Grad school

The1calledTKE · #1 10-10-2001, 02:34 PM

Is there anyone out there that has gone to grad school? Is it worth the money?

damasa · #2 10-17-2001, 02:04 PM

from what i've heard...it's worthi it in more ways than 1.

If you want more money in a career..it's definately the way to go..
If you want to broaden your expertise and have a wider range of jobs or careers to choose from...it's definately the wat to go.

KappaStargirl · #3 10-17-2001, 04:40 PM

In my profession, you can't get a job without a Master's degree (I'm a librarian), so grad school wasn't optional. I TRULY enjoyed my grad school experience, though. I got to focus on my area of study without all the gen eds to clog up my time. It wasn't easy, but I was in a terrific program and learned a lot. Definitely worth it for me, but I guess it depends on your area of study. Some jobs are better if you start them when you get your bachelor's and go back later for a Master's or JD, some won't start you without an advanced degree.

Beryana · #4 10-18-2001, 08:19 AM

I'm currently in grad school and I love it! I'm going for historic preservation and, like Kappastargirl, you really can't get a job in this field without a masters. Bascially you get more specialized training. I know that in HP we are doing actual field work (working with the Auto National Heritage Area, writing grant proposals, doing structure reports, organizational programs, etc).

Depending on your field, I would definitely recommend it. It also depends on where you want to go with it. I want to eventually go on to get a PhD because I want to eventually teach at a university. I also know that you can't get a REALLY good job without it (ie Smithsonian).

Sarah
AOII Beta Gamma
Eastern Michigan Univ - M.S. in Historic Preservation candidate

BrownEyedGirl · #5 10-22-2001, 11:05 AM

Okay, maybe this is something I should already know, but I'm wondering about the GRE. I'm a junior who'd love to go to grad school, but I don't know anything about the GRE (what it covers, when to take it) except that I've gotta do it eventually. Can anyone fill me in??

The1calledTKE · #6 10-25-2001, 11:03 AM

From what I hear its just like a harder version of the SAT. It just makes sure you learned enough in college to advance to grad school

Rudey · #7 01-22-2002, 03:13 AM

The gre was actually easier than the sat in my opinion. You can go to the ets website and they will send you a sample cd with it. You take it and get the score right after you finish the test. There's a math and verbal section...nothing too bad. If you practice, I'm sure you'll do fine

-Rudey

teke4life · #8 01-22-2002, 04:04 AM

i guess it depends on what you want out of it. do you mean worth it in the sense of where it will get you, or in increasing your knowledge of your specific field? i'm in grad school now after taking a couple years off, and i'm finding it to be much more rewarding than my undergrad experience, academically speaking of course.

bruinaphi · #9 01-22-2002, 04:19 AM

My understanding is that now you sign up and are given a date within a certain amount of time from when you sign up to take the test. The test is given the first three weeks of every month. You can only take it once per month though, so if you plan on taking it more than once you need to sign up with plenty of time for leeway before your applicaiton deadlines.

The sittings are individual, not in huge groups like we are accustomed to with standardized tests. Amycat, my best friend took the GRE a couple of years ago in Santa Monica at a testing center. It was so cool, she took the exam on computer and they gave her the score. Nothing like the 6 weeks I had to wait for the LSAT.

Another good site is www.kaplan.com. It walks you through how to schedule your exam date and all the ins and outs of applying to grad school. According to the site you can download the registration materials from www.gre.org.

Take care.

Laura

KappaStargirl · #10 01-22-2002, 04:39 PM

1) Get some books on preparing for the GRE. They help a little.

2) If you've never taken a college-level math course, or if you have no spatial perception, chances are that it will not go well.

3) In some fields, a good grad school application and getting it in as early as humanly possible (blech to rolling admission) is more important than good GRE scores. I BOMBED the GRE. it was the worst experience of my life, but I got into a great MLIS program because I had good grades, lots of library experience, and spent lots of time perfecting my entrance essay.

TriSigmaTX · #11 01-22-2002, 05:20 PM

I've taken the GRE and it wasn't very difficult, but studying is always suggested.

I have one masters degree in higher education administration from the University of Kansas and it was necessary to work in the field of Student Affairs/ Greek Life.
I'm now currently pursuing my MBA for the extra knowledge and to help with advancing administratively or to teach at the college level. A PhD will follow one day.

Sweetums · #12 02-12-2002, 02:39 AM

I'll be starting my master's degree in political science next year. Even though it has nothing to do with my future career (I'm going to become a cop), I still think its totally worth it.

AlphaGam1019 · #13 02-22-2002, 02:16 AM

I have heard the 2002 GRE is now ADAPTIVE. UGH! This means the question they ask you will be based on if you miss or correctly answer the previous question!

LXAAlum · #14 03-08-2002, 05:53 PM

Definitely worth it - I got a masters for several reasons: one, I graduated during the 91 recession, and couldn't find a job - in grad school, I was a GTA, so managed to eat and keep a roof over my head (that was about it) - also, I enjoy teaching at the college level, and graduate school is a minimum requirement to teach at community colleges (usually a PHD or ABD is required for university level teaching) - so it was definitely worth the long hours of studying.

If you go to graduate school in the same or very similar major to your undergraduate degree, like I did, it was rather easy.

There are two major obstacles to clear in grad school: defending your thesis, and passing the comprehensive exams ("comps").

Go for it - you have nothing to lose by trying!