exactly why people pursue these degrees.
You will get a job, but odds are it will be as an assistant or adjunct professor at bumblefuck university. If you're looking for a tenure track position, the odds are not in your favor.
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I hope that you do not go into Law School (unless it's tier 1), get a Ph.D in Art, a Ph.D in English, or a Ph.D in Philosophy because that will be the biggest waste of money, time and you won't find a job.
"You won't find a job," unless you are pursuing a PhD to teach (and continue to research, write, and publish) at the university level in the first place, which is exactly why people pursue these degrees.
You will get a job, but odds are it will be as an assistant or adjunct professor at bumblefuck university. If you're looking for a tenure track position, the odds are not in your favor.
Not to mention the amount of debt you will acquire and be unable to pay off. Also if you hate doing literature reviews a Ph.D track may not be for you either. I know plenty of people that end up dropping out from grad school because they can't come up with an original question that hasn't been answered in the literature or the idea doesn't get approved by the adviser.
Also alittleethnicsong, to get to tenure where your job is secure you have to go through the "publish or perish" gauntlet where you have to keep getting article published in journals so the school stays relevant or you lose your job to another grad student who is on the cutting edge because of their latest article.
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YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXvv5sTqNa4#)
http://www.selloutyoursoul.com/ (http://www.selloutyoursoul.com/)
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I hope that you do not go into Law School (unless it's tier 1), get a Ph.D in Art, a Ph.D in English, or a Ph.D in Philosophy because that will be the biggest waste of money, time and you won't find a job.
"You won't find a job," unless you are pursuing a PhD to teach (and continue to research, write, and publish) at the university level in the first place, which is exactly why people pursue these degrees.
You will get a job, but odds are it will be as an assistant or adjunct professor at bumblefuck university.� If you're looking for a tenure track position, the odds are not in your favor.
Not to mention the amount of debt you will acquire and be unable to pay off. Also if you hate doing literature reviews a Ph.D track may not be for you either. I know plenty of people that end up dropping out from grad school because they can't come up with an original question that hasn't been answered in the literature or the idea doesn't get approved� by the adviser.
Also alittleethnicsong, to get to tenure where your job is secure you have to go through the "publish or perish" gauntlet where you have to keep getting article published in journals so the school stays relevant or you lose your job to another grad student who is on the cutting edge because of their latest article.
Speaking personally, with my GPA (4.0) and distinctions (Summa cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, etc.)--not bragging, simply relevant to what I am talking about--every PhD program that I am applying to, offers fellowships that pay for everything--most PhD programs are this way, which is why acceptance into them is indeed competitive.
My BA also was acquired via a full ride, and left me in the end with very little debt, despite a whole extra year devoted to Honors/independent study work, that produced a thesis for a writing sample, that is a kernel of what I want to do in grad school.
I do not want to write an "essay" here, in response to most of what you have written, but it would take that much, to genuinely address what you have pointed out above. What I will say is, you are right, and for those of us who genuinely love the work, alas, thus is the nature of the beast.
What you have pointed out in the second paragraph, also helps to explain why English Departments throughout academia, are emphasizing interdisciplinarity, and concentrations in "cultural studies," beyond the traditional realms of mere Literature.
Once again, personally--due to my interests in matters of "modernity" and "Americanism" (to put it in an extremely general sense)--I am applying to both English, and, American Studies programs.
Regardless, you are right, it is not an easy path, one must work their ass off, and even if you are comparatively successful, you still do not make that much money. Thank god I am an old hessian who has been living hand-to-mouth most of my adult life anyway...eh? I love the work, and the environment, and for those who are the same, who gives a fuck about the rest of the bullshit...
...and...hey...anyway, according to your first comments, you appear to also be going into another field that is indeed righteous and invaluable, but nevertheless a bad idea if you are worried about money--even if jobs are more plentiful...brudda'
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I hope that you do not go into Law School (unless it's tier 1), get a Ph.D in Art, a Ph.D in English, or a Ph.D in Philosophy because that will be the biggest waste of money, time and you won't find a job.
"You won't find a job," unless you are pursuing a PhD to teach (and continue to research, write, and publish) at the university level in the first place, which is exactly why people pursue these degrees.
Everything you have said is true, but I just wanted to tell it like it is, so Pugmaster knows that it takes hard work and dedication to succeed for very meager rewards.
You will get a job, but odds are it will be as an assistant or adjunct professor at bumblefuck university.� If you're looking for a tenure track position, the odds are not in your favor.
Not to mention the amount of debt you will acquire and be unable to pay off. Also if you hate doing literature reviews a Ph.D track may not be for you either. I know plenty of people that end up dropping out from grad school because they can't come up with an original question that hasn't been answered in the literature or the idea doesn't get approved� by the adviser.
Also alittleethnicsong, to get to tenure where your job is secure you have to go through the "publish or perish" gauntlet where you have to keep getting article published in journals so the school stays relevant or you lose your job to another grad student who is on the cutting edge because of their latest article.
Speaking personally, with my GPA (4.0) and distinctions (Summa cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, etc.)--not bragging, simply relevant to what I am talking about--every PhD program that I am applying to, offers fellowships that pay for everything--most PhD programs are this way, which is why acceptance into them is indeed competitive.
My BA also was acquired via a full ride, and left me in the end with very little debt, despite a whole extra year devoted to Honors/independent study work, that produced a thesis for a writing sample, that is a kernel of what I want to do in grad school.
I do not want to write an "essay" here, in response to most of what you have written, but it would take that much, to genuinely address what you have pointed out above. What I will say is, you are right, and for those of us who genuinely love the work, alas, thus is the nature of the beast.
What you have pointed out in the second paragraph, also helps to explain why English Departments throughout academia, are emphasizing interdisciplinarity, and concentrations in "cultural studies," beyond the traditional realms of mere Literature.
Once again, personally--due to my interests in matters of "modernity" and "Americanism" (to put it in an extremely general sense)--I am applying to both English, and, American Studies programs.
Regardless, you are right, it is not an easy path, one must work their ass off, and even if you are comparatively successful, you still do not make that much money. Thank god I am an old hessian who has been living hand-to-mouth most of my adult life anyway...eh? I love the work, and the environment, and for those who are the same, who gives a fuck about the rest of the bullshit...
...and...hey...anyway, according to your first comments, you appear to also be going into another field that is indeed righteous and invaluable, but nevertheless a bad idea if you are worried about money--even if jobs are more plentiful...brudda'
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Thanks guys, I got a lot of info! My career path is speech pathology and I need at least a masters to practice. There is a huge shortage of SLPs everywhere so I am not worried about getting a job. I wouldn't mind going for the phd if that means I will have to not worry about working at mcdonalds while I get my crap done. My school doesn't offer all the classes I need all year long and taking as many units as I can take I will have all but one class done to get my ba.
Can you apply even if you don't have your stuff done completely? It sounds like you can... kinda like the community college to university transition.
also do you if you plan on going for a phd do you apply at the same time you do for your masters? If you plan on going for a phd does it make it easier to get accepted?
Does making dean's list (Or honour society memberships) even mean anything to grad applications? It seems like all the grad students get grades so high that everyone has it.
Oh, and guys in my profession are a clear minority (every class of 50 only 4 or 5 are guys) which may make acceptance easier.
Basically my cumulative gpa is 3.4-3.5 and after this quarter should be a solid 3.5.
I got a practice gre score of 360 quant and 520 verbal with no studying and partying. (hella shitty but I only have room for improvement haha)
I am having a hard time studying because I just stress about not getting into grad school. I really appreciate your guys/girls posts.
I should be able to get good letters of rec from teachers and former employers.
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If your degree is in progress and will be complete by the time you start (except if you go to the same university in some rare instances) you can apply.
Phd doesn't guarantee money at all.
