Lifesaver

I submitted my Hunter app in November. I was born/raised in NY and left for college and master's degree #1. Thus, I've unfortunately disqualified myself for in-state tuition. Such a bummer. Still waiting to hear back, though. Good luck everyone.

I have a 3.83 GPA from my first master's degree that I finished in December, plus 8 years of work experience in a different public service profession. 3.5 years of volunteer experience included in that 8.

I need to do this, too. Anyone have specifics on what they bought?

The emails I sent to my LOR writers got REALLY pathetic sounding towards the end. Everything I wrote was true, though. I was panicking to the point where I actually started breaking out in hives. I got to the point of offering to teach classes, answer phone calls, make photocopies, take prospective students on tours, etc etc, basically anything that was tying them up during the day and prohibiting them from writing/submititng my LOR. Finally, with an email reminder almost daily, they were submitted. One barely made the deadline. That being said, I'd imagine that a school will still consider you even if it's late, but not terribly so. And it seems like you've got people here who can vouch for that.

In addition to reading a ton of publications, as suggested above, always have general questions on retainer in your brain that can pertain to anyones' research. Nobody will know you've asked it before. Ever tried doing a mock interview with your friends, classmates, or a group of professors from your department? Any interview prep will help you gain interviewing strength. Personally, my best friend is big into pageants. Not the ritzy ditzy kind, but the kinds you can earn scholarships from, etc. I've mock interviewed her, and vice versa, and I've learned a ton of do's and don'ts from her.

Just a little food for thought here. My stepmother had her first (and only) child at 44 years old. You don't NEED to procreate by 20 years old anymore. Just wait, a lot of your married young and teen mother friends will be divorced in a few years. I promise, you will see it happen. I was engaged at 18 years old, but I quickly woke up and realized that would have been the biggest mistake of my life. Don't stop dating. You'll have time to do some of that, don't worry. But seriously, you need to take it down a lot of notches. Your rush rush rush mentality may be what's driving men away, causing your lack of serious relationships.

I did really crappy in undergrad for a variety of complicated reasons. My uGPA was a 2.3something from a big public university, ranked in the 40s at the time. I went for the experience, more so than the ranking, after doing well in high school. Since I had such a lacklusted GPA from undergrad, I needed what I like to call a "redemption degree." Technically, I had all intentions of getting the degree regardless, but it definitely worked in my favor, given that I'm going to get a second master's now. I went to a very small private university for my first master's degree. I chose the school because it was the only school in the area that offered the program, and due to some pretty severe medical issues I was having, I couldn't go anywhere else. Locally, the school has a good reputation, however it's not really known outside of the state. I did really, really well there and came out with a 3.83 GPA. Along with my GPA, I have 8 years of professional work experience, great letters of recommendation, and a lot of life experience. Based on what I've been told, a great graduate school GPA weighs much heavier than a crappy undegrad GPA, but I guess that doesn't entirely apply to you currently, however it may one day. My brother, on the other hand, is a junior at Cooper Union. That kid is brilliant, no joke. He claims he doesn't have "great grades," but of course, won't tell me what his GPA actually is. He is concerned that he won't get into the PhD program of his choosing and will have to do a one year master's at a school that doesn't have such crazy grade inflation. I think he's nuts, but time will tell. That being said, just do well wherever you go. Your GPA does matter. I got turned away from a lot of jobs because my undergrad GPA wasn't where they wanted it to be.

Did the employer ask specifically for a letter from your advisor? If not, I don't know why you would HAVE TO use them as a reference.

I like the way you think! I hope so, too. Not holding my breath, though.

Mercy me. Girlfriend, you have TIME! Stop trying to plan your life down to the minute. Haven't you learned that life doesn't EVER go according to plan? Or is that something that you realize after 22? Yes. It must be. Life didn't start smacking me in the face until after I graduated college, so don't worry, your time will come, too. I'm 25. I'll be 26 by the time I start school in the fall. I'll be an MSW student myself, but this will be my second master's degree. I'm single, childless, and don't really have much on the horizon, given that I'm moving 13 hours away for school in the fall. Would I LIKE to meet someone soon because I'm tired of coming home to an empty house? Sure. Am I going to school again because of that? No. Figure out who you are first, then take on a spouse. Right now, you've still got a lot to figure out. You will be surprised how much growing and maturing you do between college graduation and 25. Trust me on that. And stop rushing.

This is SaraElyse, I just changed my user name for a little more privacy. I've been accepted to three schools thus far, so no, DU isn't my only option. DU did offer me a scholarship, but nowhere close to a full scholarship. I've recently been offered admission to an ivy league school with the same pricetag as DU (almost down to the penny), but I haven't heard if they're going to offer me any money yet. Even if they don't, I'm going to have a hard time convincing myself that turning down an ivy for a little scholarship money is worth it. It makes me a little nauseous thinking about it, still...

I had several older classmates (40+) in my first master's program. I loved having them in class! I honestly believe that we learned a lot from each other and class definitely would not have been the same without them. My class actually got fairly close and would go to dinner, sporting events, get drinks, etc, as a group - older and younger together. Don't let the youngins sway your decision; you may actually enjoy being in their company!

Working as much overtime as I can. Which is actually more stressful than waiting for these letters.