Grad school has been somewhere on the radar over the past five or six years. I thought I wanted an MBA because it could help me with my own business when that happens. However, I recently changed my sights from business to communication because, frankly speaking, I'm not all that interested in getting an MBA. I already know I can run a business, and paying for an expensive degree to tell me something I already know is quite illogical.
But I still wanted a master's degree, and there are many online-only MBAs. For a long time, I figured this would be my only choice.
It wasn't until I started working for the radio station here in Gwangju a few months back that I decided to look into another program of study, and one that I was much more interested in: mass communication. Because my undergrad is in Telecommunication (a sore name for Television Production via Journalism and Mass Communication), and also because it is something I am extremely interested in, I decided to look into it.
I decided I had to pursue it when the host of my GFN radio show, Park Joo Kyoung, asked me if I had my master's degree because, if I did, she would recommend me as a lecturer in the Communications department of Honnam University, where she is a professor, in Gwangju. It broke my heart to have to tell her no.
So there I was, searching the internet for online master's degree programs in some sort of mass communications, when I came across an interesting program at two schools that stood out: the Masters of Arts in Strategic Communication through American University and the University of Florida, my alma mater.
I researched both degree programs and decided to 'click here for more information' - something I knew would no doubt connect me with a nosy, doesn't-take-no-for-an-answer salesperson at each university. I clicked.
I was soon connected with Justin and Jorge, both academic advisors (which I'm sure has replaced 'glorified university sales rep' as the job title) at American and Florida, respectively. On my first email from each of them, I noticed neither of them were in the same city as the actual university. I didn't really care one way or another about American when I noticed that, but it threw me for a loop when I noticed the UF guy was located in Orlando. I went to UF - it's in Gainesville. That was my home for 3 years. The admissions building is located next to the business department, about a block away from that unforgettable burrito place, and just off 13th street. Not in Orlando.
Over the next few email exchanges with each of them, I noticed other significant differences between American and Florida. The advisor at American was very professional and had a genuine willingness to help me with my application process, review my documents and make sure they sounded great and represented the best of me. We also had Skype calls once a week to check in and make sure things were rolling and progress was being made, which is when I found out that he, too, had lived in Korea for four years. It was a nice feeling to talk to someone else who knows exactly where you are - literally - right now, especially when doing something like applying to grad school from so far away.
The UF advisor, on the other hand, sent out emails asking me when I would be submitting x or y document. He was very impersonal and made no attempt to work with me beyond calling my permanent US phone number of my parents multiple times and then frustratingly e-mailing me saying I was unreachable and we would have to settle for emails. I went through part of the application process with UF before I got frustrated with his lack of care for my application one way or the other, and told him I was no longer pursuing the degree with UF. He asked me why and I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was because UF, my alma mater, my home, my blue and orange blood, my 'Go Gators' and the chomp, the Swamp and Florida Field... that I felt absolutely none of that mattered and I was just another name in the pile to be shuffled around.
(I do realize that neither of these advisors, the good or the bad, can represent the whole of the experience I either had or will have at either university. The good and the bad are everywhere. I do, however, wish that UF would make more of an effort to make a better 'first impression', even if it is the second 'first' impression.)
So I stuck with American University, which is a private school, fully accredited (with the exact same accreditation that UF's College of Journalism has received theirs by, the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication), and located in Washington D.C. It's also $13,000 more than UF. When I made the decision to drop UF and continue with American, I did a lot of research into their job outlook for graduates (higher tuition means I'm going to need more ROI). This particular degree program is among the top 5 in the country, and graduates can (and do) work almost anywhere: they work with large and small companies designing and implementing marketing and advertising campaigns, they work for schools, as university lecturers and professors, major (and minor) news organizations, and the state department, including embassies around the world. This piqued my interest because I would like to use my degree internationally, whether I'm teaching at a university overseas, working for an embassy, or otherwise. Additionally, American's entire career resource office is online and they actively help graduates search for and find the perfect job. And if this bit of information is comparable to the application process between the two universities, I have a feeling I can believe at least half of what AU says, because I've already been through the UF career center and it left a lot to be desired.
