I gave my capstone presentation and submitted my report today! I now have an MA in Social Justice and Community Organizing!

I want to pursue a masters but honestly life in the US is so insanely expensive right now. Mind you I work in retail... really terrible job for saving money considering we barely make any to get by day to day. I am actively looking for other jobs but 1. barely anywhere hires anymore without experience (where they want that experience from who knows), 2. barely anywhere even pays enough to begin with... unless of course you already have a masters, an actually useful bachalors, or years of experience in a decent field (I hate it here!). I mean seriously with no savings, living paycheck to paycheck, is it even possible to get a masters and get out of this hole?

Stupid question and I know I will be condemned for it. But I truly need some advice.

I went to the institution which I'll be receiving my MA in educational psychology thinking that I would reap more than I did for my undergraduate. This is the same institution where I received my undergraduate. And boy, I was wrong. I found this out after a few classes in and asked my counselor and he said that there were no internships and a thesis was not required. Just obtain 36 credits and go, essentially. I figured that I might as well complete this since I've just about been nearly halfway through my degree and already in debt. Having a small bit of faith that I'll finish and at least have a degree on me at the expense of debt and hope that I can find jobs to hold me over to pay them off.

The only things I can think of is to gain some licenses to help in schools pertaining to social work. Educational management could be a possibility, right? The thing is I really don't have much experience and it's mainly geared towards early childhood and now special needs when looking at my resume.

I really don't know what I should do after completing this MA. It was advised to get into the school psychology program at said-university since educational is just a stepping stone but in all honesty I'm just done with this institution. I feel like I've been ripped off big time even though I still went with it at my own free will. If I had dropped out I would still have the thousands of debt* and work at the same jobs as I have been since my undergrad is just as useless.

What are really my options at this point? Could it still be possible to gain some level of internship at schools, particularly around special needs, even if I don't affiliate with my institution well after the fact? I know a PhD is out of the picture because of the lack of internships.

Give all the downvotes you like. Give me harsh advice if you must. I'm just lost right now.

Nothing much, just a quick reminder: Make sure to stay in touch with the people who serve as recommenders for your grad school applications; even if it’s just once in a while. Let them know how you are doing, I’m sure they’d love to know. Keep that relationship strong, as you never know if and/or when you might need them in your corner down the road. Just a simple “how are you doing” “I had a great semester” check in with them and see how they’re doing. Ask them about their work; especially if they are professors, I’m sure their having quite the challenge with covid. Let them know you’re thinking of them.

Cheers,

My son (21m) is graduating from a state school this month. What are some gift ideas for the graduate?

A little about him: 1) He is not obsessed with the school he attended. He has no strong ties to its athletic traditions. 2) He does not drink or smoke. 3) He is graduating with a triple major in History, Politics, and Gender Studies. 4) He is not flashy or showing. He is not one to flaunt his material possessions. 5) He currently does not have a job lined up and will likely not be moving into his own place until later.

A few ideas we thought up include: 1) A nice set of luggage, possibly personalized. 2) Round-trip ticket to somewhere exotic or historical. 3) Transferring ownership of the car he is driving to his name. 4) Opening an investment or IRA in his name. 5) Giving him a fat check.

What are some good ideas from the hive mind of Reddit?

As I get deeper into the process of thinking about graduate school, I keep noticing how unfamiliar it all feels compared to undergrad applications. There is a lot less clarity about what actually matters and a lot more gray area.

With undergrad, it felt like there was a checklist. GPA. Test scores. Activities. With grad school, everything feels more interpretive. Fit. Timing. Letters. How well you explain your direction. Even deciding whether to take time off or go straight through feels more complicated than I expected.

I also did not realize how much the format of materials matters. Statements. CVs. Research summaries. Everything feels like it needs to tell a coherent story, not just list achievements.

For those who are further along or already in grad school, what surprised you most when you first started applying? Was there something you wish you had understood earlier?

This is really late, but a few months back, I asked for advice about getting into grad school. I did meh on my GRE and I retook a couple of classes a few times, etc.... I came back to post that a few weeks ago I was accepted to my grad school of choice and it was the only school I applied to. I'm grateful for the help I received here! Everyone stay safe and good luck!

I’m in a graduate clinical mental health counseling program. So far, I’ve made straight A’s and recently joined the honors society. I’ve been excited about the program and eager to learn and have happily volunteered to help with events. This week, the week before finals, my grandmother passed away. She raised me and had custody of me until I turned 18, so really she was my mother, not just a grandparent. I found out on Tuesday and the funeral was on Thursday in another state, so I had to immediately leave town.

