The College Thread

[1LurkerChick9]

I thing I'm gonna transfer to a cheaper university. I'm tired of paying this expensive ass PWI tuition

 

[Maxine Shaw]

AA in Teaching
BA in University Studies
MS in Educational Technology
I start my second master's in library science at the end of the month.

Bout to take my first graduate class

Hope I don't fukk this up.

You'll be fine. Grad school is soooo much better than undergrad.

 

[End Cruelty]

i know financial aid can be a bytch for all parties involved but this is absurd. keep punishing the poor and see where that gets you, america. I almost regretted deciding to go back to school this morning. I can't take it personally, though. this verification process is pretty damn insulting, though. I had to write a letter about how I was virtually homeless, among other things. How hard is it to believe that someone is poor in 2014? I did my taxes! What more verification do you need? Not even going to touch on how they lost my form and now want to delay the funds. I'm just going to point my finger at the dikkheads before me.

Maybe I just need to transfer. I'm already so close to Cali so I might have to make that move despite the cost of living. Still, 3gs a semester is very appealing for someone in my position.

school spirit. rah!

 

[AquaCityBoy]

You'll be fine. Grad school is soooo much better than undergrad.

Really? How so?

i know financial aid can be a bytch for all parties involved but this is absurd. keep punishing the poor and see where that gets you, america. I almost regretted deciding to go back to school this morning. I can't take it personally, though. this verification process is pretty damn insulting, though. I had to right a letter about how I was virtually homeless among other things. How hard is it to believe that someone is poor in 2014? I did my taxes! What more verification do you need? Not even going to touch on how they lost my form and now want to delay the funds. I'm just going to point my finger at the dikkheads before me.

Maybe I just need to transfer. I'm already so close to Cali so I might have to make that move despite the cost of living. Still, 3gs a semester is very appealing for someone in my position.

school spirit. rah!

Are you paying out-of-state tuition?

 

[End Cruelty]

Really? How so?



Are you paying out-of-state tuition?

No, thank goodness. Then it'd be another 7k per semester. The price and location of the school is damn near perfect for me, too.

 

[Maxine Shaw]

Really? How so?

Because it's not a hodgepodge of useless mandatory shyt like undergrad. You're not taking government classes unless you're law/polisci/history, you know? The only mandatory class we all had to take at my school was HIED 595 (Research Methodologies). Of all the most useless fukking shyt in the world...

A warning, though: Cs are a no-go in grad school. My school will let you have one - I think we can have up to three, but only one in your major...some shyt like that. Some don't let you have any. Your *minimum* GPA coming out has to be a 3.0. So be sure it's what you want to do. I think it's worth it.

 

[ZEB WALTON]

I got an electrical engineering degree in ny, currently making 60k which isn't close to enough... im thinking of trying to become a doctor but if eel im too old and the debt is too much to take but I do not enjoy this work. I rather help people and be my own man.

 

[wheywhey]

I got an electrical engineering degree in ny, currently making 60k which isn't close to enough... im thinking of trying to become a doctor but if eel im too old and the debt is too much to take but I do not enjoy this work. I rather help people and be my own man.

Eighty percent of health problems would go away if people would control what goes in their bodies. Type II diabetes can be cured in a week. Doctors mainly keep people limping along with chronic conditions. If you accept insurance/work for an employer you will never be your own man. There are doctors that don't accept insurance like plastic surgeons and psychiatrists. These concierge practitioners manage to treat poor patients without accepting insurance: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-11-29/is-concierge-medicine-the-future-of-health-care

You'll need to complete your prerequisite courses and do volunteer work. If you apply to medical school next year, you would have to wait until Fall 2016 to start. Four years medical school plus at least three years residency. Nine years and you will definitely not be better off financially than you are now.

If for some reason your GPA or MCAT is a bit low (which I doubt), consider becoming a doctor of osteopathic medicine, DO. MDs get matched for residency before DOs, so DOs will not be able to train in the more competitive specialties.

Research. Visit sites where people can't get into medical school, dropped out, or hate being a doctor. Aamc.org has tons of data for applicants. MDapplicants.com allows you to punch in GPAs and MCAT scores to see where applicants with similar profiles are being interviewed and accepted. Some of the applicants are quite informative.

Finally, check into the physicians assistant program and see if that is more to your liking.

 

[wheywhey]

I got an electrical engineering degree in ny, currently making 60k which isn't close to enough... im thinking of trying to become a doctor but if eel im too old and the debt is too much to take but I do not enjoy this work. I rather help people and be my own man.

NPR had a story on 3-year medical school programs for primary care physicians, available in CA, TX, GA, and NY.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/201...experiments-with-fast-tracking-medical-school

 

[EndDomination]

Type II diabetes can be cured in a week.