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listen here you beautiful bitch, i'm about to fuck you up with some truth. first off, ethnic song, you make we want to punch my computer in the face. yes, you are bragging. most of what you do on here is brag about your brain. but no amount of rhetoric will conceal that you're a turd.
depending on what field you're going into, your program will have different demands for acceptance. but no matter what it is, the most important thing is your work/passion/experience for the field the master's program is based around. archeology? you'll need to have gone on digs, done research. art? have a rocking portfolio.
me, i'm currently getting my MFA at NYU. and guess what, ethic song, not only phd programs give money. lots of grad programs give fellowships, especially if you'll teach while you're studying. i have a fellowship for my tuition, and a stipend for teaching creative writing to undergrads.
but as everyone said, be prepared to hate life a lot, being stuck studying and researching...unless you're doing some bullshit fine arts master like me. easy cakes!
get your recommendation letters nailed the fuck down. professors and bosses will hate you if you ask them at the last minute.
GOOD LUCK
First...mandibleclaw...KISSES TO YOU BUNK BUNK :-*
Second, pugmaster, as I gathered as I prepared to do what you are doing, every person you ask, is going to give you different--often conflicting--info based on their own experiences. The onus is on you to figure out what applies to your own circumstances and plans.
In my experience--for sure--every school I applied to explicitly stated that terminal masters do not get any money, and every one of them offers full 5 to 7 year fellowship gigs for PhD work. Once again, just based on the six schools with which I am dealing.
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i finished my masters in economics at Georgetown. i say you go for it. just do what you are supposed to do and it will be fine. people who complain about graduate courses being too demanding or difficult are the worst. of course it is difficult, it is supposed to be, so just work hard and don't burn any bridges.
get your recommendation letters nailed the fuck down. professors and bosses will hate you if you ask them at the last minute.
THIS
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Pugmaster I will try to answer your question in order.
1) Yes you can apply when finishing you undergrad. They accept you under the condition that you finish your B.A. or B.S.
2) It seems that during your program they might ask you if you want to take the M.A. track or the M.S. track. YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE M.S. TRACK, because that track will prepare you for the literature review that you will have to present to a panel on the research you would like to do to get your Ph.D. You also have to get approval from the IRB board to see if your study is even ethical to do in the first place. Think hard about this now because you won't have much time to decide since the M.S. requires stats and computer courses to familiarize you with handling the massive amounts of data you will be working on unless you go for a qualitative study. (which usually involves massive amounts of transcripts)
3) Making deans list matters for grants and scholarships so that you can get money to pay for your schooling, housing and living expenses, plus it looks good on an application.
4) Being a male minority in female dominated profession is good.
5) Your GPA is awesome, but you should still look at the average applicant GPA which they should have hidden somewhere in the school website.
6)Work on that quant, verbal is good.
7) Don't stress. You'll be fine.
8) Give the people who are going to write a letter of recommendation a packet with everything they need to send the letter for every institution they will be writing and a prepaid postage envelope that has the school it's going to so there is no excuse for them not to send it.
Good Luck
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I had to Wiki to figure out what speech pathology is.
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So I rarely post on slap, but I thought that maybe because I actually am in graduate school for a master's in counseling with a specialization in addiction studies I could probably guide you in the right direction. Soft Sciences (Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology) are a little more forgiving in all these areas because they usually take a more holistic approach and look more at what you can contribute to the field or the community rather than how awesome you are academically. This isn't to say that they have incredibly low standards, but you won't be looked at if your GPA is less than 3.0, your GRE scores are less than 1100, and your writing sample is less than 4. Experiences are very vital to getting in also depending on what you want to do, Anthropology usually wants experience in other cultures, Psychology wants direct experience with marginalized populations or clients in a mental health setting, and Sociology usually wants you to have worked within systems such as non profits or government organizations.
Awesome, I'm planning on become a marriage and family therapist. You have any tips for getting accept? I'm hoping to attend Idaho State University, low cost of living, GRE doesn't count if your GPA is over 3.5 and its somewhere new. Also my girlfriends major is there too (clinical laboratory studies). I'm on my second semester for my BA degree, I have a 3.4 as of right now. I'm crossing my fingers for an internship or volunteering with a counselor from my previous college. I really hope things go well.
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I just applied to a master's program for the next year so I can really only give you advice about my experience. A big thing is talk to the undergraduate adviser for your major. Mine was a huge help. Make sure to see if the school(s) you're applying to offer terminal master's programs. I know that a lot of sociology departments don't offer terminal sociology master's, but instead award you a master's during the PhD. process. Once you have all that done, make sure that you want to enter into a PhD. program. My thesis and undergraduate advisers both told me that if you're not sure if you want to do a PhD. program, then do not apply for it. Go for your master's. So many PhD. candidates drop out of PhD. programs because they'll reach the inevitable directionless lull in work and think they don't want to be in school anymore. Doing this, or even worse-dropping out after you received your master's, is absolutely horrible when/if you apply for PhD. programs later on.
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@crass, first let me say that it is very smart of you to try and go to graduate school in an area that has a low cost of living. The reason being that when you have to do your practicum and internship it will be like a full time job and you won't be able to work even if you wanted to unless it's the graveyard shift. Second, check to see if your letters of recommendation are coming from any places where you have interacted with families or couples. Even something as small such as DHS, a community center, a school, etc. looks really good to them. Lastly, just relax and read up on some of the theorists that do therapy to see how you like it. I recommend Salvador Minuchin, Carl Whitaker or Virginia Satir, all of them are amazing.
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mandible claw is right about everything he said here. Fellowships are given to grad school students all the time. Little ethnic song wasn't offered any, but it was probably more about him than the schools. I've gotten my whole ride paid for and am actually making money at a job I have for my research, so in the end I am actually profiting off of my masters immediately.
Sometimes I'm pretty sure a little ethnic song is fake as fuck.
Also, notice how despite the fact that he brags and brags about applying to PhD programs, he hasn't been accepted- so he doesn't know what gets you accepted. The fact that he couldn't get fellowship money for a master's does not speak well for his likelyhood of getting into a PhD program.
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Remember when Rawbertson was acting like the second coming of Gordan Gekko when he thought he was gonna get a job selling insurance or something? Ethnicsong should've learned from his example. A little humility goes a long way in this world and the next (Lucifer will poke the shit out of you with his trident for bragging about PhD programs).
P.S. Ethnicsong, I thought you said you weren't gonna come on here for a while because you had so much scholarly gold to mine.
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NYU, Columbia, Brown, Yale, U of Minnesota, and U. of Chicago, all explicitly state on their department websites, that--at least for my field--terminal masters do not get funding, at least it's not offered initially. Fellowships are only offered to those willing to go after the PhD. I'm sure there is ways around this, but I'm just repeating what they explicitly state.
I don't care enough about any of you to lie, and why would I lie about something that you can just go to their sites and look for yourselves?
I just got my BA in August, and this is my first attempt at applying to grad schools--never been turned down or passed over for anything yet. But, that is the nature of the beast, so I am prepared for none of these working out.
Personally, you don't get better grades than mine, or higher distinctions, so if none of these work out, it's not going to be due to my undergrad accomplishments. In the humanities, a lot depends on having some idea of what you want to focus on in your graduate work, and this makes your statement of purpose extra important. My Honors thesis is an example of what I want to do in my graduate research, and thus my writing sample (enomorous bonus that these committees look for), and my statement details two clear directions I want to follow.
By the way, Bipsmound--that "scholarly gold to mine," was called preparing to take the GRE, dipshit...
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I don't care enough about any of you to lie, and why would I lie about something that you can just go to their sites and look for yourselves?
You care just enough to boast about your assumed academic achievements
but then
I just got my BA in August,
You are joking, right?
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NYU, Columbia, Brown, Yale, U of Minnesota, and U. of Chicago, all explicitly state on their department websites, that--at least for my field--terminal masters do not get funding, at least it's not offered initially. Fellowships are only offered to those willing to go after the PhD. I'm sure there is ways around this, but I'm just repeating what they explicitly state.
I don't care enough about any of you to lie, and why would I lie about something that you can just go to their sites and look for yourselves?
I just got my BA in August, and this is my first attempt at applying to grad schools--never been turned down or passed over for anything yet. But, that is the nature of the beast, so I am prepared for none of these working out.
Personally, you don't get better grades than mine, or higher distinctions, so if none of these work out, it's not going to be due to my undergrad accomplishments. In the humanities, a lot depends on having some idea of what you want to focus on in your graduate work, and this makes your statement of purpose extra important. My Honors thesis is an example of what I want to do in my graduate research, and thus my writing sample (enomorous bonus that these committees look for), and my statement details two clear directions I want to follow.
