Hello there!
Thinking about grad school is making me depressed. I feel I live in a cage and I get so terrified sometimes.
I know we have great and experienced peers here, and I’m desperately looking for some advice. I can’t talk to my parents because they don’t understand, and I can’t talk to my friends because they think I’m crazy.
I’m recently going through the struggle of deciding whether I should continue my studies and carry it to grad school or I should go straight to work after 4 years.
I’m currently a junior (about to be a senior) at University of Wisconsin-Madison. I study journalism and I have a no-so-great GPA of 3.35. (bad freshman year). My track is more focused on advertising and PR, so I really don’t know if I should pursue a master in journalism or communication. My parents tell me to do it but my peers say no, journalism students don’t go to grad school.
My parents are giving me a lot of pressure about applying to grad school. The worst part is that I’ll be in France to study abroad for the 1st semester of my senior year, which means it takes extra time and effort to prepare the materials for applications. I’m now torn.Do you guys think I’ll have enough time to apply for the fall semester 2016 while I’m in France? I don’t know if i should keep applying to the fall semester 2016 or the spring semester 2017 for grad school. I don’t even know what i want to study.
I want to work in the UN someday. What do you guys recommend me study if i want to work in UN?
I know I asked a lot of questions, but I really am desperate and terrified.
Thank you so much!
Umika
What are your (foreign) language skills?
But what would you want to do at the UN? There is all different sorts of jobs aren’t there. It really seems like you would find some direction by working a couple of years. Grad school doesn’t disappear. Now is a good time to look for job postings and what sort of skills they are looking for. This isn’t your parents life, what are they pressuring you for anyway, what do they think is to gain to enter not knowing what you should be doing? Or are they willing to pay now and not later?
fyi my dd applied to grad school Sr year while abroad doing a math program and working remotely doing research, I really don’t know how she managed that, but it got done.
Also I believe your last 60 units are emphasized for grad school more, and you can also breakout your gpa in your major for your resume, if it looks better than overall and show both.
@BrownParent Thank you thank you! That’s solid advice! I think I want to do childcare in UN. I know UN is extremely competitive and i’m worried my application would seem weak with only a bachelor degree. @Dunboyne My language skills are: I speak English and Chinese fluently, I’m at an intermediate level of French (which is why I’m going to France) and I speak conversational Japanese.
You’re in good shape with languages. For the UN, definitely increase your fluency in French.
It might be fairly difficult to pursue the UN with a journalism/advertising undergrad background, so a master’s degree is a good idea. Master’s programs in, say, political science or international relations or psychology (for childcare) might prove difficult to get accepted to with your academic background.
Perhaps the best path for you to transition into UN/Humanitarian/NGO type work would be to focus on your cultural strengths, with Asian/East Asian studies. Here is a list of programs (which include master’s degrees): https://www.asian-studies.org/programs/bystate.htm
You could also try to find a master’s program in communications, with an international focus, like this one: http://www.american.edu/sis/ic/index.cfm I don’t know how common these types of communication programs are, however, that offer an international/global direction, which would be more appropriate for your career goals.
Also check out this useful career info: http://www.coyotecommunications.com/stuff/workabroad.shtml
@Dunboyne Thank you so much for your helpful advice! It really helps me! 