Going back to school at 23 with a degree in Spanish?

Parents Forum
1

Hi, if anyone could give me some advice, I would really really appreciate it. Sorry if I share more info than necessary here…

Back in high school, I had decent stats for getting into a good college-valedictorian, 4.0, 33 ACT, lots of volunteering, cross country and track captain and mvp, etc. To my amusement and delight, even Harvard and Yale mailed me recruitment stuff. But I didn’t apply, for three reasons. 1) Cost - I was going to have to pay everything out of my own pocket 2) Lack of inspiration - I didn’t like school much, nothing had sparked my curiosity and 3) I was raised extremely religious, I was loved my life and my friends and my family, and Pascal’s wager-ish thoughts warned me to avoid environments that might foster doubt

So I went to a tiny religious college near home, worked 3 jobs during school and 80 hour weeks in the summer and majored in Spanish (to save money by graduating a year early). My plan was to find a scholarship to a decent law school, get the highest paying job I could, and donate 90% of my income to fund as many missionaries as possible since I honestly believed most of the world was going to hell. Well, in a moment of mental weakness I decided to take a year off before law school and go teach SAT prep in Guatemala. In Guatemala, I was out of my bubble, I met an atheist for the first time, and puzzlingly enough, he was nice. We didn’t discuss religion, but the mere knowledge that he was an atheist caused enough cognitive dissonance that I had no choice but to confront my doubts, read a bunch, and eventually deconvert from the fundamental Christianity I was brought up in.

Now I’m in limbo. I graduated at 20 and have been having fun traveling as an aupair the past few years, but nagging at the back of my mind is a strange new desire to “achieve my potential” and I’m lost. For the first time, I’ve stumbled on an academic subject that interests me, decision making (cognitive psychology, behavioral economics, neuroscience, etc…) I LOVE this stuff and read about it like crazy in my free time. This is weird to me, because for the first 21 years of my life the only thing I read in my free time was fiction; I didn’t even bother with assigned readings for school. Anyway, now I really wish I could go back to school and eventually work in this field, maybe as a policy advisor or something, I really have no idea and no one to ask for advice either.

So I have a Bachelor’s in Spanish. What are my options?

Would I have to get a new Bachelor’s degree? If so, is there any kind of funding for someone going back for the second time? I’m guessing I wouldn’t be eligible for the usual merit scholarships or maybe even government loans anymore? Would I just have to save up the money before going? Could I somehow apply straight to graduate school even though my college major is irrelevant?

Now I see the value of going to a top school, but I don’t think my old high school credentials count for much anymore, do they? In college I got a 4.0, some chemistry award, some records in track and field, and volunteer taught ESL classes, but nothing really exceptional since I was working all the time.

So yeah, I’d love to go back to school, but I’m not sure if it’s really financially possible or if I could still get into a school worth going to… any advice would be super appreciated!

Thanks :slight_smile:

2

What is your career goal?

FA for students who already have a BA is very limited. Can you start at a CC to take the missing lower division psych/neuro classes?

Do you live near an inexpensive public univ that you can get any needed upper division courses?

Sounds like you’re going to have to work and pay for classes as you go along…

3

I don’t know for sure, something related to behavioral economics, but something more practical than theoretical… that’s why I’d love to go to a great school, to have a good advisor who might point me in the right direction.

Taking the lower division psych/neuro classes at a CC is probably a good idea. But if I eventually want to get into a selective school though, would it look bad to attend a CC? Because I also live near UW Madison and could possibly take some classes there.

4

Advisors at school won’t really give career advice. They give advice about research and getting into grad school. They are researchers. Now some schools have great career offices for students and alums. I think you have to research some jobs and the pathway to those jobs first. Then see what kind of degrees people who do that got. Many times you don’t have to have a related undergrad degree but can take prerequisite classes to enter grad school. It depends on the field. You will have to research it. You may have to compromise and find something that won’t cost too much. Many uni’s won’t admit someone for a 3nd undergrad degree. Especially a selective school. And no you won’t get any aid for ones you can go to. Only loans if you have availability. Same with grad school unless you get a PhD. But UW has many TA type jobs possibly available and at least some depts do fund Master’s degrees. Econ is very competitive for grad school. Don’t spend too much time on regrets for where you went to school. And marketing materials are sent to anyone, they are not really an indication of interest. I see you are a good student though.

In addition to reading here and in the grad forum, there is thegradcafe. And you might see if you can browse the journal of Quarterly Economics. Econ grad school is very math heavy but I don’t know about the area you mention.

Wow you are in luck. I just took a look at the UW Madison page for the Master’s Degree and it is specially designed to serve non econ majors. And only 11k instate tuition! This would be fantastic. The webpage lists the prereq you will need and it is not too bad. I think it is okay if you take them at Madison Technical College but if you can take it at UW then great. There are some very good PHD placements reported from the program. The jobs reported seem to cover many possibilities. The program is very highly ranked in US News (methodology based entirely on peer assessment surveys)
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/economics-rankings

You might browse the course catalogue and see what undergrad classes Behavioral Economics Professors Gandhi and Serrano-Padial teach. Taking the prereqs will tell you a lot about if you like studying it.

