A little off-topic, but what grad school options does someone with a BA in history have?

I know most go on to law school or business school, but are there any limitations on what sort of gradulate degree I pursue? I assume a technical field would be out of the question with a humanities background?

8/2/2006 3:11:44 PM

Untrue.

The bias at NCSU is insanely centered on a technical education. I can't really open that can of worms, but I can tell you that many opportunities are available. I know someone who went to medical school with B.A. in English and finished first in his class.

NCSU doesn't give a fair shot to boost confidence of people who are inclined in the human arts. The problem is that it's easier to be average in the liberal arts majors than it is in engineering or mathematics, so there is the negative side effect of dead weight classmates in the liberal arts programs.

If you're genuinely interested in doing something unorthodox, the review board of most graduate programs, except for very specialized fields, will give you a fair shot regardless of what you studied during undergraduate years. They value performance in the past and calculate probable performance in the future based on the information. They appreciate diversity.

8/2/2006 3:22:23 PM

Med School or Law School is one thing where you go there specifically to become a doctor or lawyer, but try going into an engineering field to get a masters with a non engineering bs and I doubt it would go well.

8/2/2006 3:24:41 PM

Your masters does not have to be related to your undergrad work. It helps if it is, but it's not necessary. I think it's going to differ program to program. Have you given any thought to pursuing an administrative position in education? You already have related underground work, so that can only help you to get into a masters program. Administrators make good money and it's a field you're interested in (at least at the teaching level), don't know what the job market looks like though.

[Edited on August 2, 2006 at 3:27 PM. Reason : .]

8/2/2006 3:26:00 PM

^ ^ Written like a true engineer. Thank him for the encouragement.

[Edited on August 2, 2006 at 3:27 PM. Reason : ]

8/2/2006 3:27:11 PM

Well coming from someone who took grad class in the same field he got his bs in, I could not imagine doing well in them coming from another field.

8/2/2006 3:28:44 PM

but what if they did....your whole degree would be wasted....

8/2/2006 3:33:21 PM

What do you mean?

8/2/2006 3:33:48 PM

I mean wouldn't you feel that the competitive advantage of your undergraduate degree in that field would have been wasted if someone without the same degree did better than you by comparison?

8/2/2006 3:36:24 PM

Perhaps, but I don't see that happening any time soon.

8/2/2006 3:39:27 PM

Pharmacy has caught my interest.

Theres a huge demand for them, I'd be making great money, and I'd be able to follow my wife around wherever her job takes her. The hours suck, but I was preparing for terrible hours when I was planning on teaching, so no biggie.

8/2/2006 4:03:39 PM

Going straight to grad school is not the best option. The best option is to work and get your masters part time if you employer will pay for it. On top of your salary, you get tuition, and you are due a raise when you get the degree.

8/2/2006 8:20:49 PM

^^ pharmacy school is very competitive from what I understand. Do you have any sort of biology or chemistry background, a minor or anything?

8/2/2006 9:45:12 PM

Quote :

"Going straight to grad school is not the best option. The best option is to work and get your masters part time if you employer will pay for it."

If only I had the sort of job that would pay for a Masters

^ No. /sigh.


For the past couple years I had intended to go into the Public History program here at State after teaching for a few years, but given the situation I'm in right now I'm very concerned about ending up in debt and jobless with yet another Humanities degree. The program could potentially score me a dream job, but the potential seems too low for me to invest in it. Same goes for the Library Sciences program at UNC.

Basically, I'm just looking for a degree that will place me into a good job market. I can enjoy history after work.

8/3/2006 1:40:52 AM

Figure out what it is that made you want to do history and find something equivalent in the job market that allows you to express your talent for profit.

The esprit du capitalisme is to apply your human labor into profit.

The confluence of academic abstractions regarding the past events of all human knowledge into the heading of any liberal art is seldom a vocational school to prepare anyone for the real world.

The divide between practical training for the job market and the abstract academic pursuits continues. Some majors should should come with a caveat emptor regarding all practical use. However, I do not believe this is necessarily a bad thing that some majors can be completely immediately useless - it enhances their universal appeal and application. They are not subject to restraints of entrenched knowledge in the business world.

A friend of mine with a B.S. in English just got a job at Corning as a project development manager. Sure, he knows Shakespeare, but his propensity to learn and communicate is what makes him marketable for business.



[Edited on August 3, 2006 at 3:34 AM. Reason : my platitudes and attitudes]

8/3/2006 3:17:50 AM

holy shit

i intereviewed for a teaching position yesterday.. heard back a few short hrs later
and got the job! (they didnt even bother to interview the other applicants)
i start monday.




not to mention i'm teaching one class i dont know anything about... other than the very basics.
help

i'm excited

8/9/2006 11:00:04 AM

congrats! what will you be teaching? (sorry i'm not reading every page trying to figure it out).

I know craven county has a lot of open positions for those of you looking.. dont know who is interested in moving.

8/9/2006 11:15:37 AM

Woot!

I actually just accepted a job, too.

