Hello!
I just graduated with my BA a few weeks ago and am looking for advice about what to do next. I don't have a GPA as I went to a nontraditional college where grades were optional (and usually arbitrary, hence why I didn't elect to receive grades) but am considered in good academic standing. At the moment I'm a bit all over the place and looking for my focus!
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I had about a year of illness and some crappy family issues second-term sophomore year and first-term junior year and wound up on academic probation. I almost medically withdrew twice but somehow got through. I failed a course, but it was Music Theory -- entirely outside my field. I also marginally passed a chemistry course (I believe that is the equivalent of a C). After that I switched up my advisory committee and changed my second concentration from Political Economy to Political Science. I completed advanced level work in both subjects but felt more at home in Political Science.
My school is small and there were not research opportunities available. Students pursued independent projects and the professors did their own thing in the social sciences. The classes were great for the most part: small, seminar style where people actually had to do the reading and form their own opinions. Readings were classic texts (Freud, Erickson, Klein, Milgram, Eysenck, a good chunk of these readings: http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/topic.htm), critiques of those theories, and more recently published articles (a lot of new stuff actually). Textbooks were only used in science courses (physics, biology, chemistry) and research methods, though all of the professors brought outside sources in, too. We were evaluated on projects and papers in lieu of SCANTRON tests. (I also took A&P, statistics, and a few intro level psych courses at a local college during a term-long leave of absence). Political Economy was a bit of a strange one for me but I loved learning about markets, currency, regulation, stocks, how to manage an investment portfolio and financial advising 101 -- practical stuff. Lots of theory, too, of course. I switched to Political Science for my second concentration because well, I wanted to learn more about governments and failed states.
My final senior work was in psychology, an independent research study on the modernization and regulation of mental healthcare in the Flemish region of Belgium. I tried to take a multidisciplinary approach to give some background to political and legal changes and shifting views of the mentally ill to some extent though the main focus was on the two major shifts in the specific system itself. I translated the bulk of my sources from Dutch and French. I loved doing it. I absolutely love research. I love reviewing sources, coming up with a thesis, designing and conducting an experiment, and analyzing the results. I feel I am not quite done with this subject area and would love to continue researching this. Right now I need a bit of a break from my project, though, but will go back to research in about two weeks as I made contact with a professor who is interested in this subject, too.
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I have 1.5 years experience as a nursing assistant (one rung above cleaning staff basically) and constant companion. I usually observed people who were either waiting to be placed in psychiatric hospitals or rehab. I also often had elderly persons who were disoriented temporarily or had some form of dementia. I loved the work! Usually I only saw people for a few days. I quit because commuting back and forth to maintain per diem hours from Vermont to Boston was ridiculous after a term and I was clearly not going to advance at the job. My manager suggested that I would like working in a long-term psychotherapy oriented facility much more.
I am currently applying for jobs at long term residential hospitals which also do research and looking for a waitressing/bartending gig on the side to pay off my student loans as soon as I can.
*
For graduate schooling, I am looking outside of the United States. I've got a bit of a nomadic streak, you see, and am itching to get out of the Northeast US. I am looking at schools in New Zealand and Australia. I am trying to network and make contacts at those schools before I visit next year as well as researching what people do their dissertations on. I am almost certain I will be applying for master's programs with the idea that I will transition into a PhD program after. What sort, I'm not sure. I also want to make sure I choose a school which is recognized in the US, should I want to return at some point. There's a few schools in the US I am interested in as well which I will be able to visit sooner.
Right now I'm obviously at a crossroads. Lots of "I am going to"s and big plans but nothing has materialized thus far. Yet I've only been out for three weeks. I initially had this idea that I wanted to jump into grad school within two years but now I that I'm out of school, I feel less need to rush through it. I want to get "life experience" outside the university bubble. Getting out and seeing the world and getting more focused seems to be the best course of action at this juncture. Continuing ed courses are in my plans at some point as well: brush up on the sciences and sharpen and refine my research skills.
I suppose I would end up being more of a "non-traditional applicant". Ideally I want to do something similar to what my adviser has done: work for a few years after a rather checkered undergraduate adventure, go back to school and get licensed, work for a bit under someone else's practice, start my own practice and teach and write books about independent research things on the side while also taking time to travel and pursue creative things (he's a busy guy).
(I should also mention that several of my college friends have gotten into good masters programs in the US without grades so that doesn't seem to be a hugely determining factor after all in some instances.)
----
Whew. Thanks for reading if you slogged through all that, or even some of it.
Any suggestions and advice will be much appreciated!
