JBums1028

If by the looks of the program they allow you to select two different tracks within the same program then yes, this basically was what I was referring to! I'm looking at them for their HESA program and Academic Advising certificate currently. Thanks everyone for the advice! I'm currently proceeding with my plans to apply to HESA programs at the moment, still uncertain if I will apply to secondary school counseling or combined (if possible) programs. After thinking about if further, I realized if I did guidance counseling I pretty much would only want to work with juniors and seniors since what I enjoy most about my current position is working with the students on post-secondary plans. So I'm probably going to stick with HESA since it's a better fit for my interests.

It's technically my second time around for graduate school applications, but first time around for HESA programs. Last year I was applying to MSW programs, but then decided kind of late that I wanted to take a gap year. Only applied to one program, didn't get accepted. Wasn't too upset about it since I changed my intended field anyway. I'm also applying to a mixture of in state and out of state and looking at probably applying to some other national service programs around that same time to keep my options open.

When you say MA in Counseling, are you referring to School Counseling or General Counseling? I just wanted to clarify. If my only option is two separate MA programs, then I'll probably just apply to both types of programs now and allow myself some time to think about it and decide which route I prefer in March/April...

This might be a bizarre question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. I'm wondering if there are any Counseling or Educational Counseling Master's Programs out there that would prepare a graduate for both a career in college counseling and school counseling? I'm currently serving as an AmeriCorps member on both a college campus and at a high school. Prior to this my plan was to go into Student Affairs to become either an admissions counselor or an academic adviser. However, now that I've been working with the high school students I'm considering school counseling as a possibility. But I don't want to rule out the college counseling careers though either. I've been looking at Educational Counseling programs, and the only one that I've found that could possibly lead me to both are Western Michigan's Counseling MA. It has separate tracks within it for each type of counseling, so there's a possibility I could do two tracks at the same time (I need to confirm this with someone in their program). Syracuse also has a Student Affairs Counseling program and a School Counseling Certificate that can be added on. Does anyone know of other programs that are like this? Or have any other advice that could help me pursue both careers potentially?

Based on your deadlines, I'd honestly just take it with little to no prep. Spending money on a study program with a little over a month to prepare IMO is not worth the cost. The test itself isn't bad, it's mostly the length of time it takes that makes it a nusiance. I'd recommend doing a free practice test one afternoon (Kaplan offers them every once in a while, check on their website).

Well I wrote a totally separate one for UConn since it had a strict word limit. For the others though the questions they ask are all similar enough that I'll probably just be able to tweak it a litte and call it good. I get why the personal statements are important, but writing them has been so annoying... I almost really appreciated UConn's 250 word limit since it forces you to be very blunt and to the point about why you're interested in attending.

For the record MSU is in East Lansing, which is a smaller suburb outside of Lansing. It's just like any other college town in America. If you go there, you most likely won't ever need to go into downtown Lansing unless you choose to. Just felt the need to clarify that. Also I'm not sure how old you are @tdix09, but if you're young to mid twenties you'll fit right in. I wouldn't worry about feeling "too old." Anyway, here's my update: - UCONN application is just about ready to go. Just have to edit my personal statements and resume, PDF them, then hit submit! - I'm just about done with my MSU personal statement. Once that's done I'm pretty much set to go there as well. - I will probably push my Michigan ap to the end, because I'm contemplating scraping it for similar reasons mentioned above. - Will also apply to University of Rochester in NY. I know it's not a big name, but I loved their curriculum! - I will add one more Michigan school as a back up, I'm bouncing back and forth between Eastern Michigan and Grand Valley State University. I'm relieved to see that others are still working on getting everything together. I was starting to feel like I was behind...

Not really to be honest. I probably should be though. I've been focusing more on the practical experiences I will gain through the program instead (assistantships, internships, etc). A lot of my mentors who are currently working in higher ed said that should be one of my highest priorities.

I would think HESA would be an option for you. I would just let schools know that you are interested in study abroad and ask if they offer assistantships or internship placements in their study abroad offices. One place you might want to look is Michigan State, since they have such a large study abroad program. I think I remember hearing somewhere that a lot of grad students in their program get part time jobs or internships in the study abroad office.

I think the general consensus from everyone is that you should major in education if that's what you want to do. I personally think you should, but that upon graduation you should also consider TFA. I don't see why it has to be an either or situation for you. Yes, it might put you in the minority for the TFA program, but I think if you have both a traditional student teaching appointment and two years with TFA on your resume that would make you a very competitive teaching candidate IMO. Plus you have more options upon graduation. If you do the traditional route, and you don't get accepted to TFA, then you just try to find a teaching job. If you don't major in education and you don't get accepted to TFA, then what will you do? That's probably something you should consider. I think part of the reason why they might shy away from hiring education majors might have to do with their motivations for applying for the program. They might also be worried that, since you could find a different teaching job easily based on your qualifications, that you are only applying to TFA as sort of a "stop over" until something better comes along. This is easily fixable though by demonstrating in your interviews that you genuinely care about the mission of the program. Right now it's probably a good idea to do your homework on TFA. Maybe attend an information session at your school or contact someone who runs the program and see if they can put you in touch with a current TFA teacher. Get a good feel for the program and see if it's right for you. That's my advice.

