<p>I'm a sophomore in first year at Virginia Tech (transferred from VCU). I've been interested in learning more about grad school recently, but besides looking at the school's websites and what programs are offered, I don't know what else to do to start planning.</p>
<p>I'm interested in working in student affairs of some sort in a college setting. Particularly, I'm looking at advising or working my way to becoming an admissions counselor. </p>
<p>I currently work at Tech's admission's office doing filing, data entry, alphabetizing, delivering apps, etc. I applied or plan on applying to internships with Career Services & as a TA for first year students in specialized programs, and am also trying to become a transfer orientation guide over the summer. Are these good places to start for what I want to do?</p>
<p>. I'm looking for other programs similar to this, but since I'm from VA this one seems to line up with what I want to do.</p>
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<p>A few questions that I've wondered about:
Do graduate admissions have preference over those who have one major/a minor or those who double major?</p>
<p>Does anyone know what admission is like to UVA's graduate programs?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your help/advice :)</p>
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<p>Major vs. double major doesn’t matter. Whatever relevant coursework you have taken will.</p>
<p>Getting work experience in the field will definitely help, though you should try to move to something deeper than clerical work by your junior/senior year.</p>
<p>You should also have at least a couple other schools to apply to - graduate admissions are such a crapshoot that unless you’re dead set on UVA or bust, it’s good to have a few different options.</p>
<p>NC State University has a Masters of Higher Ed Administration program as well that you may want to check out. This is what my wife does for her career. Her observations are that before you have a masters degree, you are limited in what kind of positions are available. If you are hoping to become a dean, you should know that they come out of the ranks of full professors, and there isn’t really a clear career path to becoming one.</p>
<p>I’m not too dead set on UVA, but I am set on staying in state because it’s cheaper. UVA is just most appealing to me because the way the master’s program is set up, and it’s only a 1 year program, which is better financially than a 2 year program. Alternates will probably be VCU (though the masters program would require 2-3 years!) and others in VA that aren’t as highly ranked or as specific.</p>
<p>Also, not sure if anyone would know this, but what is the job outlook like for those in academic advising/student affairs kind of work? Will the job hunt be extremely difficult after grad school?</p>
<p>Belevitt - What exactly does your wife do? I’m not really looking into being a dean, if that helps.</p>
<p>My wife has spent the last five years working as an advisor, first financial aid but later she moved into academic advising. For the last year and a half or so, she has specialized in pre health advising. She spends a lot of time analyzing admission trends of Duke undergraduates as they apply for professional and graduate schools. She synthesizes data and generates reports, for internal use and for publication, about what academic programs are most successful. For an idea of the kind of work that is being done in this area, you should check out the chronicle of higher education [Home</a> - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/section/Home/5]Home”>http://chronicle.com/section/Home/5)</p>
<p>I am sure you are concerned about the financial implications of a masters program. You should realize that many of these programs are designed to be pursued by individuals working in higher ed already. For instance, the two programs I know most about (Metro State in Denver and NC State in Raleigh) have all of their classes at night or on the weekends. And practicums are often set up through your employer. One of the benefits of working in academia is that tuition is often free for employees, consider this when applying for jobs. Some universities limit the number of credits you can take for free, while others do not. Further, some departments are very supportive of professional development while others are not. That being said, I have a friend who did her masters of higher ed administration full time at Tufts and paid for it with student loans.</p>
<p>The job market is tricky. Right now, universities are laying off staff and state universities favor laid off state employees when hiring for new postings. However, since the recession began, my wife has been offered four positions, so I guess anecdotal evidence suggests that there are jobs to be had. In non recession times, universities are considered very stable, if low paying, places to work. The environment and benefits are terrific. Hope this helps.</p>