Questions about timelines; choosing a direction.
Hi, this is my first time here. I'm a junior (psych major/history minor) who will be graduating December 2011. I'm also a first gen. college student and pretty much the only person I know who is aiming to go to grad school. So I don't have much support or people to go to for advice. I'm so glad to have found this comm!
I looked through the tags but I could not find much information about those who are graduating in the fall instead of the spring, and how this affected your application process. I'm wondering when I should take the GRE, when I should be asking for LOR, and even very basic things like when I should be shooting to apply (like either for programs that start that Spring, right after I graduate, or programs that start the next Fall...would spring be too ambitious?).
In addition to that quandary, I'm also torn between what I should study. I am a psychology major, but as the semesters have gone by my interests have shifted to the point that it no longer interests me in the way it once did. I have enjoyed the science and philosophy classes I've had to take as part of my psychology degree (so it wasn't a total loss), but the psych classes themselves bore me to death. I LOVE my minor, however, and one history professor has already suggested that I pursue an MA in History at my university. He has agreed to recommend me for the program if I decide to apply.
My grades are far above the minimum requirements for the program, and I'm fairly confident that my GRE scores will exceed the required scores as well. Even if they don't, I think my GPA is high enough to compensate. Therefore, I believe my chances of getting into this program are high.
I'm also very interested in MLIS programs. I feel like my strengths and interests are suited to a career in librarianship, and the prevalence of online programs appeals to me. So I am torn at this point between applying for History programs and MLIS programs. I'm wondering if it would be ill-advised to apply to one or two of each, or if I really should choose now and stick with applying to only history or only MLIS.
I looked through the tags but I could not find much information about those who are graduating in the fall instead of the spring, and how this affected your application process. I'm wondering when I should take the GRE, when I should be asking for LOR, and even very basic things like when I should be shooting to apply (like either for programs that start that Spring, right after I graduate, or programs that start the next Fall...would spring be too ambitious?).
In addition to that quandary, I'm also torn between what I should study. I am a psychology major, but as the semesters have gone by my interests have shifted to the point that it no longer interests me in the way it once did. I have enjoyed the science and philosophy classes I've had to take as part of my psychology degree (so it wasn't a total loss), but the psych classes themselves bore me to death. I LOVE my minor, however, and one history professor has already suggested that I pursue an MA in History at my university. He has agreed to recommend me for the program if I decide to apply.
My grades are far above the minimum requirements for the program, and I'm fairly confident that my GRE scores will exceed the required scores as well. Even if they don't, I think my GPA is high enough to compensate. Therefore, I believe my chances of getting into this program are high.
I'm also very interested in MLIS programs. I feel like my strengths and interests are suited to a career in librarianship, and the prevalence of online programs appeals to me. So I am torn at this point between applying for History programs and MLIS programs. I'm wondering if it would be ill-advised to apply to one or two of each, or if I really should choose now and stick with applying to only history or only MLIS.