By the way, Bipsmound--that "scholarly gold to mine," was called preparing to take the GRE, dipshit...
Thanks for the sig quote.
You should visit the real world before getting a humanities masters or you may end up pretty upset with yourself.
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By the way, Bipsmound--that "scholarly gold to mine," was called preparing to take the GRE, dipshit...
hating on bipsmound... i hope you die in a pool of aids
seriously stop posting
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learn some brevity, jesus christ.
Impossible for any humanities graduate student.
See: any post written by Ronald Wilson Reagan
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(http://images.memegenerator.net/Berra/File/236049/Berra.jpg)
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NYU, Columbia, Brown, Yale, U of Minnesota, and U. of Chicago, all explicitly state on their department websites, that--at least for my field--terminal masters do not get funding, at least it's not offered initially. Fellowships are only offered to those willing to go after the PhD.
i'm getting my master's at NYU, with no phd after. they give me the dolla dolla bills.
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Personally, you don't get better grades than mine, or higher distinctions, so if none of these work out, it's not going to be due to my undergrad accomplishments.
maybe it's because you're not very special. it's not so uncommon to graduate undergrad with a 4.0. i did, too. and maybe it;s because you don't appear to be able to express a point without writing a full page of text. learn some brevity, jesus christ.
in summation, your penis is on your forehead.
what are you doing your masters in?
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Mandible Claw, I know this question is the worst but... what do you intend to do with a masters in creative writing?
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Mandible Claw, I know this question is the worst but... what do you intend to do with a masters in creative writing?
also, how's being in the same dept. as jonathan safran foer? his books are ill!
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I finished school in the spring with a Masters of Architecture.
It was an amazing experience, a lot of fun to have the space & time to get deeply involved in the work.
I'm not sure how research in other fields works, but my point of departure and statement of intent changed completely by the time I defended my thesis. It is a huge process of discovery.
I don't have any admissions advice for you; entrance to an M.Arch program is mostly portfolio based.
Now that I'm working I miss school & would love to be back there. The access to resources is amazing.
Little Ethnic song:
I was involved in teaching a handful of undergraduate courses. I observed and heard it said by professors, that 4.0 students are often not the sharpest, just well adept at kissing dick, taking themselves too seriously and jumping through hoops. Bravo.
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no one is taking YEARS off I already knew what I wanted to do ahead of time full steam AHEAD!
...if you don't know what you want to do though yeah wait and work different stuff until you find what you like.
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I just got my BA in August,
You are joking, right?
Why?
I can't wait to hear this, and I bet what you say will be unpredictable, and totally surprising.
You know lots of incredible things are accomplished, lots of groundbreaking things are discovered and illuminated, and lots of beautiful and eternally significant things are published outside of academia, and by people who never even bothered with it in the first place...right?
And Daniel, not that your alleged experiences make much differene to me, but despite your comments, you realize that many 4.0s are also simply earned due to dedication, hard work, unique perspectives, etc....right?
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If two rounds of PhD applications were to bear no fruit, then I would settle for merely going after a masters...maybe.
And despite one's accomplishments and experience, this happens all of the time, because it all boils down to how clear one is on what they want to research in grad school, how clearly your intentions are expressed in your statement, and if this all fits in to what the department is looking for in the small group of PhD candidates they are choosing when one applies.
mandibleclaw, if you know as much as you claim to--then again, you are pursuing a masters in creative writing--then you know me being "special" has very little influence on me getting accepted, my proposed research is all that matters to these committees. That is why we write statements of academic purpose, and not personal statements--and if you are working on your masters and don't know the difference in the genres, than your department has my condolences. (By the way--you need school to write creatively? If you're not workshopping, I don't know what you're doing, unless you simply want a piece of paper to enable you to teach at the community college level...which is fine, it's all good).
I am applying to the American Studies program at NYU, so compared to your "creative writing," there must be a difference in funding, because terminal masters in American Studies get no funding.
And do you seriously think you know anything about my writing, based on how I write in some online forum? Seriously? Since we are talking about grad school, do you seriously think that because you consider me long-winded in here, that my--for instance--statement of purpose didn't fit into the 2 to 4 pages that was required?
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Sometimes I'm pretty sure a little ethnic song is fake as fuck.
Ron...old sport, you still mad about how completely fucking wrong you were a while back, about John Brown's (and his sons) substantial involvment in those treacherous "Bleeding Kansas Days"?
Even if I am "fake as fuck," at least my knowledge of basic American history is more extensive than yours. Fuck, to many people, John Brown is synonymous with Bleeding Kansas...silly :-*
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Why?
I can't wait to hear this, and I bet what you say will be unpredictable, and totally surprising.
You know lots of incredible things are accomplished, lots of groundbreaking things are discovered and illuminated, and lots of beautiful and eternally significant things are published outside of academia, and by people who never even bothered with it in the first place...right?
I'm just surprised that you haven't blessed this forum with links to your published work (which is full of incredible, groundbreaking, beautiful and eternally significant discoveries).
Or are you just speaking generally about other people who have actually accomplished something, while you yourself are just another idiot who thinks he's grabbed Kairos by the balls because he has a BA?
Bottom line: Links or gtfo.
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After undergrad I went overseas and did rural development for four years, then came back and got a masters in counseling, certified in K-12 school counseling. I didn't have any money or financial aid line up so I did it on about 30K worth of student loans, but worth every cent. I pay about $300 a month on them but it doesn't affect my quality of life and I love my job, which I couldn't do without an MA.
The only thing I would have done differently would be shop different types of school loans and find out which loans offer loan repayment to school counselors working in under served sites.
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Why?
I can't wait to hear this, and I bet what you say will be unpredictable, and totally surprising.
You know lots of incredible things are accomplished, lots of groundbreaking things are discovered and illuminated, and lots of beautiful and eternally significant things are published outside of academia, and by people who never even bothered with it in the first place...right?
I'm just surprised that you haven't blessed this forum with links to your published work (which is full of incredible, groundbreaking, beautiful and eternally significant discoveries).
Or are you just speaking generally about other people who have actually accomplished something, while you yourself are just another idiot who thinks he's grabbed Kairos by the balls because he has a BA?
Bottom line: Links or gtfo.
I'm speaking generally.
I've had a couple of small things published, but nothing major. One thing in Slap, about a decade ago--a Stereolab interview, which was fun to do, but no big thing. I hassled Laetitia about just signing on a major label, and if she enjoyed not having to load and unload her own equipment anymore.
And I'm not worried about accomplishing anything, never have been--"I have no practical ambition" of any kind. School and me are just this thing that happened because I have done nothing but live, skate, travel, and enjoy life for the past 20-some years of my life, and now that my body is slowing down, I am ready to do this collegiate thing. I've been self-educating myself for the past 15 to 20 years because I love exploration and writing.
Are you worried about accomplishing things? Because I think all of this really ultimately means, is that you will make a much more productive, and thus paradoxically consumptive consumer than me.
Like a BA is one general thing, and they are all equal to each other in the amount of effort that is behind them. If you are some desperate hipster hungry for a career and "accomplishment," than I'm sure that your BA means nothing to you, because in general it won't make you much money. Especially when they come with earned distinctions, I feel bad for you, that money and careers make a BA seem so trivial to you. The national average of attrition, is nearly 50%--nearly half of all people that go after a BA or BS, don't make it.
No matter what you say, anyone who actually gets a degree, and puts their heart and soul into it, knows what an accomplishment it is. And since I did it strictly for the sake of doing it, your attempts to trivialize it, are really fucking futile--so save yourself the wasted time.
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@crass, first let me say that it is very smart of you to try and go to graduate school in an area that has a low cost of living. The reason being that when you have to do your practicum and internship it will be like a full time job and you won't be able to work even if you wanted to unless it's the graveyard shift. Second, check to see if your letters of recommendation are coming from any places where you have interacted with families or couples. Even something as small such as DHS, a community center, a school, etc. looks really good to them. Lastly, just relax and read up on some of the theorists that do therapy to see how you like it. I recommend Salvador Minuchin, Carl Whitaker or Virginia Satir, all of them are amazing.
For most counseling programs, is there more research or practicum/internships? So far I have two professors for letters of recommendation, they are counselors. My third will be someone that I internship or volunteer with. Is there an easy place to get accept for an internship or volunteer service, like the DHS for example?
