I really enjoyed my major in college, which is why I couldn’t not sign up for classes like “Literature Goes to Hell,” a survey of literature prominently featuring the devil; or “Representations of Italians in American Cinema,” a class in which we watched movies like The Godfather, Reservoir Dogs, and Goodfellas, and then analyzed the crap out of them.

Almost every semester, there was some funky English class that I just had to take. So, when I was finally finished with the classes I actually needed, I figured that moving on to grad school would mean I could take even more unique classes, while expanding my resume.

Two years later, I earned a Masters degree, having taken four literature classes. FOUR. And only two of those classes I actually liked. What the hell did I do in grad school? I took “The Art of the Bibliography,” that’s what. And two critical theory classes, and two classes on teaching and pedagogy. If I had any intentions of being a teacher, that would be great. But when I went into grad school, I was under the impression that English is a versatile field– English majors can succeed in almost any field, from journalism to marketing to politics, with our skills–but I soon found myself feeling pigeon holed.

Of course, I wasn’t like most graduate students; 99% of my peers were going to move on to PhD’s. Still, only taking four lit classes in grad school doesn’t seem like a good start to a PhD program. In college, I wrote dozens of papers, a pool out of which I was able to select a writing sample for grad school. If I was applying to a PhD program, I would have four graduate-level papers to choose from. For this reason, I am disappointed in my degree.

I know that most people reading this article are probably not in the English field. Still, I think it’s important for people of all majors to look into the plan of study of a Masters program and consider what you will get out of your degree. Look at sample plans of study and current course catalogs to determine whether you will benefit from the hundreds of hours of studying (not to mention MONEY) you will put into that degree. Ask yourself what skills you hope to walk away from grad school with, and whether the required courses will provide you with those skills.

Sure, I aced “The Art of the Bibliography”….but what am I going to do with THAT?

None. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. They didn’t cut their $500 million budget to, say, $250 million. They exed the loans altogether.

MEFA secures loans for 40,000 students who live in Massachusetts, or who attend school there. Unfortunately, this year, the financing authority could not secure the money. Executive director Tom Graff blames “disruptions in capital markets.” So, just like that, 40,000 students are sh*t out of luck.

MEFA is the first to make headlines, but any financing authority could also be treading on thin ice. Which means that students across the country could be forced to drop out of college, or sell their souls to finance a degree that can cost upwards of FORTY GRAND per year at top-notch schools like Carnegie Mellon, Tufts, NYU, and Notre Dame.

When I was in college, I played my cards right, and managed to get through my degree with almost no debt, and decided to pursue a Master’s, rather than join the work force right away. With our declining economy, I am currently paying dearly for that decision. Sure, I have a MA, but with hundreds of thousands of workers being laid off across the country, I don’t have the experience to compete. I’ve been applying for job after job, to no avail. Even the number of job openings in dwindling, because companies are being forced to cut corners left and right.

So, MEFA has set up a hotline for students to call, but I’m not sure how much good that can do. It’s a scary time to be a college student in America. Bernie Pekala, director of student financial strategies at Boston College, spoke out about the current MEFA crisis: “[Students and families] have less obvious choices right now. They’re going to have to look at circumstances and try to come up with alternative financing options if they have utilized this as their main option or only option in the past.”

Many students are going to have to put their education on hold. Many others will complete their plans of study, and come out with a deep debt and fewer job opportunities available. I’d like to know if anyone out there is being effected by crises such as lack of financial aid, student loans, or the job market. Of course, there will be a lot of changes for the country soon (e.g. the upcoming election). Hopefully, things will take a turn for the better…asap.

Whenever we’re out and he meets someone new, the conversation inevitably dissolves into a discussion of his job. Even those who hate video games (like me) want to know how he landed a position in such an elusive field.

And I thought, why not give you guys the benefit of his experience? So I interviewed him and, voila, here it is. May it be at least somewhat helpful.

If so, let me know–I’ll conduct some more of these suckers with people in other industries.

Okay, here’s the interview:

Hi, friend! What’s your name?

Ronnie Villanova.

And how old are you?

27.

What’s your current job title?

I’m an Associate Producer.

Oh, cool. And what kind of company do you work for?

It’s a video game company. They make and publish video games.

Wow, that sounds really interesting. Do you like it?

As fun and creative as people think video games might be, my actual job is very corporate and full of red tape, and hierarchies, and meetings, and Excel; lots of Excel. It’s sort of like The Office, except even more socially awkward.

