First person in my family to go to College but..is Graduate school for me?

Graduate School
1

<p>Hello everyone</p>

<p>After doing a lot of questioning both at SDSU and UCSD and talking to different professors in different fields I still do not know if I should or should not apply to graduate school. I am trying to find out if my life goals would be more easily accomplished if I were to complete a Master’s or PhD program. </p>

<p>(Wall of Text Warning) </p>

<p>First some background on myself, my family, and some context. </p>

<p>I am the first person in my family to ever attend any schooling what so ever. Both my parents came here from Mexico legally by working for much of their lives. They had come from extremely impoverished families in the slums of Jalisco and had to work since they were young children in order to survive. When they got here my mother worked at a sewing factory for 25 years, and my father as a independent construction worker for 30 years. My father died back in 2008. Currently my mother now disabled, supports my ambitions to obtain an education and is allowing me to live at home free of charge, so long as I help around the house and pay my food bills, etc. Which I do with my government financial assistance. We are a low income family of around $13,000 a year living in San Diego CA. </p>

<pre><code> I graduated from a public high school with a poor track record for academic excellence, “Sweetwater High school in National City”. At the time of graduation I didn’t aspire to be much in life, I had not worked hard in school at all and I basically graduated with a 2.2 GPA. I figured that I could get a decent job if I got a skill, so I signed up for Culinary Arts at San Diego Mesa College, I studied that for about a year…and was quite happy however, I never felt challenged, and I always ended up with poor grades…because I was simply slacking the entire time. In 2008 my father passed away, at the same time my mother’s health was deteriorating substantially. At that point something inside me snapped, I knew I couldn’t continue to waste my time studying to become a cook the rest of my life.

I immediately switched majors to psychology. I spent a year as a psychology major working on my GE, in the process of working on that, I met the most wonderful person in the world. My old speech & debate team coach. After taking a oral communication class with her, I decided to join the speech and debate team. I won several medals at many tournaments over the course of a year. That next summer I attended UCSD’s Science enrichment program as a paid intern to work in a psychology lab. I also attended a psychology course. I did a fine job and in the end presented my research in front of hundreds of people. I felt very proud of my accomplishments, but I was not happy with my major. Doing research that summer made me realize that I would not enjoy psychology as much as I thought I would at the Master’s or PhD level.
I went back to Mesa college and switched my major to communication. I was in love. Advance public speaking, rhetoric, writing skills, debate, all of these things I absolutely loved from this new major. So I decided to transfer over to SDSU as a Communication / Political Science double major. That is where I am now.
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<p>I am a Jr at SDSU, double majoring in Communication and Political Science. I got my Associate degree in psychology from Mesa College and currently hold a 3.4 GPA. </p>

<pre><code> At this point I have had a lot of my professors speak to me about graduate school. My old speech coach is even recommending that I apply to USC, USD, SDSU, or UCSD, graduate programs for communication. Some of the professors I have built friendships with also recommend I do this. However, I don’t know if graduate school is the right path for me.

I am largely interested in politics. I don’t mean studying old politics, or doing research in politics, I mean actually working as a representative of the people in government, politics, or in my local district. I am passionate about environmental politics, as well as public policy. I have gotten involved in my schools government organizations, as well as continued to do speech and debate. I am currently trying to apply for internships with some of my local representatives to get my foot in the door as well.

Other than politics I love to speak in front of people, I love to give speeches, I love to write speeches, and I love to research current events. Yet, I don’t know if there is a career for me, with my education in Communication & Political Science when it comes to utilizing these skills and interests. I have yet to find anything of the sort and am beginning to loose hope.

As I said at the start of this very long post, I have talked to many graduate school professors and I have gotten a wide range of replies. Some tell me that going to graduate school is important, and that It could secure my future. Others have told me that it is an endeavor only for those with a passion to further knowledge in their field, not so much to change the world. I have been told that I would make an excellent student at Master’s programs, by some, and by others I have been told that my heart would not be in the academics of a graduate program.

