Need advice on grad school

[Mapidus]

I'm sitting here, unemployed and thinking about what to do for the future. I graduated in May. My parents have not said it, but they probably think that I am a total loser for wasting their money on an Ivy degree and not even being able to find employment afterwards. Truthfully, I don't even know what I would do for a job. Maybe this is a factor in being jobless. Also the downturn in the economy, especially the tech sector can't be helping. I'm starting to think that maybe I should have been aiming for grad school in the first place. Maybe I would enjoy research more than other jobs. The only problem is that I was not on that track, so am really not in a good position to apply now. I did not do research while an undergrad or even get to know any profs, so I have no way to get the recommendations I need. All schools I have looked at seem to require 3 or more letter of recs.

Maybe there are "lower" schools that I would have a chance to get into, but I have not found any. All I really want is to be able to go to a school that is decent enough to have a good selection of classes and qualified professors teaching them. I'm not aiming for the top schools at all because I know they require recommendations and publications. I definitely don't want to be "paying" for a degree either, partially because I don't have money and partially because schools that require payment do not have research funding which probably means the professors are not as qualified.

I just wish I had spent my undergrad years doing research and getting to know profs, but nobody ever advised me so and I have to just deal with whatever happened because I can't change it.

Nobody will probably bother reading or responding, but I just wanted to "talk" to myself, so I don't go into depression or anything like that.

 

[Anfield]

Go ahead and apply, I did and I'm a total loser. Problem is I'm one class from being finished and I'm still a total loser.

For recco's take a few classes (post-undergrad) and start kissing up to profs./doing well. That is if there is a school (in the vicinity) that allows post-grads to take classes.

If your iq is really 200, getting in shouldn't be too much trouble (unless you go non-Ivy).

 

[Anfield]

Also, have a couple of drinks for the depression

 

[Yo Ma Ma]

Sometimes it is just hard to get started after you graduate, especially if your degree was not the sort which enables you to just walk into some sort of custom-fit job.

Have you tried working with a head hunter, or some sort of recruiter? They might help you assess your chances of working or the benefits of more schooling, based on your interest and their experience. Also try to get ahold of someone at your university who could give you some guidence.

I was swallowed up by EDS when they were hiring any new grad with a decent GPA otherwise I might have gone a longer time after graduation without working too.

 

[shopbruin]

you should apply. also go take some practice GRE's (i'm pretty sure every school wants those) and see how high you score. that might help offset other things.

 

[Linh]

same thing happened to me. thats why i'm in dental school

 

[Anfield]

bump...help this person out

 

[jamesave]

Take the GRE... and while you are learning that talk to some of the profs... if you do some decent grades in their class (at least B) you may talk with them.. Depending on the profs, they may write a recommendation to you. Get a nice prof!

 

[RossGr]

You never said what your degree is in, Liberal Arts, science, or engineering? If you got an Ivy league liberal arts degree and didn't make the right friends then better learn the phrase "Do you want fries with that?" ... sorry man cold facts.

Your 'lower' school crack didn't earn you any respect from this end. The main thing a big name school gets you is a bigger loan and MAYBE, if you MAKE THE RIGHT FRIENDS, a first job.

Sorry, fancy school elitist rub me the wrong way. The key to sucess is more in your attitude and approach to life then the name of your school. How many interviews have you had? Better yet how many resumes have you sent out? Convince yourself that you are a winner then perhaps you can convice an potential employer the same.

Good Luck

 

[Anfield]

Actually, you can have my spot, as I am about through w/ it.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

you may try some non-competitive colleges then. they are usually real small and dont require any strict stats for graduate classes. there are a couple of a&m campuses i can think of offhand that are non-compete. no experience, etc. necessary.

 

[Mapidus]

RossGr: I'm sorry I offended you, but I did not mean to. That was why I used the term "lower" in quotes because I don't consider them inferior, I judge based on true qualities, not what others elitist people rank as higher. I would be perfectly fine with going to a "lower" school if it was offered to me. I am not expecting anything based on having an Ivy education. I do know there are a lot of rich and stuck up people who go to these schools, but I am not one of them (probably because I grew up in an immigrant family living in Oakland). I only chose to go there because I though I would get a better education, not because I was expecting any special treatment later. If I had known what I know today about the quality of an Ivy eduction, I would have gone to the state school which would have saved my parents lots of money.

My degree is in Engineering, so you can basically narrow it down to one school or a few schools, but I'm not going to say because it is not relevant.

Can I really talk to any prof and get a letter of rec? These profs don't even know my name, so how can they write a truthful letter?

If I do find a school to apply to then I will take the GREs, but I don't think they will help (they really just prevent you from having a chance). I have taken the sample GREs from the program you can get from them and have scored about average scores for most grad schools. 660-700 verbal (maybe studying can help) and 770-800 each on the other two sections.

If things don't work out I'm thinking about taking some time off and doing either AmeriCorps or PeaceCorps type of work. I really don't want to sit aroung too long being unproductive as I am currently. Any idea about how easy to get into these programs are and what the requirements are?

