Recently I have been toying with the idea of returning to school. I have always wanted to get my Masters (and had taken a few courses when I was in Japan and only had 1 child), but my life is very much at odds with the average grad student lifestyle. Other concerns: my verbal GRE score is excellent, my quantitative score is on par with a doughnut; how would I pay off the loans; how would we live without my income? What do you all think, should I throw caution to the wind and pursue my dream? Should I chuck my dreams and be a practical wife and mother? Should I say fuck it and get a cake degree from a no-name, online school just to say I have my Masters? Should Joslyn win ANTM based purely on her awesomeness? Will Russia take advantage of the current financial crisis to take over the world? Er...sorry, got a bit off-track there. I am also concerned with my personal statement. I am fortunate to have several old bosses/co-workers who are willing to write me glowing letters of recommendation, but I would need to write a personal statement on why I deserve to be a grad student and what I would do with it if they deigned to accept me, and I have no clue where to start. Really what I'm having trouble with is being concise...I have a lot that I could say, but I realize that whoever is reviewing my application is also reviewing the hundreds of other applicants' statements and (of course) I want mine to be the best and have a lasting impact. Any suggestions?
Random Tidbit
Today marks the first real hockey game of the season (Sabres 25-1 to win the Stanley Cup this year). Today also marked the annual softball game our organization plays (read: lots of old guys with "something to prove:). Because I am a contractor, I would actually have to burn my vacation time to attend this event, but, really, I would go only if the competition were more like this, anyway.*
* These guys are freakin' hilarious
7 comments:
Having gone through graduate school my self :) (brag brag) I have to be honest in that I have NO clue how people get MA's or further with children. I honestly spent about 3 hours + each night reading and that was not including any paper writing, research or projects that were frequently thrown in there. That was mostly just to have some sort of an idea of what was going on in class.
And although some people say no name degrees are just as good as degrees from accredited universities....it probably depends on what you're studying.
I got to help with preparing our program for audit to get reaccredited and quickly learned that universities that have accredited programs are 'accredited' for a reason....which usually has something to do with standards of education for professors and students.
but of course, like all things that come out of my mouth, this is just my opinion : ) take it or leave it : )
Sorry...I guess I was still in work mode....the post above was from me :)
On the other hand, graduate school really opened my eyes to a lot of things, including what sort of people I wanted to surround myself with.
Through school I've met and become friends with some of the most brilliant and amazing women who have really raised the bar for all aspects of my life.
(sorry....grammar error! welcome to the world's longest comment.....)
hrm, in my field anyways the name of the university is absolutely essential. Actually you don't learn terribly much in a masters program that you can't learn from books yourself. It's really the brand of the school you are buying.
I wouldn't do a masters unless I thought it was going to immediately pay off in a career advancement, or career change. Like, you are planning in the next 5 years to do one of those two. Otherwise I'd wait until the kids are older. Take some interim classes in fields that interest you, see what you like, in the mean time.
To me, the answer to these question lies in why you want a graduate degree. Will it help you earn more money if you have this accreditation? Will you learn something that you've always wanted to learn? Would it put you in a position to take your career in a new direction?
Graduate school is tough, but I've seen plenty of people with kids get Master's and PhD's. The only thing is, it's a sacrifice for everyone: you, your spouse, and your kids. So you have to decide if the sacrifice is worth what you'll gain.
(Sorry if that is full of cliches - it's the best I can do :)
Before you decide to go to grad school, figure out what kind of job you could get and how much it would pay. Compare that to the cost of going to grad school.
That's the financial answer. Then you have to look at the quality of life issue, which, it seems to me, would go to zero for you based on how busy you are now!!
Holy crap look at all that great advice above. I have nothing that they haven't said already.
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