I need some advice, please?

College Majors
1

Hi, all! I apologize in advance for any confusion that may arise from the questions surrounding my current situation. I also thank anyone & everyone who reads my post & ask you to please respond if you can contribute any source of information.

I am currently studying a double major in Sociology & Psychology with a minor in Society, Health & Medicine at Stony Brook University. I have been here for a number of years & am recently “going back” (though I am still a matriculated student - never graduated) to improve my GPA after a host of health complications sent my academic success partly out the window, so to speak. Anyway, after I take courses to improve my GPA I have plans of obtaining my MSW (Masters of Social Work for those unaware, which I will refer to as MSW from here on out) by applying to SBU and Columbia University. To continue, I am seeking to obtain my PhD in Social Work at either of these two aforementioned institutions, although I have other Universitys in mind (UNC Chapel Hill, U Penn, to name a few).

My ultimate goal is to become a Professor of Social Work. I have always valued, and quite enjoyed academia, especially once I got to higher education. I enjoy learning more than anything & have learned a career as a professor requires constant learning, which really motivates me. I hate “standing still” mentally & quite often feel compelled to abandon a task wherein I am not learning anything anymore - mundane tasks do not interest me, though I love a good tedious task. I have not personally engaged in any research thus far, due to my health complications but do feel (based on what i’ve read on paper) I would thoroughly enjoy its counterparts. I can EASILY & much PREFER to work solitary tasks, & I love a good challenge - that is, academic… Athletic, not so much!

I’m posting here because I frequently read horror stories about why NOT to become a professor, why is this? I want to read someone’s claim as to why one SHOULD become a professor, which i’m hoping someone reading this could provide for me?

I know one must pursue a PhD to obtain full professorship, which doesn’t bother or scare me off in the least - I’d stay in school forever if I could make a living off it. I’m your typical “professional student,” - which is why i’ve sought a career in academia partly. I love helping others & have a fondness for Sociology, Social Welfare, etc. which lead me to choose Social Work as a pursued field.

I also have somewhat of a more complicated issue regarding my current job. For the last almost six months I have been employed full-time by Stony Brook Medicine, which is a field I had quite an interest in working for. I am only a receptionist, which is hardly a career in my eyes, but I do love the position & it would be ideal to study while doing. However, I don’t know how to approach this conversation at all with my employer & fear they wont let me “step down” to part-time to pursue a higher degree. I don’t even know how educated this decision will seem to many, but my salary couldn’t support me even in the poorest of areas, and I obviously do not seek to put myself in that position. I have a supportive & loving family & feel I could afford to go back to school & work part-time in my current position.
Also, someone I had known worked for the university while obtaining their Masters and in lieu of payment, their credits & tuition were paid for in full. Is this possible at every university? Or was this only the policy perhaps at their institution? I would obviously be very interested in working while obtaining to receive my MSW & have it paid for.

Is it really not worth it to become a professor? I hate to even utter that question, but I feel as though that’s written in the stars sometimes by some who offer really bleak advice on the career. I have long sought out my “dream job” and really felt & still strongly feel that this was it, only to be discouraged now?
Either way, I want to obtain my PhD & attend an Ivy League institution as these have been life-long dreams of mine that I seek to purse regardless. Education is never, ever wasted. I know through improvement of my GPA regardless of how long it takes, I can achieve my dreams.

2

I’m not a professor, I’m a high school math teacher.

But, more than that, I’m a mom. And here’s my advice as a mom:

You have to decide what will make YOU happy. Not me, not your friends, not strangers on a forum, but you.

Ignore the “horror stories about why NOT to become a professor.” I bet you a dollar that half or more are written by people who aren’t professors in the first place. The other half are written by profs who don’t enjoy their job.

In my experience, the vast number of reviews on ANYTHING tend to be negative. People who are happily enjoying an experience tend to be too busy enjoying it to write a review. But the disenchanted are so caught up in their unhappiness that they vent away.

