Today was a day spent trying to figure out the future, both short and long term with varying degrees of success. Short term, I was trying to figure out what I am going to be doing this summer since I can't substitute teach. I would like to play my saxophone in the summer community band, but if I can't because of schedule, I can't.
Long term, for those who do not know me well, in December, I graduated with a second bachelors degree majoring in social science teaching. It was the end of a three year journey that started with the intention of teaching high school history or government and ended with the desire to teach in higher education. Along the way, the possibility working on a graduate degree went from not even an option to "eventually will happen." While I feel at times that I either wasted the previous three years, returning to school did allow me to re-establish myself academically and open the door to grad school. I was also able to make networking connections that I hope will be beneficial as I continue down the path towards a Ph.D.
Back in December/January, I decided, for all practical purposes on a whim, to apply for grad school at the University of Iowa with the intent to study U.S. history. I had been told that those students who are accepted into the history department's MA/PhD program are offered tuition scholarships, hefty gradate stipends and benefits. Being given money to pursue a graduate degree was really the only way I felt I could pursue such a degree since the second time back to school pretty much doubled my student loan debt. I hadn't really planned on starting grad school until the fall of 2012, but decided what the hell, I'll see if I can get what I'm after for this year.
While I knew at the time I was applying that I was probably facing long odds, I still thought I had a decent shot at getting into the MA/PhD program. Unfortunately, two months later, I received a letter from Iowa's history department which said I was accepted into their terminal MA program with no funding offered through the department. This complicated my decision greatly as I wasn't really anticipating having to decided grad school based on whether I could afford to or not. I was thinking I would either be offered money or just not be accepted.
In light of this offer, I have been seeking advice from practically every source I can think of. Many friends who either are current grad students or recently completed a graduate degree advised against accepting an offer that doesn't come with any funding. A couple of others have advised that earning an MA degree will be the best way to possibly guarantee funding for a Ph.D. through making contacts with professors and finding those who would interested in my research.
It's been a tough decision and regardless of what I decide, I will probably have a bit of buyers remorse either way. I'm leaning towards not accepting for this fall and reapplying to programs to start in 2012. I would expand my school search and hopefully increase the chances of getting an offer that matches what I am looking for, particularly in terms of financing but also in terms of program focus and research opportunities. What a reset for 2012 would allow me to do is to possibly consider a graduate program other than history. While I had set on history, I do have an interest in political science. As a social science teaching major, I had to take classes in history, political science, geography, sociology, psychology and economics. While I have slightly more experience in history, I didn't major in either discipline and would be starting pretty much from scratch in terms of research methods classes regardless of whether I pursue history or political science.
I talked today with Dr. Hoffman who was referenced in my previous crushes post. As I mentioned in that post, she probably my favorite professor I have ever had and over the years she has turned somewhat into a mentor. Our talk today helped to show me that political science might be a realistic option. The field combines politics with history as well as with many of the quantitative statistical research methods I learned about during my first degree in economics. As Dr. Hoffman noted, many political scientists have to dig into history to do their research but not many historians have to follow politics to become experts in their fields. Since I will always follow politics because it is a personal interest, it does makes sense on some level to study it in grad school.
Currently, about 10 day out from when I have to make a final decision about grad school at Iowa, I'm strongly leaning towards not starting in 2011 and applying for entry into political science programs in 2012. While I'm a bit concerned about what I can do to improve my application between now and then, I do think on some level that a multi month break from the rigors of academia wouldn't hurt me either. It's a bit disconcerting to not know where exactly this grad school thing will take me, but hopefully it'll work out in the end.
Until tomorrow...happy blogging!
No comments:
Post a Comment