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@crass, first let me say that it is very smart of you to try and go to graduate school in an area that has a low cost of living. The reason being that when you have to do your practicum and internship it will be like a full time job and you won't be able to work even if you wanted to unless it's the graveyard shift. Second, check to see if your letters of recommendation are coming from any places where you have interacted with families or couples. Even something as small such as DHS, a community center, a school, etc. looks really good to them. Lastly, just relax and read up on some of the theorists that do therapy to see how you like it. I recommend Salvador Minuchin, Carl Whitaker or Virginia Satir, all of them are amazing.
Due to the masters degree being more applied oriented rather than research oriented (unless they offer an M.S.) 99% of the sites will be practicum/internship. The 1% that aren't are those that are researching new techniques for therapy, but you still interact with clients just not with the orientation that you may have learned to use. An easy place to volunteer at is shelters, crisis lines, and big brothers/big sisters. These places offer you the experience of interacting with people that are target populations, but they usually require a year commitment. Also Crass look into Americorps for writing off the hours you volunteer, if you do the minimum of I believe 300 hours they award you with a $1000 dollar grant to pay towards loans or schooling, plus they pay off any interested you accumulated while volunteering on top of that.
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I just got my BA in August,
You are joking, right?
Why?
I can't wait to hear this, and I bet what you say will be unpredictable, and totally surprising.
You know lots of incredible things are accomplished, lots of groundbreaking things are discovered and illuminated, and lots of beautiful and eternally significant things are published outside of academia, and by people who never even bothered with it in the first place...right?
And Daniel, not that your alleged experiences make much differene to me, but despite your comments, you realize that many 4.0s are also simply earned due to dedication, hard work, unique perspectives, etc....right?
for sure, but those aren't usually the guys in skateboard forums on the internet taking themselves too seriously, being verbose for no reason & bragging about their academic accomplishments with a BA hung over the mantle.
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Why?
I can't wait to hear this, and I bet what you say will be unpredictable, and totally surprising.
You know lots of incredible things are accomplished, lots of groundbreaking things are discovered and illuminated, and lots of beautiful and eternally significant things are published outside of academia, and by people who never even bothered with it in the first place...right?
I'm just surprised that you haven't blessed this forum with links to your published work (which is full of incredible, groundbreaking, beautiful and eternally significant discoveries).
Or are you just speaking generally about other people who have actually accomplished something, while you yourself are just another idiot who thinks he's grabbed Kairos by the balls because he has a BA?
Bottom line: Links or gtfo.
I'm speaking generally.
I've had a couple of small things published, but nothing major. One thing in Slap, about a decade ago--a Stereolab interview, which was fun to do, but no big thing. I hassled Laetitia about just signing on a major label, and if she enjoyed not having to load and unload her own equipment anymore.
And I'm not worried about accomplishing anything, never have been--"I have no practical ambition" of any kind. School and me are just this thing that happened because I have done nothing but live, skate, travel, and enjoy life for the past 20-some years of my life, and now that my body is slowing down, I am ready to do this collegiate thing. I've been self-educating myself for the past 15 to 20 years because I love exploration and writing.
Are you worried about accomplishing things? Because I think all of this really ultimately means, is that you will make a much more productive, and thus paradoxically consumptive consumer than me.
Like a BA is one general thing, and they are all equal to each other in the amount of effort that is behind them. If you are some desperate hipster hungry for a career and "accomplishment," than I'm sure that your BA means nothing to you, because in general it won't make you much money. Especially when they come with earned distinctions, I feel bad for you, that money and careers make a BA seem so trivial to you. The national average of attrition, is nearly 50%--nearly half of all people that go after a BA or BS, don't make it.
No matter what you say, anyone who actually gets a degree, and puts their heart and soul into it, knows what an accomplishment it is. And since I did it strictly for the sake of doing it, your attempts to trivialize it, are really fucking futile--so save yourself the wasted time.
So basically, you haven't done shit to warrant your self cheering orgies on here. Fake account.
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Jesus alittleethnicsong.
I can't believe I just read all three volumes of your pompous blustering and I still don't know what the fuck you are talking about.
Just get to the point and straight up tell us how truly brilliant and superior you are.
The suspense is killing me.
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OK--once again those of you who are fragile, have turned a thread into a thread about me, which means I'm bored, and will let you run with it.
We're talking about something that one's grades and distinctions make every bit of difference, so every time I have mentioned my own, they have been in the context of whatever point I was trying to illustrate.
Mouth, after a few exchanges with you, it does not surprise me that you're lost. Good luck with that.
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^ So much for other people being fragile, huh?
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rest in pieces
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he's just venturing deeper into the scholar gold mines and doesn't have time for this message board business, that's all.
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Studying for the GRE hahahahahah.
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thank god. we should send this thread to all the universities he's applying to, so they can all see what a stuck-up shit-turd he is and reject him. it'll be like when whoever worked for DLX got on the nick rix thread and said that no one would ever sponsor him now that everyone knew how lame he was.
do you even know who he is
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Mandible Claw, I know this question is the worst but... what do you intend to do with a masters in creative writing?
skate a lot, be poor, bang artsy chicks
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also, how's being in the same dept. as jonathan safran foer? his books are ill!
i'm working with him right now, he's a really nice guy, but is also just kind of your standard stuck-up vegan. i am way more stoked on working with zadie smith and e.l. fucking doctorow.
That shit is what makes grad school ill. Once you get in the grad division you really get to know the professors, not just see a bunch of their lectures.
Ethnic was awesomely regular.
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mandible claw is right about everything he said here. Fellowships are given to grad school students all the time. Little ethnic song wasn't offered any, but it was probably more about him than the schools. I've gotten my whole ride paid for and am actually making money at a job I have for my research, so in the end I am actually profiting off of my masters immediately.
Really? What should you do to get a fellowship? I don't even start college until fall, but I think that I want to go for a masters. I'm just concerned about the debt/payment of grad school. And damn, that's crazy mandible, I'm actually about to start reading "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close".
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mandible claw is right about everything he said here. Fellowships are given to grad school students all the time. Little ethnic song wasn't offered any, but it was probably more about him than the schools. I've gotten my whole ride paid for and am actually making money at a job I have for my research, so in the end I am actually profiting off of my masters immediately.
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I have been trying to catch up on this thread, but alittleethnicsong's insanely longwinded asinine posts have made it extremely difficult.
Going along with what Mandible and other have said, you absolutely can get money for a masters. I personally had a significant chunk of my masters tuition paid for. Not a full ride, but definitely enough for me to only have minimal debt now that I am out.
You absolutely should feel passionate about whatever you are to graduate school for, because it will definitely consume your life (for better or worse). I am extremely happy I got it and it has paid off, but there were times when it completely destroyed my life.
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Glad that dude is gone - he approached everybody with this "I'm more intelligent and knowledgeable than you" mindset, when in reality all he did was cloak poorly though out ideas in grandiloquence and verbosity.
You notice that every time he made an argument, he always name dropped an author of a book he read as opposed to citing an example in his life - that's because he lacked real world experience: he read radical, plutophobic, Marxist literature and formed extremist opinions that had no correlation to the real world. That's why he was stockpiling weapons for imminent class warfare... he was a nutcase.
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I'll miss that self-described nutty old hessian.
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mandible claw is right about everything he said here. Fellowships are given to grad school students all the time. Little ethnic song wasn't offered any, but it was probably more about him than the schools. I've gotten my whole ride paid for and am actually making money at a job I have for my research, so in the end I am actually profiting off of my masters immediately.
Really? What should you do to get a fellowship? I don't even start college until fall, but I think that I want to go for a masters. I'm just concerned about the debt/payment of grad school. And damn, that's crazy mandible, I'm actually about to start reading "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close".
Sometimes you can apply for it, other times you can talk to the school after you are accepted. The best time is before you commit. A lot of times it depends on the program, sometimes they have enough that they will just offer it to you, and pretty much everybody. Other times, there isn't much and almost nobody gets it, it really depends on the program and its endowment.
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OK--once again those of you who are fragile, have turned a thread into a thread about me, which means I'm bored, and will let you run with it.