The one piece of advice before you teach college in any area is to consider spending a little time in the field. I would think you would be a much better professor of Social Work if you have a little real life experience as a Social Worker. Could you speak to someone at Stony Brook Hospital and see whether it’s possible to get a transfer into the Social Work department? (My niece dealt with them when her VERY preemie (late) daughter was born, and they were amazing. ) And you may be surprised at their reaction when they learn that you want to go down to part time, but still work within the hospital.

You have nothing to lose by exploring your options. Good luck!

3

@bjkmom

Thank you sincerely for this - I always enjoy hearing other’s personal testimonies & appreciate you sharing yours with me.

I wholeheartedly agree about negativity stemming from an unfulfilling life… In this case more specifically, an unfulfilling career. I also appreciate you stating about doing what will make ME individually happy as I need to maintain this thought in the forefront of my mind. Sometimes it inevitably escapes my consciousness.

I am going to be engaging myself with research and volunteer positions I should have pursued earlier this coming semester. Unfortunately, because I had been so ill, I wasn’t able to do so previously, but what’s done is done & I can only move forward here!

I personally struggled with which area to gain experience through research & volunteering… Teaching or Social Work? While being a Professor is less about the teaching technique & more about the material I thought experience in the realm of Social Work might be increasingly beneficial, however, I really do not desire to become an “actual” Social Worker (for lack of better words).

Should I just engage in volunteer positions at the hospital? My ultimate goal is to obtain my MSW from Columbia (I have other institutions as back up - SBU is my next top, which would be more of a safety school for me), and I know that Ivies like to see consistency in ECs more than anything else. I go to school across the street from the hospital, and the fact that my University is a hospital affiliate is one reason why so chose this institution. I am very interested in medical Social Work/Sociology/Psychology. I just don’t want to choose a (what might appear as) seemingly “random” position that would leave colleges to perceive me as undecided/unsure of myself & my career.

4

Here’s what I meant:

You’re already working at SB Medical Center, right? Would you consider changing departments, into the Social Work Dept? That way you could get more of a concrete idea of what Social Work entails.

We’ve all heard the old adage that “Those that can’t, teach.” And it’s what I want to warn you to avoid. I would think that the best teachers of Social Work would be people who had actually experienced the field. I know that you can get a lot of information from a classroom-- but I find it hard to discount the knowledge that comes from actually being in the trenches in some capacity.

So I’m not suggesting that you make a career out of Social Work, merely that you use this time to change the focus of your current job in a way that could benefit you professionally down the road.

5

@bjkmom

I apologize for the confusion & thanks for the clarification!

But yes, I do currently work for Stony Brook Medicine at one of their newer branch locations, so it’s not the actual hospital center. I could always see if availability is present in the Social Work department and would absolutely change if the position presented itself. I just fear without any experience I wouldn’t be considered.

I absolutely do agree about someone experienced in the field being a more well-rounded teacher. I will have to see if the SW department offers volunteer/shadow postitions possibility. I guess the career center might be the best place for me to start.

Although I do not seek to become a Social Worker as my career, I am not at all against internships/volunteer positions as I feel they will only aid me in climbing the ladder. Especially if I do end up pursuing any of my future degrees at Columbia, being in Manhattan I know I will be in prime location for internships and experience.

6

Sounds like a plan!! Good luck to you!

7

@bjkmom

Thanks for all of your assistance!

8

I know I commented on your other thread, but I’m going to take a different angle here.

As I mentioned before, I have a PhD, so I know a lot of professors - both my own mentors and professors from undergrad and grad school AND people in my own generation who have gone onto become professors after grad school. MANY of them LOVE their careers as professors. It’s very much a passion career, but there are tons of people who are passionate about it and absolutely love what they do.

Why SHOULD you become a professor? You do have to love learning, but it’s about more than learning; it’s about loving to create knowledge. As a researcher, you aren’t just consuming knowledge by reading about things or talking to people; you are generating NEW knowledge and sharing with the world. That’s such a rush! If you like to debate arcane issues with other people who are just as smart or smarter than you; if you love sharing your knowledge with young people who are eager to learn and grow, like yourself. If you like to noodle on issues over and over and dig down really deep and figure out all the inner workings before moving onto the next thing.