Oh, weird. Well, what are some of the pros and cons of your line of work?

Pro: The job is pretty secure because the video game industry is making more and more money each year.

Con: Now, despite the game industry making billions of dollars, none of that goes into the hands of the regular guys. It mainly goes to pad executive salaries and appease the stockholders. At least, that’s how it has been at the companies I have worked at. Also, you are expected to work overtime and late hours without any real compensation, except for a ten dollar comp meal.

Um, wow, good to know. So, what did you study in undergrad? Would you recommend it?

Actually, I studied creative writing, but I definitely would not recommend it unless you are absolutely sure you want to be a writer. And I doubt there are many 18 year old kids (outside of finance majors) who know what they really want out of life.

Have you gone to grad school? Are you thinking about grad school? Does one even need grad school?!

I’m just going to come out and say it: graduate school is for chumps.

Hey!

Oh, no offense or anything. But for most people it’s more debt and a useless degree. If you want to go to a secondary school, then pursue doctor/nurse/law schools. Even a master’s in Finance won’t go as far as real work experience. If you are considering graduate school, you might be better off saving up some money, quitting your current job and taking the time to find the right one for you. You may even want to look for an internship.

Okay, tough guy, so after you graduated, what was your next course of action?

After I finished college I took about a year off to write. I told my mom that I wanted to give the writing a shot, and she let me do that while I lived at home. I wound up doing a lot of writing and eating. Once I got fat I decided to get a real job.

Oops. And then what?

My first job was in video games, and my current job is also in video games. So here I am.

Ah. Well, what do you plan to do next?

Probably something reckless and stupid.

Intriguing…hey baby, what’s your sign?

Um…Aries…?

Okay, buster, no one cares about your sign. Do you have any last words of wisdom?

Yeah. Your twenties is the right time to do everything in your power to figure out the career you want. Your thirties is when you should start partying, drinking, and acting stupid, because by then you’ll have the actual money to do so.

Good advice! Thanks a lot for talking to me! I’m sure any video game-hopefuls are very grateful.

Hey, you’re welcome.

[Image courtesy of www.realsoftwaredevelopment.com]

Case in point: In college, I majored in English, and I was one class shy of earning a film minor. My final semester of college, no film classes that would fulfill my final requirement were offered, and even though I had taken film classes that weren’t part of the minor’s plan of study, they wouldn’t give me the “Film Studies Minor” title unless I took a class that wasn’t freakin’ available. I still get riled up about that, as you can see.

Anyway, I was seeking a Masters degree in English, though I really enjoyed Film Studies as well. Now, when you apply for a grad school program, you might have to choose a field within the realm of your chosen subject. For example, many English programs divide their grad students into Rhet/Comp or Lit majors; my friend is currently getting a PhD in Psychology, but her specialization is Early Childhood Development. So while you may earn a degree in a broad major like Politics, Journalism, or Philosophy, you may have to narrow it down to a specific topic when you apply to grad schools.

That being said, I discovered that North Carolina State had three “tracks” for its English grad students to choose from: Composition and Rhetoric (boring), Literature (why not?), and Film (What?? Film?!? Score!). I hastily applied for the film track, and eagerly awaited acceptance to NC State. I surpassed all of the school’s entry requirements, such as GPA and GRE Scores, and I sent two awesome writing samples, which were essays I wrote that analyzed some classic films.

NC State was my first choice school at the time, hands down. So imagine my surprise when I got REJECTED. I was shocked. I was so surprised, in fact, that I mustered up the balls to write to an admissions rep and ask why they didn’t want me. Where had I gone wrong? Applying for a film track.

I mentioned that many English programs ask students to choose between Rhet/Comp, Literature, or some other derivative of English language. It’s basically a matter of checking a box, so I’d assumed the same was true of the film track. Because I hadn’t thoroughly researched the program at NC State, I hadn’t realized that the film track is incredibly competitive. While I would have been a prime candidate for the literature track, I was trying to compete with kids who had majored in film studies, students who had written, directed, and produced actual films while I was writing about camera angles in Hitchcock flicks.

Reapplying for the Lit track was out, so I blew my chance at studying at my number one grad school, simply because I didn’t know what I was doing when I tried to choose a program. Then, when I finally began my career as an English graduate student, I quickly realized that even the literature track wasn’t right for me. I had loved the variety of English classes available to me in undergrad, and surpassed my minimum credit requirements by signing up for elective classes like “Literature Goes to Hell,” “Fiction into Film,” “Contemporary Irish Literature,” and “African American Children’s Lit.”