Fast forward through the remainder of the application process, through two drafts of my statement of purpose (which, by the way, was given a rating of 'perfection'), through numerous resume updates (not to get it right, but to keep adding the wonderful opportunities I've been given over these past few months), and through the ever-so-gracious letters of recommendation, to this past Tuesday evening when I had a Skype call with Justin to review my application package before he submitted it. He told me a response was probably 2-3 weeks away, and I requested that if the answer was 'no', that he not tell me until after my birthday on the 14th. So when he emailed me the following night, barely 24 hours later, I knew it had to be good news. And it was. Apparently the admissions committee wanted to review the applications they had before going on vacation, and that's why the response was so quick. Justin told me that I was going to have a great birthday because I had been accepted into the MA of Strategic Communication program with American University - congratulations!!!
After discussing the next steps, I phoned my parents and put up a Facebook post before going to bed for four hours before having to wake up for my 7:30a adult class.
I've since received my official letter of acceptance, along with instructions on how to proceed, sign up for an AU email so that I can be registered for classes, and a few forms that I have to sign so that my acceptance of their acceptance is official. My advisor will help me through this process as well, and will be there to answer any and all questions until a week or so after classes have started, to make sure I've got full use of the online classroom platform, engage. I'm looking forward to starting my first class in September, and I'm quite happy to now be an AU Eagle.
A little information about the Master of Arts in Strategic Communication program:
The program takes 20 months to complete and only one class is taken at a time. Each class is 8 weeks long with a one-week break between each (except for the winter holidays). Students go through the entire program with the same cohort except for the elective choice. There are 13 students in each cohort. The summer semester that started in May had 2 cohorts, and my advisor believes there will be at least three this fall.
Though the degree can be completed entirely online, and is completed entirely online by students out of the country like myself, the diploma itself will not say 'online' like many other online programs. It is the exact same program as though you were doing it on campus. A perk of this is that if you are ever in the DC area, you can actually sit in the physical class and meet with your instructors in person. Even though I'm an online degree-seeking student, I can also come to DC at any time and use the library and all campus resources. I can also use any and all available online resources from wherever I am in the world. (And I've been told if they don't have it, they can most likely get it in an online format.)
The online classroom has a setup similar to that of social media. The platform used is called engage, and there is a news feed with alerts and message boards, and I can email my instructors anytime with an expectation of hearing back from them within 24 hours.
If you are interested in this program, the application deadline for this fall is August 1st. I strongly urge you to apply because, among other things, the GRE is waived for this first year of the program being online. (Another reason why I chose American.) Most of their online students actually do live abroad in a multitude of countries, so it's been waived due to the desire for those abroad to be able to apply for the degree when it may be difficult to find a testing center in some countries.
In total, I've researched about 10 similar programs and American stood out the most. The only downside for me is the cost, but considering the career help and potential for finding a job that I'm happy with, I'd say it's got a pretty high chance of having a pretty nice return.
If you're interested, check out the link above, or post a comment below and I'll give you my advisor's direct email. I don't get any 'points' or anything for doing this, but he was so fantastic to work with and he left a great impression on me that I'd like to pass his help along to anyone else who might be interested.
But I still wanted a master's degree, and there are many online-only MBAs. For a long time, I figured this would be my only choice.
It wasn't until I started working for the radio station here in Gwangju a few months back that I decided to look into another program of study, and one that I was much more interested in: mass communication. Because my undergrad is in Telecommunication (a sore name for Television Production via Journalism and Mass Communication), and also because it is something I am extremely interested in, I decided to look into it.
I decided I had to pursue it when the host of my GFN radio show, Park Joo Kyoung, asked me if I had my master's degree because, if I did, she would recommend me as a lecturer in the Communications department of Honnam University, where she is a professor, in Gwangju. It broke my heart to have to tell her no.
So there I was, searching the internet for online master's degree programs in some sort of mass communications, when I came across an interesting program at two schools that stood out: the Masters of Arts in Strategic Communication through American University and the University of Florida, my alma mater.
