nugget

I'm with you. I'm a little older than you two and really value my privacy. But my program is unfunded so saving money and staying within budget are very important. Most likely I will spend most weekends visiting my boyfriend, rather than the other way around, since I'll be having a roommate. This way I'll get more privacy and feel more like I'm on my own turf (for lack of a better way of explaining it). Fortunately, he will be living withing a reasonable commuting distance from my school so weekend travel won't be too difficult. The more I think about it, I don't think having a "weekday roommate" will be so bad after all. She's a grad student too, so we'll both be busy and we should both be mindful of not being too noisy or inviting a whole bunch of people over in the middle of the week. I may also end up making a new friend in the process.

Is there any way you could not work during your last semester in the fall and rely more on loans? Or could you spread out your courses over 2 semesters and study part time to ensure that you will get higher grades? If you get A's in your remaining courses and end up with a GPA of 2.95, your chances of getting in somewhere will go up considerably compared to your current GPA of 2.77, but you may need to work less or take less courses in order to achieve this. I would even recommend taking an extra course or two when you're done with your graduation requirements to get that 2.95 boosted up to 3.0 so that you will meet the minimum requirements of most schools.

BTW, I think a few more options should be added, such as living with a partner and living with other family members.

Perhaps you could try volunteering once a week in a field or area of interest. ex: hospital, research lab, high school, etc. By volunteering you can try on a different "professional hat" and discover where your interests lie. You will make new contacts and may even develop new skills for free while you try to develop a clearer vision of what you'd like to do. I'd also recommend reading What Color In Your Parachute?, if you get the chance. You should be able to find it in most libraries and bookstores. It's a great book to help people come up with a career plan, for career changers, and people in all kinds of situations who are seeking new employment.

About 5 years ago, I decided to live alone. Having roommates is fine for a certain amount of time and the cost of rent goes down considerably. I've had a mixed bag of roommates over the years. Some were great, others were fine and a couple didn't work so well. I decided to live on my own so that when I arrive home tired from a long day of work, wanting nothing more than rest and quiet, I am not greeted with 10 people sitting in my living room or any other unwanted surprises. In order to cut down on costs, I am going to have to live with a roommate for the next two years. When I met her, she seemed nice, a bit on the quiet side but friendly, and is also a grad student. Hopefully it will work out well. But I have to admit, it makes me a bit nervous to return to roommate living since I really value privacy, quiet and space. I'm hoping that in the end, things will turn out really well.

I will be attending Laurier in Kitchener, ON and living in Waterloo, ON as of the fall. I'm very excited about doing an MSW but have no idea what to expect of Kitchener or Waterloo. I spent a total of 2 hours in both places, driving around from one rental place to the next and didn't really get much of a chance to see either city. Some people have told me they love the region - lots of nice parks and there's a big market in Kitchener on the weekends. Only one person who did her undergrad at Laurier told me she hated the city and couldn't wait to move. I really hope I will like it, but sometimes I'm not so sure. I typically like smaller cities, but when I was in Waterloo I only saw young students on the streets who couldn't have been more than 23 or 24 years old and that was really strange. Where were the seniors and young children? I'm concerned that this is a university town where most of the people are in their early 20s and are primarily interested in drinking and partying. Hopefully I'm wrong about that. I've always liked demographic diversity. I also found it inconvenient that Kitchener doesn't seem to have malls and you have to walk outside and go from shop to shop. It must get really cold when you do your shopping in the winter. Did I miss seeing any of the the malls when I was there? I'm hoping someone could share with me some of the great things about living in Kitchener or Waterloo because I am very excited about doing my MSW at Laurier and I'm sure I'll meet lots of great people at school, but I'm not so sure how much I will enjoy living in the region.

I would encourage you to do it while you still have the opportunity to do so. You don't want to look back on this moment when you retire and regret not going back to school when you had the chance. I work with some people at a hospital who are in their forties and older and many of them have families too. They only have a grade 12 education so they ended up in jobs that require lots of lifting and physical labour. The work is boring, repetitive, stressful and generally very difficult to do. As their bodies get older, their jobs get harder. By the time they are 50 years old, they are ready to retire but they can't afford it because they have families to support. They also can't return to school because they lack the time, energy and money to do so. It's great that you want to go back to school and that you are able to do it. Go back so you won't become a 50 year old construction worker with chronic back pain and a difficult future ahead of you. You deserve something better.

Maybe your GPA could have been better, but it was good enough to get you into a PhD program so it couldn't have been so bad. Do you think this will somehow hold you back career-wise or in terms of getting more funding/scholarships? Or is simply about having high personal standards and being disappointed about not meeting them? Whatever the reason, it sounds like your time would be better spent focusing on your PhD and letting go of what happened in the past. Put your energy into your dissertation and other pursuits that will help your pursue your professional goals.

If you really want to do it, then I say go for it! It's your university experience and you want to make the most of it since you will probably only do one PhD in your lifetime. I am always amazed when I meet parents with small children who also study fulltime (and yes, some of them are grad students). When these students come home at 5pm they cook dinner for their families, do laundry, change diapers and get their children ready for bed. By late evening, they get started on their course work and stay up really late to get their work done. If parents are able to manage this workload, surely you will be able to drive a car 10 hrs a week. It is doable if you are determined to make it work.

