<p>Our daughter is graduating in May this year with a Liberal Art degree- Honor Program.During the last four years she did a couple of little jobs ( in health care), and internships ( in marketing). Problem is she doesnt know what she wants to do, no idea of a career choice. She is currently looking for a job,(as she is done with her classes and just had a theses to write) hard to find with a Liberal Art education. She already has over 45K in student loans (20K for study abroad last year), and grad school is something that we can not persue this year. My husband is also getting laid off in two months (hoping he will find a job asap). We are currently paying for her apartment and living expenses ( around $1,700 a month). She lives in another town, 200 miles away. </p>
<p>I would love for her, and she would too, to continue her education, but we are afraid of too much debt. </p>
<p>Career choice that she may want to persue is interior design, marketing, english . . .</p>
<p>I guess my question is, would taking another 20-30K for grad school be too much debt? Are there any jobs that she should apply to with her liberal art degree. I want to mention, she is first generation immigrant. We, parents, do not have college degree and do not know much about education in USA. Any advice is apprechiated. Thank you</p>
<p>She should not consider attending graduate school until she has a specific professional goal that requires a graduate degree. Her debt load is already excessive. She needs to make an appointment with the career center at her college or university and start a serious job search. Graduate school can wait.</p>
<p>Yes, having job experience for a year or two will allow her to decide what she really wants to achieve with graduate school. It will not hurt her chances either as universities like to have students who have real life experience and a more mature perspective.</p>
<p>This is what I did: I got a job as an admissions counselor. It was the perfect job for someone who likes to be around people and promote the college she works for. It involves a little travel and she might be able to take some graduate classes at the college’s expense. It is an entry level job.</p>
<p>If she liked her marketing internship, she should look at marketing and social media positions. She has some experience and could hopefully get a reference from them. She should touch base with them and see if they have openings or know people who have openings. Much of it is who you know, not what you know! Ditto with her health care jobs. Those health care companies/agencies/hospitals have people who do their marketing. She needs to find out who they are. She might consider applying for another internship in marketing somewhere (close to home to save expenses?) and get her foot in the door there that way.</p>
<p>Additional debt for graduate study is generally not a good idea – especially with the amount of debt that she has already. In general, graduate study other than a small number of professional school fields (e.g. medicine) is not really worth it for a student who needs to watch costs unless it is funded (fellowship, TAship, RAship, or employer paid).</p>
<p>Graduate study is also when students focus on a particular specialty – a student who is undecided or unsure of what s/he wants to do would be out of place there.</p>
<p>Well I do not think that she needs to get in the grad school right now. Let her do a job for at least two years or something. With the job experience she will be able to think that what she should do more and more important her student loan that should not be increased if she does not have any specific idea what to do next.</p>
<p>Just let me see if I understand this. Your daughter is graduating soon with no job, little skills, no particular interest, but plenty of debt. She is actually considering going to graduate school, with majors that may not particularly help her get a job, or skills…but will get her into even more debt? Plus will she be expecting you to continue to support her, even with your husband losing his job?</p>
<p>It seems like she just wants to delay the day of reckoning, that is, the day she has to support herself and start paying her debt. Without an interest or a desire, those graduate degrees will not make her more marketable. She needs to concentrate on getting a job now, with the skills and interests that she has. Her internships should count for something. It may not be the ideal job, but it would be a start, and will not pile on more debt for her and you. Paying $1700/month for living expenses is a lot. She must not be living the normal college life crammed into an apartment.</p>
<p>What kind of jobs would require good critical thinking skills and writing skills, and that can be attainable by people with a honors liberal arts education/degree?</p>
<p>I’m not sure what a “Liberal Art” degree is. Is this a major in Creative Writing, Economics, Philosophy, Mathematics, Physics or what? These are all liberal arts. The job prospects are probably quite different depending on what the major was. I am not familiar with many/any colleges where the degree is in “Liberal Art,” there is always in my experience a specific major.</p>
<p>I echo other posters that it does not make sense to go to grad school with such an undefined purpose and with significant undergraduate debt. Even in this job market there are jobs to be had, even if they require relocation or working in an area unrelated to one’s undergraduate major. Now is the time to start looking for those jobs (though it would be better to have started looking last year).</p>
