Off topic a bit.
Some of you know that I'm planning on applying to graduate school. For the others, I found this pretty awesome program at a nearby university in the counseling department that focuses on college and higher education. This has me really psyched because I think counseling is a good fit for me and I know I can relate (on some levels anyway) to college age youth. It covers a wide spectrum of possible placement within a college or university which seems like a beacon of hope for possible employment. And with the hubby's plan to teach in a university, I think it would make me versatile enough that I could work where he does. Hooray for figuring out what I (might) want to be when I grow up!
But with this realization comes certain insecurities.
I'm scheduled to take the GRE on September 24, and though I don't fear the testing at all and have been working to study and cram in my head what I don't know Verbal and Quantitative-wise, I'm scared of the outcome. I don't know what the program expects of me. For the hubby, going into English, it was pretty certain that a high verbal score and high writing scores were ideal. What does counseling want of me? I figure that if I work hard on just getting the best possible score, that's best.
Also, although this program is available elsewhere, I'm rooted for now. So I'm breaking a cardinal rule of applying to grad schools... I'm only applying to one. So I'm returning to my poker-playing days and taking a big gamble... all-in. Of course at this point I'm not in at all, still in the free-writing and drafting stage of my statement of purpose.
Which also scares me. I have 2 to 3 pages to tell someone I don't know all about me and why, out of all the other applicants, I deserve to get into this program. I have to explain why it's been 8 years since leaving school and why I decided to come back - to pursue a degree having nothing to do with my undergraduate B.S. and that I have no experience in. I'm a real catch, let me tell you!
So if anyone out there has some sage advice and encouraging words, that would be awesome.
You ARE a real catch! :) Actually, I think your eight years away is your hook -- you have such diverse experiences, and you can frame them to illustrate how you've found that counseling will be a good fit for you, etc. And it's no big deal that your undergrad is completely different -- actually, this just shows what tremendous growth you've experienced as a person, professional, and future counseling graduate student! Good luck! :)
ReplyDeleteI, like LL, think that your eight years away may actually be in your favor! I always think it's a little silly to have a counselor who's fresh out of undergrad or their master's with no REAL life experiences outside of their created little educational world... Hoping the GREs go well, and know that I'm rooting for you!
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