I researched both degree programs and decided to 'click here for more information' - something I knew would no doubt connect me with a nosy, doesn't-take-no-for-an-answer salesperson at each university. I clicked.
I was soon connected with Justin and Jorge, both academic advisors (which I'm sure has replaced 'glorified university sales rep' as the job title) at American and Florida, respectively. On my first email from each of them, I noticed neither of them were in the same city as the actual university. I didn't really care one way or another about American when I noticed that, but it threw me for a loop when I noticed the UF guy was located in Orlando. I went to UF - it's in Gainesville. That was my home for 3 years. The admissions building is located next to the business department, about a block away from that unforgettable burrito place, and just off 13th street. Not in Orlando.
Over the next few email exchanges with each of them, I noticed other significant differences between American and Florida. The advisor at American was very professional and had a genuine willingness to help me with my application process, review my documents and make sure they sounded great and represented the best of me. We also had Skype calls once a week to check in and make sure things were rolling and progress was being made, which is when I found out that he, too, had lived in Korea for four years. It was a nice feeling to talk to someone else who knows exactly where you are - literally - right now, especially when doing something like applying to grad school from so far away.
The UF advisor, on the other hand, sent out emails asking me when I would be submitting x or y document. He was very impersonal and made no attempt to work with me beyond calling my permanent US phone number of my parents multiple times and then frustratingly e-mailing me saying I was unreachable and we would have to settle for emails. I went through part of the application process with UF before I got frustrated with his lack of care for my application one way or the other, and told him I was no longer pursuing the degree with UF. He asked me why and I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was because UF, my alma mater, my home, my blue and orange blood, my 'Go Gators' and the chomp, the Swamp and Florida Field... that I felt absolutely none of that mattered and I was just another name in the pile to be shuffled around.
(I do realize that neither of these advisors, the good or the bad, can represent the whole of the experience I either had or will have at either university. The good and the bad are everywhere. I do, however, wish that UF would make more of an effort to make a better 'first impression', even if it is the second 'first' impression.)
So I stuck with American University, which is a private school, fully accredited (with the exact same accreditation that UF's College of Journalism has received theirs by, the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication), and located in Washington D.C. It's also $13,000 more than UF. When I made the decision to drop UF and continue with American, I did a lot of research into their job outlook for graduates (higher tuition means I'm going to need more ROI). This particular degree program is among the top 5 in the country, and graduates can (and do) work almost anywhere: they work with large and small companies designing and implementing marketing and advertising campaigns, they work for schools, as university lecturers and professors, major (and minor) news organizations, and the state department, including embassies around the world. This piqued my interest because I would like to use my degree internationally, whether I'm teaching at a university overseas, working for an embassy, or otherwise. Additionally, American's entire career resource office is online and they actively help graduates search for and find the perfect job. And if this bit of information is comparable to the application process between the two universities, I have a feeling I can believe at least half of what AU says, because I've already been through the UF career center and it left a lot to be desired.
Fast forward through the remainder of the application process, through two drafts of my statement of purpose (which, by the way, was given a rating of 'perfection'), through numerous resume updates (not to get it right, but to keep adding the wonderful opportunities I've been given over these past few months), and through the ever-so-gracious letters of recommendation, to this past Tuesday evening when I had a Skype call with Justin to review my application package before he submitted it. He told me a response was probably 2-3 weeks away, and I requested that if the answer was 'no', that he not tell me until after my birthday on the 14th. So when he emailed me the following night, barely 24 hours later, I knew it had to be good news. And it was. Apparently the admissions committee wanted to review the applications they had before going on vacation, and that's why the response was so quick. Justin told me that I was going to have a great birthday because I had been accepted into the MA of Strategic Communication program with American University - congratulations!!!
After discussing the next steps, I phoned my parents and put up a Facebook post before going to bed for four hours before having to wake up for my 7:30a adult class.
I've since received my official letter of acceptance, along with instructions on how to proceed, sign up for an AU email so that I can be registered for classes, and a few forms that I have to sign so that my acceptance of their acceptance is official. My advisor will help me through this process as well, and will be there to answer any and all questions until a week or so after classes have started, to make sure I've got full use of the online classroom platform, engage. I'm looking forward to starting my first class in September, and I'm quite happy to now be an AU Eagle.
