College advice (curriculum, degree, certification, etc)

Teacup9

Wed, May 29 2013, 5:25 pm

I was a couple units away from getting a BA in English Writing when I entered an undergraduate/graduate program in nutrition that I did not finish (just did some undergraduate pre-reqs). Now, almost a decade later, I am considering going back to school. I am eligible for financial aid, probably full tuition and something for books as a full time undergraduate and I'm not sure what would be paid for in graduate school. This would all be at a CUNY in NY which I know offers a lot of online courses which are ideal for my schedule.

I don't want to finish school just to finish or study something for fun. I want to take certain courses, get a different bachelors, learn a marketable skill, or be eligible for a certification that will enable me to work part time while my kids are in school and/or work from home. If I work away from home I'd need to earn $25-35 an hour to pay for a babysitter and make working worth while. Ideally I would rather not work with young children (high school is fine) and I'm scared of burning out in school if I have to take too many lab courses. I'd probably need a large portion of the courses to be offered online (as I know CUNY has).

Does anyone have an ideas? Does anyone know of a great adviser at a Brooklyn, Staten Island, or maybe Manhattan CUNY I could meet with?

Teacup9

Wed, May 29 2013, 7:23 pm

thanks wrote:

when choosing a major, the two most important questions are "What are you interested in?" and "What would you be good at?". After that, you can think how to make it work. Whatever you chose will hopefully be for many years.

I think that was the problem the first time! I love writing, reading, editing, researching in an academic setting. I have applied for various jobs, but the pay at my level has yet to cover expenses, and without income to hire household help I lack the time to build a portfolio. I figured I would get a degree in something I liked reading about (nutrition) in hopes that I could write about it. Between working full time, planning a wedding, and being a kallah I burnt out and was no longer motivated. I really want to be smart about this. For many people going to school was a great experience, taught important study skills, allowed them to mature a little, etc which are all valuable things, but I think about 50% of people are paid specifically for what they studied in school. I have a family to take care of and want to use their time and money to wisely invest in something profitable.

Fox

Wed, May 29 2013, 7:41 pm

If you're planning on going back to college to increase your value in the workplace, I'd start at the opposite end: research various jobs and fields in which you might be interested; get a good idea not only of the salaries, but also the day-to-day routines and responsibilities. Don't eliminate anything just because it doesn't "fit" with what you've done in the past. And, of course, find out what kinds of qualifications are sought for the position or fields in which you're interested.

Unless you've done this kind of research first, there's no way to say what would or wouldn't be a good investment of time and energy vis-a-vis a degree. You may find, as a result of your research, that you actually don't need a degree -- or perhaps you'll find that it doesn't matter what the degree is in. You'll also be in a better position to determine whether taking additional courses is worth the effort.

Teacup9

Wed, May 29 2013, 8:10 pm

frw wrote:

Hi,

I'm in the same position. Which college does an undergraduate student start with?

For me it was easy because I have credits some place already. Also I am very firm about not accruing any debt from this. I would suggest applying for FAFSA if you are in the US or have an established residence here and whatever your state's financial aid program is, in NY it is TAP. Then you can use their estimator to see what you qualify for and what schools they cover.

If you are willing to make an investment there are some professional colleges (also known as "for profit") that offer fast track programs, certification courses, etc. However they really have to be well researched and you have to be sure that you'll learn the marketable skills and your education will be respected in the industry and hiring managers or by clients.

Teacup9

Thu, May 30 2013, 9:03 am

spring13 wrote:

Get tech skills - web content writing and editing, website design, metadata/SEO, Photoshop/InDesign, other computer things. Maybe some marketing to go with it. Those skills will be good for a lot of work-from-home (maybe partially) type of jobs.

That is a good idea. My website design experience has been very basic and is probably out dated. I wonder if my husband's side job can get us a copy of Photoshop, he needs something to resize photos better anyway. I just know that is an expensive program. Is web content writing taught in schools? Or do you just mean studying up on copy writing in general? I've done some of those web content articles that are rewritten versions of other articles just meant to draw traffic to sites, but I haven't heard of that being too lucrative especially now that they can be computer generated.

fox wrote:

I completely agree. Maybe that is a better way to phrase my question. I am looking for help brainstorming jobs and fields that will allow me to work from home or during playgroup hours.

Sometimes I think the issue is my interests are too broad. I've done a variety of things in my working life. During the late '90's and early 00's when temping was on fire and offering a great hourly wage with flexible schedules I spent time administratively in a lot of different fields. From there I was able to work long term in law offices, in event planning, doing PR, web commerce, etc. Aside from the monetary need to work I am looking forward to the problem solving aspect, having something of my own outside of family life, and whether it involves adult socialization or has a lot of busy work means little to me.

I've been interested in health care. Medical billing/coding/claims seems like a good option. The amothers and people I know who do this claim it is best learned on the job until I can learn it well enough to do it independently so I definitely look for those opportunities, but haven't found them. I know the insurance end of health care is also a growing field with a high percentage of telecommuters, but again I've been told that this is best learned on the job and the people I know who did it put in their time for companies working full days before they were able to negotiate more flexible positions.

I enjoy waxing and hair dying (and am very good at the former). They aren't even taught together at cosmetology schools, waxing is taught with facials and a lot of extra things, but most importantly they are time consuming, expensive, and FAFSA doesn't help.

I would love to hear some more ideas.