My grad school program, however, followed a strict plan of study, and while I thoroughly enjoyed “Modern American Drama,” I absolutely hated reading a 1600-page epistolary novel in my 18th Century British Lit class. Furthermore, I had decided to get a Masters degree with zero intentions of going on to a PhD, and English is the kind of major that people usually study because they want to end up a professor or because they want to do research in the field. That being said, the required “Practicum in Teaching Composition” and “Art of the Bibliography” classes weren’t exactly fulfilling to my interests.

As I said last week, it’s vital that you spend the time to research the schools and programs you are applying for. Look at a sample plan of study. If you want to get a Masters degree in History, but have no intention of studying anything prior to 1965, you might be disappointed. It’s also in your best interest to actually understand how competitive a program is, so you don’t waste $50 applying to a program that you are grossly unqualified for.

Last week, I warned you that the grad school application process is quite a time consuming effort. Well guess what folks? You’re going to need to put ample time into choosing your prospective grad schools too! Sure, this might seem a bit obvious, but this columnist doesn’t always think things through.

For me, grad school was a roll of the dice, and six possible schools came up for me: Georgetown, Rutgers, Ohio State, North Carolina State, San Francisco State, and the school I eventually chose, hereafter refered to as X University.I chose these schools on a whim. Georgetown was my “reach,” and the closest I could get to Ivy League while maintaining a glimmer of hope for acceptance. Rutgers was relatively close to my hometown (by close I mean a 5 hour drive); Ohio State is a party school notorious for it’s tailgating parties (I swear, that’s why I applied- don’t judge); North Carolina State was an hour from my only other friend attending grad school; and San Francisco just seemed like a cool city to live in, as did the location of X University.

Rule number one in choosing grad school? Don’t be superficial when planning your future!

Take your time to research graduate programs across the country. If you want to focus on a particular location, check out as many schools in that region as you can. Take notes. Google the faculty. Check out some of the courses being offered, and find out what the plan of study entails. Many grad schools have student ambassadors that you can email to get a current students’ point of view on the program. Seriously, folks, exhaust the freaking websites. Scour them like you scour Perez Hilton.

In college, you have a lot of room to change your mind. Changed your major? No biggie. Transfer student? Piece of cake. On the five- or six-year plan? Join the club. Masters programs, on the other hand, are only two years long. Stretching out the plan of study can raise flags when you are applying for jobs or PhD programs, and not only is transferring schools relatively rare, you’re likely to lose the credits you’ve already earned. Having transferred schools and changed majors in undergrad, I can appreciate the trial-and-error aspect of college. In graduate school however, you’re in it for the long haul.

In the end, my final decision was between Georgetown and X University. Georgetown= awesome school. X University= tuition waiver. I reasoned that completing a M.A. in itself would be an accomplishment. Where I got the degree wasn’t that important right? Let’s just say I plan on framing my Georgetown acceptance letter and hanging it above my X University diploma. Oh, what could have been.

I realized I was at the wrong school during my first semester, when the homework for a required course consisted of blogging about our experience as graduate students each week. That’s what Myspace bulletins are for! Though my friends and I drank away our frustrations that fall, it wasn’t until the following semester that I realized I would give anything to transfer to Northeastern University, a school that hadn’t been picked up on my original radar, but that I thought was pretty much the perfect school for me. I was shit out of luck.

Make a list of you want to get out of your education. Trust me, you’re going to be working your butt off in grad school, so it might as well be worth it. Take your time looking at schools, my friends. A few extra hours of your time now is much more efficient than two years of your life at a school that isn’t right for you.

Life after college…it can be hard to fathom actually getting to the diploma, no matter how many years you’ve been in school. But what happens after graduation? Most of your peers will be joining the work force, but a decent percentage will move on to even higher education and pursue master’s degrees, PhDs, or professional certifications. While the job application process is hard, getting into and completing a post-graduate degree is even harder. Having experienced the trials and tribulations firsthand, I’m here to share some tips so you can decide whether moving on to even MORE school is the right choice for you.