Completely agree with digits2006. TFA would only be two years out of your entire teaching career. If teaching is your long term goal, then I think it's probably best to pursue the traditional education route through your college. This will probably sound cheesy, but I think if you are meant to be a part of TFA and your a good fit for their program, then it will work out regardless of your major. Also if you do a traditional education program, you have both the option to do TFA or try to find a traditional teaching job available to you upon graduation. Even though it's a tough market for teachers in a lot of states, it's better to have both those options instead of only one in my opinion.

Out of curiosity did you contact someone at Harvard about your application from last year? What was their reasoning for not admitting you? That might be a good place to start so you know what areas of your application they thought needed improvement. I'm no expert on Harvard, so I don't know how they handle those types of requests, but I'm sure it's worth a try.

If you don't mind me kind of diverging away from the OP's request, what sort of things have you heard about Rutgers? I've heard that while their program is pretty good, the area that it's in is not so great and it made me kind of hesistant about potentially moving out there...

That was helpful thanks! I sent out an email last night so hopefully I'll get an answer regarding financial aid soon (one of my "deal breakers" is if the university doesn't offer master's level assistantships and they don't offer some type of paid employment opportunity instead- i.e. the required internship is paid or something like that). The website was kind of vague. But we'll see...

Hello! So I know there are a few people on here who are from New York so I figured that they might be able to weigh in on this question. Since I'm still (for the most part) in the process of forming the final list of schools I'm going to apply to, I happened to stumble upon the University of Rochester's higher education program. Based on what I've seen of their curriculum, I really like their program and I'm thinking of applying. However their website didn't seem to say a lot about the type of financial aid opportunities available (like assistantships/on campus employment, scholarships, etc). I plan on contacting someone in the program for more info, but I was wondering if anyone on these boards would happen to know what they offer? Also, I wasn't familiar with this university until a few days ago, so I was wondering if anyone knew about the university and the city it is located in? Is Rochester, NY a fairly nice and safe place to live, what's the cost of living like, etc? Thanks in advance for any advice you have to offer!

I'm not familiar with this program, so unfortunately I can't specifically help you. But have you tried contacting the program and asking to be put in touch with a current student so you can ask them questions from a student's perspective? Most of the programs I'm looking at have automatically done this for me. But usually they have student ambassadors who can answer questions. You might get a slightly more biased perspective, but its worth it to try.

Hey Michigan Girl! I'm going to send you a PM because I have some follow up questions based on your response. However, I don't want to post those questions here because I'd like to return the conversation back to the original general questions

I'm drawn to Michigan's program because it reminds me so much of my undergrad program. Very focused on theory, and contains a collection of students who all have diverse interests in the field. Plus the idea of being able to get the degree done quickly is a huge benefit in my book (less time=less money, at least generally speaking). What it will come down to for me (besides admission, obviously) is the internship. Do you typically know where you will be interning before you have to accept the admission offer? Also would you happen to know if any internships are offered where the intern would have the opportunity to work directly with students in an advising type role? If you don't know that's fine, I'm just trying to capitalize on the fact that you're in the program. I did ask this question of an admissions rep, but I got an answer that wasn't very definitive. Okay, I was just brainstorming today ways I could approach that topic. The paragraph I ended up with was kind of like a "stream of conciousness" as I was thinking. Wanting to be a practioner isn't that unique obviously. I'll probably opt to stick with the "broader perspective" themes and how I prefer learning in an evironment where not everyone has the same long term goals as me. When I did a visit to the program, and I met with a few different admissions personnel earlier this summer. They stressed very heavily how the program was very theory based. I'm guessing it was just so that I knew there was a difference between their program and the other SA programs I was looking at. It did feel a little odd that they kept bringing it up though during the visit, which was part of what made me question my chances.