We're talking about something that one's grades and distinctions make every bit of difference, so every time I have mentioned my own, they have been in the context of whatever point I was trying to illustrate.
Mouth, after a few exchanges with you, it does not surprise me that you're lost. Good luck with that.
Well, that was easy enough.
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You know there's a lot of Meth in Pocatello, right? I know a few people that went to ISU. You from Idaho or just like their grad program?
I lived in an area with a lot of drugs, I'll be alright. How did they like ISU? Naw, I was born in California...I like their program for many reasons.
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Ok. I'm from Idaho and now going to school in Cali. I don't really them them all that well, one got in on a football scholarship, the other couldn't afford the second year. I don't know, most of my friends went to Boise state instead so I don't know a lot about ISU.
My other friend deferred from ISU and now I think he wants to go to Northern Arizona U.
sorry I don't know a ton about it. I know their swimming pool isn't that nice. I guess it could be nice that two interstates go through there.
You're not one of the Nuclear Engineers are you? my friend who deferred wanted to study that. If I wanted to stay in Idaho I probably would have tried to do that at first, too.
When deciding between schools one should always consider the condition of the swimming pool.
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Ok. I'm from Idaho and now going to school in Cali. I don't really them them all that well, one got in on a football scholarship, the other couldn't afford the second year. I don't know, most of my friends went to Boise state instead so I don't know a lot about ISU.
My other friend deferred from ISU and now I think he wants to go to Northern Arizona U.
sorry I don't know a ton about it. I know their swimming pool isn't that nice. I guess it could be nice that two interstates go through there.
You're not one of the Nuclear Engineers are you? my friend who deferred wanted to study that. If I wanted to stay in Idaho I probably would have tried to do that at first, too.
When deciding between schools one should always consider the condition of the swimming pool.
hahahaha I remember my roommate saying he was bummed there wasn't a jacuzzi in the apartments on campus, I told him he is out of his fucking mind if he thinks that a college water pool would be remotely okay to go in. Makes me shudder just thinking about it
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Now I am about to write my "statement of purpose/intent" thing. Up until recently, I feel school has tried to get me to write with great verbosity and in great complexity. Professional writing is the complete opposite of that. Do I write straight and to the point for the statement of purpose? I am guessing they will garner info about my writing abilities from the GRE score.
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Now I am about to write my "statement of purpose/intent" thing. Up until recently, I feel school has tried to get me to write with great verbosity and in great complexity. Professional writing is the complete opposite of that. Do I write straight and to the point for the statement of purpose? I am guessing they will garner info about my writing abilities from the GRE score.
Be direct and personal - don't try to bullshit. Remember, you're speaking to another human being, and most people will appreciate honesty. Try to tell a story about yourself.
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Now I am about to write my "statement of purpose/intent" thing. Up until recently, I feel school has tried to get me to write with great verbosity and in great complexity. Professional writing is the complete opposite of that. Do I write straight and to the point for the statement of purpose? I am guessing they will garner info about my writing abilities from the GRE score.
Brevity is key.
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Pugmaster what's your area of study? Definitely keep it brief but I think whatever field you're going for will determine how personal and reflective it is vs. nuts and bolts down to earth.
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Pugmaster what's your area of study? Definitely keep it brief but I think whatever field you're going for will determine how personal and reflective it is vs. nuts and bolts down to earth.
Communication disorders, and more specifically, speech and language pathology
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That's definitely a field that'd lend itself to a little personal reflection. If I were you I'd reflect on your personal interests, experiences, ability, and values that make SLP a good fit for you. Show some self awareness and let your program know it's a thought-out area of focus.
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thanks again everyone! Its nice to know that I can come to SLAP not only for genitalia laden photographs and to read about highly questionable sexual endeavors, but for sound academic advice as well.
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just tell them your rep is positive on SLAP
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The advice here is solid. The ideas and rationales in your response are far more important than the way in which they are expressed.
And as Orwell and subsequently, the Economist style guide suggest, 'Never use a long word, when a short word will do.'
Besides, you'll just end up sounding like a pompous ass.
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I'm studying psychology, this week I haven't showed up in class yet. I'm doing drugs, chilling in the bar drinking, it's like I have shit to do but I don't take it seriously, and it's all good. Life worth living, if you worry you miss half of the spectrum of joy of college. And all that without picking up my skateboard, having to re-learn fs feebles on rails is a risk and I deal with it
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The ideas and rationales in your response are far more important than the way in which they are expressed.
I don't know man, you're making that shit sound mutually exclusive. Really you need to have good ideas and organize/express it well.
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haha maybe I will apply to some random schools just for fun and write my statement using only five letter words or less, in a sentence of a maximum of 4 words. it might fly.
"I like your skool. Skool is good. I feel happy, yes. I know good stuff."
But yeah you're right I will tone it down so its not a novel and so I don't end up sounding like mike tyson.
haha you better believe I am listing my SLAP rep under the "achievement" category on the application.
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I guess my point was it's best not to use words like 'antidisestablishmentarianism' unless you have good reason to. I'd imagine the people reviewing these things see hundreds of superfluous applications that sound intelligent on the surface, but lack any real substance. To make an impact, it's best to focus on having a genuine idea or purpose and express it in simple terms.
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I observed and heard it said by professors, that 4.0 students are often not the sharpest, just well adept at kissing dick, taking themselves too seriously and jumping through hoops. Bravo.
I agree. I don't believe a person's GPA is correlated to their intelligence.
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I guess my point was it's best not to use words like 'antidisestablishmentarianism' unless you have good reason to. I'd imagine the people reviewing these things see hundreds of superfluous applications that sound intelligent on the surface, but lack any real substance. To make an impact, it's best to focus on having a genuine idea or purpose and express it in simple terms.
^ !
Post your draft & we'll give it a look over.
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Definitely. I have a meeting with one of my professors tomorrow and finals on monday and tuesday. After that I will for sure.
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When I did my statement of purpose, I wrote about what I want to research. That way, it proves to the people in my department that I am capable of creating new problems and questions and that I will be able to contribute something to their body of research and the department itself.
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i kind of screwed the pooch in my last year of school, but i've been working in my field for a couple years. i want to get a MFA in creative writing so i can maybe teach one day, and also have a body of work that I'm committed to finish by a certain date, I just don't know how realistic it would be to think I could even be accepted in an MFA program with less than a 3.5 GPA
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i kind of screwed the pooch in my last year of school, but i've been working in my field for a couple years. i want to get a MFA in creative writing so i can maybe teach one day, and also have a body of work that I'm committed to finish by a certain date, I just don't know how realistic it would be to think I could even be accepted in an MFA program with less than a 3.5 GPA
jack kerouac school of disembodied poetics at Naropa, in Boulder.... maybe
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Gave my thesis presentation last night. I'm done. Fuck yeah.
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Congrats, what was your thesis on?
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Thanks man. In just a month I'll be done teaching for the year and its going to be FUCKING AMAZING. My thesis was "Creating an activist community of learners to empower students." I did a research based unit where I had students design and carry out a community service project as a class. The kids decided to renovate a local park, raised the money, figured out how much paint and plants they needed and went and painted over a wall that was covered in graffiti and neither the city nor the business that owned the wall would cover, and planted a bunch of plants in an unused garden. The goal was that supporting them in carrying out something like that would help them understand what they could likely do without me. It was based on a model inspired by the freedom schools.
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^^^Cool stuff. I think project based learning like your park rehab is really valuable for kids.
I just wrote/received a grant to start doing vegetable garden and fruit tree installations in the backyards of low-income families. I'll work with student teams who will do the site design installation work, and we'll provide training for the family, tools, and plants. Then we'll commit to a year of maintenance and consultation.
I think the program has legs because it's a Mexican barrio and it's a step back culturally to what was happening there 40 or 50 years ago. A lot of grandparents still live with their kids, and were of a generation that grew a lot of it's own food.
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Well, I got accepted to University of Kansas so far. They have a program where I can get a stipend if I decide to work out there for 2 years after graduation.
Do stipends fuck up eligibility for financial aide?
I am concerned about being a slave for 2 years just to have guaranteed cash.... anyone have experience with this stuff or apprenticeships or whatever?
