Spring Registration

[stay_night]

I'm applying to grad school for a master's degree for the spring, since I hadn't decided on my direction yet by the fall admissions deadline. My goal is to move in November (or at the latest, in the first week of December); that will give me at least a month to find an apartment and get settled in before classes start

Comments

[stay_night]

Well, starting in the spring isn't out of the question for me, even without funding, but then I would absolutely need to be able to get an assistantship or something for the rest of the program (which I might even have a better chance at, since I'll have the first semester just to focus on the transition and on the classes so there's no reason I shouldn't do very well). That's why my main concern is if it's just more difficult to get in at that time of year.

I just really don't want to wait an entire year before I can start; I can't do anything productive in the meantime, and I spent the last half year since I completed my bachelor's degree trying to find relevant work, and no one will hire me with that degree. I am very excited about finishing school, and sitting around and working at a meaningless job I can't stand just isn't something I want to suffer through for another year.

I did contact the departments at each of the universities, but all I was told was that spring admission is an option; they did not address the likelihood at all. That's why I was wondering if anyone has had any luck with that, or if it's more common to get turned down because they don't have any open spots.

Thanks; I will take a look at all the tags. Hopefully I can find something I might still be eligible for, but yeah, for the most part it seems like every place distributes their money for the entire year in the fall.

[stay_night]

"sitting around and working at a meaningless job I can't stand just isn't something I want to suffer through for another year."
There are plenty of meaningful jobs out there. Academia is not without its "meaningless" qualities, as a few academics I know would attest. Just be rigorous about your job search and even it takes a little time, a meaningful job will pop up. Consider working in the non-profit field, for example.

[stay_night]

The issue is that I did spend the last half year working and looking for something better. In both of the areas I lived in that period, finding a decent job at all is no easy task due to the quantity and quality of competition, and those rare few that interviewed me or ultimately hired me were not jobs in which I was at all interested--they were just the only decently-paying options I had. It is very important to me to finish school so that I can find work in my field of choice; to me, anything else is settling, and I'm not willing to do that. I don't want to waste an entire year on top of the last six months unless I absolutely can't get accepted anywhere.

I will still be working until I move for grad school, because at least I have a very distinct goal and I need these next few months for preparations anyhow, but I don't feel that it's the best option for me to delay applying. I don't want to make myself miserable in the meantime.

It's not necessarily that the work has no importance or meaning--aside from working a tedious office job, I also volunteer on a weekly basis for a local organization that delivers food to the needy--but it isn't satisfying for me not to be able to pursue my ultimate career and life goals at all for such a long period of time. I don't want to end up out of school for so long that I have trouble transitioning back into it. I really just want to be able to progress with my life.

[freegina]

Unfortunately if you decide you don't want to wait you may end up having to work a second job while you do grad school just to remotely afford the tuition, let alone rent. Having been out of college for two years and only applying to grad school last fall, I totally understand feeling like you just want to get back in school as soon as possible, but the fact of the matter is that most people in graduate school have taken a few years off (or longer) before coming back to school.

It is also harder, to answer your question, to get accepted in Spring, because a lot of programs have already almost met their quota for the year.

[brittdreams]

which I might even have a better chance at, since I'll have the first semester just to focus on the transition and on the classes so there's no reason I shouldn't do very well
This depends on the school. Some give priority to returning students with an assistantship, then new students, with students who were previously unfunded the lowest on the totem pole. If that's the funding scenario, I don't think you're better off starting in the spring (and, fwiw, my current dept does something similar).

Maybe you could get a job in another city/state that actually interests you? Or teach English in Mexico? Or do Americorps for a year?

[stay_night]

I did ask about that at my first choice school, actually; I was told that I could submit the form to request funding and I would be considered along with the incoming applicants in the fall. It is still possible I couldn't get funding, but it's not less likely, at least--in fact, I'd hope it'd be more likely if I've already shown I can succeed in the program and have a professor to vouch for me, as well as if I explain that I can't continue studying there without any sort of funding. I still might not be able to get an assistantship right away, but I may be able to receive a nomination for something else, like a women in science scholarship that requires a faculty recommendation.

It isn't a certainty by any means, but it's important enough to me that I'm willing to risk it (and should I be unable to get funding even the following fall, I certainly wouldn't be in a worse position than I'm in now--I'd have started grad school, and I wouldn't be in any debt). I'm just worried that my chances of being admitted in the spring might be lower, since I really don't know how schools generally handle that. On the one hand, there may be fewer students admitted as you pointed out in your first post, but on the other hand there are probably also fewer applicants.