I agreed with everything else you said. But that?

 

[SmoothOperator88]

Bout to take my first graduate class

Hope I don't fukk this up.

You're good. I felt the same way about my first grad class until I saw my grades for this past semester.

Just do the work and understand what your professor expects from you.

 

[Exit9NJturnpike]

To all my brehs that graduated, is a minor really worth it? I'll have a Bachelor's in CJ by next May, but i'm also only two courses away from a minor in Psychology. I'm very cynical and my depression is eating me up. I really don't want to waste my time taking two more courses if it's not really worth it in the long run. White lady recently told me the good news about the minor program and was congratulating me, and her positive attitude annoyed me. I need a vacation

 

[valet]

Any tips on writing a personal statement for graduate program. What do they look for. How long should it be? Mine is due by October.

 

[KenyaDoll]

Any tips on writing a personal statement for graduate program. What do they look for. How long should it be? Mine is due by October.

A good personal statement will start off with a personal story that ties into why you are interested in your particular field of study. After that, you should discuss your educational background and how that has influenced your decision to pursue further schooling. You should ultimately end the statement by discussing why this particular school/program is the perfect fit for you and how the program will help you accomplish your professional goal - of course you should actually list those professional goals. Specific things you could mention about the program are the faculty members you're interested in working with, any specific research centers or internships the school offers, and etc. You should also convey to them that you are an asset to their program.


Example of my opening:
"My interest in race, poverty, and education, and the underlying social institutions that impact them began during my freshman year at _______________. When I arrived on campus, I faced the stark realization that I was a small fish struggling to swim upstream."

I went into my personal story of academic struggle and ended that first paragraph by stating:

"My struggle to meet _________University’s expectations of academic rigor was not indicative of my ability; instead, it helped me to understand the critical link between school and neighborhood contexts and student outcomes."

My personal story ALWAYS went back to a discussion of my academic interests/field of study.


When discussing why I was interested in the program:
"The Department of __________ at _______ University will support my professional aims in three important ways: (1) formal and informal opportunities to build my substantive knowledge through coursework related to social stratification, poverty, and social policy, department sponsored colloquia, and ___________ (2), research training and opportunities through faculty and the ____________________ and (3) a core group of faculty in the stratification and sociology of race and ethnicity specializations."

I then went on to name the two to three professors that I was most interested in working with and why:

"I am particularly interested in working with Dr. ________, whose critical perspective on _______ informed the analysis of my MS research project."



How I ended my statement:
"My long-term career goal is to become a professor at a research-intensive university and to conduct research related to race and education. My personal, professional, academic, and research backgrounds demonstrate that I have the ability and the tenacity to complete doctorate-level work."

The last sentence was a generic sentence stating that my positive characteristics would make me an asset to that department.


I hope this helps. Gradcafe is a great forum to get help with applying to graduate school.

 

[valet]

A good personal statement will start off with a personal story that ties into why you are interested in your particular field of study. After that, you should discuss your educational background and how that has influenced your decision to pursue further schooling. You should ultimately end the statement by discussing why this particular school/program is the perfect fit for you and how the program will help you accomplish your professional goal - of course you should actually list those professional goals. Specific things you could mention about the program are the faculty members you're interested in working with, any specific research centers or internships the school offers, and etc. You should also convey to them that you are an asset to their program.


Example of my opening:
"My interest in race, poverty, and education, and the underlying social institutions that impact them began during my freshman year at _______________. When I arrived on campus, I faced the stark realization that I was a small fish struggling to swim upstream."

I went into my personal story of academic struggle and ended that first paragraph by stating:

My struggle to meet _________University’s expectations of academic rigor was not indicative of my ability; instead, it helped me to understand the critical link between school and neighborhood contexts and student outcomes.

My personal story ALWAYS went back to a discussion of my academic interests/field of study.


When discussing why I was interested in the program:
"The Department of __________ at _______ University will support my professional aims in three important ways: (1) formal and informal opportunities to build my substantive knowledge through coursework related to social stratification, poverty, and social policy, department sponsored colloquia, and ___________ (2), research training and opportunities through faculty and the ____________________ and (3) a core group of faculty in the stratification and sociology of race and ethnicity specializations."

I then went on to name the two to three professors that I was most interested in working with and why:

"I am particularly interested in working with Dr. ________, whose critical perspective on _______ informed the analysis of my MS research project."



How I ended my statement:
"My long-term career goal is to become a professor at a research-intensive university and to conduct research related to race and education. My personal, professional, academic, and research backgrounds demonstrate that I have the ability and the tenacity to complete doctorate-level work."

The last sentence was a generic sentence stating that my positive characteristics would make me an asset to that department.


I hope this helps. Gradcafe is a great forum to get help with applying to graduate school.

yes, that helps. Thanks.