<p>Well I do not think that she needs to get in the grad school right now. Let her do a job for at least two years or something. With the job experience she will be able to think that what she should do more and more important her student loan that should not be increased if she does not have any specific idea what to do next. </p>
<p>I’m with dadx3: what did she actually major in?</p>
<p>If she is interested in design, marketing, and writing, advertising or public relations or marketing would seem like obvious target areas. She has had internships and is looking for a job: good for her. She should take just about any job she can get. Employers like to hire people with a work history. And you never know where it might lead. I started on the path towards a career in technical and corporate communications because I raised my hand when they asked for a volunteer to proofread some marketing materials. Small businesses often need someone to spruce up their menus or write marketing materials or press releases. If she is there and working in another capacity and they like her, she can raise HER hand.</p>
<p>I think that she should either come home or find a job to support herself where she is. Most young people live in cheap places with other recent grads. That’s how it is done.</p>
<p>She can go to grad school if and when she identifies a need. That may well take a couple of years. This is normal.</p>
<p>Tell her to come home. The party is over and you can’t afford the extra rent.</p>
<p>Nothing like needing to support yourself to help you clarify your career goals. If it turns out that whichever career she lands in, after some work experience, leads her to pursue further education, that’s fine. Otherwise, it’s been a nice ride. She is educated. She is an adult. It is as important for her to get a job as it is for your laid off husband.</p>
<p>BTW, she took on $20K in debt to study abroad last year? Do you know how much travelling she could have done for half that? And $1700 per month from the Bank of Mom and Dad?</p>
<p>To echo Poetgrl, the party is over. Come home. (Unless you have millions socked away somewhere…)</p>
<p>Mom of 2, 2012 liberal arts grads ( that is anything not considered in the STEM arena)-one with an English degree and one with a Philosophy degree. Reading the OP’s original post is deja vu, for at least one of our 2 kids. Son with English degree is working for a start-up company in a private equity firm-his 2 internships in public relations for a major sporting good company and in cyber-safety for Georgia Tech positioned almost as well as his analytical and writing skills-which helped him move from an internship to a full time job after 3 months. His writing skills were a huge part of the employment decision in his favor. Daughter with philosophy degree continues to apply to all types of positions and is now looking for a paid internship for students who have graduated ( in the south, that seems to be a more difficult commodity). I would strongly advise against law school or other grad programs until you have a clear cut path in mind that will lead to a job. Many of our twins friends are in law school and unless you plan on being a patent attorney or something else highly specialized, law grads are everywhere walking around looking for jobs. Liberal arts degrees can be valuable IF you can parlay your skill-set and IMO are able to use a rich network. It is a very difficult job market ( still)-don’t add to your debt ujless the pay-off is clear.</p>
<p>Science and math are liberal arts. There are also non-STEM fields which are not considered liberal arts, such as business, education, hospitality and tourism management, public relations, criminal justice, etc…</p>
<p>Perhaps you mean “humanities and social studies” (H/SS) to refer to liberal arts subjects which are not science and math.</p>
<p>She could be my daughter, who is graduating in a few weeks with a psych degree. She is applying widely for all kinds of social media/marketing/public relations/entry level jobs. She even filled out an application for Teach for America. Fortunately she doesn’t have any loans. She’s getting some interviews- she’s pretty determined so I have hope. She has had several jobs and internships (she’s working right now in public relations), so her resume is pretty strong. However, I have advised her against any graduate school unless she has something specific she wants to study. I think a few years of working is smart. I went to grad school when I was 30. </p>
<p>Needless to say, it surprises me how many of her friends are going straight to law school. You think they would have read the horror stories. Well, maybe they will be the lucky ones who get the high-paying jobs. My kid has got nothing to lose- she can go anywhere and start at the bottom. I think she would rather do anything than come to live at home! (We are very boring).</p>
<p>I encourage all of the students I supervise (undergrads) to take some time off to work and enjoy life as a young adult. There have been few students that I thought were good candidates for straight-to-grad school, and they have generally been dead set on what they wanted to study AND what kind of career they wanted on the other end.</p>
<p>Teach for America can be a good opportunity; their next deadline is coming up Feb 15</p>
<p>Did you cosign for all the loans? If not, does she know what she is responsible for per month already? $45k at 7% (is it that low?) for 10 years, is $525/month.</p>
<p>If she can’t find a job, she should come home and bag groceries. She’ll come out ahead of most of those who head to law school.</p>