5

I was looking at the Duke page because there is a broken link to it on the UW page and saw this info:

Our flagship master’s program, the M.A. in Economics, typically receives more than 500 applications and admits 65-70 students per year.

I suppose that Madison may be similar. Once you are taking prereqs there you will have access to people to find out more about careers and such as what area of econ you are most interested in. I think that Master’s will open up either a wish for a PHD or some great jobs with a lot more potential in policy, analyst in govt, private or finance than law school. Or than getting a neuro or psych degree.

btw, interesting story p.s. nice atheist here :))

6

Just a bit more advice. You will need to take the GRE and you will want to score very high. So wait until you get back in the swing of school mode,have the math prereqs maybe, then do some serious prep.

And when you are in grad school you can prob add some undergrad sych ir neuro classes. Find out about that and admission tips to the Master’s when you take the prereqs

7

I would find the job that pays for college and get whatever degree you wish.
I myself changed my profession in my mid. 30s, a bit older than you are. I went to CC, got associate degree, got the job (and several others after) and some of my employers paid for my BS in CS and later for an MBA, which I did not need at all, but got simply because of “Why not if somebody is paying?”. I even dragged my H. into obtaining his MBA also for the same reason - “Why not?”. I love my current job and many before it and my employer is paying for college. Several of my current co-workers are pursuing their MBAs while they do not need it, just like me for one reason - Why not?
Some of my friends also mentioned that their kids got the jobs that pay for further education and one of them even pursuing the MBA from Harvard on employer’s dime while the employer even allowed him to take a time off for that. Not a bad deal at all!!

8

Check with the schools (or on websites) that you are interested in concerning prerequisites. If you take prerequisites at the school you most want to go to, and do well, that can help you.

Do you want psychology or economics? There are many online programs for grad psychology (and low residency too) that are cheaper, if those interest you. Some may not have prerequisites. Take a look at Lesley, Union Institute, and Goddard for instance. And many state universities have online programs or hybrids.

You can try to get funding of some sort but that is tough for a master’s. At the PhD level you could teach, get a stipend and get funding.

For others reading this, Harvard and Yale are free for families with incomes under $65K and only 10% of incomes as high as $150k. But the “cognitive dissonance” for you at those schools at that age might have been difficult.

9

Thanks so much for the info and advice :slight_smile: I’m still digesting, researching, and trying to decide what to do!

UW Madison’s program does seem reasonable and I’ll probably go that route if I stay in WI.

But finding a job that would pay for college would be ideal… otherwise my backup plan has been to move to northern california to be a cop/detective, which would also pay plenty to take classes on the side even if they don’t directly pay for the education… and I think a few years of this kind of work experience could be valuable before starting school.

10

Wisconsin - Madison’s master’s program in economics is described at http://www.econ.wisc.edu/grad/MS/index.html .

Most of the above courses should be available at community colleges; intermediate micro (and macro) economics generally need to be taken at a four year school (preferably one where it is calculus-based). In general, additional math and statistics preparation is also desirable to prepare for graduate study in economics.

If you wish to take a few courses (like intermediate micro and macro economics and advanced math and statistics courses) at Wisconsin - Madison as a non-degree student, see http://continuingstudies.wisc.edu/advising/univspec.htm .

Wisconsin - Madison is not friendly to second bachelor’s degree students, according to http://saa.ls.wisc.edu/188.htm .

11

In Wisconsin you can make use of your region’s vocational technical school for career testing and counseling. In Madison this would be MATC (now Madison College I’m hearing- have moved OOS). Should even be free. Aptitude and interest tests would help you learn of possibilities you may not have thought of. Counselors should be able to help you figure out options for schooling in WI as well.

12

Ohh, seeing a free career counselor would be a great idea.

Luckily, I took microeconomics and the first two semesters of calculus already, so that leaves only four required courses to take if I remember what I learned in calculus :slight_smile:

13

http://www.math.buffalo.edu/rur/rurciii7.cgi can help you check your knowledge of calculus 1 and 2 in order to see if you are ready for calculus 3. You can try the quizzes to see what you need to self-review.

14

My undergrad degree is in a liberal arts field. My MS is in an applied science. Here’s how I did it back in the last century:

  1. one year of relevant undergrad coursework at a home-state public U after admission as a “senior transfer”
  2. another half year of relevant grad coursework at that public U in “non-degree” status
  3. admission to a different grad school entirely

Back in the stone age, I could pay for my living expenses and some of my tuition costs for this transition with part-time jobs near or on campus. I don’t know if that is possible now. A lot depends on the kind of job you can get. I’d suggest trying to get any job that gives you tuition benefits - many colleges/universities will let employees take a couple classes for free or cheap.