Gaaaahhh I don't know what to do!

[Ilikekitties]

Hi all. I recently got a job offer to teach English in China for 1 year after graduating with my BA. I have until the 7th to decide. However, I have a pending interview with a non-profit organization that works with low-income/first-gen high school students and tries to prepare them for college. I would have my interview on the 4th, but I wouldn't hear back about the position until the end of April.

Idk what to do! What do you think would "look better" for grad programs in cultural anthropology? Teaching English abroad or working with first-gen/low-income high school students and their families?

GAFKEFKMFRNFJ I'm so stressed right now!

[Neist]

I job offer in hand is worth more than a potential job offer, I say.

Wouldn't you feel bad if you gave up the chance to teach in China only to have no job offer?

[Ilikekitties]

That's a very good point! One of my profs told me to extend the China offer, but....I don't wanna push it

[Neist]

Do you have a good reason to ask them why they should extend it? If you can muster up a good one, it's worth trying.

But I'm not sure if I'd use "because I want to interview for another job."  

[GradSchoolTruther]

Neither would really look better for graduate programs. This isn't medical school

[Ilikekitties]

What do you mean by that?

[GradSchoolTruther]

Unlike medical school, you don't have to show how "great" of a person you are by working with underprivileged children in inner cities or teaching English in a foreign country. What matters are GPA, GRE, LORs, and SOPs.

[COGSCI]

What is your research interest? Although it is good to have a solid job offer, teaching English in China wouldn't do much for your grad application unless you are interested in investigating cultural difference in education. As for the other potential job, I don't see the connection unless you are planning on doing research on low SES population.

However, it is good to take your mind off school before you start grad school (especially PhD) so China sounds awesome  !

[Neist]

6 minutes ago, GradSchoolTruther said:

Unlike medical school, you don't have to show how "great" of a person you are by working with underprivileged children in inner cities or teaching English in a foreign country. What matters are GPA, GRE, LORs, and SOPs.

This might be a bit of a blanket statement.

I can imagine, depending on what's discipline and area of research, that it could be beneficial. It's better than doing nothing for a year, at any rate.

[anthrostudentcyn]

1 hour ago, GradSchoolTruther said:

Neither would really look better for graduate programs. This isn't medical school

My two cents as someone in the field of anthropology, what you do before you come to the program does really matter, because anthropology is a human centered discipline. It requires 1-2 years of fieldwork, so programs like to know that you can be working with different types of people and will be successful in fieldwork. If this was a discipline that didn't involve fieldwork, I might agree with you, but I think doing something that proves you can interact with people, and know the realities of working with whatever group you propose is beneficial, either in a thematic sense or a regional one. For example, I'm in medical anthropology and if I don't go to grad school next year I'll try to pursue research opportunities thinking about the same types of populations I want to study or using the same methodologies I want to use. I think whatever is most comfortable, @Peanut is what you should do. 

I would caution, however, if you're thinking of applying next year, that might be difficult if you're in China, due to being busy,having a job, and most likely, culture shock. Your decision also depends on your timeline for reapplying.

[ChrisTOEFert]

18 hours ago, Peanut said:

Hi all. I recently got a job offer to teach English in China for 1 year after graduating with my BA. I have until the 7th to decide. However, I have a pending interview with a non-profit organization that works with low-income/first-gen high school students and tries to prepare them for college. I would have my interview on the 4th, but I wouldn't hear back about the position until the end of April.

Idk what to do! What do you think would "look better" for grad programs in cultural anthropology? Teaching English abroad or working with first-gen/low-income high school students and their families?

GAFKEFKMFRNFJ I'm so stressed right now!

I thought you got into a master's program?  Are you deferring for a year now?  The way you were wording it in the other thread you started it sounded like you were over the moon at getting the acceptance and had no other opportunities.  As for what to do, I also thought your area of research was human-animal interaction?  Based on what you've given us here, none of those are going to help your grad application, at least for that topic.  If you've decided to change topics, go with the job that is going to be as closely aligned with your research interests as possible.  But as one said, I wouldn't defer one job offer for the potential of another.  Same with grad school, if I were biting my nails on a waitlist and had a decently funded offer and it was closing in on April 15th, I wouldn't even bat an eye at removing myself from the waitlist and just happily accepting the paid offer.

I think you need to give us a little bit more information on what your end goal is for your research, and for the jobs.  I mean, the second one sounds like it could snowball into a career, so personally, if I liked the job, I wouldn't quit to go to grad school when I had already established myself in that career for 1.5 years.  But that's me!  If you are passionate about grad school (and human animal interactions??) I would probably take the job in China (as it is firmed up and a definite thing) and work on improving GRE scores, your SOP, etc. when you're over there.  Just a heads up though, a letter of recommendation from somebody at some random company isn't likely going to hold much weight to an adcom.  If you do pursue these, stay in touch with your professors and see if they will write them again for you next year.

[Ilikekitties]

I did get into a MA program, but the funding is poor and I don't wanna go into more debt. I hadn't thought about deferring it, but with the funding package as it is, I'm not interested in the offer at all.

I am interested in human-animal relationships, which could be studied anywhere. My advisor seems to think that China would be excellent for propelling my "career" if it has language and fieldwork elements (it could).

With the non-profit thing being a 2-year long commitment, I'm not sure how I'd feel about grad school then, too, if say I got a more permanent offer or something like that.

And I would have my current profs write for me again.

I do want to get a PhD, but after that I'm not sure. I wrote some random thing in for my essays this round, but it actuality I don't know and I don't think that I *should* be so set-in-stone at 22.

Edited April 2, 2016 by Peanut

[ChrisTOEFert]

I'd agree with your profs then and get a mini-deferral from your China offer the non-profit seems like more of a career builder.

[MarineBluePsy]

@Peanut I would ask for an extension on the China offer and if they agree great, if they don't then take their offer.  Then I would still go to the nonprofit interview.  Why?  Because at this point it is just an interview and you have no idea what the results will be.  You may or may not like them.  They may or may not offer you the job.  An interview is just an interview and it is a smart idea to go on as many of them as you can for the experience because there will be many of them throughout your career.  

[Ilikekitties]

Would China extend it by 3 weeks though? And what reason should I give them after they told me 1 week?

i see your point of going to the interview for practice, but it's an hour and 45 minutes away and I'd have to miss class or work. It's kinda hard to motivate me to do it honestly because I have an offer that I want to do more already.

[Ilikekitties]

I can think of a few pros for China:

1. I would get to live in a different country and travel while I'm young 

2. I could learn a new language

3. It's only 1 year

4. Teaching experience

5. I'd be living near people I know

6. Apartment is large and better than anything I could afford in the US

7. I'd be in charge of the classroom

cons: homesickness, missing American food, dealing with culture shock and issues with administration at the university, make very little money

pros for non-profit:

1. Get non-profit experience 

2. Make more money than China (25k/year in IL), whereas China is enough to get by

3. Develop interpersonal skills 

cons: it's 2 years long, living in the Midwest again, living by myself or with strangers (both cons)