KAMALAGRAD

Is there a full list of such programs out there anywhere? Also, I'd be curious about ones that would be good for international students in terms of being more likely to offer acceptance or funding? Thanks in advance for any help!

Just curious if there are a lot of PhD's in social work/related fields where you can get a MSW ahead of time and then get that PhD later? Bonus points if the program is in the NYC area.

Hi all, After spending some time in journalism I've spent the last three years in the mental health field where I plan to stay. I considered some other fields, but I find this one the most rewarding and what I have been best at. That being said I don't currently make very much and really would like a job with more responsibility. Money isn't everything I guess, but it counts for something. I've been looking into possibly getting an MSW, PH.D or Psy.D degree. Not any time in the near future, but somewhere down the line. I was wondering if anyone was familiar with degrees offered in the NYC area and which have the highest earning potential as well as job openings. Especially since I still have a while before I would earn such a degree I'm looking for fields that are expected to have job openings down the line as well. I'm looking for more professional/practicing programs rather than those based in academia. I know Psy.D degrees tend to be less academic oriented, but there are so few of those in NYC and those in the area tend to be rather expensive. Cost is definitely an important factor to me since I'm still working on paying down a big student loan I have. For any further degree I earn I am hoping to be able to pay it out of pocket and through scholarships. I am also concerned about how to go about getting letters of recommendation for these programs. Although I've taken a ton of college courses I can't say very many have been related to the mental health field. I figured it may be best to find credible professors in the field in NYC and enroll in individual courses with them, which would both help me build up a little more familiarity with studying mental health and help get some letters of recommendation. Is this a good approach or not? For a little background about me I've worked as a residential counselor for the past three years. Two years in a high intensity program and the year before that in a less intense setting. I work in a group home setting in a psychiatric rehabilitation program. The population I have worked with have mostly been older clients with axis 1 mental disorders (schizophrenic and schizoaffective disorders to be precise). I'm looking to probably get a different job in the same field in the next 6 months or so. I have a MS degree, but it is in journalism and likewise my undergraduate work was in journalism and media studies. I have begun applying to other jobs already and meet the qualifications, but even these jobs are below $40,000 a year typically. I'm hoping a further degree would get me closer if not above the $60,000 a year mark. Also, I'd ideally like to keep working with the same population, but of course can be flexible. Sorry for the long sort of rambling post, but I've been thinking about this a lot lately and just have so much to learn. Thank you in advance to anyone who can help

Hi all, After spending some time in journalism I've spent the last three years in the mental health field where I plan to stay. I considered some other fields, but I find this one the most rewarding and what I have been best at. That being said I don't currently make very much and really would like a job with more responsibility. Money isn't everything I guess, but it counts for something. I've been looking into possibly getting an MSW, PH.D or Psy.D degree. Not any time in the near future, but somewhere down the line. I was wondering if anyone was familiar with degrees offered in the NYC area and which have the highest earning potential as well as job openings. Especially since I still have a while before I would earn such a degree I'm looking for fields that are expected to have job openings down the line as well. I'm looking for more professional/practicing programs rather than those based in academia. I know Psy.D degrees tend to be less academic oriented, but there are so few of those in NYC and those in the area tend to be rather expensive. Cost is definitely an important factor to me since I'm still working on paying down a big student loan I have. For any further degree I earn I am hoping to be able to pay it out of pocket and through scholarships. I am also concerned about how to go about getting letters of recommendation for these programs. Although I've taken a ton of college courses I can't say very many have been related to the mental health field. I figured it may be best to find credible professors in the field in NYC and enroll in individual courses with them, which would both help me build up a little more familiarity with studying mental health and help get some letters of recommendation. Is this a good approach or not? For a little background about me I've worked as a residential counselor for the past three years. Two years in a high intensity program and the year before that in a less intense setting. I work in a group home setting in a psychiatric rehabilitation program. The population I have worked with have mostly been older clients with axis 1 mental disorders (schizophrenic and schizoaffective disorders to be precise). I'm looking to probably get a different job in the same field in the next 6 months or so. I have a MS degree, but it is in journalism and likewise my undergraduate work was in journalism and media studies. I have begun applying to other jobs already and meet the qualifications, but even these jobs are below $40,000 a year typically. I'm hoping a further degree would get me closer if not above the $60,000 a year mark. Also, I'd ideally like to keep working with the same population, but of course can be flexible. Sorry for the long sort of rambling post, but I've been thinking about this a lot lately and just have so much to learn. Thank you in advance to anyone who can help

Thanks for the link!

This is just a pipe dream at the moment as I have way too many more immediate needs for my cash right now. However, I've been reading a lot about the stock market/nvesting lately and think if I ever do invest I would start with a $600 investment as that may eventually be practical for me to do. This would of course be spread out among various stocks (no less than 5 probably). So more as just a hypothetical than for any practical advice what kind of stocks would YOU start off with if you had $600 to invest? Would you buy any dividend stocks or is $600 divided five ways or so (not evenly) be even worth getting dividend stocks with?

