So, it's my favorite time of the year - the beginning of a new semester. It's like Christmas, only it happens twice a year, thrice if you take summer classes. And oddly enough, I'm completely serious. I love it. Because it opens up a huge window of possibilities. Will I take a linguistics class or a literature class? A psychology class or a religion class? Will I go with a professor I know or one I don't? Or one who I hang out with all of the time and just recently got made a teacher? Or ... one who will likely give me a stellar letter of recommendation? Because you see, this start of term, I realized that lo and behold, I only need one more semester after this one, and then I have to decide what to do with me life.
Now, it's been a long and drawn out decision, but I decided yesterday after a few minutes of pondering (I'm just kidding, it really is a very thought-out move) that I do want to at least try grad school. For those who don't remember or don't know, I'm a history student. I love it and won't hear of doing anything other than it. I know I want to teach it at a college level, so I know I need a graduate degree. I might as well get one while I'm here. But here's the dealio ...
Scenario A: I take a senior seminar this semester which I really don't want to take and then finish up in the summer, spending my own money to take summer classes. I would then take a semester off (I've already missed the fall graduate admissions deadlines), and start grad school in Spring 2009.
Scenario B: I take a light load this semester and then a light load next fall, including a senior seminar where the professor really wants me to come so we can continue work on a paper I wrote for him last semester. Then I can ... maybe(?) get into grad school in the spring. That's the thing. I'm not sure if I need to have graduated to apply. Logically it doesn't seem like I need to have graduated, but I'm not sure. I emailed the graduate admissions contact and am awaiting a reply.
I'm pretty sure I can get into grad school here (FSU). I'll have really good letters of recommendation and really good writing samples. I just need to take the GRE and apply. So it's just a matter of which scenario to pick. I know, it seems like I weighted scenario B, and I confess, it's the one I'm leaning towards. But if I can't get into grad school in the spring after graduation in the fall, it's a no go. So I'm not gonna drop this senior seminar until I know.
Anyhoo, I guess I'm asking for advice, though I'm mostly just excited about this time of year and want somewhere to let it out. Most people around here don't like to hear about my enthusiasm for school. Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :
Don't mess with grad school until fall of 09. You're already a year ahead of schedule based on your birthdate. I totally understand being enthusiastic, but you shouldn't kill yourself. You have a cute girlfriend in your state, odds are life will be more stressful when you go to gradschool. Plus the seminar you're in now sounds sucky, and you'll have to deal with the less than great subject matter, a person you don't like, and the workload.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Don't worry about getting into grad school - of course you can apply without having graduated. If not, at my university we can take grad classes as non-degree seeking and then transfer the credits over after we've been admitted.
In fact, one of my professors is bugging me to take a grad level class in the fall, and I won't gradute until the spring. I'll take it as an undergrad, and the credits won't count toward my undergrad degree, but will transfer over after I'm accepted into grad school. There's lots of ways you can do this, don't sweat it. If you don't want to take the seminar in the summer, then don't. Take the one you want to in the fall.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
If you definitely know you want to pursue history, I don't see why you shouldn't steam on ahead. Besides it sounding like you don't really want to...
Is there any benefit to one admission cycle over the other in terms of how many people apply?
Posted by SenojRetep (Member # 8614) on :
quote:Originally posted by Belle: If not, at my university we can take grad classes as non-degree seeking and then transfer the credits over after we've been admitted.
This is what I did.
I don't know of any graduate programs with mid-year (i.e. Spring-semeseter) admissions, but I don't know that many graduate programs.
My advice would be push as hard as you can without burning yourself out. If that means finishing this Spring, great. If not, finish in the Fall and (if possible) apply for grad admissions in the Spring. If not, take a few grad classes next Spring as an advanced undergraduate then transfer them over when you start your graduate work.
Caveat: my program wouldn't allow transferring more than three classes, so keep that in mind.
One more bit of advice: I've been very surprised at what a year of work in between undergraduate and graduate degrees has done for me. If it's feasible, you might take light loads for the next couple of semesters, work in your field for a few months, and then start grad school. This is probably more feasible in engineering than history, but I found it really helped me be mature and disciplined in my approach to grad school.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
What's your field? What type of graduate school are you considering? Professional programs (i.e. medicine, law, etc.) are unlikely to accept students mid year but other graduate programs often do. All the science and engineering programs I've worked with will accept graduate students to start in January if they have space available.
Once you start a graduate program, you are likely to have a more regimented schedule at least for the first year or so. Most programs will require you to take a fixed set of core classes and prepare for qualifying exams.
If I were in your position, rather than starting graduate school in the spring, I'd look at using the time to do some exploration. Sign up for classes you don't need to graduate but that you find interesting. Look into the possibility of doing a Semester abroad or enrolling in some other special program. You have a chance to indulge your intellectual curiosity that you may never have again. Use it!
Posted by Tara (Member # 10030) on :
I like new semesters too, but for me the decision process happens much earlier...So I'm locked into whatever classes I thought I wanted to take three months ago..
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