No Funding, No Sleep

[cjackson]

Accepted to a strong MA program last spring but deferred to 2012. No funding; would be taking all loans. I haven't worked in two years; I had unpaid internships lined up but couldn't afford to do them, canceled one after the other. I'm stressed; been stressing the past 10 months. I worked towards this field/degree/career for the past five years, and now I've hit a wall. How can I justify loans of this amount when looking at a potential salary of ~50k IF I'm actually lucky enough to find a job? The stress of just thinking about this has been taxing. I can't imagine actually being in that situation: living in some ghetto in DC like a spartan monk, eating potatoes and rice, hoping to break even on the bills? I can't justify it, yet I feel like I've trapped myself with no other option at this point. The only reason I even applied to school was because the entire IR field told me I couldn't enter without a MA, which I've found to be true in my job search. Thoughts and opinions appreciated. Thank you.

[long_time_lurker]

I completely get what you're saying, but what have you been doing and where have you been living for the last 2 years with NO JOB??

Anyhow, is this a field that's hiring? So you can say with at least some certainty that you'll pay off the tuition? There's that old saying, "it takes money to make money".

On the other hand, I can't blame you for taking a second look before signing on for loans and starting a program with no guarantee of employment. Have you sent out resumes and pounded the pavement? I'm not talking about just in your field either. I see jobs out there; not all glamorous, but they pay the bills, some even have benefits, and they don't require signing your life away for 5 or even 6 figures of debt.

[zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

As someone with IR career aspirations I have to say I can relate. When I realized how little funding there is for IR studies, I looked into regional programs on the advice of a professor. I have a strong interest in the former Soviet space, so I am pursuing applications to those programs. Many such programs get FLAS funding, which you can apply for if you plan to study a modern "critical language." Have you considered reapplying to these kinds of programs? You can still get the same kind of interdisciplinary courses in economics, government, IR, history, etc. but then you would also get funding + you would know an important language by the end, which would be valuable to many potential employers.

If I were in your shoes, I would also consider putting an IR degree on the shelf for a little while and try and find a private sector job tangetly related to what you want to do...I'm sure you could make something similiar to the end goal salary you mentioned and have time to save up, etc, until you go back to reapply.

Good luck whatever you choose!

[Dynamom]

_{I turned down grad school right after undergrad for the same reason - it would have doubled my student loan debt. Turns out, working for a few years (which turned into a decade) really clarified my focus - I ended up actually changing fields. It also gave me a skill set and a "real world" perspective that is extremely valuable. If you've got your BA, you can substitute teach. I did that until I found work as a research assistant. Now, as a university employee, I get a 2/3 break on my tuition.}

_{Best of luck to you!}