I like to plan way, way far ahead. I was looking at colleges when I was a freshman in high school, and now I'm looking at grad schools, even though I don't plan on applying for a couple more years. Top pick on my list? Teacher's College at Columbia University in grand ole' New York City. It's been ranked the 2nd best grad school for education programs (Michigan's the first, but that's far!), and it's juuuust close enough for me to commute from home. Yesterday, I took a trip there with my mom to check it out:
The buildings behind me are the Teachers College part of the university. So established and academic!
On the main campus. So grand! Much different than the campus at my current school.
I was impressed with the school, to say the least. It has all the things I want, things that I feel like I'm missing at my current school. A globally-esteemed program, prestige, famous and incredibly knowledgeable faculty, all that grand important stuff that I think about when I think of a great school. My current school is a small state school, without recognition beyond New York state, nestled in the hippie-artsy hills of the country. I love it, but...it's not for me anymore.
But is Columbia for me? I may feel out of place at my current school, but I feel comfortable, and everyone there is so friendly. I'm afraid that at a big important Ivy school, that friendliness will be placed by snobbishness and pretentiousness. And it's in the city, no less, on the edge of a rough neighborhood. I am a wimpy suburban girl. I like my safe little bubble; I don't know if I'm aggressive enough to handle NYC. Part of me wants to go just for that reason: I want to break out of my bubble and "grow some balls," to put it crudely. And I want to be challenged in school, to really learn something by working hard and breaking a sweat.
But there are so many questions running through myover-worrying head: Will I be able to handle the hour and a half train ride every day? Will I be able to make friends as a commuter? Would I be able to handle the coursework, and more importantly, the fieldwork in the brutal inner city schools? Will I meet others with similar tastes and interests, or will I be stuck in a sea of hipsters? Is it smart financially, considering I'll be on a new teacher's salary?
I feel like I need to make a change, and attending a school like Columbia might be that change. If it's the right change, well...there's no knowing. I just have to figure out these things through experience.
If any of you have any advice for me and other soon-to-be-graduates, about grad schools or navigating through your twenties, I'd love to hear it!
*ShortBlonde*
I was impressed with the school, to say the least. It has all the things I want, things that I feel like I'm missing at my current school. A globally-esteemed program, prestige, famous and incredibly knowledgeable faculty, all that grand important stuff that I think about when I think of a great school. My current school is a small state school, without recognition beyond New York state, nestled in the hippie-artsy hills of the country. I love it, but...it's not for me anymore.
But is Columbia for me? I may feel out of place at my current school, but I feel comfortable, and everyone there is so friendly. I'm afraid that at a big important Ivy school, that friendliness will be placed by snobbishness and pretentiousness. And it's in the city, no less, on the edge of a rough neighborhood. I am a wimpy suburban girl. I like my safe little bubble; I don't know if I'm aggressive enough to handle NYC. Part of me wants to go just for that reason: I want to break out of my bubble and "grow some balls," to put it crudely. And I want to be challenged in school, to really learn something by working hard and breaking a sweat.
But there are so many questions running through my
I feel like I need to make a change, and attending a school like Columbia might be that change. If it's the right change, well...there's no knowing. I just have to figure out these things through experience.
If any of you have any advice for me and other soon-to-be-graduates, about grad schools or navigating through your twenties, I'd love to hear it!
*ShortBlonde*