At this point, I don’t know if I should bother to apply to graduate school at SDSU, USC, UCSD, USD, (Has to be local because I now take partial care of my mother) or If I should just look for a decent paying job. I am very tired of living in poverty my entire life, and have never experienced what it is like to not have to worry about being able to buy basic needs. I am eager to get out into the world and be able to do all the things middle class Americans have the opportunity to do.

 Is getting an advanced degree, going to graduate school, or attending a prestigious institution basically mandatory to become a middle class American? When I read a lot of posts on these forums It almost seems like the mentality here is if you don't go to a ivy league school, or a prestigious research institution like UCSD, or UC Berkeley you are basically screwed How can this be true when so many people successfully graduate from other public schools and get good paying jobs out of college?

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<p>Can I accomplish my goals by simply finishing my double B.A degree’s, proper networking, and building strong connections. I have a high GPA, I could potentially get it higher if I wished, I Am sure that I can get sold GRE scores If I made it my focus, but I don’t know if I should even bother killing myself studying for that 4.0 GPA, or that really high GRE score if I don’t even know if graduate school is for me. </p>

<pre><code> I would love some advice, thoughts, or ideas on my conundrum. Please feel free to make suggestions or comments. Any constructive criticism is also appreciated.
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<p>Thank you. :)</p>

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<p>I apologize for some of the spelling errors I now noticed. I was in a hurry when I typed this out and did not double check my spelling. The forum does not allow me to edit the post either.</p>

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<p>I strongly recommend you to get masters degree. PhD is not for you because PhD focuses on research. Honestly, your majors won’t get you a decent paying job. I don’t know how much is decent pay for you but having a BA (whether it’s one or two) will not pay you that much unless it’s math/science. If you want to send your children to colleges without any financial challenges, you should get masters.
For example, work for two years then apply get MBA then you will earn at least 150k/yr.
I have to say that the money is really important and you do not want your children to go through the same thing as you did.
I recommend you look into MBA or International Relations graduate program…</p>

<p>People with money can do whatever they want to do but people without money have to do something that they do not like because they do not have the money.</p>

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<p>I have considered business before however, I don’t believe that I would do very well in that field. I not only despise mathematics, (although I do them well), but I have no real interest in finance and never once saw myself in that kind of position. I can’t imagine myself excelling in a graduate program in a field where I have virtually no interest or incentives outside of the financial one. </p>

<p>In terms of my future children, if any, I would like them to know what it is like to have to work to obtain what you want. Now don’t get me wrong, there is a big difference between a healthy work ethic and barely being able to afford food, clothes and bills. My current life falls in the latter. I would love for my children to be able to go to school but I don’t know if I would pay the entire way though an Ivy league university for them even if I had the money to do so.
I would want my children to work hard, get good grades, so that they would be strongly considered to go to solid institutions like UCSD, or USD out of high school. I would also want them to have a safety net if they need it. They would always be able to count on their father to help them with living expenses, food, and on occasion tuition. I do not however want my children to rely on me entirely to get through school. I want them to learn that anything in life worth having requires at least a little bit of struggle and hard work on their part, but I would be there for them when they did need me.</p>

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<p>First of all, that’s a lot of personal information that you’ve given out. Please be careful on the Internet.</p>

<p>PhD is for research and at the moment it sounds like you’re not ready for that kind of rigor. </p>

<p>You can still get decent paying jobs with your BA. You just need to build on work experience to begin with. If you’re not comfortable applying straight out of college, then just go to work for a few years and do your MA when you are ready and sure.</p>

<p>It’s true that on the long run, people with masters earn more money but with this economy being quite shaky, people with masters and little work experience may be viewed as overqualified. So, just work for a bit and then apply when you’re ready and can afford the education.</p>

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<p>I agree with TMP that you might want to work for a few years before deciding on graduate school. It sounds to me that you’re still trying to figure out the exact path you want to take. Even in this case, you should try to keep your grades as high as possible since you cannot undo your transcript; you may need it if you decide to go to graduate school.</p>

