Job Discussion Forums

[M@tt]

why is money an issue? nobody in the US pays tuition for their PhD. if you don't get a fellowship at one school, go to a different school. the same thing is true, to a lesser degree, for an MA. i came out of my MA program with about $6000 more than i went in with.

[ls650]

[MELEE]

While my husband is happy to tell you that he's an American, he's equally happy to point out that he's not a US Citizen.

Money is an issue because we have 16 month old twins, who need food, clothes, trips to the doctor, etc.

I also did not take out any student loans for my BA, and my 0% intrest mortage is the only debt I've ever had and it still makes me feel trapped and nearly hiperventilate at least once evey couple of month. I was raised in that kind of family. My parents paid off their 30 year mortgage in 15 years and pay for their cars in cash.

I know that in TEFL, its really easy to get a "free" MA, because you work for the university in its IEP while you're a student. But I've come to the point where I don't think I'd get much out of an MA in TEFL as I've done most of the course work on my own as personal professional development. (I have a Dip, from IH as well) But have become more and more interested in pure linguistics and how languages work in general, so would lean towards an MA in linguistics. Or if I wanted to be practical, an MA in translation. It used to be my dream to continue studying Latin American Studies, and the University of Texas at Austin is just about the best place for that, I could even specialize in Mexican Studies there, but that would just be for personal fullfillment more than career advancement.

[M@tt]

evidently Mel and i were separated at birth, because she's talking about my parents.

i thought the poster mentioned being from the US. mexican american or something like that. de todas formas, it doesn't matter where you're from. international students are eligible for the exact same deals.

at IU, you could get fellowships from other departments, so i'm sure that's true at some other schools too. for example, a number of people teaching in our IEP, back when it was large, were in theoretical ling and school of ed. also, the spanish dept has so many undergrads that they basically pull in spanish speaking grad students from all over the university to cover the demand. $12,000 stipend and free tuition for teaching about 6 hours a week of pre-programmed classes, and the holy grail (free health insurance). if you don't know what to do and you have no money to spend, i think grad school is a wonderful way to kill time.

i've also been thinking recently about lat.am.studies, and about just up and moving to austin, so it's funny that you mentioned that. maybe i'll investigate. let me know if you have any other helpful info.

[cwc]

Be very careful about up and moving to Austin. You won�t find a suitable place to live for less than 1000$. If you want to live close to the Univ., it will be considerably higher. UT is an academic paradise. There are more lang/ling programs than one can fathom. I, too, suffer from an addiction to higher learning. Have you seen all the jobs in China? They all are looking for someone that wants to learn Mandarin Chinese. I would like to try it because I see it as impossible. Arab langs are also interesting. Can a Westerner really learn to use another alphabet?

[Guy Courchesne]

[M@tt]

the alphabet is the ONLY easy part of arabic. you can learn it in a week (only 24 letters).

i'm sure there's shared housing in Austin for around $400-500/month. i have a friend who bought his own house there for about $130,000 and he's a special ed teacher at a public school, so not exactly pulling in the big bucks. anyway, i've never been to austin so i would have to investigate first. having grown up in bloomington (but basically bored with it and the weather there) i really crave the benefits of living near a big uni. at IU, that was music music music, languages languages languages, international cultural events, and sports (which i don't care about). i'm sure austin offers similar attractions with better weather.

sorry, this has nothing to do with the topic. dave should start a texas forum.

[cwc]

M@tt, you`ve never been there but are SURE you can find shared housing for 400-500 USD. If you read my post you will discover that is implied. What would college be like without roommates? Also, 130K doesn`t buy much of a house in Austin. What neighborhood is it in? It probably isn`t even in Austin proper.

[cwc]

Sorry Samantha, I skipped over the part about the libel allegations. Do you really think that a libel suit can be brought in Mexico for a supposed claim made over the internet that bears no names? Where is the jurisdiction? How were you damaged? Who are you? BTW, there is no precedence. You will have to take it to the Supreme Court. Get real. Our legal rep. almost spewed coffee with laughter. I told him that you were a little reality-challenged. Oh, did I defame you again?

[Guy Courchesne]

M@tt, there is a Texas forum, so I've just discovered. It's on another part of the cafe site called Teacher Forums.

[zack]

In the for what it is worth dept. I have been living in Austin(near UT) for the past 5 years. Housing/rentals are based upon supply and demand. There are 50,000+ students at UT alone. There are rentals available near UT for less than $1000 and sharing arrangements in the $400-500 range. Austin proper is compact. Plus UT has its own bus system.You can walk,run, ride your bike, hop the free(students) UT bus or free Armadillo and city bus or sell your first born for a parking space on campus. While I got my MA in Latin Am. Studies from IU Bloomington and am therefore biased--UT does have an excellent MA-LAS program. It also has one of the best Phd programs in LAS. Cal Berkley has the oldest. Tulane or what is left of it has/had a good MA and Phd program but is more oriented towards the Carribean. U Fla. in Gainesville has a good MA and Phd pgm. as well. As Matt indicated earlier there are ways to finance your grad. studies but you have to work at it and take a little risk and have a little faith. Given the reality based coping skills you have developed in Mexico you should have an unfair, competitive advantage.

[MELEE]

[Guy Courchesne]

[lozwich]

Awwwwwwwwwww.....

How cute is that??

[ls650]

Geez, I bet with a little mustard that'd be one tasty dog...