Silver Thread

Thanks for the advice -- not what I wanted to hear but it's very helpful! As for those who suggested teaching abroad -- thanks for the suggestion but I think I'd prefer to stay stateside!

Hello all -- I'm a college junior and very conflicted about whether I want to go into teaching, or get an MPA and go into nonprofit management. Right now my tentative plan is: Since most MPA programs want a few years of work experience anyway, why don't I give teaching a go for 3-4 years? If I like it, I can stay. If I don't, I can go on to an MPA and use my teaching years as my work experience. My question to you is .... Do you think that MPA programs will value teaching experience? I worry that it won't be seen as highly as other types of work experience such as policy work or working directly in a nonprofit. Thanks!! A NOTE: I hope to get into Teach for America, but I only said "not TFA" in the title because it's so competitive that nobody can guarantee getting in. If I don't get into TFA, I'll have to pursue alternate teacher certification, which is definitely less "prestigious".

Just out of curiosity, what was your MS field? (And what is your specific psych subfield now?)

Wonderful! Thanks for the advice

For those asking what program I would be interested in, I'm not sure yet, but am thinking perhaps cognitive or experimental. Maybe health. I'm still deciding So if I do decide to go into these fields, I won't be in trouble if I don't take any more science courses you think?

I'm a college junior considering going for a psych PhD in a few years. However, I am concerned because these are the only science courses I have taken outside of psychology: BIO 11 (Intro to Bio for majors) BIO 24 (Genetics) PSY 41 (Behavioral Neuroscience ... even though this is in the psych department I am counting it as sort of a non-psych course) Is my lack of nonpsych science classes going to hurt my admissions for a PhD program? Should I be taking chemistry, or more biology courses? I am frankly more interested in other things (poli sci, literature), and also have a lot of Gen Eds to complete, so I don't plan on taking any more nonpsych science courses in the next two years unless I have to. Do you guys think it would it be a good idea to take more? Any advice would be MUCH appreciated! Thank you