ausernamehere

Yea, my interviews are for master programs.

Hi, I have been invited to interview at a bunch of higher ed/student affairs programs. Which is great! But, the costs of visiting all these places really adds up. Particularly because a lot of them are in parts of the country that don't have major airports, or I am notified only a few weeks before the interview weekend. I have some savings so I can manage it, but it just seems kind of....obscene. I was just kind of wondering what other peoples thoughts were on the price/whether you anticipated it/whether it bothered you/how you paid for it, etc.

Hi, I have read most of the threads related to Higher Ed and Student Affairs masters programs on this board, but I am still kind of confused with regard to my situation, so I was hoping someone might have some info that could help me. I am interested in pursuing a career in advising (either academic advising, career advising, or maybe something related to study abroad or promoting STEM careers). I graduated from college a few years ago and have been working in a field unrelated to higher ed since then because I was unsure of what I wanted to do when I graduated. Currently, I have been looking for a job at a college or university just to get some experiece doing ANYTHING professional in a higher ed setting in order to improve my grad school applications. I AM a little confused though about why types of programs I should be applying to. I THOUGHT that for what I am interested in (advising) I would want to do a student affairs masters program? Perhaps one that was a little heavier in counseling and student development theory? But then, the other day I was talking with an individual who attended the same undergraduate institution as I did and is now working as an Academic Advisor at George Washington and for her masters she did the Higher Education program at Harvard. She seemed to be a big advocate for doing a Higher Ed program, particularly at one of the more highly ranked schools (like Harvard, Stanford, Penn or Vanderbilt), and said most of the more student affairs type stuff you can pick up experientially rather than learning it in the classroom. So now I am just a little unsure of what type of programs I should be looking at. I am really nervous about being able to find a job when I complete grad school and would like to be able to get the best possible training in order to make myself into an attractive candidate. If you have any thoughts or experiences that might be valuable, I would really appreciate hearing them.