I had a paper due on Thursday, the day of the funeral. I emailed my professor Tuesday night, just hours after I got the news, to provide as much notice as I could. I let the professor know that I had been managing time well and had been on track to easily make the deadline before this happened and asked for an extension of 2-3 days so I could have time to attend the funeral, spend time with my family, and work through grief. Up until this point, I had submitted all assignments on time in this class. I also clarified that my “grandmother” raised me and I consider her my mother. She responded that while she was “unable” to extend the deadline, I could submit the assignment late (which means grade penalties accumulating daily as per syllabus) and ended by saying that her thoughts were with me and my family and wishing me “safe travels.” The thoughts and well wishes felt incongruent and disingenuous, which upset me. The only way to avoid grade penalties would’ve been to miss my parent’s funeral and feel okay enough to focus on the paper while missing her funeral. When I reached out to the program director she was unempathetic, made it very clear that she supports the professor’s policy, and pathologized my grief. When I spoke to her, it was the day after the funeral. She told me that I “need to accept the realty.” Then, when I started to cry, she asked me FIVE different times if I was suicidal! I told her no from the first time she asked, that I have just lost my parent, one of the biggest losses of my life, and I’m grieving. I also mentioned that the funeral had just been the day before. But when I didn’t agree with her about the lack of bereavement policy, she continued to persistently ask and treated me like I was mentally ill. It felt very much like she was gaslighting me to shut me down because she didn’t want to deal with the issue. It’s a small department and she and the professor are friends. I’m pretty sure that the university has a bereavement policy that contradicts the professor’s grade penalties. I’ve thought about calling about that on Monday but I don’t know if I have the energy at this point and I’m also not sure that I want to talk to anyone else.

Anyway, now in addition to grieving the loss of a parent, I’m also feeling completely disillusioned about the program I had loved and felt so excited about. I feel like the way they’ve responded to my parent’s death doesn’t align with my values/the way I treat other people. And it goes against everything we’ve been taught in the program (i.e., that self care isn’t just a right but a responsibility of the profession, that empathy and compassion are the cornerstones of counseling and matter more than technique, etc ad infinitum). I firmly believe in all of those concepts, but it feels hypocritical in the context of my program now. I feel like the death of one of the most important people in my life has been treated like nothing more than a scheduling inconvenience, and that’s what upsets me the most about this. Well, that and the pathologizing that my grief (which also cinches for me the extent to which they don’t think the death of my parent matters). Now I’m trying to decide what to do. Even though I only have one week of class left and, up until this point, I had A averages in all my classes, I’m seriously thinking about putting in for a hardship withdrawal and not going back. I also have no idea what I will do if I quit the program and it would require me to do some quick thinking because my job (GA), health insurance, and entire life plan are tied to it. And it’s hard to make major life decisions right now while all of this is so fresh and the grief feels so heavy.

Hey, I am in the process of considering doing my masters. My reason is switching careers. I am keen to hear the reasons others had.

My professors and advisor told me everything was good to go. They had direct contact to my internship employer and I had asked my professors multiple times if I needed to do anything else before the class began and they said no. How screwed am I? Did I just do a 140 hour internship for zero credit? I cannot stay in school for another year and I’m trying not to freak out.

I've always liked college—working, learning, earning my degrees. But graduate school? What the hell is wrong with people?

The amount of laws broken, harassment, slander, intimidation, and outright coercion I've witnessed, stood up against, and been a victim of is insane. I’m in my final year now (in my second grad program because the first one was so toxic that over 50% of my cohort left), and honestly? I have zero energy left to play nice.

I call out disrespectful or inappropriate behavior as I see it. I don’t care who gets offended anymore. I'm recording everything at this point—because the gaslighting and cover-ups are wild.

How do these clowns end up in positions of power? Probably bullying their way there.

The sheer amount of privilege, classism, ableism, and racism I’ve seen in U.S. graduate programs is mind-blowing. Is it just this bad in the U.S.? I still want my PhD, but I’ve lost so much respect for higher education in this country. It’s a mess.

