Wednesday, April 19, 2006

changing AGAIN

changejunkie wouldn't be changejunkie if I wasn't into it. My latest jump -- I am GOING BACK TO SCHOOL. Yup, got the paperwork sitting in front of me. I will be pursuing a Master of Liberal Arts at Johns Hopkins University, assuming they accept me into the program. I of course am going the slacker's route, i.e. very very part time. I figure my tuition remission will cover 1 course per semester, plus one each summer so a whopping 3 per year. But the degree only requires 10 courses, and 1 or 2 of them are the Capstone paper (30-50 pages, fiction, non-fiction, drawings, slide show, movie, whatever...) or a Thesis (120 pages of original research). I don't have to specialize, so I can take art, history, literature, philosophy, whatever. And no overarching theme is required, so I can follow my eclectic tastes to my heart's content. On SOMEONE ELSE'S DIME.

I have always had to pay my own way for school. But as a loyal employee of this fine fine institution, I am entitled to $5600 per year in tuition benefits. So, while I am still entitled, I thought I would take advantage of it. The problem has been that well, you can only use the benefit at Hopkins, and their admission standards, are well, VERY VERY DEMANDING. For example, the IT masters program requires 2 full years of higher order math (calculus or beyond) at the college level for admission. Some programs require a 3.5 or above GPA, outstanding GREs and documented community service.

And then I found the Liberal Arts program. No GREs, just a resume, a reference (which can come from your employer), a 3.0 in your last two years of college, and an essay. Hopefully I can manage this.

Who knew how much fun it would be to go back to school?

1 comment:

Kitten Herder said...

School is definitely more fun and interesting later in life. Great minds think alike: see my recent post Fun Through Seriousness.