And let the school panic begin
It looks like I'll be moving into the apartment tomorrow night. Classes start on Monday. I'll be taking 22 semester units, which is the equivalent of 33 quarter units (SU*1.5=QU). I also would like to get an internship since I have lots of free time on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday mornings (nearly all of my classes are on Tuesday and Thursday). This is the first (and probably only) time that has ever happened to me, so I'd like to take advantage of it. A night shift job at the library would also be nice in terms of spending money, but probably impossible.
The Cal in Berkeley program sounds really interesting. I can apply to various internships (many public policy related) in Berkeley and Oakland. It would be about 8 hours a week from October to May. I would also get 2 units in City and Urban Planning for the spring semester, which could look good on my transcript if I apply for an MPP.
There's also a very interesting summer program for students committed to getting an MPP. It lasts for six weeks, and students that complete the program automatically get a scholarship of at least $5000 when accepted by a PPIA Consortium graduate school. One of the sites is UC Berkeley, but the others are Michigan and Carnegie Mellon. Berkeley would be perfect, but I'm not sure how I'd feel about spending six weeks of my summer far away from everyone. I'm also worried about getting accepted in the first place. My first year calculus grades were awful, and they ask specifically for grades in math/quantitative analysis. My overall GPA isn't too bad--3.53 after last semester--but it's not amazingly spectacular and I'm sure that this program is competitive. I also don't have too much experience "working with diverse communities, particularly African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latino/as, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders," which is especially necessary for a spot at UC Berkeley. I'll be involved in an archaeology after school program at a middle school in Oakland this fall, and I might be involved in the Eco-Oakland Program for elementary school students, but I'm not sure how much that will help. There's an environmental justice internship through Cal in Berkeley that specifically mentions working in a diverse community, but I haven't done much environmental coursework yet, so I probably won't get it. Sigh.
I think I might actually visit a career counselor a few times. I'd like someone to review my applications for those programs, and I'd like general advice about graduate school.
This direction thing is a bit relieving and stressful.
The Cal in Berkeley program sounds really interesting. I can apply to various internships (many public policy related) in Berkeley and Oakland. It would be about 8 hours a week from October to May. I would also get 2 units in City and Urban Planning for the spring semester, which could look good on my transcript if I apply for an MPP.
There's also a very interesting summer program for students committed to getting an MPP. It lasts for six weeks, and students that complete the program automatically get a scholarship of at least $5000 when accepted by a PPIA Consortium graduate school. One of the sites is UC Berkeley, but the others are Michigan and Carnegie Mellon. Berkeley would be perfect, but I'm not sure how I'd feel about spending six weeks of my summer far away from everyone. I'm also worried about getting accepted in the first place. My first year calculus grades were awful, and they ask specifically for grades in math/quantitative analysis. My overall GPA isn't too bad--3.53 after last semester--but it's not amazingly spectacular and I'm sure that this program is competitive. I also don't have too much experience "working with diverse communities, particularly African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latino/as, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders," which is especially necessary for a spot at UC Berkeley. I'll be involved in an archaeology after school program at a middle school in Oakland this fall, and I might be involved in the Eco-Oakland Program for elementary school students, but I'm not sure how much that will help. There's an environmental justice internship through Cal in Berkeley that specifically mentions working in a diverse community, but I haven't done much environmental coursework yet, so I probably won't get it. Sigh.
I think I might actually visit a career counselor a few times. I'd like someone to review my applications for those programs, and I'd like general advice about graduate school.
This direction thing is a bit relieving and stressful.