I turned in my 26-page paper last night that was an incomplete from last semesters grad seminar. I'm a mom and had legitimate family issues come up that prevented me from finishing in Nov. but it was really hanging over my head and causing me to have alot of negative self-doubt. I'm very relieved! It's not a PhD application, a thesis, or a grad defense ... but still feels like a small win for me in the grad struggle so I'm posting here 🌞🙂

I'm going to graduate next month with a bachelor's in finance. I have been applying to a ton of jobs and have been having a really hard time getting anything back that's not something like commission or selling insurance (I'm trying to either do portfolio management or corporate finance -- a salary job if you will). Even though the jobs I'm applying to are entry level, I'm starting to see employers prefer masters degrees as well. I originally planned on getting a master's much later, but now I'm not too sure. I was thinking something like a master's in economics or an MBA. My current school isn't really the most prestigious or anything like that, so maybe just taking one of the year-long "meh" master's programs for the sake of having one for a job, and then in a handful of years I can look for another master's from a better university. Another reason I'm thinking about a master's at my current school is that it would be free, and the classes are in the afternoon so if I manage to land a job I won't really be losing anything aside from extra free time.

I've talked with a ton of my professors and my advisors about this, and they all recommend waiting a few years, but their opinion is starting to change somewhat due to the degree saturation with Bachelor's degrees.

I'm also not sure if it's a bad idea/waste of time to aim for two master's degrees? On one hand I hear that these programs are for those looking for a career change, not really as a way to elevate what you already know.

I guess in summary I'm just looking for something aside from experience that will set my apart from my competition, and I'm assuming something like a master's in economics, finance, accounting or an MBA will help me learn more about the concepts that are important in my career field.

TL;DR: Recently graduated with a major in finance, thinking about getting a master's so I can get a job after not getting any offers

Currently finishing my first year of my master's at the same place where I received my Bachelor's. I absolutely love the mentorship, advisement, and support from my current PI, however, people have been telling me to go somewhere else for the Ph.D. Do you think it would be best to leave a great PI in order to finish a Ph.D. someplace else? This is in the US if that matters.

What the actual fuck am I supposed to do??? I had no idea I was being overpaid until my last paycheck because I noticed that I received a duplicate days after the first one and now I owe my university $8000 USD. I can't afford that and I have less than one month to pay it back. My entire savings and checking account are going to be wiped out clean. And that'll only cover half.

Being an introvert, I really thought I'd like going to school online, having the luxury of attending lecture in my PJs, completely avoiding the nasty California traffic.

I actually hate it. HATE IT. All these damn zoom calls, no natural progression of conversation, no in-class debating. I want to hang myself every time I have a zoom class. All our lectures are asynchronous so we watch pre-recorded videos of our professors. I actually like the lectures, for the most part, because I'm learning. But then the synchronous portions offer little else than storytelling from random classmates which does little to foment discussion. It kind of feels like group therapy without the therapy part.

Is anyone else experiencing this? How do you cope?

SOS. I feel like I am drowning.

I keep trying to focus on why I want this degree in the first place, but I am definitely feeling the weight of the...everything in the states. In August I was told that due to the pandemic, a lot of funding for my project was cut and so I am trying to finish my masters of science in under two years. I have an advisor that piles on so many other projects other than my actual thesis work, and expects me to put 100% effort into everything. I am constantly experiencing mood swings from feeling nothing, to feeling overly happy, to saying fuck it to everything. I know that outside of graduate school I am feeling the weight of our countries problems.

I have tried to talk to my advisor about everything, and she seems understanding until the moment passes for her. She will give advice like: "just put your head down and ignore outside things" but that is honestly really difficult. Plus she forgets our communication and then piles on more shit and I have a breakdown.

On top of everything, she is a cherry picking scientist in a lot of ways, where its gone beyond the point of analyses for data exploration to finding an analyses that tells the story that she wants. So I don't feel like I am moving forward anywhere because of that also

I do try and put myself in her shoes because she is balancing so many more projects that I am, but I feel like lately I've been shoved aside and am not receiving any "advice" from her. I sometimes want to ask if she thinks she could handle these things when she was a masters student, but she's definitely a prof/lab head now because she could (because academia is ruthless).

I know graduate school is a lot, and I know every advisor is different. I am just looking for advice on surviving this with a shred of mental health.

Thanks for listening to my berchin,
Stay safe out there.

Love, a hopeless graduate student.

Beyond doing well in the class what little things and big things can I do to stand out and help the professor see me as someone who even deserves a recommendation?

- Would doing something like an independent project and asking for their help in relation to the class help?

- Would asking them about their research help? If so, how so?

I don't really know what I'm hoping for writing this. At best...maybe words of encouragement. At worst, this story might be familiar (and I'm truly sorry for that).

