KAMALAGRAD

Is there a full list of such programs out there anywhere? Also, I'd be curious about ones that would be good for international students in terms of being more likely to offer acceptance or funding? Thanks in advance for any help!

Just curious if there are a lot of PhD's in social work/related fields where you can get a MSW ahead of time and then get that PhD later? Bonus points if the program is in the NYC area.

Hi all, After spending some time in journalism I've spent the last three years in the mental health field where I plan to stay. I considered some other fields, but I find this one the most rewarding and what I have been best at. That being said I don't currently make very much and really would like a job with more responsibility. Money isn't everything I guess, but it counts for something. I've been looking into possibly getting an MSW, PH.D or Psy.D degree. Not any time in the near future, but somewhere down the line. I was wondering if anyone was familiar with degrees offered in the NYC area and which have the highest earning potential as well as job openings. Especially since I still have a while before I would earn such a degree I'm looking for fields that are expected to have job openings down the line as well. I'm looking for more professional/practicing programs rather than those based in academia. I know Psy.D degrees tend to be less academic oriented, but there are so few of those in NYC and those in the area tend to be rather expensive. Cost is definitely an important factor to me since I'm still working on paying down a big student loan I have. For any further degree I earn I am hoping to be able to pay it out of pocket and through scholarships. I am also concerned about how to go about getting letters of recommendation for these programs. Although I've taken a ton of college courses I can't say very many have been related to the mental health field. I figured it may be best to find credible professors in the field in NYC and enroll in individual courses with them, which would both help me build up a little more familiarity with studying mental health and help get some letters of recommendation. Is this a good approach or not? For a little background about me I've worked as a residential counselor for the past three years. Two years in a high intensity program and the year before that in a less intense setting. I work in a group home setting in a psychiatric rehabilitation program. The population I have worked with have mostly been older clients with axis 1 mental disorders (schizophrenic and schizoaffective disorders to be precise). I'm looking to probably get a different job in the same field in the next 6 months or so. I have a MS degree, but it is in journalism and likewise my undergraduate work was in journalism and media studies. I have begun applying to other jobs already and meet the qualifications, but even these jobs are below $40,000 a year typically. I'm hoping a further degree would get me closer if not above the $60,000 a year mark. Also, I'd ideally like to keep working with the same population, but of course can be flexible. Sorry for the long sort of rambling post, but I've been thinking about this a lot lately and just have so much to learn. Thank you in advance to anyone who can help

Hi all, After spending some time in journalism I've spent the last three years in the mental health field where I plan to stay. I considered some other fields, but I find this one the most rewarding and what I have been best at. That being said I don't currently make very much and really would like a job with more responsibility. Money isn't everything I guess, but it counts for something. I've been looking into possibly getting an MSW, PH.D or Psy.D degree. Not any time in the near future, but somewhere down the line. I was wondering if anyone was familiar with degrees offered in the NYC area and which have the highest earning potential as well as job openings. Especially since I still have a while before I would earn such a degree I'm looking for fields that are expected to have job openings down the line as well. I'm looking for more professional/practicing programs rather than those based in academia. I know Psy.D degrees tend to be less academic oriented, but there are so few of those in NYC and those in the area tend to be rather expensive. Cost is definitely an important factor to me since I'm still working on paying down a big student loan I have. For any further degree I earn I am hoping to be able to pay it out of pocket and through scholarships. I am also concerned about how to go about getting letters of recommendation for these programs. Although I've taken a ton of college courses I can't say very many have been related to the mental health field. I figured it may be best to find credible professors in the field in NYC and enroll in individual courses with them, which would both help me build up a little more familiarity with studying mental health and help get some letters of recommendation. Is this a good approach or not? For a little background about me I've worked as a residential counselor for the past three years. Two years in a high intensity program and the year before that in a less intense setting. I work in a group home setting in a psychiatric rehabilitation program. The population I have worked with have mostly been older clients with axis 1 mental disorders (schizophrenic and schizoaffective disorders to be precise). I'm looking to probably get a different job in the same field in the next 6 months or so. I have a MS degree, but it is in journalism and likewise my undergraduate work was in journalism and media studies. I have begun applying to other jobs already and meet the qualifications, but even these jobs are below $40,000 a year typically. I'm hoping a further degree would get me closer if not above the $60,000 a year mark. Also, I'd ideally like to keep working with the same population, but of course can be flexible. Sorry for the long sort of rambling post, but I've been thinking about this a lot lately and just have so much to learn. Thank you in advance to anyone who can help

