thelionking

hahaha... We all have different dynamics with our families. I guess some just get along better than others.

Ah... that certainly changes things, doesn't it? I'd still go with the second offer because it's a sure thing. If you do great work it will be recognized and get you a good job later on no matter where you go.

I'm not an expert on such matters, but my first thought is why tell someone only in July whether or not they will get funding? It's quite late in the game. I wouldn't count on getting much if they offer you anything. The psychologist in me (not really a psychologist, but I took some psych courses... haha) can draw parallels to social psychology and marketing strategies to get customers to buy a product..... make someone commit to buying something (going to a university) for a few months, get excited about it, tell everyone about it, and visualize going there for a few months, then at the last moment when they come back to you and say there is no funding it will be hard to say no because you have your heart set on going and thought you'd be going there for months. Car salespeople use this strategy quite a bit when they give you a great price, you get excited and commit to the offer, then at the last moment when you are sitting in the sales office and just signed the contract, they say they have to get the manager to confirm the sale. They come back and say Sorry, my manager said the price is too low. They offer you a higher price and many people will take it anyway because they thought it was a done deal and made the commitment to buy it and don't want to back down now .... Anyway, maybe there are genuine reasons for getting back to you so late... Like I said, I don't know if any schools would actually do something like this, but I couldn't help but notice the similarities to both situations and it's not a good position to be in. If it were me, I'd proceed as if you are going to your second choice school because I don't believe it is likely you will get funding at the last minute. If you already said you'd go, what is the incentive for them to try hard to get you money?

I just wanted to add that the scenarios I mentioned above were not invented. These are some of the stories that I've received from various people with disabilities. But remember that these are rare cases. Most of these scenarios are not likely to happen. But it's good to be informed before you're put in that situation so that you can do what is right for you.

First off, I just want to say that you have a lot of worries on your mind. Try to focus on one semester at a time. That will be enough to keep your mind busy. Anything more at this point (before you've even start the program) will just make you feel really overwhelmed and focused on the "what if scenarios." You are not the first one to go to grad school with anxiety and depression. Remember that many others before you have managed to successfully complete the program. So with some hard work and planning, you will be successful too. I'd contact the office for students with disabilities, make an appointment with an adviser and discuss your concerns. You will likely need medical documentation that indicates your diagnosis and the accommodations that you need. The adviser can give you some ideas on what you might require based on your diagnosis, such as more time to write exams, the ability to write exams alone in a quiet room, and extensions for assignments when needed. Then you can pass this info along to the doctor to have it included in your doctor's note. You should have the option of getting a letter sent to each of your profs indicating that you are registered with a disability and the type of accommodations that you need. They will not reveal your diagnosis. If you choose to do so, that is up to you. I personally would advise waiting to get to know your profs better and then deciding what to do. I have heard of isolated incidents in which the prof determined if the student should receive the accommodations based on their knowledge of the diagnosis (in spite of not being a medical doctor or having a healthcare background) and going against the recommendations of the doctor. Considering that you are in biology, some profs might take it upon themselves to decide if you really need accommodations based on their limited knowledge of your health history and their own knowledge that they have of mental illness. Sometimes, unfortunately, it is grounded in stereotypes and misconceptions about mental illness, and could be unfavorably biased. On the other hand, I've also heard of stories in which profs and advisers were incredibly supportive, and others were somewhere in between. Whatever you decide to do, once you reveal it you cannot take it back. So if you wish to disclose be sure that this is the right thing to do for you. You also have no control if the prof will go behind your back and share it "in confidence" with other colleagues. Of course, they are not allowed to do this, but it does not mean that it does not happen, and you would not have the opportunity to explain your condition from your own perspective.