In Fayettenam

But it's a good school, and I'll be teaching my favorite subject (US History)

8/9/2006 11:26:32 AM

Agricultural Education
I have a B.S in it and a nearly complete Masters (9 hrs short)

i wasn't really planning on taking a job until Jan (after i completed my Maters)
but good positions in this area are hard to come by so i jumped on the opportunity

i'm teaching Agriscience Applications (intro course) - easy
and Biotechnology II - the onyl course i'm not really that comfortable teaching.. because i have limited experience. ALOT of labs... but there's tons of resources out there and it'll be fun.

8/9/2006 11:28:57 AM

^where at? ncsu?

nice. yeah for pharma school you need a chem/biochem/bio degree it's pretty much a requirement

8/9/2006 11:30:31 AM

nah

i might go for my doctorate someday and teach college... but i'm years away from considering that

[Edited on August 9, 2006 at 11:57 AM. Reason : d]

8/9/2006 11:49:46 AM

just to follow up...i am taking a job at a local middle school...starts monday...nice!

8/9/2006 1:25:57 PM

So apparently all our worrying was for naught.

Everyone does get jobs, it's just that the principals like to wait until the absolutely last possible moment

Since I accepted the Fayettenam job on Friday, two principals have called me.

8/9/2006 1:32:45 PM

principals are forced to wait until the last minute because of they dont know how many classes they will have until damn close to the beginning of the year. When I was at Clayton, they were unsure of what I was teaching until 2 weeks before school started.

8/9/2006 1:35:11 PM

^ this is somewhat true, since 20th day student numbers determine the exact amount of federal and/or state money a school gets...

8/10/2006 2:09:04 PM

Quote :

"Since I accepted the Fayettenam job on Friday, two principals have called me."

pwnt. Should have called the other two to find out what was going on, first.

8/10/2006 8:09:23 PM

I start new teacher orientation tomorrow morning. I'm both excited and terrified. With this lateral entry thing, I have no classroom experience.

8/10/2006 8:12:01 PM

Get as much advice from veteran teachers in your school as possible. They'll know how the kids will be and how best to deal with issues at your school.

And don't worry-- It's really not that bad. If you're ethusiastic and professional, the kids will meet you halfway.

8/11/2006 12:29:08 AM

just show up on first day of school, real early, and stake a claim on a room. doesnt matter which room.

wait for kids to show up, then teach them somethign really cool for the first couple weeks... say, like a multimedia investigation into how sex imagery is used in contemoporary rock videos.

by the time the administration figures it out, youll be the school hero and they'll have to hire you.

seriously.

i think i saw a movie where this happened.

8/11/2006 4:01:03 AM

what if i teach them how to play a rock instrument, and we form a rock band? do you think they'd hire me then?

8/11/2006 8:14:47 AM

Actually gnu01,

Principals can hire on projected turnout for the school year(they have to petition the School Board for addition positions), but after the 10th day if the numbers aren't close to what was expected, then the last teachers hired can either be transferred to another school that is overcrowded or be released if he/she isn't needed.

------------------------------------------------------

I'm not surprised that boonedocks accepted the job in Fayettenam. He wasn't sure if any other schools would be calling...so why take the chance.

-------------------------------------------------------

Advice for first year teachers:

1) Do no smile until after thanksgiving
2) Check HW every day that you assign it.
3) Have emergency worksheets ready just incase you get done early.
4) Coop Groups work great but you will ahve to train them on how to work in a group how you expect them too.
5) Call the parents/Send a letter home within the first two weeks of school.
6) Have your rules/expectation posted somewhere.
7) Talk to veteren teachers in your department. Become friends with coworkers.
8) Try to have most papers graded and returned in a 2 day turnaround.
9) Give students responsibilities(pass out papers, put HW problems on board etc)
10) Make sure you put your foot down on the first day. If you don't lay the smackdown on the first day, you can forget it for the rest of the year/semester

----------------------------------------------------------------------

This year I will be teaching Geometry for 3 classes during the first semester and 1 Geometry and 2 Advanced Functions and Modeling for the second semester.

Also the school I am working at is the only high school in WS/F County to meet AYP expectations 2 years in a row.

8/11/2006 11:04:03 AM

Any information about elementary ed?

I have been looking into lateral entry for middle grades English and it seems that I would have to find a full-time position and get my licensure while I taught...so I'd be going in to it with no classroom experience, like moonman. The only middle grade classes you can get your licensure for before having a full-time job are Science and Math.

I am looking in to starting teaching in January...any thoughts?

8/16/2006 9:57:02 PM

If you do that, then make sure you get a lot of help from the administrators, and experienced teachers.

There are only 5 returning math teachers(out of 14) at the school where I am at. So I am doing a lot of mentoring even though this is the first year at the school.

8/16/2006 10:01:42 PM

Right, that would definitely be something I'd look in to...but I'd much rather get my lisensure first and that's just not an option for middle grades English.

I have debated fifth grade or sixth but no idea where to get started.