Thanks for the link!

This is just a pipe dream at the moment as I have way too many more immediate needs for my cash right now. However, I've been reading a lot about the stock market/nvesting lately and think if I ever do invest I would start with a $600 investment as that may eventually be practical for me to do. This would of course be spread out among various stocks (no less than 5 probably). So more as just a hypothetical than for any practical advice what kind of stocks would YOU start off with if you had $600 to invest? Would you buy any dividend stocks or is $600 divided five ways or so (not evenly) be even worth getting dividend stocks with?

Thanks for the reply! Yes, the debt part is pretty bad, but I've been working to get in down and hopefully it won't be impossible to get it down significantly at some point. On the plus side I don't have too many expenses outside of paying back my loans. Except for rent, which in my area is still way too high, which again goes back to the whole problem of housing oddly enough. I already have my master's degree so I have a regular salary rather than a stipend. I've thought about going back to grad school for possibly another degree, but have been off the idea until I get my debt down significantly. As for your four points as I factor my own situation into them. 1. Yes, this is the big problem. Way too much student debt at the moment. 2. Believe it or not I lived for over a year in NYC (where I went to grad school) and I'd love to go back. That being said I know how ridiculously priced property is there. There are actually good, reasonably priced houses in New Jersey just an hour away though, which I'd be open to exploring more when this pipe dream becomes closer to reality. Some are even under $150 K. I also wouldn't mind just having a condo or something of the kind in NYC (Manhatten is next to impossible to afford anything, but areas of Staten Island and Queens are more reasonable). 3. I have a salary, but even that I need to improve on. Right now I'm working on building up experience and hopefully dropping more into my savings as costs permit. 4. Really ouf of luck on this one. I don't have any well off relatives who would lend a hand. So all in all I'll have a much harder time being able to buy property than a lot of people, but I'm still hopeful that it will be possible one day.

This is one thing I've been thinking a lot about lately for the future. However, with being six figures in student debt (though at least low six figures) it doesn't seem possible maybe ever. So for people who have been able to buy their own homes how were you abe to do it and how did you get around obstacles like debt?

My apologies if there is already a thread like this, but I didn't see one. I thought this would be a good thread to get some positivity out there. I thought it would be best to just the exact same school. Where perhaps you applied one season and got rejected and then applied however much time later and got accepted. I haven't heard of this happening that much as it applies to grad school, but I'm hoping this thread shines a light on some cases where it has happened. I don't have my own story to share as far as grad school goes as I only had one season of applying to schools. However, I did get rejected from one school for undergraduate that I got into for graduate school, USC. So that's something

It is kind of funny because I haven't been on this forum in ages and then the first post I see on here is from a fellow UCI grad! My GPA for UCI wasn't that great either (3.247) and I ended up getting into an Ivy League grad school (Columbia University). Although it was in a pretty different field from yours. In my experience having some outside work and achievement in your field can really help. Also, how were your letters of recommendation? Those can be pretty significant as well. Also, I think it's important that things detracting from your GPA are pretty far in the past. In your essay I'd recommend pointing that out briefly as well as what challenges made your grades less than desirable early on. Also, one thing that might help in gettting some more replies here are listing some of the schools you are interested in, in your post. Best of luck to you