Towards the end of my junior year of undergrad, I realized that I had to start thinking of a post-college plan. I was finishing a Bachelor’s in English, had no clue what career path I wanted to pursue, and was having way too much fun on Thirsty Thursdays to want to give up my laid-back student lifestyle. So, I decided to elongate my college experience by going to grad school. Boy, did I get a rude awakening.

Once you’ve finished your Bachelor’s degree, choosing a path for the future should be taken very seriously. If you are considering moving on to graduate or doctorate work, don’t make the same mistakes I made.

The first thing you need before you begin applying to graduate schools is TIME. I decided to get a masters on a whim a few weeks into the fall semester of my senior year. I found myself trying to balance fifteen credit hours, two part-time jobs, and an active social life with preparing for the application process. I didn’t anticipate simply applying to schools to be so much work, so in my mind, I had plenty of time to apply to and choose a school, while fighting a major case of senioritis (in the form of an unyielding craving for margaritas).

Before you even decide to start looking at schools, you need to ask yourself: Am I willing to set aside the time?

Plan to spend a considerable amount of time on each of the following: letters of reference; searching for schools; choosing a program; taking the required tests and collecting writing samples or other materials; and making the final decision.

1. Letters of Reference

In high school, you work much more closely with teachers than you do with the majority of your college professors. You might have aced your psychology lecture freshman year, but chances are, a TA who has since moved on to publishing articles was the one grading your exams, and your professor has no clue who you are. Or perhaps you did do well in smaller sized classes, but it was a graduate student who taught the class. That being said, it took me a while just to weed out three solid references out of 60 or so credit hours.

Oh, and even after I chose my three references, I had one professor decline my request. FYI: If you can’t handle being rejected for a reference, grad school probably isn’t for you anyway. I totally understood the teacher’s reason; I asked her for a reference because she was the only professor I’d taken more than one class with, but I had gotten a B in one class and an A in the other. She felt that the “B” in the first class didn’t demonstrate graduate level scholarship. Looking back, I’m sure she was swamped with reference request from kids who had gotten flying A’s in every course she taught. But that still meant I had to find one more reference.

Once you’ve solidified your refs, they will probably want to meet with you to discuss your reasons for wanting to go to grad school, your ultimate career goals, and your basic interests outside of their class. Be prepared to answer these questions! It’s not a bad idea to make up a folder or packet for your references that includes a list of each of your prospective schools and application deadlines, a copy of your resume (so the professor can acknowledge your accomplishments both in and out of the classroom), and samples of the work you did for their class. Since I was an English major, I gave each of my references a copy of the best paper I wrote in each of their respective classes, because after reading hundreds of essays per semester, chances are, they’d forgotten the thesis statement of my final paper.

As you can see, simply getting people to refer you to a graduate program is a lot of work, and requires a variety of efforts: writing professional, polished emails to ask for a reference, organizing packets for each reference, and meeting one on one with your professors (which will be at THEIR leisure, of course, not when it’s most convenient for you). The good news is, if you can’t even get past this step, at least you haven’t wasted too much time in the first place. If you can muddle through the references-debacle, you’re one step closer to becoming a grad student…but there will be many more obstacles along the way.

Come back next Tuesday for more grad school tips.

I spotted this article the other day, about how Colorado tuition is supposed to rise more than 9 percent for next year.

Since hearing this, there have been a lot of thoughts running through my head. I was hoping to go on to get my master’s, but with tuition increases like this in the cards, will I really be able to? And the bigger picture: If tuition continues to go up by 9 percent every year, how many more people will be excluded from the American dream?

In all actuality, the traditional American dream — the ability to better oneself through sheer hard work, in the Land of Opportunity — is nothing more than a pipe dream for many people. Education is the catch-22, the immovable barrier between the working class and the middle class: You can’t earn a middle class income anymore without a college education, and you can’t afford college without a middle class income.

The 9 percent tuition increase that is forecasted for next year just goes to show that the problem is nowhere close to abating. College is already infinitely more expensive now that it was when our parents were there, even when you compensate for inflation. When our kids are graduating high school, will we even be able to afford to send them to college?

For us, there are also the growing concerns about student loans. Banks have built practically an entire industry based on taking advantage of penniless students, which I blogged about to some degree in my post on Gotcha Capitalism. So now, not only is it virtually impossible to afford to pay for school up front, but it’s also increasingly dangerous to try to borrow in order to pay for it.

Damned if you go to college, damned if you don’t; damned if you pay for it, and doubly-damned if you can’t!