If you like having almost complete autonomy and independence over your days: professors often say that is the best part of their jobs, that they can design how to arrange their time. You also have almost complete independence over what you decide to do research on and study; you design the entire thing from start to finish, limited only by time and resources. Do you like to write? Academics spend a LOT of time writing: papers, grants, reviews, books, all kinds of things.

I think there are two main reasons why people sometimes tell horror stories or warn people off from academic careers. One is because of the difficulty of obtaining a position in the field. We talked about this before - but few people who begin a PhD intending to become professors actually will be. It’s kind of like intending to become a Broadway actor these days. Two is because of the intense level of dedication to research and scholarship that is required. Professors often work 60-70+ hour weeks, especially early on in their career, in order to get a job and then tenure and promotions. That’s often true during doctoral programs, as well - so imagine just 12-15 straight years of 60-80+ hour plus weeks (5 years of PhD + 2 years of postdoc + 6 years on the tenure-track, give or take a few all over). And more years, of course, if you are working at an elite research university.

Actually, I would say that there’s a third main reason: A lot of times, people who express an interest in being a professor aren’t really aware of what the role entails. For example, I’ve talked to a lot of college students who envision being a professor (particularly in the humanities) as mostly teaching classes to bright, brilliant undergrads about their favorite books or philosophers or historical time periods. No…it’s not that.

Many (most?) universities offer some tuition benefits as part of the benefits package; however, how many credits are covered and how long you have to work there in order to get the benefits varies. It would be very, very unusual for a university to pay your tuition in lieu of an actual cash salary - in fact, I would imagine that’s illegal in most jurisdictions. What’s more common is for universities to offer to cover some credits in addition to your salary. Like they may allow you to take 12 credits per year tuition-free in any degree-granting master’s program, as long as you are admitted. Some universities only offer this to certain employees - like employees with 2 years of experience at the university, for example, or employees in certain categories. And some universities restrict the degrees you can earn or the classes you can take for free (for example, you might not be able to earn the MBA or MSW if they are popular).

You’ll need to talk to your HR/benefits representative at the university, or examine your benefits information, to figure this out.

9

@juillet

I appreciate any angle you might take toward my questions, and this is the single most reason I posted on two threads! I like the variety in different responses.

Anyway, to answer a proposed question: yes, I LOVE to write. I have been reading and writing at a distinguished level prior to the age of two. Mathematics? That’s another story. I absolutely adore and value everything about academia, especially higher education. The higher I have climbed in the academic institutions, the more increasingly intrigued I have grown. I have always wanted to author a book, and am probably the only person giddy at the idea of a dissertation.

The fact that you say many who enter PhD programs with ambitions of becoming a Professor hardly do makes me wonder, what DO they end up pursuing? Full-time research? I don’t envision myself doing that as much as being a professor. I like the mix between lecturing/teaching, in addition to research studies. The fact that I could study specifics in Psychology that are profound and significant to ME? That’s like winning the lotto. I never knew what one “should” do if they were interested in a specific subtype of Psychology, or “notion” they just simply wanted to get to the bottom of, and employment in the field of academia seems to do just this.
My direct interest is how the field of physical medicine and psychological medicine overlap, especially in direct relation to life-threatening or terminal diseases - namely cancerous - primarily in pediatrics. If I hadn’t “fallen in love” with Psychology in tenth grade (during my first course) I would have undoubtedly pursued the field of medicine.

Really though, more than anything else, I love school. This is the kind of setting where I not only desire to be “forever,” but envision myself. I love to learn, to teach, educate, guide others, “show off” my knowledge & I absolutely want to surround myself with only the best of the best. I desire to be present with those who are either on par with me intellectually speaking, or those who are greater in knowledge than me.

10

That, and lots of other things. Full-time research at universities and non-university positions (think tanks, NGOs, nonprofits, private companies, etc.); consulting and strategy; teaching at private high schools; other jobs within higher education like student services work; museum work; publishing; software development; data science; you name it. PhDs do a lot. The unemployment rate of PhDs is actually really low - it’s just that most of us are not professors.

Me, I’m a full-time researcher at Microsoft.