8/16/2006 10:25:25 PM

Try substituting with Wake County. If you get in good with the administration at the middle schools they will be more willing to look at you if they need to hire someone.

8/18/2006 7:28:08 AM

got a call yesterday for an interview this morning at 9 with Cary High for a math teaching position

8/18/2006 8:09:51 AM

Just hope that there is a different Math Dept head at Cary HS....i heard she was a beeeyotch(this is from teachers that work there)

8/18/2006 5:27:44 PM

I went to HS at Cary... I loved Julie Schilowski... Great woman, but I dunno if I can take the position.

8/18/2006 6:39:03 PM

yeah that is her

if she hasn't changed, her demands are ridiculous for new teachers....you won't have a life because you will spending all of your freetime doing the stuff she is making you do

8/18/2006 6:39:54 PM

My job is teh suck

I'm teaching two subjects (they told me I'd be teaching one first semester), I'm floating ( ), and I don't have a computer of my own. I really don't even have an office yet. The 8x6ish room I'm going to share with 3 other people is currently being used as storage, and no one I talk to knows who's stuff it is.

[Edited on August 18, 2006 at 6:45 PM. Reason : .]

8/18/2006 6:44:42 PM

hang in there...it will get better in a few days

Normally the n00b teachers are forced to float. But if you have a good relationship with the teachers that you share rooms with, it isn't as bad.

My first year teaching at a high school, I was a rover. The people who I shared the room with were very helpful and wanted to help me out in anyway possible.

And about teaching 2 subjects...find another teacher teaching the same subjects and try to piggyback off of them. That way you can focus on planning for 1 class instead of two.

And get a hand truck and put that crap in the hall. The school will move it if no one claims it. If they put it back in the room you are sharing, then put it back in the hall.

For some reason the description of your room is making me think of Office Space

8/18/2006 6:51:39 PM

It's actually a fullsized office separated by a curtain.

4 of us are on one side of the cutain, a copy room is on the other.

8/18/2006 6:54:54 PM

that sounds worse than my conditions at Clayton

8/18/2006 6:56:30 PM

Ahh well our copiers and printers are not setup yet at our school.

But they were doing/still doing construction at the school. My room doesn't have windows and the AC isn't working correctly.

I am also sharing the room.

The guy that is sharing the room with me teaching in there during 1st and 2nd. He has planning during 3rd and he floats to another room for 4th period.

I float to another room during 1st period, 2nd is planning and then 3rd and 4th I get the room.

8/18/2006 7:00:20 PM

Since I hate planning at school anyways, it's more humorous than anything else. I'd rather just do it at home with a capable PC and a non-gimped internet connection.

Also, all this crap is rather empowering. I'm going to survive and hopefully excel, and I'll be stronger for it.

Did I mention that the school's failing NCLB and >60% qualify for free or reduced lunch?

8/18/2006 7:02:10 PM

That really sucks for you guys...but congrats on being brave enough to jump right in to it. I think I would be petrified at first.

Here are my options:
Start teaching at a HS in English and get licensure as I teach from NC State.
Get my licensure from NC Central in middle grades English and then teach.
Become a post bacculareate student at NC Central and take additional courses to become a middle school art teacher and then teach.
I live in Garner and NCCU is pretty far away in Durham....I'd love to be an art teacher but I cannot find any information out about teaching without a licensure. I def. have the 24 credit hours in English and would need many more to be considered highly qualified for art.

Is teaching middle grades art=teaching middle grades english as far as licensure goes?

[Edited on August 18, 2006 at 7:06 PM. Reason : blah]

8/18/2006 7:03:32 PM

Probably, but I'd imagine it's a whoooole lot more competitive.

Think of all the starving artists out there.

8/18/2006 7:04:36 PM

Actually on WCPSS there are like...4:5 jobs for art:english....seems pretty equal right now.

8/18/2006 7:07:05 PM

Oh, then go for it. I can't imagine art and english having different requirements

Speaking of that, there's a new drafting teacher at my school who doesnt even have a college degree, let alone a lincense.

8/18/2006 7:11:05 PM

There aren't too many schools that are passing NCLB...

The school I am at is at 52% but these stats are faulty.

The state judges a school on about 17% of all final exams during the school year.
-Passing is determined on what a student makes on an EOC(1 & 2 are failing, 3 & 4 are passing)
-Most of the students taking the test are 9th and 10th graders
-Even if students are failing a course miserably before the EOC, they are still allowed to take it even though the likelyhood of passing the EOC is small.

I will be happy if I get 50% of my students to pass the Geometry EOC. That EOC is the only test that you have to know the material(the Alg 1 and Alg 2 questions can be solved by the calculator for the most part)

I have 3 sections of Geometry, a teacher from last year has 3 sections of Geometry and another new teacher(college professor) has 2 sections of geometry. Hopefully since the number of sections is so large that the numbers in the classes will be low.

We also have a ton of Fundamentals of Algebra(Alg 1 part 1) classes too.

8/18/2006 7:11:37 PM