<p>I suggest that you pay serious attention to both camps of professors, those that are urging you to go to graduate school and those that are not. Divide them. Decide if one group has the same idea that you have for your future. It’s possible that your path will become clearer once you determine the recommended route. BTW, not all students are told by their professors that they should pursue graduate study, so you should take their advice seriously, even if you don’t end up following it. They obviously see something special in you.</p>

<p>There’s one path you haven’t mentioned: law school. Many politicians are also lawyers. Although the field is glutted right now (and a top school matters in this field), law might bring together your strengths, interests, and future goals. </p>

<p>As for your impression that you’ll be “screwed” if you don’t go to a high-powered program, you have to consider that this is College Confidential, where some very ambitious and impressive students come to post. Their idea of “screwed” is often different from the average person’s. Besides, those that advocate “top ten or bust” are usually talking about PhD programs as they pertain to getting employment in academia.</p>

<p>You sound like a driven, impressive individual. I have a feeling that you’ll land on your feet, whatever you decide.</p>

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<p>I have also considered studying Advertising instead of doing political science. I have seen so many people who have majored in advertising that were able to land very good $36,000-$44,000 a year jobs (starting) out of college with their BA in JMS emphasis on advertisement. On the marketing degree side I have seen people able to land $50,000+ a year jobs starting. Its a hell of a field that doesn’t require a lot of math. (For the JMS part). </p>

<p>I am currently trying to decide what I should do about that as well.</p>

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<p>Just because you would be an excellent student does not mean that you need to attend graduate school.</p>

<p>What do you want to do? Look at people who are doing what you want. TV news anchors? Local politicians? Speechwriters? Whatever it is you are interested in, look at them and see whether they have degrees and what their degrees are in. If most of the people in your career of interest have a graduate degree, then you probably need one, too. If most people are getting by fine without a grad degree, then you probably will, too.</p>

<p>Since you don’t know whether you even want to go to grad school, much less what you want to study, I would definitely say don’t go yet. Grad degrees are expensive and can put you in a lot of debt; you want to be 100% sure that you want the degree you’re studying for, and not just going to grad school for grad school’s sake. So go into the workforce for a few years and see what happens - see where you can get. If you hit a place where you realize you need a higher degree, you’ll know it and you’ll get it.</p>

<p>I also disagree with jwblue - it’s a myth that you can’t get a job if you aren’t a math/science major, since most college graduates are NOT math science majors. Most jobs are open as far as major - I know some history and philosophy majors who worked on Wall Street their first few years out. It’s also not true that you will automatically make at least $150K with an MBA. It really depends on WHERE you get that MBA and then where you choose to work after that. Most MBA holders do not make $150K per year. Not only that, but you usually have to earn 3-5 years’ worth of work experience before you can get into an MBA program. And like you said, if you don’t like business, don’t force yourself.</p>

<p>Take some time, get a job, explore yourself, and then go to grad school when you know what you want.</p>

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<p>Too much personal information divulged, dude – I know exactly who you are (you used to be in my lab). Be careful with what you post on the Internet.</p>

<p>Anyway, the advice I would have given you in person has already been said. Work a few years. With a Bachelors, you will get a decent job in the SD area given you interview well and can close job offers. By “decent”, I do mean the $35,000-$45,000 range, which is more than enough to be comfortable in San Diego (as you know). Work a few years. You still lack direction and working for a few years will either signal to you that you’re in a good enough position to go on further in your career, or if you need more advanced education to accomplish the things you want to do.</p>

<p>There’s no sense into rushing into a graduate program, especially if there’s risk of borrowing money involved. If you’re going into graduate school, you better be sure it’s what you want since any debt you take on can not be forgiven even if one declares bankruptcy.</p>

<p>Sounds like you’ve been on the right path this past year, though, man. Good for you.</p>

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<p>Don’t go to graduate school in either of those fields unless they’re paying for you to go. Graduate degrees in communications, political science, psychology etc. only qualify you to be a teacher. They have little-no value in the business world. </p>

<p>Don’t make the mistake of saddling yourself with 10s of thousands of dollars in student loans with no forseeable way of paying them off. If you do that, then all of your hardwork will be for naught.</p>