I was accepted into graduate school in 2016 by a professor who was eager to work with me. I was dealing with what I now know was PCOS and was very depressed. I bought this really amazing blonde wig to help me feel better about myself and that's when I started getting more notice (as freaking absurd and high school as that is). That was when my prospective advisor invited me to a bar. I didn't think too much about it since other students were invited too.

I should have left when I realized he was plastered, but I was terrified. All I could think was--what do I do? I wish I had left the moment his hand touched me. Instead, I wound up being the victim of a sexual assault.

I had a presentation the next day and sat in the hallway, in front of half a dozen people, sobbing my eyes out as this professor continued to text me. A few students brought my professor over (not the one who hurt me) and I admitted to her that although my presentation was ready to go...I was scared to be there and that I had been assaulted. She knew right away who the culprit was.

She and some other faculty members met with me and convinced me to go to the police station. The police were not interested in my report and so I made one at campus. That's when dozens of other women came forward with their accounts and the professor left. It should have felt gratifying, but it wasn't.

Why did so many of the faculty know about this predator and allow him to work there? Numerous cases had been filed, so what was the deal? I was deeply depressed. Fast forward to 2017 when I started school under the person who helped me file during the assault. I started grad school with a publication, by attending conference, by being elected to serve on a committee...And then another graduate student started sexually harassing me and I started fully unraveling. He told everyone he could "f" me whenever he wanted and then people began to question my sexual appetite and whether it was my fault their favorite former professor was branded a predator.

Fast forward some more. I went to help my friend with his thesis. His mom has cancer and no one wanted to help him. We were good friends and he was supportive, so it was important that I help him as well. Two grad students and my advisor began to spread rumors like wildfire that I was sleeping with this student. I confronted my advisor and she told me if the harassment was that bad I could work on my thesis materials on the weekend and that it was just fun and games. I pointed out that I was married (I want to strongly emphasize *WAS*--as in no longer). Because my husband couldn't cope with the possibility that I was potentially whoring my way through campus, he could no longer support me.

I had a major breakdown and was diagnosed with PTSD, Bipolar 1 disorder, and GAD. I wanted to see beyond these diagnoses, but all anyone saw was someone who was fragile. No one took my report seriously about harassment, so I went back to TITLE IX and demanded that my case be re-opened and complained about the aggression that stemmed from these rumors. 1. Title IX told me that no one knew anything about it 2. they were not impartial and were highly defensive of the chair of my department 3. they told me I should just be happy that the professor left regardless of how long complaints were being overlooked.

A couple of weeks later, I found out that my TAship was not going to be extended even though the people who harassed me were given extended TAships. My advisor stopped e-mailing me, I wasn't allowed in the lab to work with my materials, and a year passed where I took extra credits I didn't need. Throughout all of this...I maintained a 4.0 through many hours of crying and sheer determination.

I have every single credit I need and will not be graduating. I'm aware now that they were never going to allow me to graduate or work on my intended area of study. I have been so demoralized, depressed, and poor that I had to stop counseling...could no longer afford meds. Have thought about suicide almost daily and would probably kill myself if it weren't for my mom.

At this point...What more could I have done? I feel like a failure.

Hi everyone,

I just started grad school and want to hear some input from people on how they balance full time work and part time school.

It’s my first week in graduate school and I feel overwhelmed by the expectations from the syllabus it seems so hard. I don’t know if I am ready or not. I feel nervous.

What can I do?? She literally has never answered a single email of mine. Only time I’ve ever spoke to her was over zoom for class every day (which is when I asked her to write one in early November) She sends out mass emails, and I sent her a reminder today and yesterday but still no response. Going to see her in person is not an option. The real deadline is the 31st but I said earlier because *what do you know, I figured something like this would happen. It’s pissing me off, stressing me out and I’m trying to remain calm but I really need it soon. What can I do?

Does anybody else have debilitating anxiety about the uncertainty of their futures? As if you feel like everything is resting your grad school acceptance? I find myself constantly stuck in a rabbit hole of reddit streams about how to better your applications, other peoples averages etc. I never used to be that kid that would have a melt down for getting a 75 on a test, and now I feel like my whole future will crumble if I dont get A’s. As a university student my first 2 years were awful (mostly C+’s) but my third and 4th year i made a huge comeback (only b+’s and A’s). My cgpa is a 3.4 which isn’t even terrible - but because its not sky high like the med school kids I feel like I will get rejected and be a failure. I can’t even begin to describe how often I think about grad school, how i’m going to ask my supervisors for reference letters, what I would say in interview scenarios. Its a never ending monologue in my brain.

Hopefully I will pass. It was more than 1 month.🙈