Hi all, I'm a recent Columbia journalism school grad (okay maybe not that recent), who may relocate to the NY/CT border if a I get a job I applied to in Connecticut. The budget I'm looking to spend is about $800 per month for a studio or one bedroom with parking. Does anyone know any NY towns or better yet specific apartment buildings where this would be doable. So far I have heard good things about Peekskill, NY. I also heard New Rochelle as a possibility, but they seem to be just a little too pricey. Orginally I was thinking Brewster, but I've fond nothing even close to my price range there. I know $800 per month for a studio and parking is pretty much impossible to do in NYC though I would love it if I somehow lucked out as I love NYC Still, the closest I've come across was a studio with parking in the Bronx for $1040. I'm almost tempted to jump on that, but I think that would stretch me a little too thin haha.

Congratulations! I didn't get my first admission until March during my application cycle. Getting one before the year is even over must be a load off!

Hi greeneyes, I made it into Columbia, USC, and Syracuse and didn't have that much better of a GPA than you (between 3.2 and 3.3). However, I had a TON of journalism experience (at least for my age, I applied when I was 22). So given the info you've provided so far, I would say just focus as much as you can on getting your GPA up. After all depending on your school once you graduate your GPA is pretty much set so you cannot get it any higher. I'd say then you might want to take some time off before applying and really hone your journalism skills with some experience. However, you have not listed much information about your journalism experience so for all I know you might have a good amount of experience. I am going on the fact that you mentioned you are an engineering student, which indicates that you originally had a primary interest outside of journalism. At any rate, get at least three or four really solid clips for your writing samples as this will be important for the application process. If you apply as an undergraduate or right after undergrad instead, it still might be possible to get a lot of acceptances, but the experience that I mentioned never hurts. As for your schools I'd say you have a shot at CUNY, Syracuse and U of Wisconsin, Madison as long as your GPA doesn't fall at all. I think you might also have shot at USC if you get your GPA up a bit. Berkeley and Columbia are very selective so if you apply to those then I would really try to get some more experience in. That way you can show your dedication to the craft. I previously looked into Medill and though I did not end up applying there they are about just as selective (maybe just a little less selective) as far as I can tell. I'm unfamiliar with the specifics of Grady School and Georgia so I can't give you any information on those. In regard to the GRE I wouldn't put too much stock in it and focus on what I previously mentioned moreso. That doesn't mean you should ignore your GRE completely, but it doesn't factor into the decision for at least Berkeley and Columbia. It also probably won't make or break you at the other schools unless you do either really, really bad or really, really good. The only thing is your GRE score would probably factor into scholarship decisions.

I just graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism back in May and was working in New York for a bit. Didn't care much for the job though and thought I'd try my home state of Massachusetts for a while. Haven't found anything yet. Does anyone have any advice or tips?

Hey elweezer, Only send opinion pieces if that is specifically part of the program you plan to attend. If it is just a regular journalism program that is not mostly about opinion writing than send objective news clips. I hate to be a buzz kill, but I know from experience both in applying to grad school and in the field that you always have to be cautious when sending opinion clips as some editors/writers (who become professors) think experience in opinion writing shows that reporters can't be objective, which is ridiculous, but is their view. The clips can be from a school newspaper though a bigger publication may look even better. As for me I sent three clips to most of the schools I applied to. They were all from my undergrad newspaper where I was the editor-in-chief and were written during my senior year. Here is the breakdown: Clip #1: This was the one people saw (or at least were intended to see) first when looking through my clips. Also, at least in one case it was the only clip I sent to a school that just asked for one clip (I think USC) and I got in, partly by using this clip. Anyway, the clip is a hard news story between 1,000-1,500 words and was about a professor refusing to take mandatory sexual harassment training and then facing suspension/possible termination. The story was particularly notable as it had more in-depth reporting than a major local newspaper that covered the story. Clip #2: This was a shorter piece about 700-1,000 words, I believe. It was about a student at my school who committed suicide inside the trunk of his car. It wasn't the story initially covering it (which I co-wrote), but the story that reported it was ruled a suicide after months of investigation (which I wrote by myself). I think it was good because it showed that I could follow a story long term and still be able to wrap it up concisely. Clip #3: This was a feature piece covering the struggling equestrian team at my school. It was about 1,300 words. I thought it was good to use as it showed I was flexible in different writing styles. Well, that is all I have for now. Good luck though and I hope you get into the programs you are applying to. I've looked into NYU and Medill quite a bit and both of those look great!