A little information about the Master of Arts in Strategic Communication program:
The program takes 20 months to complete and only one class is taken at a time. Each class is 8 weeks long with a one-week break between each (except for the winter holidays). Students go through the entire program with the same cohort except for the elective choice. There are 13 students in each cohort. The summer semester that started in May had 2 cohorts, and my advisor believes there will be at least three this fall.
Though the degree can be completed entirely online, and is completed entirely online by students out of the country like myself, the diploma itself will not say 'online' like many other online programs. It is the exact same program as though you were doing it on campus. A perk of this is that if you are ever in the DC area, you can actually sit in the physical class and meet with your instructors in person. Even though I'm an online degree-seeking student, I can also come to DC at any time and use the library and all campus resources. I can also use any and all available online resources from wherever I am in the world. (And I've been told if they don't have it, they can most likely get it in an online format.)
The online classroom has a setup similar to that of social media. The platform used is called engage, and there is a news feed with alerts and message boards, and I can email my instructors anytime with an expectation of hearing back from them within 24 hours.
If you are interested in this program, the application deadline for this fall is August 1st. I strongly urge you to apply because, among other things, the GRE is waived for this first year of the program being online. (Another reason why I chose American.) Most of their online students actually do live abroad in a multitude of countries, so it's been waived due to the desire for those abroad to be able to apply for the degree when it may be difficult to find a testing center in some countries.
In total, I've researched about 10 similar programs and American stood out the most. The only downside for me is the cost, but considering the career help and potential for finding a job that I'm happy with, I'd say it's got a pretty high chance of having a pretty nice return.
If you're interested, check out the link above, or post a comment below and I'll give you my advisor's direct email. I don't get any 'points' or anything for doing this, but he was so fantastic to work with and he left a great impression on me that I'd like to pass his help along to anyone else who might be interested.
congratulations kate, you will be a great graduate student. love, mom and dad
ReplyDeleteCongrats!
ReplyDeleteLove, Jenny
Thanks!!! :)
ReplyDeleteHi, are you still teaching at You and I Academy? Would you recommend it? And do you know if they are still hiring? I can't seem to find their website or anything but I've applied to a different academy in Gwangju. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for writing! I'm no longer at You and I, but they are still open and operating here in Gwangju. It was great for me because I didn't have any prior teaching experience, but if you've got experience, a larger chain might be a better option for you. Try ECC, SLP, Pagoda, Brighton, Reading Town... there are TONS of them.
DeleteAlso, they don't really post job openings on their own, they usually rely on recruiters and/or word of mouth. I used saykimchirecruiting.com a few years ago and they were fantastic, but I think they've changed hands since then. Either way, I believe they're still operating. I also recommend checking out the 'Gwangju-Jeolla Job Bank' Facebook page. It's a great resource for finding teaching jobs here in Gwangju.
Good luck!!
Kate
Hi Kate!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I found your blog post. I am a Canadian currently applying for the American University Master's in Strategic Communications. I have experienced much of what you did with the application process and am really excited about the possibility of being accepted into this program. I was wondering, what are your thoughts on the program now that you have begun your Master's?!
Thanks so much!!
Leigh
Hi Leigh!! I just saw your comment post an apologize for just now getting back to you.
ReplyDeleteHave you found out yet if you've been accepted? I'm in my second semester/third class, and I really like the program. The professors have all been great so far, and I feel like they really want us to do our best and reach our highest potential. I've had Principles of Strat Comm, Writing for Strat Comm, and now I'm in Research Principles, and every professor has really taken the time to work with me and make sure my questions are answered. It's what I was hoping for but I didn't really expect it would be realistic - but it is. The online platform is also very easy to use, which is great for not falling behind. It is a lot of work, though, but I really enjoy it.
Let me know if you've got any more questions, general or more specific. I'm happy to help, and I'll be sure to keep an eye on the page!
Kate