From undergrad to grad

I attended Salisbury University for my Bachelor's degrees in Communication Arts and French. When speaking with my advisor during my senior year, I decided that I would apply for this program and see what happened. After my acceptance into the program, I applied for, was offered and accepted a Graduate Assistant position with an office on campus. With this position, my tuition is covered by the university.

This is only my first semester in the program, however, so far I find it very interesting. I am enrolled in an introduction to research class; we are focusing on learning how to do research as a staff/faculty member at a university. I am also taking a history of higher education course and current issues in educational technology course where we are learning about different tools and getting our G1 level Google certification.

This program allows people who want to continue to work at a university to learn more about the ins and outs, history, etc. I did not have to take a placement exam, but the program does require other things. I was required to write an essay outlining my career goals, three letters of recommendation, and at least a 3.0 in a previous bachelors or masters program; I graduated with a 3.7.

The school puts on a job fair semesterly, for both graduate and undergraduate students. I personally have never gone, but I know there were about 60-70 employers that came to campus this semester.

I currently have a Graduate Assistantship (GA) that covers my tuition in full (minus fees) and a $4,000 semesterly stipend. The GA positions are posted online and students apply for them, as they would apply for a regular job. Almost every department on campus has a GA position, so there definitely is not a lack of them. We also have a choice of a requirement at the end of the program, one of which is an internship; this is not paid, but on-campus. It allows students to get more experience at another office on campus other than their own.

The cost of tuition for graduates in my program is $412/credit hour. As I am enrolled in 9 credits this semester, my tuition is $3,690. As stated before, my GA position pays for my tuition, not fees (which were around $1,100 this semester). Every GA position on campus is set up the same, and each has about the same stipend. We are required to work 20 hours/week in our office.

For two of my three classes this semester, we have final papers or presentations rather than exams. However, I do have an exam for one of my classes; our midterm is actually today. It is online, multiple-choice, and follows our textbook and online lectures we have had this semester.

While I'm not quite sure the exact student-faculty ratio, all three of my classes have about 10 students in them. This allows our professors to really get to know us, but also for us to help each other. All of my professors this semester, and I think almost all, if not all, who teach in the program have their Ph.D. We do also have Teaching Assistants, but they mostly help with in-class discussions or questions about homework rather than grading or lecturing.

Our on-campus housing has recently become too small for our student population, therefore, no students above sophomores, with the exception of some juniors, are able to live on-campus. I have been living off-campus since my junior year, so I decided to stay off campus again. Last year, I was living in a house with three girls who were in my sorority. I was not ready to sign my lease until my decision letter from my graduate program came, and my landlord did not like that. He told me I need to find someone else to replace my lease, then when I got my acceptance letter he would not allow me to stay at my house. I did have a rough time finding somewhere to live, but I decided to sign a lease by myself and be placed with three random roommates in a four-bedroom four-bathroom fully furnished apartment.