that's a good list.

mine is:

law schools:

UC Hastings (san francisco)
Berkeley
NYU
Columbia
Lewis & Clark
Tulane
University of Texas, Austin
University of San Francisco
UCLA
USC
Santa Clara University (i did undergrad there, i know i'll get in. and it's tier 1, so might as well.

and if i get desperate...

University of Washington
Penn State
Catholic University of America (Washington DC)
Loyola Marymount (Los Angeles)

History MA programs -- various (some archival studies/preservation, some just history)

San Francisco State
Brown
UC Santa Barbara

MA Education/Education Administration:

UC Santa Cruz
Cal State Teach
Stanford
Humboldt State


but realistically, i only took my LSAT and am about to take my CBEST/CSET (teaching exam), and haven't even put thought to my GRE.
i keep saying i'm going to do it this year, but it's starting to look like i'm really not.
except cal state teach, which is self-paced and 75% online. it's only for teachers already in a classroom on an temporary credential -- which i am, so i can finish a full credential in 6 months and a MA in Education in another 6-8. and for nearly free. it'll be like 2,400$ in tuition, and the cost of books. because the program requires you to teach in a low-income/title I school for 2 years after graduating, to sortof pay it forward, since the state covered so much of your tuition -- which i'm happy to do anyway.
for a MA and a teaching credential.
which is pretty fucking good.

but really i'm just picking it because it's the least effort.
and i'm really concerned that my undergrad GPA isn't good enough to get me into the law schools i want, even though my LSAT score was nearly perfect.
i feel like a MA and credential in grad. school will boost my GPA and application appeal, and pretty much secure me a place at Stanford or UC Hastings law, with a specialization in Education Law.

also i'm just not ready to loose another 3 years of my life to full time college education hell, where you work a full time job, come home, eat some ramen noodles, then study until 2am, fall asleep with a highlighter in your bed and wake up with pink highlighter having seeped all over your ear and shoulder, only to frantically scrub it off in the shower, grab some cheap coffee, and head back to your full time job, only to do it all over again the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, for 3 years.

__________________

what you want to do with your museum studies degree? art education? museum admin? because if for example you do want to be in an education department, perhaps another way to get there is to be an art historian and work your way into museum/gallery internships.

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The fresh heartbreak was, in a sense, like being in a foreign country; everything seemed alien, brilliant and glinting. It was as if I’d been flayed, so that even the air hurt. When you’re that unhappy, any glimmer of beauty or consolation feels like running into an old friend abroad, or seeing mountaintops through smog. Maybe we mistakenly think we want “happiness,” which we tend to picture in very vague, soft-focus terms, when what we really crave is the harder-edged intensity of experience.

the last part of your scenario is scary. even applying to schools and having a full time job is truly taking a toll in everything i do in life. social life, sleeping patterns, work life...etc etc.

i need to get fully funded for a PhD for any of this to be a possibility. also even if for example i get in and decide to go to NYU, i am going to continue freelancing in order to supplement my income. hopefully even become a freelancer at a few other places.

also, why are you applying so broadly...as in types of programs/careers? this tells me that you are not entirely ready to go back to school, as you already feel a little bit with the thought of being burnt out again. this doenst mean you arent qualified or deserving to go BTW. i just mean that it doesnt sound like you're ready.

are your deadlines also in mid-december? my earliest is nov. 30th for UCLA then Dec 1st for UM-Minneapolis.

im applying for programs in islamic art and architecture and from the feedback i have received i think i am in good standing. but it is all the other factors that make me uneasy...who else is applying? i cant change my gpa. i cant get a head start on arabic right now. ive only just decided this at the beginning of september and i wish i had more time!

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The fresh heartbreak was, in a sense, like being in a foreign country; everything seemed alien, brilliant and glinting. It was as if I’d been flayed, so that even the air hurt. When you’re that unhappy, any glimmer of beauty or consolation feels like running into an old friend abroad, or seeing mountaintops through smog. Maybe we mistakenly think we want “happiness,” which we tend to picture in very vague, soft-focus terms, when what we really crave is the harder-edged intensity of experience.

i haven't had to apply for anything like that since high school but my anxiety would be through the roof.

how can it not? there's so much invested. you have to completely envision your life at each school. and do all the work to apply.

i'd lay out a schedule for myself. at least then i'd be able to sleep at night and would feel some modicum of relief if i could cross something off the list.


you guys make me proud ambitious young things

hi jstar.

im not a list maker. odd, no? im so high strung in so many other ways.

i think what is proving difficult for me is mostly envisioning myself as a worthy candidate. it's like, these are my passions and this is what i like to do. have i done everything possible to be a good candidate thus far? it feels like i have, even down to studying my required languages (sans arabic...*anxious*). STILL IS IT ENOUGH?!!?!?!

this morning i emailed a professor I admire very much. she replied within a couple of hours and said:

then i jumped around the room some. then i squealed. now im writing some more of my statement of purpose.

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The fresh heartbreak was, in a sense, like being in a foreign country; everything seemed alien, brilliant and glinting. It was as if I’d been flayed, so that even the air hurt. When you’re that unhappy, any glimmer of beauty or consolation feels like running into an old friend abroad, or seeing mountaintops through smog. Maybe we mistakenly think we want “happiness,” which we tend to picture in very vague, soft-focus terms, when what we really crave is the harder-edged intensity of experience.