decisions!
So this is more of a rant than anything else, but just seeing if anyone else is in the same boat/having the same thoughts.
I applied to way too many grad schools. I was kind of a crap-shoot candidate b/c I had some things going against me for the programs I applied for, however I ended up getting into most of the programs I applied for and now have too many decisions in front of me. I'm narrowing them down and I think I'm leaning towards the right decision, but I just feel overwhelmed and afraid I'm making the wrong choice. I mean I know overall there's no "wrong" choice, you can get an excellent education no matter where you go if you work for it, but there's still that fear that you'll be a semester in and think, "ah, i should have gone to the other school" or whatever you'll think. undergrad for some reason felt really easy to choose, or maybe it was more i knew exactly what i was looking for, whereas here i'm more flexible. right now it's pretty much between two schools, one of which is in an amazing location and better ranked, however I don't think they'll be able to give me any money, so probably $40-50,000 in debt i'm guessing, not including any housing, etc.? The second is a lesser known school w/not as good of a reputation, however a pretty good funding package (it would only cost about $10,000) and good chance of getting an assistantship that would give me even more benefits. plus the second school may be geared better towards the field i want to go into. I'm going for a MA in History to go on to be a teacher, so it's not like the prestige of the school really matters that much, but for some reason I feel ingrained w/the "better ranking, better school" mentality, when deep down i know that the rankings are bogus in some way and don't really get to the heart of what the school has to offer.
anyone else having similar concerns? any advice?
I applied to way too many grad schools. I was kind of a crap-shoot candidate b/c I had some things going against me for the programs I applied for, however I ended up getting into most of the programs I applied for and now have too many decisions in front of me. I'm narrowing them down and I think I'm leaning towards the right decision, but I just feel overwhelmed and afraid I'm making the wrong choice. I mean I know overall there's no "wrong" choice, you can get an excellent education no matter where you go if you work for it, but there's still that fear that you'll be a semester in and think, "ah, i should have gone to the other school" or whatever you'll think. undergrad for some reason felt really easy to choose, or maybe it was more i knew exactly what i was looking for, whereas here i'm more flexible. right now it's pretty much between two schools, one of which is in an amazing location and better ranked, however I don't think they'll be able to give me any money, so probably $40-50,000 in debt i'm guessing, not including any housing, etc.? The second is a lesser known school w/not as good of a reputation, however a pretty good funding package (it would only cost about $10,000) and good chance of getting an assistantship that would give me even more benefits. plus the second school may be geared better towards the field i want to go into. I'm going for a MA in History to go on to be a teacher, so it's not like the prestige of the school really matters that much, but for some reason I feel ingrained w/the "better ranking, better school" mentality, when deep down i know that the rankings are bogus in some way and don't really get to the heart of what the school has to offer.
anyone else having similar concerns? any advice?