Thanks all who replied.

 

[SuperCyrix]

RossGr, I probably agree with most of what you've said.

Mapidus, RossGr is right. I've taken classes in Community college and recieved straight Cs throughou. Didn't matter that I scored the highes exam and final grades in my Poli Sci class. Didn't matter that I aced most my exams in my Phil class. I argued with the profs and they made me pay. I debate the Phil prof after class over a math problem which he and the publishers made a mistake in. For my efforts, I was rewarded with a 'C' In this world, you got to be humble.

 

[Ameesh]

your a lame ass, you have a ivy leauge degree, you have a degree in engineering (although you never said what kind) you should be able to get a job easily, you should be able to get a job easily, freakin lazy hippie, all this economic down turn bs is just an excuse, get off your lazy ass and get a job.

 

[Mapidus]

<< your a lame ass, you have a ivy leauge degree, you have a degree in engineering (although you never said what kind) you should be able to get a job easily, you should be able to get a job easily, freakin lazy hippie, all this economic down turn bs is just an excuse, get off your lazy ass and get a job. >>



I am actually trying to get a job, but I also would like to get more education also, since I did not go to school to make money after college and still feel I am lacking skills that employers want. Another reason I am thinking about more schooling is that research sounds like it might be interesting and I did not get that kind of background during undergrad. As for the type of engineering, I have a B.S. in Electrical Engineering (with computer engineering emphasis) and Computer Science, but I don't think what I studied is relevant -- I just want general advice from anybody.

 

[RossGr]

Mapidus, you have a very good degree, I don't care what school it is from. Now your comment about he economic down turns becomes more important. I sure would not want to be looking for a job in the hi tech arena right now. I am there, the company that I work for is a big one. We are under a complete hiring freeze. Things are brutal right now.

Part of my frustration with &quot;big name&quot; private shcools is that both my sons choose to go that route. CMU &amp; Lehigh, I graduated from a state university and could not have been happier with the education I recieved.

The fact that you did not do research as an undergrad souldn't hurt that much for grad school. You may be surprised at which profs will know you, go to your favorites from your upper division classes, you may have a pleasant surprise.
Good luck

 

[Mapidus]

<< Mapidus, you have a very good degree, I don't care what school it is from. Now your comment about he economic down turns becomes more important. I sure would not want to be looking for a job in the hi tech arena right now. I am there, the company that I work for is a big one. We are under a complete hiring freeze. Things are brutal right now.
>>


Yeah, I had several friends who had offers recinded or were told of a hiring freeze after site visits.



<< Part of my frustration with &quot;big name&quot; private shcools is that both my sons choose to go that route. CMU &amp; Lehigh, I graduated from a state university and could not have been happier with the education I recieved. >>


I understand, some people put too much of an emphasis on getting a degree from a &quot;big name&quot; private school. My parents are in this group (even though they don't even have a middle school education and are not familiar with the US education system. After several years at my school though, I realized that it was not that great or what I expected, so I convinced my sister to go to the state university to save money (we were struggling to support just me even with aid). My parents were not very happy about this choice and ignored her afterwards. She's doing fine and is happy though.



<< The fact that you did not do research as an undergrad souldn't hurt that much for grad school. You may be surprised at which profs will know you, go to your favorites from your upper division classes, you may have a pleasant surprise.
Good luck >>


Thanks, I guess I really have nothing to lose by asking.

 

[crypticlogin]

My advice is to think outside the box, or in this case, the degree that your school (humor me, Sundial?) says you have. Look at jobs outside of computer engineering, maybe even just code monkey positions for the time being until things pick up again.

If you're really set on grad school and the lack recommendations is holding you back, chances are that all 3 don't have to be faculty reccomendations. And I despise my friend for doing this, but said friend approached a professor for a recommendation based solely on him getting an A+ in the professor's course. If you can supress the shame, hey, you can get a recommendation.

 

[Mapidus]

tenchim: how did you guess (sundial)? I really don't feel too comfortable about asking the profs (even if I got an A+ in his class). I have actually asked my advisor, but he declined. I'm actually thinking about applying for a research assistantship at my old school (pays probably less than 15K, but would be enough for basic necessities), but likely would not get it since they have enough students to help the profs and researchers out already.

Yeah, maybe I should look into consulting, IBanking, teaching, or other fields.

thanks

 

[Anfield]

[
Yeah, maybe I should look into consulting, IBanking, teaching, or other fields.

thanks[/i] >>



I-Banking is horrible

 

[Mapidus]

<< I-Banking is horrible >>


Why so? Long work hours? Working with greedy people? Boring? Being an engineering major, I really don't know much about IBanking other than lots of econ majors go into it.

 

[Anfield]

Mainly the company (esp. if xy, or is that xx).

 

[crypticlogin]

Mapidus: I'm familiar with your situation. Very familiar. So much, it's scary.

If you want to take this to PM, enable your PM.