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Well, I got accepted to University of Kansas so far. They have a program where I can get a stipend if I decide to work out there for 2 years after graduation.
Do stipends fuck up eligibility for financial aide?
I am concerned about being a slave for 2 years just to have guaranteed cash.... anyone have experience with this stuff or apprenticeships or whatever?
what's this, a TA gig? take it and run with it.
i'm working hard on some research that will lead me into such a situation. the best thing about finishing undergrad a little later that i've been able to become friends with some professors who back me up and endlessly encourage me to take advantage of even the smallest opportunities. It's been been empowering. I enjoy grant money.. hahah
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Well, I got accepted to University of Kansas so far. They have a program where I can get a stipend if I decide to work out there for 2 years after graduation.
Do stipends fuck up eligibility for financial aide?
I am concerned about being a slave for 2 years just to have guaranteed cash.... anyone have experience with this stuff or apprenticeships or whatever?
Congrats on the acceptance.
Stipends will lessen the amount of financial aid you are able to take out, they figure it is money they don't have to help you out on. Tough decision on staying in Kansas 2 extra years, or you think of it as having a job guaranteed for 2 years after graduation.
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thats the thing, speech pathology jobs are in high demand all over the nation. The allure to me, is having a job before I even move out there. I plan on going for the PhD after the master's so I am thinking that I can use up those two years before i'm even really "done" yadadamean?
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Friend is a speech pathologist at a local school. She gets beat up by gigantic kids with developmental problems all the time, goes home, and still comes back to work the next morning. Everything from kids biting and scratching her for no reason, to kids that don't know their own strength, just going nuts on her. I have no fucking clue who she does it. One of the gnarlier jobs I've heard of. Must be one hell of a pay of when you can connect with a kid and break new ground for them.
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Thats what is so sick about it. Being able to give someone a voice (as cliche as it sounds), is pretty heavy. The behavioral problems are not exactly fun to deal with, but when you can help a person express themselves it can diminish the frequency and intensity of them. I wanted to be a behavioral therapist but I knew that in order to be effective I would have to understand the communication disorder itself. In addition to the rewarding nature of the profession and creativity it allows you to use, it does pay decently. LAUSD starts off at 60k I know, and then you get increases with the more experience you have.
One really gnarly professor that is an international authority on a certain topic at my school (specific language impairment) makes like 250k. Plus benefits and all that no matter where you work. If anyone is interested I highly recommend checking out speech pathology as a career. It is a "recession" proof type of thing and the most job growth is estimated to be working with older adults (aging baby boomers having strokes/ traumatic brain injuries, Etc) but they are ALWAYS looking for people in the schools.
For whatever reason, there are few men in the field. 95-98% of every class is female.
If you do go down the speech path route, make sure you don't try to start dickin' em all down because once you hook up with 1 then word travels like wildfire and might screw you in the long run. At least wait till AFTER graduation.
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btw I DID end up taking the stipend program. Thanks again SLAP PALS for all your insight throughout this process.
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You can make 300k a year in the oil fields with a high school education and have 4 months off a year to blow on whores, travel, and whatever else you like...good luck with your creative writing MFA.
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Yeah dude. Good luck being happy doing what you enjoy doing for work. Fucking dweeb.
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Yeah dude. Good luck being happy doing what you enjoy doing for work. Fucking dweeb.
Please don't feed the troll.
btw I DID end up taking the stipend program. Thanks again SLAP PALS for all your insight throughout this process.
Pugmaster, congrats on the decision and on having such a strongly developed purpose, I envy that greatly. I hope Kansas doesn't suck too much!
Has anyone had the experience of not being able to choose a field of graduate study because virtually everything seems interesting in the right context, then somehow making a decision despite your indecisiveness?
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Yeah dude. Good luck being happy doing what you enjoy doing for work. Fucking dweeb.
That's more cliched than the idea of doing something "just for the money"
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(http://freakoutnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Orly1.jpg?5f37dd)
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You can make 300k a year in the oil fields with a high school education and have 4 months off a year to blow on whores, travel, and whatever else you like...good luck with your creative writing MFA.
I was not trying to say I will be making anywhere near 250k, I included the pay range because I know people usually ask about that. Its like assuming you are going to be a millionaire pro skateboarder simply because of P-rod's well endowed checks. To be honest I am looking forward to making anything above 20k. Goodbye spaghetti, top ramen, and oatmeal! On second thought, i'll keep the ramen.
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Pug- congrats on getting it done!
I'm in a situation similar to where you were when starting this thread. I finished my BA in English this July and am looking at grad programs for next year. I've got a solid GPA, a CV with grants, research, and presentations, and some professors who are going to write bang up rec letters. Part of me feels that getting into a program is on lock, as long as I do well with the statement of purpose, but at the same time I'm bugging out over assistant/fellowships.
I gave a paper at one school in April and it's where I really hope to get into, but otherwise, I'm not so sure of where I would like to go.
What do you guys think about applying to bigger v. smaller schools as far as acceptance, money, place, faculty, etc?
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i kind of screwed the pooch in my last year of school, but i've been working in my field for a couple years. i want to get a MFA in creative writing so i can maybe teach one day, and also have a body of work that I'm committed to finish by a certain date, I just don't know how realistic it would be to think I could even be accepted in an MFA program with less than a 3.5 GPA
You've got a chanve bro. I know folks who have gotten into top tier schools with under 3.5 in fields like econ and law. Do you have to take the GRE for MFA or is it completely different? Just don't give up if thats your thing man.
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Pug- congrats on getting it done!
I'm in a situation similar to where you were when starting this thread. I finished my BA in English this July and am looking at grad programs for next year. I've got a solid GPA, a CV with grants, research, and presentations, and some professors who are going to write bang up rec letters. Part of me feels that getting into a program is on lock, as long as I do well with the statement of purpose, but at the same time I'm bugging out over assistant/fellowships.
I gave a paper at one school in April and it's where I really hope to get into, but otherwise, I'm not so sure of where I would like to go.
What do you guys think about applying to bigger v. smaller schools as far as acceptance, money, place, faculty, etc?
I would try to find information on how different programs rank within your discipline. Also, research research. What I mean by that is, look at the research that faculty members of different departments have done (or more importantly) are currently doing. This can be found under the "faculty" section of the departments website. When you find some schools that look interesting, email the professors and ask them (if you didn't already find an answer) your questions. I'd keep it concise as possible but they usually respond within a day or two.
Thanks btw!
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bumping this thread cause i got accepted into a top program for optics and am psyched to change gears as far as careers go, starting in the fall
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anyone know much about the University of New Orleans? I've been in contact with the director of the English MA and he's encouraging me to head that way. It seems that I qualify for a grant that will give me instate rates around 5800/year.
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Why? Because it was fun? Or was your degree a masters in skateboard journalism? Unless yo plan on going into a high paying, expanding field Grad school just seems like a huge gamble to me - that is unless you have enough money to pay for it without taking out student loans.
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Tell em' brink
I have some related questions, is the deferment process of student loans following graduation difficult?
Also, how did your dept evaluate you? We have grades, but now we also have a portfolio thing that we are supposed to add "artifacts" to and present on at certain times throughout the second year.
Finally, do you have any particular tips that you wish someone would have told you at the outset of your grad school experience?
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Thanks brink,
I had no intentions of going to college until I was I was about 21 and I agree, when you are interested in the material it makes all the difference in the world.
I was unaware about your responses to those specific questions in other interviews, I'll have to check them out.
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Why? Because it was fun? Or was your degree a masters in skateboard journalism? Unless yo plan on going into a high paying, expanding field Grad school just seems like a huge gamble to me - that is unless you have enough money to pay for it without taking out student loans.
It was fun actually. And I learned a lot. It was a huge turning point in my life where I shifted from dreading school to enjoying it and learning honing skills and discovering what I loved doing ... I gained a lot of confidence there too.
Coincidentally, I had a professor who got me my first publishing job as well, which was an amazing foot in the door.
What I learned there and in grad school are skills that apply to what I do every day in my career.
My Master's is not in "skateboarding journalism ... it's in English (Writing concentration), as opposed to Literature. I went to a smaller university in NJ. Nothing extravagant. Wasn't too much money. The school doesnt mater, its what you do with what you learn that does.
