patrickstevensmith

faculty, Thank you SO much for the thoughtful response. It is a truly helpful answer, and perhaps the best advice I have been given from anyone. It is a terminal MA program, and most graduates go on to PhD programs at other institutions. I think you make an excellent point that it is only one more year (well, 1.5 more years) which will be a sufficient amount of time to help me figure things out. I think that even if after the program I go in a completely opposite direction, it is a small loss of time in the big scheme of things. I will take your advice and seek out a faculty member to discuss strategies for researching things now that can get me a job in the future outside of the discipline. At any rate, I want you to know that I am extremely grateful for your answer. I am confident you will have some good karma coming your way for offering me a helping hand. THANKS!! Best, Patrick

Hey Forum, I am a new Soc. grad student and I need some advice. I am having a tremendous amount of doubt about my decision to pursue this study. I guess somewhere along the way I lost interest in research, and am feeling bored/stressed/unhappy with this program at my university, which will remain nameless (for now). I should say that I fully realize how common this feeling is...hell, there are plenty of studies proving the commonality of this sentiment. At any rate, I think the time off I took after undergrad proved that what makes me happy is working with my hands, and I may have been fooling myself all along thinking that Sociology would make me happy... I guess I felt obligated to continue with Soc., or otherwise feel like my BA doesn't mean anything. Confounding my confusion is that I am a funded student, meaning that this degree will come at little cost to me (just loans for living expenses). Is it stupid to throw that away? I know I don't want to be an educator, so is an MA in Sociology useless for me? Summary: I am a new Soc grad student, and I have realized that Sociology is not that interesting to me as it once was. Advice? Much love and gratitude, Patrick

Yep, I just accepted an offer into PSU's Sociology MA/MS program. Pretty excited, pretty nervous. I'm coming from Missouri, and I've never been to Portland, although everyone keeps telling me I'm going to love it. What about you, where are you from? Also, do you have any tips on finding good (cheap) housing in the downtown area?