I just graduated with my BA a few weeks ago and am looking for advice about what to do next. I don't have a GPA as I went to a nontraditional college where grades were optional (and usually arbitrary, hence why I didn't elect to receive grades) but am considered in good academic standing. At the moment I'm a bit all over the place and looking for my focus!
*
I had about a year of illness and some crappy family issues second-term sophomore year and first-term junior year and wound up on academic probation. I almost medically withdrew twice but somehow got through. I failed a course, but it was Music Theory -- entirely outside my field. I also marginally passed a chemistry course (I believe that is the equivalent of a C). After that I switched up my advisory committee and changed my second concentration from Political Economy to Political Science. I completed advanced level work in both subjects but felt more at home in Political Science.
My school is small and there were not research opportunities available. Students pursued independent projects and the professors did their own thing in the social sciences. The classes were great for the most part: small, seminar style where people actually had to do the reading and form their own opinions. Readings were classic texts (Freud, Erickson, Klein, Milgram, Eysenck, a good chunk of these readings: http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/topic.htm), critiques of those theories, and more recently published articles (a lot of new stuff actually). Textbooks were only used in science courses (physics, biology, chemistry) and research methods, though all of the professors brought outside sources in, too. We were evaluated on projects and papers in lieu of SCANTRON tests. (I also took A&P, statistics, and a few intro level psych courses at a local college during a term-long leave of absence). Political Economy was a bit of a strange one for me but I loved learning about markets, currency, regulation, stocks, how to manage an investment portfolio and financial advising 101 -- practical stuff. Lots of theory, too, of course. I switched to Political Science for my second concentration because well, I wanted to learn more about governments and failed states.
My final senior work was in psychology, an independent research study on the modernization and regulation of mental healthcare in the Flemish region of Belgium. I tried to take a multidisciplinary approach to give some background to political and legal changes and shifting views of the mentally ill to some extent though the main focus was on the two major shifts in the specific system itself. I translated the bulk of my sources from Dutch and French. I loved doing it. I absolutely love research. I love reviewing sources, coming up with a thesis, designing and conducting an experiment, and analyzing the results. I feel I am not quite done with this subject area and would love to continue researching this. Right now I need a bit of a break from my project, though, but will go back to research in about two weeks as I made contact with a professor who is interested in this subject, too.
*
I have 1.5 years experience as a nursing assistant (one rung above cleaning staff basically) and constant companion. I usually observed people who were either waiting to be placed in psychiatric hospitals or rehab. I also often had elderly persons who were disoriented temporarily or had some form of dementia. I loved the work! Usually I only saw people for a few days. I quit because commuting back and forth to maintain per diem hours from Vermont to Boston was ridiculous after a term and I was clearly not going to advance at the job. My manager suggested that I would like working in a long-term psychotherapy oriented facility much more.
I am currently applying for jobs at long term residential hospitals which also do research and looking for a waitressing/bartending gig on the side to pay off my student loans as soon as I can.
*
For graduate schooling, I am looking outside of the United States. I've got a bit of a nomadic streak, you see, and am itching to get out of the Northeast US. I am looking at schools in New Zealand and Australia. I am trying to network and make contacts at those schools before I visit next year as well as researching what people do their dissertations on. I am almost certain I will be applying for master's programs with the idea that I will transition into a PhD program after. What sort, I'm not sure. I also want to make sure I choose a school which is recognized in the US, should I want to return at some point. There's a few schools in the US I am interested in as well which I will be able to visit sooner.
Right now I'm obviously at a crossroads. Lots of "I am going to"s and big plans but nothing has materialized thus far. Yet I've only been out for three weeks. I initially had this idea that I wanted to jump into grad school within two years but now I that I'm out of school, I feel less need to rush through it. I want to get "life experience" outside the university bubble. Getting out and seeing the world and getting more focused seems to be the best course of action at this juncture. Continuing ed courses are in my plans at some point as well: brush up on the sciences and sharpen and refine my research skills.
I suppose I would end up being more of a "non-traditional applicant". Ideally I want to do something similar to what my adviser has done: work for a few years after a rather checkered undergraduate adventure, go back to school and get licensed, work for a bit under someone else's practice, start my own practice and teach and write books about independent research things on the side while also taking time to travel and pursue creative things (he's a busy guy).
(I should also mention that several of my college friends have gotten into good masters programs in the US without grades so that doesn't seem to be a hugely determining factor after all in some instances.)
----
Whew. Thanks for reading if you slogged through all that, or even some of it.
Any suggestions and advice will be much appreciated!
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