Not much to add as this is outside both my current and intended future field, but I did go to UC Irvine for undergrad and had film and media studies as one of my majors. It is a great campus and has some very smart people working in visual studies though I think some are less formally distinguished than some competing programs. If anyone winds up there though just make sure you have a car and plenty of cash as Irvine is VERY expensive.

I never applied for it, but I did just get done completing my MS at Columbia.I knew some of the people doing dual programs at the school. From my experience with the workload it definitely seems doable as long as you know what you're getting yourself into. Good luck!

Hey Sparky, Thank you for the info. As for the Europeanists field being quite bloated I'm not too surprised. I'm guessing from StangeLight's earlier post Africanists are under represented as our I'm sure some other histories I don't have an interest to study as the key focus of my studies anyway and like you said, you have to do what you love

Hey StrangeLight, Thank you very much for all of the information. As you may have guessed coming from a different field a lot of this stuff is completely new to me and I unknowingly assumed a lot of things that just made sense to me. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. As for the points you made here are my thoughts. 1: I don't know if I got this across in my first message, but that was a pretty short list I initially gave because I just started looking into the programs more or less. I definitely plan on broadening my scope, but kind of want to stay in the Northeast, which I know limits my options. As I mentioned I did undergrad in CA and honestly didn't have the best experience there (well at least not after graduating) so I kind of want to stay based around this area. I'm not 100 percent against the idea of moving out of the Northeast as I know you can't let a fairly semantic idea like that stay in your way, but I am hesitant. Anyway, other than that I am pretty flexible. 2: I think you are right about the MA over the BA thing. I think I am just really self-conscious about my weak undergrad GPA, but your post and explanations gave me some confidence. I'll see what MA programs are out there either with funding or minimal expenses. I don't mind paying to earn an MA, I'd just really hate to go too much further into debt. I'll start looking to see what CUNY schools offer in terms of MA programs and of course will keep my options broad and see what others offer. Still, I'm a bit concerned and it is probably one of those questions no one can really answer, but I'll ask anyways, will my lackluster undergrad GPA automatically disqualify me from any programs? 3: Not really anything to say here, it is just good advice 4: Nope, I don't plan on doing oral history at all so as long as I keep strengthening my Spanish skills I should be pretty good there. As for Italian that is a whole other barrel of fish so I'll try to chip away at it (though as you mentioned knowing a similar language does help sometimes). 5: My GREs were BAD (though I still managed to get into USC and Syracuse with them for journalism, but I digress). Anyway as I mentioned I know I can do better. I can definitely hit the mark you mentioned in verbal (at least the 600 mark) and as long as I study should be able to pull off a decent math score. As for your last point as you correctly gathered I'd like to be a world/international historian based on the theme I suggested. However, when pushed I would also be interested in being a western europeanist as you mentioned it is a field with more programs. Being an americanist might interest me, but from what I hear the field is quite bloated and tough to get placement in after graduation (though I could be wrong).

