studentaffairsgrad

I agree with what other people said about the LORs. The people who wrote mine were amazing and had everything in on time, but I am a bit of a control freak, and it killed me to have such a big part of my application process in the hands of someone else. It turned out ok though! I would say it was tough in the early part of the process, b/c I had been out of school a year, and didn't know a ton of people in higher education who had gone to grad school within the last 10 years. My former supervisor who ended helping me out a ton lived on the other side of the country, so that was hard trying to navigate all the unfamiliar processes of grad school application with someone out of state. It was way easier for my friends who were still in school to have all the people they needed right there. Lastly, the biggest headache for me, was the conflicting info one of the schools had on their website. They had 3 different addresses you were supposed to send your stuff, and every time I called to clarify, I talked to a different person who said something different. In one place it said your SOP was 2 pages, in another 5. After I sent all of my materials to my LOR writers, I found in another place on the school's website that there was a recomendation for that they needed to send in with their LORs, which wasn't mentioned in the checklist of the actual department's site. So then I had to mail out the forms, as well new addressed envelopes, which was a pain. There was a bunch of other stuff that was wrong on the website too. The worst part, was when I called in to clarify their mess, they were actually really rude to me. Some lady chewed me out for talking to fast on a message I left her. I just wanted to reach through the phone and punch her, seeing as they were the ones inconveniencing me with their poor/lazy work. Yes, I am still bitter about it

Since we are all in different programs, let me give you a little background my situation before I get to the question...apologies if I am being too thorough in my explanation. I'm going to grad school for higher education (student affairs) in the fall. Everyone in my program HAS to have an assistantship. If you aren't offered an assistantship, then you don't get into the program. The assistantship interview is weighted way more than the faculty interview. An assistantship in this field could range from academic advising, to Greek life, to housing, to hundreds of other things. The way interview weekend was set-up at my program, was you get a list of assistantships, apply to the ones you want, they pick who they want to interview, then you preference your top 3 choices. Housing is always the most competitive, b/c they come with a free apartment and meal plan, a much higher stipend, as well as free parking. Also, a lot of people going into this field were like myself, former resident advisers, and they want to stay in housing. I believe about 5 times as many people interviewed for this position over all the others, and preferenced it as their #1. I got picked to have a housing assistantship. I'm super excited, but over the course of assistantship interview weekend, I remember a lot of people talking about how they really wanted this position...some people even freaked out and cried b/c they were worried their housing assistantship interview went bad. So, a Facebook group was started for my cohort, and I noticed some of the people who were making the biggest deal and being dramatic about wanting a housing position DID NOT get the position. Just to illustrate the desperation...at one point after the interviews, one guy who was near tears said, "I need this position. I live and breath housing. If you cut me, I will bleed housing." Um, yeah. I've been thinking about how this is all going to play out come fall, and I'm wondering if any of you think that jealousy/resentment will be a problem. I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but I know I wouldn't be too excited if I got stuck with one of the other assistanships. On top of everything else, the 5 housing grad assistants all come back a month before everyone else. I'm sure some type of bond will form, which might be intimidating to the rest of the cohort when they show up weeks later for orientation. I just don't want the, "Oh look at them, they think they're better than everyone else." crap to start. I'm not the kind of person to rub it in, or talk about my assistantship 24/7...but I'm not sure about the other housing GAs. Do you guys think I will have to deal with jealousy? If so, any advice? I know few of you are in this field, but maybe something similar or relate-able has happened to you.

I was at a school for assistantship interview weekend (for a higher education program), and this chick is running around like crazy giving her business card out to everybody, and demanding we all friend her on Facebook. She even put her own picture on her business card. Just as long as you don't do that, you should be fine

I won't be attending grad school until the fall, but would agree with what the above poster said about a good reading chair. I had a good chair during undergrad, and it helped me out so much! Think about how much more time we are going to be spending studying or in front of the computer writing papers...a good chair is a must! Staples is having a great sale ($100 off in some cases) on chairs starting May 1st. Check it out!