I think it's premature and presumptuous to assume that you "don't have the chops to really compete with other prospective students." How do you know this for sure when you haven't even tried taking a bunch of psychology courses to see what you are capable of accomplishing? If you don't have it in you to do the hard work it takes to become a competitive applicant, that's a whole other issue. But the fact that you took the time to post here suggests to me that this is something you would really like to do. I think you should find out the admission requirements of the programs you are interested in, figure out what you are missing, and decide if you are going to commit yourself to working on meeting those requirements so that you can make your dream come true. If you don't have a research background and you're not a student, I think you'd be able to find a lab you could volunteer at to gain some research experience. The tasks you'll get at first will likely be more administrative. But over time, if your supervisor is happy with the way you work, you should gradually be able to get more responsibilities and extra training.

haha... I feel a little foolish right now. I know it's a multi-cultural country so I thought... I should have known the official language is Turkish. I will PM you. Turkey wasn't on my radar, but it does sound appealing when I hear you talk about it.

Thanks Sofi! Are you still in touch with your friends who used to work in Turkey? I'm interested in working at a university because I really like teaching adults of all ages. I'd like to find out if it's customary to get airfare and accommodations covered, or if you generally have to pay for that on your own. (I have a small budger so any start up costs they could cover would go a long way). I'm also wondering how much I could realistically save (in other words, pay back my loan) per month while living a comfortable yet modest lifestyle. (I don't have any expensive habits like smoking or drinking and a simple apartment will do). Do you think $15,000+ US per year would be unrealistic for Turkey? Do people in Turkey speak Arabic slowly and clearly compared to other countries? Just wondering, as I'm sure it will be a lot of work to learn the language and communicate as a beginner. lol

Thanks for the suggestions! I've heard good things about it, but I am Canadian and Fulbright is only available to Americans.

I thought many people on here might have experience teaching ESL overseas and I wanted to ask this simple question: Which country would you recommend I go to? Considerations: -have a bachelor's and a master's degree (humanities) -I don't have a TESL diploma and can't afford one right now -have 2 yrs ESL teaching experience (from more than 10 yrs ago) that will be difficult to prove but not impossible, if needed -need to pay back student loans, therefore must make and save as much money as I can!! -Asia and Middle East pay the best. I'd prefer a Chinese or Arabic speaking country (because I like learning popular, widespread languages that I might be able to use for work) but everything is pointing to Korea right now in terms of free housing, free airfare, low cost of living, good pay, no TESL certificate needed, and no teaching experience needed. Not to mention, my friend is there right now teaching ESL and keeps encouraging me to go there. Having a friend from back home while overseas would be great while I make the transition of living in another country. -As a woman, I'm not sure about the middle east because I'd likely have to wear a headscarf all of the time to cover my neck and hair (depending on the country) and these countries get hot, would have difficulty renting an apartment on my own as a female, and might not get paid as much as the men. Although, as a social worker, it would be more useful for my career to learn Arabic these days due to the influx of refugees. Lots of settlement jobs in Canada and speaking even basic Arabic would make it easier to get those jobs after I return back home. Or if I live in BC one day, knowing a little Mandarin or Cantonese could come in handy in terms of my career. But Korean... not so much. Please suggest any suitable countries and why you think I should go there. If you can recommend any good cities or employers too, please let me know!! thanks

Because you are a TA and not the professor, I think it is best to follow his explicit instructions. It is not your call to decide on the grading rubric. If the writing problems are so bad, it sounds like a larger systemic problem that won't be a quick fix anyway. Some students might be making errors out of carelessness (because they pulled an all-nighter and were exhausted or did the paper in a hurry), while others might genuinely have serious writing issues. I think that informing the students about the school's writing centre is good idea. Some people might use it and many probably won't and there isn't much you can do about it in this situation. You might want to take a different approach... You could let them know that you are concerned about their writing skills as other profs might not be so lenient about their errors and it also won't look good to an employer when they get a job and have to write a report for their boss. You could mention that having lots of spelling and grammatical errors is distracting to you and it slows down your ability to grade their papers. Out of courtesy to you, and if they want to put you in a good mood while you are evaluating their papers, it would be wise if they took the time to proofread their assignments and paid more attention to their grammar and spelling. You might see some improvement if you try this approach.

