Thursday, November 29, 2007

For Whom the Academic Bell Tolls

I believe it tolls for me. Two months have passed during which I had planned to be writing papers. The books haven't even been unpacked. Due to lack of payment of administrative fees associated with taking my leave of absence, I have been administratively withdrawn. As I have scanned help wanted ads in two states it seems that as much as I love the focus of doing the marriage & family therapy route, it's not that practical. The plan had been to write papers this fall/winter (which could still happen), reenroll with a change in concentration and finish up in the spring semester with an MA in Psychology and reassess things. However that will cost a LOT of money.

Now I have been thinking of writing the papers just for me, start paying back loans in the spring and apply to a local MSW program. It as been weighing on my mind a lot. It has probably been contributing to my on and off again depression, night anxiety, and inertia. I am burdened by my "should" list, my "should have done" list, my "what if" list. There are more, but you get the idea.

So today I researched some local schools that offer MSW degree and have requested information from two of them. Unfortunately any other school requires the GREs. Ugh. The practice session I did on the spur of the moment a few years ago was god awful and I really sucked. This could be a very ugly process.

I wish I knew someone, objective and informed on the degrees and job market to talk to about this decision, path, last ditch effort to pull a master's out of this procrastinating body of mine. If any of my four readers have any ideas, let me know.

5 comments:

Jbeeky said...

Well, as someone who has a MFT, I can tell you it does help for jobs. BUT, there is alot of interning and crap pay along the way, you know? Get on your county website and try and locate the employment section for Health and Human Services. They are usually a pretty good yardstick or what you can expect to make. GRE's suck out loud. I wish you could open up your own yarn shop.

dykewife said...

what jbeeky said

wen said...

i have my ph.d. but didn't go into an ivory tower job. i am glad i finished it, though, regardless. i had friends who dropped out and are equally happy. the people who were unhappiest were those who would make a decision, then change it, then remake it etc. i'd say to figure out if you want to finish. not if you should. if you want to, then consider it a done deal and do what you need to complete things. if not, then do what you need to to move on! :) best of luck no matter what you decide!

Anonymous said...

I'm confused that the GRE would stop you, or would even be problem. Certainly you'd ace the reading/written part of the test. If math is the problem then find a tutor. You've got mad house fixing up skills. Trade for math. I'd take that deal in a heartbeat. Or pre-made meals for the starving student-tutor. Have them teach for their supper. Sweaters for Algebra? Gloves for Geometry?

I would say you need to finish, if what is stopping you is only some test. I think anyone can learn enough math to get by, and I've specialized in people with math phobia and/or processing issues. We should talk about this.

Sharon Rose said...

If you decide to take the GRE, I highly recommend a Kaplan course. very pricey but it *will* raise your score. My GRE and MCAT scores were good before, but after I was in the top few percentage points.