Glad to hear so many of you have had positive experiences! Just want to add - In this case, "time off" means time off from school...not time off from life. I'm sure everybody realizes that you haven't been sitting around eating ho hos and watching TV all this time. I thought the phrase "You've taken some time off and are going back [to school, presumably] made that obvious.

I'm going to flip adsum's "Going straight from undergrad to grad school" topic around, and ask any of you who've taken time off (whether it is one year or 25 years) if you are nervous about going back to school. I took a year off so I could get a job and make enough $$$ to pay off my student loans. I don't really think one year out is that big of a difference, but I think it did put a new perspective on school for me...I think I took being in school for granted in my undergrad, and after experiencing "the real world" for awhile, I will be thankful to go back. I think having a year off actually benefited me when I interviewed for assistantships, as I could pitch myself as having more maturity and perspective. I did notice during interview weekends that there were only 2 or 3 people at each school who had taken more than 5 years off. I thought it might have been awkward for them, being surrounded by maybe what they considered a bunch of kids. Are any of you in this situation? Are you nervous/excited about going back? Feel odd to be in a cohort of young people? Feel like your work experience gives you a leg up?

I love this topic! I am the annoying person that needs complete quiet to study. Also, the isn't really a study habit per say...but if I'm going to be studying/writing a paper and devoting a long chunk of time to it, I have to give my room a thorough cleaning. I seriously cannot study or write a paper if my surroundings are messy or unorganized. This might just be my subconscious way of procrastinating Also If I'm going to be taking midterms/finals or something, I always feel better if I get up early that morning, shower, do my hair and put on something halfway decent. Any other day though, and I'm rolling to class in my sweats. I just feel like I do better work if I'm halfway put together.

Lincoln and Morrill are strictly undergrads...Lincoln is an honors dorm, and Morrill is party central. They used to call them Sodom and Gomorrah in the 70s. Crazy stuff went down in those buildings back then. The only dorm that housed grads that I knew of was Jones, and I'm pretty sure they recently opened that up to undergrads. There may be others, but not that I know of. Do yourself a favor and live of campus in Clintonville or Victorian Village...people get stupid on the weekends in the off-caampus area right around the edges of campus....and having been an RA and living in the dorms as a senior, undergrads can get pretty annoying. I went to OSU, so I'm going to just take a min. here to share with you all how awesome it is... Also, I saw someone ask about the GLBT community, and am not sure if anyone responded (I didn't read every single response.) There is a very vibrant GLBT community...they even have a huge pride parade in the summer. I can't speak from personal experience b/c I'm straight, but I have some gay friends who came out to their roomies in the dorms and everyone was very open about it...they've never felt harassed...that I know of. I think Columbus ranks in the top 3 cities in the country for having a large gay population. There is also a really big drag culture in the Short North. Everyone is really open about it. If anyone is worried that Columbus is your typical Mid-West cow town...it is totally not like that. There is a huge art scene, and tons of bands come play at the Newport, which is right on High St. The Activities Board at OSU is also amazing at bringing in people for students to watch for free...Ludacris, Will Ferrell, Conan O'Brien...you can find something to do every weekend, even if you just stay on campus. Also, if you are into sports, the Blue Jackets hockey team is a ton of fun to go and watch...their practices are free and open to the public, but they suck again this year. Our pro soccer team won the championship a couple years back, and we also have a minor league baseball team too. Plus you have all the OSU sports too. So, good place to be if you are a sports fan. Also, I'm not sure if anyone mentioned the Easton shopping center, only like 20 mins. from campus. If you like shopping, go there, you will be amazed. They have indoor and outdoor shopping, tons of restaurants, and a cool place called the shadowbox where you can go and watch comedians and others perform. You could spend all day there just walking around.

