RedPill

A couple users and I were discussing personal life in and after graduate school. It seems many women going into academia seem to be less likely/willing to get married and less likely/willing to bare children. It doesn't surprise me given what academia is, but I thought I'd make a little poll to see what popular thought on these forums seem to be. Feel free to comment discuss Personally, I'd like to marry and have kids(2-3) Go! DISCLAIMER: This poll is geared towards those of us who are either entering from undergraduate or early on during their career. Forgot to mention

I'm willing to read SOP Just shoot me a PM!

I'm always willing to give a read! Shoot me a PM!

You could aim for lower-tier programs in the US. Look for funding.

True! Personally, I plan on continuing on for a terminal degree(PhD in higher education). I'm also debating whether it's wise to get a masters in higher ed as well as a PhD. Are there any other future-PhD candidates out there?

Definitely helpful! Although, I'm not interested in student affairs whatsoever. This database gives really useful information on other higher ed programs. SMU comes to mind because of Michael McLendon's work.

I thought I'd leave this here..sounded pretty interesting to me. "Sociology departments haven’t really grown over the last decade, but they haven’t shrunk, either, according to a new department-level survey from the American Sociological Association." http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/15/study-tracks-changes-sociology-departments-and-faculty-workloads

I have heard from a former Vanderbilt masters student that funding there is quite generous. I'm not sure how true this is. Ironically, I'm not sure of the Masters funding situation here at UGA. I feel like I should know this.. Thanks for the input jsparks. In my notes I have "75% apply and get financial assistance half are need-based" but I failed to provide a link, indicate if its for masters or PhD(probably masters) and define "financial assistance"

I didn't see a thread on this here. I thought I would drop it by. As someone wanting to pursue interdisciplinary research, this is concerning. No one in their right mind would get a PhD for the money, but it's still an interesting find. I wonder why.. "A new study, based on data from all people who earned Ph.D.s in 2010, suggests the opposite. In the year after earning their doctorates, those in the cohort who did interdisciplinary dissertations earned, on average, $1,700 less than those who completed dissertations in a single field. The study was conducted by Kevin M. Kniffin and Andrew S. Hanks, two postdoctoral fellows at Cornell University, and has been released by the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute. Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/10/31/study-finds-phds-who-write-interdisciplinary-dissertations-earn-less#ixzz2lbxrhLzI Inside Higher Ed "

I definitely am. Is everyone here more focused on student affairs(housing, greek life, dean of students) or higher education generally(policy, academia, consulting, private sector work etc)?

Does anyone know the funding situation for higher ed masters programs? I'm able to piece together a little bit here and there, but I'm hoping to make a comprehensive database here. If you know how funding works at a particular program, please post! Schools of interest: UGA, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Michigan, UCLA, USC, Harvard, Penn, Columbia

Well, for what it's worth.. I'm a guy(currently in undergrad with a girlfriend..but she's not going to be long-term) hoping to find my special someone in the near future. I think it's pretty crazy to be "committed" at 22. I mean, males don't even finish neurologically developing until 25. Still, I would also, like to be settled in and with a kid or two by 30.

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Pyramid + beer? Beeramid? Make a pool ball stacker out of beer bottles?

Sounds good. What can you tell me about assistantships in the office of the provost or president, economic development, alumni relations or institutional research. What kinds of work do you do in these assistantships? I'm definitely not as interested in an assistantship in Greek life, housing or a student-affairsy area.

Look into the University of Georgia for sure http://www.caes.uga.edu/departments/agecon/

Of course, I'm considering fit and faculty. That's the most important thing. You do bring up an excellent point. How can I get an honest list of assistantships/internships available? It seems a lot of the information provided is generic "our students are able to pursue a number of amazing internships" jumbo. I'm wanting to look at an actual list of options that current students also use to select. Any ideas on how I could get this info? Interesting point regarding the 1-year programs. You're right, I might want to take a 2 year program instead. I'm looking into MA/MPP programs which tend to be two years. In regards to the exceptions for higher ed masters programs, what are some of the exceptions? Michigan? Stanford? Thanks so much for all your input everyone.

ASHE and AERA are the two biggies in higher ed. You can also look at presenting at other conferences through the College of Ed at your university. There may also be regional conferences you might want to attend. If you just want presenting ops, google call for abstracts and see what you find!

That's correct. As much as I have loved my involvement on campus with student affairs, I'm definitely more interested in policy research tackling topics such as economic development, social stratification, technology-transfer, research universities, international education and science of science policy.

Would you mind elaborating on this? Which particular programs don't really pay much mind to their MA candidates?

That's a good idea. I should try to do that anyways. How would you recommend I go about doing this? I know Michigan has program ambassadors. Should I just email them? Will they respond to that? Two current UMISH students went to my current institution. I wanted to talk to them, however, neither replied. As far as Harvard goes, I pulled this from their site: "75% apply and get financial assistance half are need-based." Although, I'm not sure what "need-based" means to Harvard. My family's income makes me illegible for financial aid, but I can't afford Harvard. I'm still a dependent also.. Parents won't be helping with masters degree. http://www.gse.harvard.edu/admissions/financial_aid/edm/index.html Many things attract me to Stanford and Harvard. The name itself carries substantial weight. After analyzing the CVs of all the viable higher ed programs in the country, I found that certain programs were more represented than others among faculty. Secondly, research interest are a great fit - especially at Stanford's POLS. I want to work with Woody Powell so bad.. Harvard's President in Residence program sounds really cool. The time is the biggest thing. 1 year masters programs is a big plus in my book. Michigan and Vanderbilt are both 1.5 and 2 years respectively. Stanford is 9 mo, and I believe Harvard is 12 mo? Ideally yeah. The problem is, I'm an undergraduate student with fairly minimal(though significant) research exposure in higher ed. I'm currently working with some pretty prominent higher ed scholars on a research project. With any luck, I can continue for the remainder of undergrad. I haven't taken my GRE yet, but I just know I'm not competitive for top PhD/JD programs. I need more time to network, gain exposure, read, learn, work publish etc.

Thanks for the insight JBums! I have been trying to find explicit information on funding at these programs, but I can usually only find limited generic FAQs like answers. For example at Stanford's POLS: "*5k-10k in merit based scholarships, half of admitted POLS students awarded merit-based scholarships" But what about internship payment? Tuition waivers? How should I go about finding information on this? Health insurance is news to me as well. Should I be contacting the programs themselves?

Hi guys, I'm planning on applying to higher ed masters programs for the next cycle. I was wondering if someone could give me more information on just what "funding" means for higher ed masters programs. Is this a tuition waiver? Do students generally still have to pull out loans despite funding? How much does an assistantship generally cover? In particular, I'm looking to apply to Stanford, Michigan, Harvard and Vanderbilt. I do plan on pursing a terminal degree after my masters degree(most likely PhD - also considering JD)