I actually have a specific question for those who are applying to Higher Ed/Student Affairs programs. I have more Student Affairs focused career goals (specifically academic advising). However, I am applying to one theory based higher ed program (UMich). I have concerns about how to phrase in my personal statement why, despite my SA goals, I should be considered for admission into their program. My initial instinct is to discuss how I want to have a broader perspective on the field of higher education, and how having a basic understanding of how different aspects of higher education (law, finances, etc) affect practioners will make me a more competitive employee. This is in addition of course to the general statements of "why I want to work in higher ed/SA," "what are your career goals," mentions of faculty who's research is of interest, etc. I'm also thinking that I might be able to incorporate how since I have more practice based goals, I can contribute a unique perspective to their program and how I'd like to be able to gain from the perspectives of others who have different goals (my undergraduate major consisted of people who had a wide variety of future career goals, so I'm used to programs being set up that way). Of course I will go into greater detail on each of these points in my actual essay. My worry though is that is not convincing enough. I'm worried that if they read in my essay and see that I want to be a practioner in student affairs that they will just brush my application aside and say "oh she's better suited for an SA program." What are some other pieces of adivce that you guys have on how I can convince them that I'm a good fit for their program?

I personally don't want to go out of state in the midwest. If I'm going to school in the midwest it will be in Michigan. I plan on applying to Grand Valley. Personally I wasn't too impressed with Central or Western's programs. I didn't look into Oakland at all (didn't realize they had a program). They might be worth a look. I was looking at Eastern's Academic Advising Certificate (my thought process was, since Michigan's program is higher ed/theory focused if I end up going there I could dual enroll to incorporate more practice based courses into my curriculum), but I hadn't looked at their Master's program. My main concern was that I didn't really want to live in Ypsilanti, but I could reasonably commute from the Ann Arbor area if I went to EMU.

That's an interesting approach. I'm one of the people who usually starts with what lead them to choose the field (which usually involves some type of personal story) and then ends with goals and where I want to go from here. This to me has a natural, chronological flow. I think I'll have to practice writing your way though. I know that one of my programs has me writing separate essays for "why I want to work in higher ed" and what my goals are. I feel like I have a pretty good variety of schools in my prospective list right now. At least half are in state programs, the other half are in locations that I wouldn't mind relocating to permanently. The goal is to stay in Michigan as long as possible. It's interesting that your perspective is that people on this board don't care about prestige. I feel like I got sort of an opposite impression. I feel like my list of prospects includes some of the least prestigious schools compared to others, who are looking primarily at schools like Harvard, Stanford, NYU, etc for Master's level programs.

This might seem like obvious advice, but make sure you are tailor your personal statement essays to each of the programs. I had a visit with someone from Michigan's program and she said that when they read your essays they consider things like whether or not they have a faculty member with similar interests to you that can serve as your advisor, whether they offer you internships in the fields you are interested in, etc. If they find that your goals aren't matching up with what the program can provide you, that most likely you won't be admitted because they don't see you as a good fit (even if you have great credentials). So you want to be very specific and clear in your essays about what your interests and goals are in higher ed. It can only help your chances of being admitted to a program.

The more you know! If what the OP was referring to was certificate programs then yes, those do exist and some are related to higher ed. What confused me was when he said "post-bac," because my only frame of reference for those types of programs is the one my friend is in (he's a med school prospect). His program is Master's level. So I assumed a "post-bac" was different from a certificate program. I know of a grad level certificate program in Academic Advising offered at Eastern Michigan University, however it's campus based. I'm sure others exist, it will just take some searching. However, I still think your best bet is to contact the schools and see what they recommend. I wouldn't just jump right into a certificate/post-bac assuming it will help you because you might end up spending more money in the end than you needed to.

Extending off of Michigan Girl's advice, I would recommend contacting the school's you are interested in directly once you've narrowed your list. Just be honest and explain your situation to them. Sometimes the schools will ask you to write about why you feel your GPA isn't reflective of your academic abilities in your personal statement. They might also want documentation of those reasons why (if you say it was because of health issues, they might want a doctor's note confirming you had health issues at the time, etc). Also, if you apply to a program that doesn't require the GRE, they might want you to send in your GRE scores anyway as additional proof of your academic abilities. Of course every program has different policies about additional info, so call or email first. As far as I'm aware, there aren't any post bac or nondegree programs available related to higher ed. You could look at completing a second bachelor's degree to boost your GPA, but I think you have to weigh financially how worthwhile that will be in the end. I personally think you'll have more success being realistic about which programs you have the best shot at getting into in your area, then contacting them directly to discuss your situation.

What exactly do you mean by "backup" school? Because I think I have a similar question... Are you referring to like a smaller in state school that has a student affairs program, but it's not one of the "big name" programs? Like for example, in addition to MSU, UConn, and USC (all pretty well known SA programs) I'm looking at possibly applying to Grand Valley State University (it's a really small school in MI that it located right outside of Grand Rapids). They have a program, but they lack name recognition (I will be surprised if anyone not from Michigan has heard of it). Is that kind of what you meant? Because I wonder the same thing... I feel like I have a really good shot at getting in to GVSU, even getting some financial assistance from them. But am I wasting my money since they aren't well known? I guess this comes back to how important is the name and prestige of a program in this field?