That's quite a decision to make. The way you put it, each program has some gaps. If all of these factors are equally important for you to get the training you need for your desired career, I'd look at alternative ways for you to fill in those gaps that can be done outside of the program (perhaps some skills or knowledge can be acquired in the workplace after graduation or at a practicum, through continuing education/workshops, international language immersion programs, or elsewhere while in you're in school, right now over the next few months, or after you graduate). If you find that something would be difficult or next to impossible to get outside of the program, then it might make sense to choose that particular program if it's an essential skill you need to have in your field or a highly desirable one. Don't be afraid to reach out to the department with your questions. They might be able to answer some of those questions or concerns that you have. If you haven't done so already, I'd find out where alumni have ended up working. If you notice one of the two schools produces more grads that do the work you want to get into, this is a strong sign that the program could be the one for you.

If you volunteer for a year, this will make your application stronger for any program that you apply to (master's or PhD) so you could get more offers next year from other schools and who knows what could come of this volunteer opportunity one year from now. Considering that the master's isn't funded, I think I'd turn it down for the chance to get a fully funded offer next year. Do the GI benefits have an expiry date?

Based on your first post I couldn't tell how much research you'd put into the training/educational requirements, but clearly you know how it works. I'd personally focus on getting those GRE scores up and getting a full time research job to be a more competitive applicant for the clinical psych programs. Like I said, you be competing for one of 5-10 positions rather than one spot and from what I've heard from other clinical PhD students in Canada, it's even more competitive to get in under those circumstances. Hopefully some Americans in a clinical program can offer you some country-specific insight into your situation. Good luck!

I thought some people on here might have experience teaching ESL overseas and I wanted to ask this simple question: Which country would you recommend I go to? Considerations: -have a bachelor's and a master's degree (humanities) -I don't have a TESL diploma and can't afford one right now -have 2 yrs ESL teaching experience (from more than 10 yrs ago) that will be difficult to prove but not impossible, if needed -need to pay back student loans, therefore must make and save as much money as I can!! -Asia and Middle East pay the best. I'd prefer a Chinese or Arabic speaking country (because I like learning popular, widespread languages that I might be able to use for work) but everything is pointing to Korea right now in terms of free housing, free airfare, low cost of living, good pay, no TESL certificate needed, and no teaching experience needed. Not to mention, my friend is there right now teaching ESL and keeps encouraging me to go there. Having a friend from back home while overseas would be great while I make the transition of living in another country. -As a woman, I'm not sure about the middle east because I'd likely have to wear a headscarf all of the time to cover my neck and hair (depending on the country) and these countries get hot, would have difficulty renting an apartment on my own as a female, and might not get paid as much as the men. Although, as a social worker, it would be more useful for my career to learn Arabic these days due to the influx of refugees. Lots of settlement jobs in Canada and speaking even basic Arabic would make it easier to get those jobs after I return back home. Or if I live in BC one day, knowing a little Mandarin or Cantonese could come in handy in terms of my career. But Korean... not so much. Please suggest any suitable countries and why you think I should go there. If you can recommend any good cities or employers too, please let me know!! thanks

What do you mean by this statement? "The program at ASU is an Experimental Program, but the mentor I was assigned to said that I would just need to work with a Clinical faculty like him." Are you saying that in order to become a clinical psychologist, you can do an experimental psychology program and as long as you have a clinical psychology mentor then you can become a clinical psychologist? If this is what you are saying, it is definitely not true! I'd suggest going on the website of the American Psychological Association or contacting them directly for confirmation. You will need to complete a range of clinical courses and get extensive training in order to become a clinical psychologist. It's really like doing 2 degrees at the same time, some say - a clinical degree and a research degree - and it's an extremely intensive program. If you do an experimental degree or a degree in developmental psychology this will not directly lead you to becoming a clinical psychologist. If you were in Canada, you would need to apply to a clinical program afterwards and complete what is called a "bridging program" (such as what University of Toronto offers) for people who have an experimental psychology Master's or PhD and are missing the clinical training. This program is even harder to get into than going the traditional route of a clinical master's/PhD route with a bachelor's degree. So I am curious to know if you applied to any clinical programs and simply did not get in and this is a back up plan or if this path was intentionally chosen by you? If it were me, I'd decline the offers and try again for a clinical program because your odds of getting in will be greater than doing it the other way. At least coming from a bachelor's program, you will be competing for one of 5-10 spots or so per school. But if you do it the other way and apply with a master's or PhD in an experimental program, you will usually be competing for one spot per school. (These are the numbers in Canada. There could be some slight differences in the numbers in the US, but generally the concept is the same). (For the record, I am not a "psych person" but my best friend went through the process of becoming a clinical psychologist so I am familiar with the process. It's a long journey - about 11-12 years including undergrad - so I don't know why someone would intentionally want to go about it in a round about way when they already know they want to become a clinical psychologist right out of undergrad).