Just judging from your descriptions of each school, it sounds like maybe you are leaning towards school b. Good idea to visit on the weekends! I was kind of in a similar predicament...I wanted to stay in state, but was worried that if I didn't go to a top-10 school, my chances of employment would be less than ideal. Here is what I would suggest...talk to some people who are already professionals in the field you are going into, and ask them if they feel like not going to the more prestigious would hurt you future job prospects. I did this, and found out that in the field of higher education, if you are looking to get into the field straight after your Master's, prestige of school does not matter nearly as much as the practical experience...I was told employers aren't going to be asking about coursework and that sort of thing, as much as they will care about your assistantship, internships, etc. I decided to not worry about rankings, and apply go to the school where I could get the most practical experience. Every field is different, obviously, so I would see what those in your field have to say about it. Maybe you could also look at some places you would like to work in the future, and see where the people currently in those positions graduated from. I did that with my dream place to work, and found that a lot of people came from small no name universities, but had assistantships doing basically what they were hired on to do. It was easier, b/c I wanted to work for a university, and they have all the staff bios on the website... you might have to do some more leg work. Best of luck!

In the air of trying to be sort of anonymous, I won't say what city exactly, but it is in Ohio, and no, it isn't Ohio State

Hey everyone! I'll be boarding the grad school cray train this fall, along with a small cohort of about 20 other students. Just wondering what the dynamic is amongst your own cohorts? Can't live without them, or turn your back and they sabotage you? Just curious to hear other people's experiences and advice on how to deal with your fellow cohort people. I heard it can get pretty cut-throat. Ridiculous stories welcomed!

Just wanted to update everyone... Took a residence director assistantship that offered full tuition, free room and board, free parking, and a $9,700 stipend. Feel fortunate to have gotten my top choice! And I know that people don't go into this filed looking to be rich, but I think people sometimes downplay the fact that you can make really good money (once you get into leadership). The director of housing at my undergrad was an incompetent moron and made over $90,000 so there is some hope! This field is all about putting in your time and working up the ranks

I just accepted an assistantship in residence life as a residence hall director. I am going for my Master's in College Student Personnel/Higher Education. I know this is pretty late to be responding, but just going to throw out what I received for my assistantship, which is a totally different program than everyone else. My benefit package includes a full tuition waiver, free room and board (it is a live-in position), free parking, and a stipend of $9,700 for the year. Most other places I looked at were t least 2,000 less, so this may be the exception. I feel really fortunate, but I hear most people put over 60 hours a week into the job, so I will be working hard for the money! Just wanted to share that with anyone contemplating a similar path...not a ton of info out there in the Higher Ed area.

Thanks for the info ZeChocMoose! The colleges I have applied to are in Ohio, so the cost of living is fairly low. Surprisingly Res life has the highest stipend by about $1,000! The non-res life assistantships don't even offer housing, and they are around $7,000. And of course, no, they do not cover medical I'm not sure about the fees - good point! I will have to ask about that during the interview weekends. I'm beginning to think this isn't such a good deal after all... As far as the job duties, I was a resident advisor for two years at a very large university, so I am used to being woken up at random hours to call the cops on stalkers, clean up puke (ok, maybe tell the sober roommates to clean up puke) and a host of other weird reasons. I know that being in grad school will be a lot more challenging that undergrad, but I think I am up for the challenge! I def. want to get a few internships along the way in other areas such as academic advising to diversify.

Here is the deal... I want to pursue my Master's degree in higher education/college student personnel/college student administration/whatever your program calls it. I eventually want to work in residence life. I've been accepted to the programs I've applied to, and will be attending assistantship interview weekends soon. I would love to get a position as a hall director in university housing. First, I was curious to see what you all thought would be a good benefit packages. One of the university's I am visiting offers (for hall director assistantships) a free apartment, full tuition waiver, plus an $8,000 stipend. Do you think that is decent? It isn't quite what the grads at my undergrads were offered...I'm just trying to get an idea of what is acceptable, b/c people don't really like talking about money. Also, if anyone has advice on interview weekends/being a grad in this type of program, I would appreciate it. There isn't a ton of info out there - I've only found a bit in the forums at the chronicle of higher ed. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Oh, and two more things. Do you think there is a stigma attached to res life people at your institution? What is the culture/people like at your institution? It felt like 80% of the professionals (not the grads, they were awesome) at my undergrad were batshit crazy and living in a dream world. Just curious if that is the exception or the norm. Thanks!