Thanks for the reply! Yes, the debt part is pretty bad, but I've been working to get in down and hopefully it won't be impossible to get it down significantly at some point. On the plus side I don't have too many expenses outside of paying back my loans. Except for rent, which in my area is still way too high, which again goes back to the whole problem of housing oddly enough. I already have my master's degree so I have a regular salary rather than a stipend. I've thought about going back to grad school for possibly another degree, but have been off the idea until I get my debt down significantly. As for your four points as I factor my own situation into them. 1. Yes, this is the big problem. Way too much student debt at the moment. 2. Believe it or not I lived for over a year in NYC (where I went to grad school) and I'd love to go back. That being said I know how ridiculously priced property is there. There are actually good, reasonably priced houses in New Jersey just an hour away though, which I'd be open to exploring more when this pipe dream becomes closer to reality. Some are even under $150 K. I also wouldn't mind just having a condo or something of the kind in NYC (Manhatten is next to impossible to afford anything, but areas of Staten Island and Queens are more reasonable). 3. I have a salary, but even that I need to improve on. Right now I'm working on building up experience and hopefully dropping more into my savings as costs permit. 4. Really ouf of luck on this one. I don't have any well off relatives who would lend a hand. So all in all I'll have a much harder time being able to buy property than a lot of people, but I'm still hopeful that it will be possible one day.

This is one thing I've been thinking a lot about lately for the future. However, with being six figures in student debt (though at least low six figures) it doesn't seem possible maybe ever. So for people who have been able to buy their own homes how were you abe to do it and how did you get around obstacles like debt?

My apologies if there is already a thread like this, but I didn't see one. I thought this would be a good thread to get some positivity out there. I thought it would be best to just the exact same school. Where perhaps you applied one season and got rejected and then applied however much time later and got accepted. I haven't heard of this happening that much as it applies to grad school, but I'm hoping this thread shines a light on some cases where it has happened. I don't have my own story to share as far as grad school goes as I only had one season of applying to schools. However, I did get rejected from one school for undergraduate that I got into for graduate school, USC. So that's something

It is kind of funny because I haven't been on this forum in ages and then the first post I see on here is from a fellow UCI grad! My GPA for UCI wasn't that great either (3.247) and I ended up getting into an Ivy League grad school (Columbia University). Although it was in a pretty different field from yours. In my experience having some outside work and achievement in your field can really help. Also, how were your letters of recommendation? Those can be pretty significant as well. Also, I think it's important that things detracting from your GPA are pretty far in the past. In your essay I'd recommend pointing that out briefly as well as what challenges made your grades less than desirable early on. Also, one thing that might help in gettting some more replies here are listing some of the schools you are interested in, in your post. Best of luck to you

Hi all, I'm a recent Columbia journalism school grad (okay maybe not that recent), who may relocate to the NY/CT border if a I get a job I applied to in Connecticut. The budget I'm looking to spend is about $800 per month for a studio or one bedroom with parking. Does anyone know any NY towns or better yet specific apartment buildings where this would be doable. So far I have heard good things about Peekskill, NY. I also heard New Rochelle as a possibility, but they seem to be just a little too pricey. Orginally I was thinking Brewster, but I've fond nothing even close to my price range there. I know $800 per month for a studio and parking is pretty much impossible to do in NYC though I would love it if I somehow lucked out as I love NYC Still, the closest I've come across was a studio with parking in the Bronx for $1040. I'm almost tempted to jump on that, but I think that would stretch me a little too thin haha.

Congratulations! I didn't get my first admission until March during my application cycle. Getting one before the year is even over must be a load off!

Hi greeneyes, I made it into Columbia, USC, and Syracuse and didn't have that much better of a GPA than you (between 3.2 and 3.3). However, I had a TON of journalism experience (at least for my age, I applied when I was 22). So given the info you've provided so far, I would say just focus as much as you can on getting your GPA up. After all depending on your school once you graduate your GPA is pretty much set so you cannot get it any higher. I'd say then you might want to take some time off before applying and really hone your journalism skills with some experience. However, you have not listed much information about your journalism experience so for all I know you might have a good amount of experience. I am going on the fact that you mentioned you are an engineering student, which indicates that you originally had a primary interest outside of journalism. At any rate, get at least three or four really solid clips for your writing samples as this will be important for the application process. If you apply as an undergraduate or right after undergrad instead, it still might be possible to get a lot of acceptances, but the experience that I mentioned never hurts. As for your schools I'd say you have a shot at CUNY, Syracuse and U of Wisconsin, Madison as long as your GPA doesn't fall at all. I think you might also have shot at USC if you get your GPA up a bit. Berkeley and Columbia are very selective so if you apply to those then I would really try to get some more experience in. That way you can show your dedication to the craft. I previously looked into Medill and though I did not end up applying there they are about just as selective (maybe just a little less selective) as far as I can tell. I'm unfamiliar with the specifics of Grady School and Georgia so I can't give you any information on those. In regard to the GRE I wouldn't put too much stock in it and focus on what I previously mentioned moreso. That doesn't mean you should ignore your GRE completely, but it doesn't factor into the decision for at least Berkeley and Columbia. It also probably won't make or break you at the other schools unless you do either really, really bad or really, really good. The only thing is your GRE score would probably factor into scholarship decisions.

I just graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism back in May and was working in New York for a bit. Didn't care much for the job though and thought I'd try my home state of Massachusetts for a while. Haven't found anything yet. Does anyone have any advice or tips?