Any money you spend will come back to you 10 fold if you handle it right. If you view grad school as a risk or are skeptical, then you probably won't go into it with the right attitude and perhaps it wouldn't work for you. That part is entirely up to you. You determine your own level of success and the success of your degree.
Could it happen without a master's ... sure. But for many reasons, as I said before, it was one of the best things I ever did.
As for "risk" ... well, I'm sure you are taking risks daily. We all are. And sometimes risk is a huge part of success, growth, evolution ...
If I didn't go to grad school I'd never be where I am now. No way.
did you get an MA with a writing concentration or the MFA? I've debated the MFA process for a while, I've got some poetry published, but I'm leaning toward the MA with a focus in literature. When I went back to school as an undergrad at 25 a new world of working with literature was opened, and that is, using literature and complimentary primary source documents as, as is the subject of Elizabeth Ammons book Brave New Words: How Literature can Save the Planet,"an activist teaching tool as opposed to traditional literary criticism. I'm psyched.
Tell em' brink
I have some related questions, is the deferment process of student loans following graduation difficult?
Also, how did your dept evaluate you? We have grades, but now we also have a portfolio thing that we are supposed to add "artifacts" to and present on at certain times throughout the second year.
Finally, do you have any particular tips that you wish someone would have told you at the outset of your grad school experience?
Depending on what kind of loans you've got, there's no reason for a deferment. If they're Fed loans anyways, it's possible to get linked into an income based repayment plan where you will pay according to how much dough you make over the next 20 years. If you make very little you can pay NOTHING and it will count toward a payment. I think that works for up to 3 years. Then there's another sweet deal, well as sweet as US loan repayment can be, concerning the type of work that you do. If working for a non-profit or in public service (teaching school, university, comm college, police...) you may qualify for the 10 year repayment/loan forgiveness program. In this program, if you make 10 years of payments, your remaining debt will be forgiven. This plan can be coupled with the income based repayment plan, and feasibly, you will pay far less on your loans than you owe. Call the lender too, the service techs are much easier to work with than the website.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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!
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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.
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.
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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)).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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...
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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.
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?
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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.
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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.
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Tech school by deerhunter is a good one
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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!
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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!
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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?)?
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.
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^^^
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
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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.
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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.
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Just finished my last lecture for my M.S. in Data Science.
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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.
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...
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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?
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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?
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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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.....
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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.
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.
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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.
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?
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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.
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.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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."
What was ur BS in and what do you do now? EE is sick af. Wish i'd done EE with a minor in Chemistry instead of what i ended up doing. I was considering getting an MS in EE with a specialization in power systems but I'm not sure if i wanna take out loans and go for it.
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So I'm going to follow up about my last semester in my grad program. It was horrible and honestly soured my last experiences with the program of my alma mater. It's a wild ass whopper so get ready. So I got an internship with a former professor at a nonprofit where they were vp. I went with the position bc my previous internship supervisor was arrested on child molestation charges and was also a former professor of mine not to mention the overall actual experience of working with them just wasn't that fulfilling bc COVID restrictions had actually got in the way of a lot of hands on opportunities. I snagged this new spot because I had a good rapport with the professor and I wanted to get familiar with the workings of nonprofits and budgeting within them. It started off great and I was working with their assistant and learning a lot. The assistant had to take a medical leave for a couple months due to surgery so they tried to show as much as they could within the month or so that I had with them showing me the ropes. The internship initially was unpaid but they gave a month long contract to pay me and once that expired they gave me another one. Everything was cool and I had gotten a lot of what I as looking for out of the experience so it was dope. The last 3 weeks start closing in and I gave me supervisor my mid term eval to fill out and I got shredded. Some harsh criticism, exaggerations and a couple straight up lies. I was pretty speechless when I read it and had to get an answer. Me and the supervisor were going to take a trip in a few days just the two of us and I figured that'd be a good time to ask them what went into the grading and what I can do to change it within the time left. We get on the road to head back to town and I brought it up. I just wanted to know what situations and behaviors landed me in this position because I was fucked (I got a scraping 80% B but that's honestly like a C/D in grad school) and I needed to know what NOT to do and also show that I wanted to be better and get help. She goes into a tirade almost immediately doubling down on the bullshit and it's all trash. She began pretty much insulting my intelligence and I had to stop this shit show because she was getting disrespectful and said although I was familiar with terminology and verbiage used in the field but didn't know what it meant or really how to apply it and I was done letting her bullshit me any further. I told her that if competently using professional terms in the field didn't display and understand then wtf is your definition of understanding to begin with? I blew up that whole argument and realized what the deal was. I just lost all respect for her knowledge or role as a teacher at that point because she wasn't teaching at all. It was just trying to use me as a punching bag for whatever she had going on in that whacky ass mind of hers and up until this point like I said we were all good. We had one hour weekly one on one meetings and there was never any issues of my performance brought up whatsoever and plus why tf would make the conscious decision to pay me if i wasn't fulfilling my role as an intern/employee??? This was a 4 hour car ride and we addressed this in the first 45 minutes of driving so I let her go off and responded and then once I realized she was full of shit I just didn't say anything and let her ramble because it didn't mean anything since it was founded on a warped perception of what was actually happening. (more to follow on this story...)
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So after I stop engaging with what she's spouting we get about 3 hours into the drive and she starts trying to hold casual conversation with me and I'm pretty much just floored this person has the audacity to talk this much shit to my face and then ask "Are you mad?" and have small talk. Shit was crazy and so was this bitch. We get back to town. I realize I need to walk on severe egg shells for the next couple weeks so I can not blow this semester up with getting an unwarranted failing grade from somebody that I now know is unstable. Within those last weeks, I attended my first and only quarterly staff meeting where all the employees come and have a brunch while the unit directors talk about their units and shit. It's apart of their office culture that new hires say a short intro bio and display a talent in front of everybody. I wrote a quick, funny 5 sentence bio about being passionate about sushi and hot wings and did the robot and everybody was eating that shit up. It was cool and even the CEO (my boss's boss) was vibing with me. We wrap the meeting up and go back to the office and the CEO comes to my little office one on one and says I should take a job with the company because there was an open position. He credited me with being the only reason why my supervisor made it through the last couple months with the normal assistant being gone and having to step up with little to no training. This dude knew I was worth my salt and just reaffirmed that I knew this other bitch was tripping. I was extremely flattered and told him I had to move back home to be with my family once I finished my program and he understood. The job was pretty decent but even then I wouldn't want to be in such a toxic space near this fucking head case. I tiptoed the following couple weeks and got the same scraping by bullshit 80% B (WHILE NEVER HAVING LOWER THAN AN A IN ANY PREVIOUS INTERNSHIP EVER) and graduated. Here is where shit starts to get real spicy...