If you know that you want to stop after a master's and your field is lucrative and in fairly high demand, then I think it would make sense to go to the school with the best reputation in the field, even if it means paying for tuition. But if you know for certain that you want to get a PhD, then I'd pick one of the two offers and work really hard so you can get into a strong PhD program after the master's. The school you go to for your PhD will matter more than your master's. But it sounds like you don't know what you'd rather do right now - go for a master's or a PhD. So that complicates things a little.

Good luck making this important decision. I am not in your field. While reading your post, I thought it would be worthwhile to make a couple of inquiries into whether or not your could take some qualitative courses at another institution (or department) and transfer the credits over (or perhaps take a few extra courses in this area and go over the number of required courses). Second, it seems to me that you could learn Russian even by taking undergrad courses somewhere or participating in a language immersion program in Russia after you complete the program. If the sole purpose of wanting to get the certificate is to acquire language skills then there are definitely other ways you could achieve this goal. I'll be honest, I was all for option number two until I read that the program is better to suited for a field you already work in and want to get out of. So what would be the benefits of taking that program for someone in your circumstances? I think you need to step back and get a clear picture of your long term goals, understand what is required for you to achieve those goals, and decide which program will best help you get there. Any other details should be removed from the equation when making this decision.

I am not in your field so I can't speak to the strength and reputation of these programs. I did want to ask if downgrading to a master's is an option at all. Some schools allow you to do that while others frown upon it (and would not accept you into the program or offer you funding if they knew that was your intention). If you find that the reputation and ranking of the program at WPI are not strong, nor the reputation and name recognition of your supervisor, then perhaps you could do a master's degree at WPI, do lots of good research and get publications in solid journals to ensure that you will get into a stronger PhD program afterwards. If leaving after a master's is not an option, then I think you are in a tough position. Can you reach out to your references and respected professors at your university to get their opinions?

There are many francophones in Sudbury. 40% of the population, in fact. But most of those people are likely bilingual. According to wikipedia, there are 30 French elementary and high schools vs. 61 English schools. So all of the students attending French schools will need to have school services offered in French. I have no idea how many social service organizations and non-profits offer services in French in Sudbury, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were at least a few.

The April 15 deadline exists in the US but not in Canada. Every school sets their own deadline.

Don't quote me on this, but I believe there are more chances of getting funding at Lakehead than the other two schools. If that's a priority for you, I'd call and ask each of those schools about it just to make sure. It seems like a lot of people who complete the HBSW at Lakehead on this forum do not apply for the MSW at Lakehead and I wonder why. I don't know if it has something to do with its location or perhaps people want to get a different social work perspective by going to a different school. Perhaps some of the HBSW people here would like to weigh in on the issue. As for Laurentian, if you aren't fluent in French, I'd ask the department is this will limited your ability to choose from their list of practicums in any way. If you are very open-minded about where it will be, then maybe this isn't even a concern for you at all. Congrats on your offers!

Is the master's offer funded or unfunded?

I'm sorry to hear that it went badly. Hopefully, after a replacement is found, he will eventually reach a point where believes that everything worked out for the best because the new student is a great fit as well. Congrats on your offer! It sounds like quite an accomplishment.

Is deferring for one year an option? If so, I'd do that so you can keep the offer and see if you could get in somewhere else next year. If not... Do you know if the other programs will oblige you to take similar courses in your first year (because you do not have a sociology background)? If so, you might be able to transfer a lot of that coursework over if you apply to other programs and get accepted to a better school.