Advice - Masters in TESOL/MPP/MPH/Ph.D?? HELP!

[runningincircles]

Hi all,

I'll get to it quickly: I'm a mother to 9 month old twin girls, I have a bachelors in political science & Japanese, and a Masters in gender studies.

I'm a Brit who immigrated to the U.S. in 2007, and graduated from my masters program in 2008 (did my dissertation in the U.S.) I was educated in the U.K., and thus am totally green when it comes to the U.S. education system.

I'm in CA and studying a community college teaching certification at Sac State, but with the way the system is in education, there's absolutely NO jobs. So, I'm looking at going back to school for the fall of 2014. However, I'm stuck!

I desperately want to do a Ph.D in the social sciences, and have wanted to since before studying my masters. However, I can only really apply to a couple of schools - Stanford, Berkeley, and U.C. Davis. I applied to U.C. Davis in 2009 when I was in Boston, and was rejected. We moved to CA for husbands job, and I can't look out of state for doctoral programs because we have a home and kids, and husband has a job here. Stanford, Berkeley, and Davis are all very competitive, and trying to find someone who might be interested in my topic (masculinity, nationalism, military and ptsd) is frustrating. I want to apply, but I don't want to waste the upcoming year/18 months, if I'm unlikely to make it in to any of the programs. I have a 3.5 GPA equivalent, and a 4.0 in my current teaching program. I'm working on the math to improve my quantitative GRE scores, and I've been contacting a bunch of people to work as a research intern/graduate assistant (idea is to get some formal research experience, other than the stuff I already have.)

If I don't make it into the Ph.D (which is highly likely - seeing as they have such competitive acceptance rates) I was thinking of looking at MPH and MPP programs. However, I'm not sure whether these programs are worth the $$ they cost, as public services/government in CA is a disaster.

I've been accepted early over the phone/email at Sac State to two masters programs, one in Gender Equity and another in TESOL. But again, what chances are there of getting a job? TESOL has a better chance, but Gender Equity? I've been looking around and running around like a headless chicken trying to find a program (other than the Ph.D) that might work - I hate the thought of not doing the research that I so desperately want to do, and the only programs I've come up with are the MPP and MPH. I primarily want to do research and analysis, so they seem like a good fit (possibly.)

So questions are:

1. What advice would you give someone like me about the application process for the Ph.D - anyone at any of the schools I've mentioned, what did you do to get in??

2. Given the low chances of me making it in to these programs, would you just not bother going for the Ph.D, and try for the Masters degrees instead?

3. Anyone with a TESOL masters degree? Anyone studying a TESOL Masters? What's the program like? Anyone currently working with a TESOL masters?

I know all of this is probably way too complex for me to be putting up on a site like this, but I just need some other students to talk to/people to give me their opinion. Basically, my question is: what would you do if you were in my position.

Thanks, and please be kind.

[ktwho]

HI RunningInCircles,

I wish I had seen your post sooner. Looks as though we have much in common. I'm down in the peninsula for husband's job and I'm also applying for PhD at those three schools, though in a different field--Spanish/LatAm Studies.

1. I'd love for someone to answer this.

2. I'd shoot for the PhD. There's nothing to lose by applying, except your time and maybe a little sanity. If you don't get in, there's a chance that they'd offer you the option of doing an MA instead. Either way, it can't hurt, and if you do get into a PhD program, you'll likely have SOME funding whereas with a MA you are likely not to. The UC's will expect you to work for your funding if you get some. Stanford will, too, but in research, not so much in teaching.

3. I have an MA in TESOL. I teach at UC Berkeley Summer English Language Studies program--starting my third summer on Monday. I moved from Texas two years ago and was hired immediately. This move was especially painful b/c a week after I moved, my former CC in Texas offered me a full-time faculty position. We actually considered being a commuter couple, but my husband had JUST gotten out of the Army and did so so that we could spend more time together. Sigh. After the summer session, the job market was pretty dry. I was able to get a lot of private students and some courses at a private English language school, but it was tough. Now, I did finally get a f/t job at a cc near SF.....as a full time tutor. It is rough a lot of days. It pays about 40-60% less than what faculty make and requires a different skill set. At this particular college, the Dean is already finishing the spring schedule--for 2013! And she schedules based on seniority, so a lot of fac. members have asked why I'm teaching at a 4-year and not their own college, well...ask the Dean. Anyway, I LOVE teaching ESL. A very rewarding experience. However, there are not that many classes, and they go to whomever has been there the longest and courses get cut pretty often at the two-year level. Four-years are different--they need the cash from international students. A few community colleges have started figuring this out. All this said, what I will tell you is the that students (our grad tutors) who graduated from SF State's Composition program--some MA and some certificate-have had ZERO problem getting classes. There's a certificate that's only 4 courses that I'm considering doing myself just to get my foot in the door at other local cc's. Finally, the people that I work with have had the most luck--and have had to turn down courses--because they are 100% available ANY TIME, so they can scoop up the last minute courses that need to be filled. So, in my case, I'd need to quit my job, email all the deans in my area and say, "Hey, guys. I have absolutely NOTHING scheduled." Then you will get a call.

Hope this wasn't overload and feel free to message me.