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I am owed one final paycheck and I provide the mailing address for it. I reach out with one final email asking if it was on the way and was told it should be mailed out in a couple days. The very next day I get another email saying that I was not going to be paid anymore because there was a stack of papers I did not hole punch and that it was a summation of my work this entire semester. I am pretty fucking blowed because this bitch could just send me my money that I had already worked for and earned and leave me TF alone bc i wanted nothing more to do with these people solely off of my experience with my supervisor during the internship. I'm not sure how to handle this because I had no money coming in since I hadnt found work yet and it was a pretty decent size check that I had made plans with to take a trip I had already booked and not to mention this was going to float me until I found some work. I know this is illegal and my mind was just exploding with how this devil woman won't take her claws out of me. I lost full respect for her as a person. Just straight trash. a bad human being period. So i write a formal email explaining how i had already worked for this money, the time sheets and what not had already been submitted, i was never terminated and i was also passed as a student so refusing to pay me under the given justification was insufficient so in other words give me my fucking money. I CCd this bitchs boss to let him know wtf was up because this was a private conversation between me and my supervisor but she needed to get a leash put on her rabid ass. she responds with a conversation will be had with her boss and theyll get back to me with a decision. I'm asking my parents, my friends, my friend that just graduated law school and how i can fight this. nobody can really provide a real answer aside from get a lawyer but i reach out to my mentor that is also very experienced in my field and knows this shit inside and out. she tells me that im under the protection of the school because they brokered the internship and im a student before anything else so they need to get involved. I wanted to contact my department head about this being a rocky road near the end of the semester but never got a chance to have a one on one convo but i had reached out via email a little before this shit escalated into illegal territory and never heard back. I had a classmate/friend that worked in my programs department as well that knew what was happening as these things developed because i was filling them in. I told her that this supervisor was batshit crazy and out here wilding. I hear from her the supervisor in question is in the department heads office shitting on me and spinning a revisionist narrative that Im just the worst student ever and fucking her up by involving her boss and just lying even more. My plug urges me to reach out to the department head and clear the air so i send ANOTHER email and finally get hit back one day 2 weeks later. By the time this phone call comes I actually got the check in the mail one day but after I got this womans boss involved. I didnt hear any further correspondence on what the final decision would be because the work email i was using was coincidentally deactivated the day after I involved her boss and I had no further way to get any more emails on that thread because I no further had access to it. This bitch so dirty bro
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The day comes that I finally hear from my department head and she has an apathetic tone on the phone. This is somebody that I've known for several years, been in class with, developed a relationship with, and had a good rapport with as well. She says she knows why I'm calling and I just know this isn't going to go well. I give my side which is MUCH closer to the truth and she couldnt fucking care less by this point. Shed already appointed me as the one in the wrong during this situation. She blamed me for not speaking up sooner despite, when things started to go sideways I was in too deep and a couple weeks out from graduation and although it was a toxic environment, it wasnt unbearable and i was almost out the door. If i say something then whats gonna happen? I have to find a new internship 2 weeks from graduation? I dont get an opportunity to get paid since this was my only income at the time? there was no real option aside from stick the shit out and tread lightly. Since my supervisor had an issue with me shouldnt she be in as much communication as well??? I got thrown under the bus because i wasnt a factor anymore. i was no longer a student and so it was better to make me the scapegoat versus hold a decade or whatever long employee in question and hold them accountable. I told her the check showed up and i fulfilled what was required to earn that money being hours and services while not getting fired and also passing as a student and it made no difference to her. she said they werent going to be paying students at internships anymore and credited me with that blame. at this point there was nothing left to say since i had my money, my degree and left town. i was just out the picture and had a gross feeling of complete betrayal by everybody i had really respected. its a shitty story but i just learned that this is the real world and your bosses can be pieces of trash. try not to rely on your resources because if they somehow turn on you then youve gotta recover from that. really shitty way to have to end my time there but we on to better things. working on a couple potential job positions and waiting on the final calls next week to finally start the career. its gonna be fine.
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I don’t know why I’m in this thread, but that’s a wild story Kanye. I hate hearing stories like that, where there is no redemption for you in the end. Hopefully karma has some way to sort it out for you, but I’m not sure I’m a big believer in that. Good on you for keeping your emotions in check and riding it out. I couldn’t do that.
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I don’t know why I’m in this thread, but that’s a wild story Kanye. I hate hearing stories like that, where there is no redemption for you in the end. Hopefully karma has some way to sort it out for you, but I’m not sure I’m a big believer in that. Good on you for keeping your emotions in check and riding it out. I couldn’t do that.
I appreciate it. This person that went to war with me is in a powerful position at an 8 figure non profit organization with no remorse for what they did. The supervisor before them was a pedophile that was working on diversion programs for troubled youth. Both of these individuals were social workers. Both of them are responsible for contributing to the progression of society. Both were predators in their roles. Ugly exists where you can least expect it. That shit is scary.
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Me and the supervisor were going to take a trip in a few days just the two of us
What’s the deal with this part?
Seems wildly unprofessional for both of you to be taking a road trip together like that.
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Me and the supervisor were going to take a trip in a few days just the two of us
Seems wildly unprofessional for both of you to be taking a road trip together like that.
So this internship was at a grantor that funded smaller nonprofit programs. We took a trip to go in person to see one of these programs in a town 4 hours away. It was basically a mock site visit which they actually do from time to time but those last several days while this was just a pop up one day thing. Got a rental car, drove down, did the visit for an hour, got to the hotel, left the next morning.
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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."
What was ur BS in and what do you do now? EE is sick af. Wish i'd done EE with a minor in Chemistry instead of what i ended up doing. I was considering getting an MS in EE with a specialization in power systems but I'm not sure if i wanna take out loans and go for it.
I did my BA in Economics. I ended up working for one of the big consulting firms and got exposed to a lot of tech. Got a few certifications and was lucky to have a good friend who wanted to do the same program. My company had a great realationship with the state University system, so they basically paid for two classes (Six credits) a semester. It was tough. I had to go to class twice a week, and it was about 20 minutes away in DC traffic. Working all day then going to class from 7:00pm - 9:50pm was not that fun, but I learned a lot and it was worth it.
Loans are tough. I went to a state school (GMU). I looked at some of the private schools around DC (Georgetown, GW, American, etc.) They are pricey. It really depends on what you want to do.
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Me and the supervisor were going to take a trip in a few days just the two of us
Seems wildly unprofessional for both of you to be taking a road trip together like that.
So this internship was at a grantor that funded smaller nonprofit programs. We took a trip to go in person to see one of these programs in a town 4 hours away. It was basically a mock site visit which they actually do from time to time but those last several days while this was just a pop up one day thing. Got a rental car, drove down, did the visit for an hour, got to the hotel, left the next morning.
Oh, that makes some sense. Two hotel rooms? Or one to cut down on expenses?
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Me and the supervisor were going to take a trip in a few days just the two of us
Seems wildly unprofessional for both of you to be taking a road trip together like that.
So this internship was at a grantor that funded smaller nonprofit programs. We took a trip to go in person to see one of these programs in a town 4 hours away. It was basically a mock site visit which they actually do from time to time but those last several days while this was just a pop up one day thing. Got a rental car, drove down, did the visit for an hour, got to the hotel, left the next morning.
Lol it was separate rooms.
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yeeeehaw for grad school.
after taking last year off, I'm 8 weeks into my last year.
Still on the digital/zoom/distance learning platform even though I live 15 minutes up the road. I thought I wouldn't like it, but to be real, I very much prefer not having to leave the house and all that than spending 2 days, 8am-8pm, on campus, wearing a mask with people I probably don't want to hang out with and trying to get work done in hallways and shit.
I'm fortunate that my job is my internship, but it also means that while I've got full time class 2days, I've got work the other 3 days. At least on the weekend, I can go into my space at work and use it in lieu of a library for writing papers and doing research (class is one thing, y'all know that writing papers never goes well at home...)
It's a fairly intensive thing going on this year- 5 standard classes plus two additional 90 minute half seminars per week and a monthly 3 hour collaborative seminar for a grant I was awarded. Developing two very different mindfulness based SEL curricula, while implementing it real time and also collecting data.
It's super busy but I'm stoked because it's got me on the road to sustaining myself by a really higher level of work. It feels good to have the gears turning again
For anyone wanting to try grad school or going back to school, it's hard at first but it gets easier. It'll be 19 years from the time I ended high school til the time I earned a Masters. :o
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yeeeehaw for grad school.
after taking last year off, I'm 8 weeks into my last year.
Still on the digital/zoom/distance learning platform even though I live 15 minutes up the road. I thought I wouldn't like it, but to be real, I very much prefer not having to leave the house and all that than spending 2 days, 8am-8pm, on campus, wearing a mask with people I probably don't want to hang out with and trying to get work done in hallways and shit.
I'm fortunate that my job is my internship, but it also means that while I've got full time class 2days, I've got work the other 3 days. At least on the weekend, I can go into my space at work and use it in lieu of a library for writing papers and doing research (class is one thing, y'all know that writing papers never goes well at home...)
It's a fairly intensive thing going on this year- 5 standard classes plus two additional 90 minute half seminars per week and a monthly 3 hour collaborative seminar for a grant I was awarded. Developing two very different mindfulness based SEL curricula, while implementing it real time and also collecting data.
It's super busy but I'm stoked because it's got me on the road to sustaining myself by a really higher level of work. It feels good to have the gears turning again
For anyone wanting to try grad school or going back to school, it's hard at first but it gets easier. It'll be 19 years from the time I ended high school til the time I earned a Masters. :o
Props! Hella dope you're pursuing the path of learning. My homegirl from high school is on track to polish off her PhD in the next year just short of the age of 48. Keep it up!