OK, so here is the deal. I've always wanted to be a reporter, but for the last 5 or 6 years I have also been interested in working as a professor. I earned a BA in literary journalism/film and media studies ( a double major) from the University of California, Irvine (a top 50 university). In May of this year I earned my MS from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, did some reporting work for a website, but am now looking for a better job. Ideally, I would want to work as a reporter for five years or so (maybe a little longer, probably not any shorter), pay back a substantial part of my student loans than go to a top history program. Ones I've looked into so far that seem interesting to me are Columbia (which I love as a university in general and is probably my top choice) and Brown University. I've also looked into some other programs and both Harvard and Princeton seem appealing to me as well. Also, my proposed area of study would be studying propaganda distributed through the media from a global history/international history perspective with emphasis on the media in Spain, Italy, and the United States. This area of study is not set in stone, but is probably what I'd be most interested in devoting my professional life to. My problem? That is just it, there is not one problem, but several. First, I know all of these schools are extremely tough to get into, but I only really want to continue in these studies if I can get into a top program. Second, my undergrad GPA was an unimpressive 3.25 GPA and Columbia Journalism (which is an unrelated field anyway) grades on a pass/no pass system so I don't really have a GPA there (though I did pass all of my classes). Third, I have not published any history papers or anything like that and am also not a part of any group/have been to any conferences. Finally, I do not have an undergrad degree in history and I hear MA programs in history are not good options unless they are part of earning the PhD in your program. That being said as I stated in the beginning of this post I am not planning to apply to these programs this year or even next year. I am also 24 so I would plan to start in the program when I am 29 or so, which would make me 34 or 35 when I finish the program, which I think might be considered a little old, but not too old. So what should my next steps be? Here are some things I've been thinking of. *Going back to undergrad to get a bachelor's degree in history. I'm not sure if it will help my GPA (does anyone know if it would?), but my undergrad, UCI does offer the option to go back and earn an additional degree on a case by case basis. The problem here is that I REALLY don't want to go back to California and if I did earn a history degree I would like to do it in NYC (or at least the Northeast) probably from a CUNY school. Also, if I went to CUNY does anyone know if that would affect my undergrad GPA and if I could still finish in a comparatively short amount of time? I think at UCI they wave the breadth for students coming back to earn an additional degree so it would only take two years or maybe even less there. *Looking for places to get published or associations to join based on my areas of interests. Although admittedly, I am a little clueless on this process. *Really studying Spanish and Italian to add to my foreign language skills. At the moment I am proficient at reading Spanish and want to really master it then move onto Italian. The reason for this is I hear if you learn them simultaneously it can do more harm than good because the languages are so similar. *Lastly, really studying for the GREs and getting a great score on them. I took the GREs before and did horrible on the math section, mediocre in the verbal section, and pretty good (a 5.0) in the written section. However, I barely studied for it and had a lot to worry about at the time. I know if I really study for it I can get great scores in the verbal section and at least acceptable scores in the math section. Anyway, what are your thoughts?

The only one that fit your criteria that I'd really recommend is Syracuse University (though it is really far from New York). Also, the University of Maryland at College Park (Kind of near DC) looks great, but you its about as tough to get into as NYU from what I hear.

Hi matcha, Thanks for replying! Well, its nice at least I'm not alone though it sucks any of us have to be in this pickle. Was your college any more helpful in guiding you in the right direction or did you have to just take a shot in the dark?

Hi rising_star, Thank you for the reply. While the debt is pretty scary, I'm going to be actively looking for employment in my field upon graduation. As it is now I do tutoring, which keeps me on my feet (for the most part), but I really think this program will help me develop and move me in the direction I want to go in.

Hi all, I know its late in the game, but I've been raking my brain trying to figure out how to pay for graduate school. The program is only a year long, but it is an expensive year. Here is a breakdown of my situation: Program Cost: $70,000 Federal Loans Accepted: $20,000 Scholarship Provided by School: $2,500 So that leaves me with roughly $50,000 worth of tuition. I have pretty good credit history and from what I've been told should be able to attain private loans (as scary as private lenders may be). I thought I would ask around and see what different people's experiences were with taking out private loans from different lenders and see if I can learn anything from it. I was also, wondering if people knew of other options I should look into before my tuition is due in September.

Hey jplunk85, I'm a recent J-school admit as well. I haven't joined the Facebook group yet. I'm still waiting on my larger financial aid package, but I know I did get one award for $2,500. Hopefully there is more where that is coming from.