Sorry to hear about that. If all else fails and you do end up applying again next year, try to work and save as much money as you can (even if you have to be a bartender or work in a factory, whatever, to supplement your income from tutoring). If you can manage to put away $1000 per month between now and next September, that should cover most of your rent for grad school for about 2 years, in case you run into a similar issue next year. I've heard of students living in a 1 bedroom or 2 bedroom apartment with a living room that has a door/door frame and renting out the living room as a bedroom to another student. Your rent would be extremely cheap if you did this. Then again, maybe you'll end up getting a really good scholarship next year and none of this will even be an issue. Best of luck!

You seem very keen on living in the larger city. You've read all of the good points mentioned above. If you still think less time to sleep, engage in leisure acitivities and higher transportation costs are worth it to live in a bigger city, I'd try to find a short term sublet for the first semester (that doesn't end mid-semester!) If you still prefer to live in the larger city by December, then find a permanent home over the winter holidays when you'll have a bit of free time to look for a place and move.

You could also write the following on your cv: Master of X Program in X. This way you are indicating that your were in the program as well as the duration of your time there without emphasizing that you didn't complete the degree. Since you are currently working on a higher academic achievement, I don't think it will be a perceived negatively. On the other hand, if you dropped out and stayed out of school an employer might be left to wonder if you left because you couldn't handle the workload or if you are someone who has a hard time commiting to long term goals. Your PhD in progress should be enough to quell those concerns. I wouldn't be concerned about it. Just be prepared to explain why you didn't complete the program if you are asked at a job interview.

Sounds like a good plan. You could always do a second master's in counselling later on when you're a social worker and have your employer to pay the tuition fees. There are a few programs that can be done online or part time.

If the first school has a good program with a good reputation, I would go there. You essentially need to decide between a known program and an unknown one. Is it worth taking that risk? It would only be worth it if you know for a fact that the first program isn't a good school then this second school would give you a shot at possibly ending up in a better program. Furthermore, it would probably be nice to have some more experienced grad students around in your lab to ask for their opinion or advice if needed, which you wouldn't get at the second school.

Most social work positions do not require a doctorate; a master's degree is sufficient to work in the field (unless you want to get into acadamia and teach at a university then you will need a PhD).

You did not mention what your career goals are. So I will respond under the assumption that both degrees are equality suitable in helping you reach your future career goals. Do you want to get a PhD? If you do, I'd go with Counselling Ed because you won't be able to do much with only an MA in Counselling. In Canada, you can work in schools with an MA or work as a private psychotherapist, but that's about it. If you work in a school with kids, keep in mind that you might also need to be a licensed teacher, depending on where you live. If you want to have a private practice, keep in mind that some private insurance companies do not cover master's-level therapists so these clients are likely to seek a PhD level psychologist instead, rather than pay out of pocket. (On the other hand, people without insurance may prefer to go to you over a PhD because your rates with be lower). If you want to stop after a master's, I'd seriously consider the MSW program because most applicants you will be competing with in the job market will have a master's degree or less. So an MSW would make you well qualified for most jobs, providing you have the work experience to go along with it. If you go this route, I would also make sure the MSW program you are considering is offered by a reputable school with high program completion rates. I've heard some schools in the US require students to find their own placements and they aren't always able to do so, which can prevent or delay students' graduation. You should only consider MSW programs that will lead all or almost all students to licensing if that is your goal.

Your story is truly an inspirations for others. Thank you for sharing your experiences on this forum and for providing updates on the latest developments. I wish you all the best on this new chapter in your career.

Congrats! Looks like all of that waiting has finally paid off. Will you be going to Windsor or Adler?

It sounds like you really want to go to grad school but you just don't know if this is the right time in your life to do that. While you're trying to figure this out, it wouldn't be such a bad idea to work or volunteer in the field to help you attain more clarity regarding your situation. As you have a lower GPA, your GRE scores, LORs and work experience need to need to be stronger than other applicants' applying with better grades. Continue to take your time with this decision, as it is an important one, and in the meantime, use your time wisely. More work experience will only help your situation.

I think it makes much more sense to switch for all of the reasons you have just mentioned. Why invest another 3-4 years of your life working towards a degree that's not likely to land you the type of job you want when you're done?

In reference to the post right above mine, there are some graduate level diplomas and certificates offered in Canada (and some are online) but they're somewhat rare. If you want to consider this route, go on this link and see if there's a program that interests you. http://www.aucc.ca/canadian-universities/study-programs/

I would stay in the first one for all the reasons you mentioned above. Think of all the time you will save by not being a TA that could be put into your research and thesis instead. It doesn't matter if your PI doesn't specialize in your exact area of research. Your PI is a mentor and is there to help guide you. He does not know everything about what all of his students are researching. At a certain point, you will become the expert in your chosen area of research and he will be learning from you. (As you can see by my signature, I have not started grad school yet, so take my advice for what you will. But based on my bf's experiences of doing a PhD, this is how the relationship seemed to progress with his PI. She was not an expert on his specific area of research but was able to advise him on how to go about and make improvements to his research and thesis).

The only advice I have to offer if you do end up applying is to apply to a few different programs. Only applying to one school is very risky.

You mentioned that you've looked at psychology programs. Have you specifically looked into Social Psych programs? This could be one avenue to explore if you haven't already done so.

My bf did a PhD in clinical psych and I have heard many times from my bf and the lab members that a degree in clinical psych in much more marketable than a degree in experimental psych or counselling. For me, Montclair's clinical program would win hands down. You could always apply for a PhD in clinical psych at Columbia later on and accumulate debt at the PhD level when it would make the most sense to put in such a huge financial investment.