Choosing a Master's Degree

will have my BA in History in a few months, and I'm trying to pick an MA to pursue...thoughts?

right now it's between Political Science, Library Science, or Secondary Education. Secondary ed is tough to find a job in (I'm from NY). Library Science seems methodical and boring, would only enjoy it i could work at a university. Politcal Science seems intriguing, but i'm afraid it's too corporate or business-like.

end goal: a decent full-time M-F job that'll get me to at least ~$60K by the time i retire.

Advise? Thoughts? Anyone have a degree in any of these fields? Anyone working in these fields?

Anything is greatly appreciate. Thanks

>end goal: a decent full-time M-F job that'll get me to at least ~$60K by the time i retire.
Learn computer programming or network administration.

Commission in the Army.

They don't care what the degree is in, and you get to kill people for a living.

No.

t. Network Administrator with Computer Programing experience.

Those jobs are pretty much all doomed to be exported. Half the time, in programming, you're competing with IT guys on the other side of the planet for lowest bid.

Secondary education is actually your best bet of those three, even if you might have to move to find a job. Don't concentrate on any job that could be done remotely, by a computer, or flipped on its ass every four years (unless maybe your family has some solid political connections). They are fine as stop gap measures, but not as a long term careers.

Ayy, I'm thinking of going into library science.

I'm working in my campus' library right now and if it's anything like keeping catalogue, gathering/interpreting statistics and reading/fucking around during periods of down time, then I'd love to do it for a few decades.

I suggest law.

Based on what I've heard from my older sibling, here are two facts about library science:

1) it's incredibly comfy.

2) it's incredibly hard to find a job. a lot of people have degrees in library science relative to the number of openings, and computerization is shrinking the field (although not as fast as some feared it would). once people find a good position, they might stay there DECADES. unless you have an in, be prepared to spend a long time on the hunt.

This isn't bad advice, but it's hard to compare law school to a master's degree.

>here are two facts about library science...
That doesn't come as a surprise. Ah well, I think I'll end up teaching until I find an opportunity.

don't listen to this idiot.

I'm a history major too, if your going after your masters then network with in the history department. I would suggest teaching at a juco level. great pay and you don't have to deal with high school shit heads.

OP here
don't care about moving, i just don't feel like i'd "learn" much as as secondary teacher, reviewing the same basic info on the same history topics over and over again, talking to parents blah being told what to teach and not teach blah not being able to talk about certain topics of philosophy, religion, and politics blah blah....

guess i want a challenge, plus in not sure summers off and a $60K salary arn't enough to dissuade me from possiblilty of eventually making $80K in NYC or DC, $20K makes a different to me, grew up pretty poor, so i'm not about that life anymore

def appreciate your legitimate feedback

yeah, i gotta say, i also enjoy quietness and little stress lol

i have heard both these things. def don't wanna spread more than 12 months searching for job with a usless MA in my pocket, gotta start paying those loans back amirite. thank you, sincerely

just too expensive. closest law school to me is in Albany NY, $46K a year, i just can't swing that. thought about paralegal, but that's just a poor mans lawyer, tho with a polisci degree i'm qualified, works is work, money is money. thanks for feedback

you read my mind, BUT i thought a polisci degree would both enable me to teach at 2 year colleges AND other options with government, nonprofits, businesses, law firms, etc etc...cant do some of those things is just history MA, and history MA lands lower overall salarly than polisci MA unless you do find fulltime job at jr college. i would LOVE to teach any humanities at a jr college, believe you me. sincerely talks for input


please keep it coming guys. legit really appreciate it, thank you

>thought about paralegal, but that's just a poor mans lawyer

I mean, is it? A paralegal's job is to research and interpret relevant information so that a lawyer can focus on the client and the case in its gestalt. It's most of the analytical elements involved with being a lawyer, without the stress of court appearances or paying off student loans.

Plus, if you get involved with a large enough firm and distinguish yourself, they might be willing to help you through law school and advance you as an asset.

Political science is literally studying polls. Its not choosing policy or studying taxes or ideology.

You should reading political behavior of the American Electorate and see if you actually are interested in it before you commit.

The day to day work is professor or if you are lucky a campaign gig so you read papers teahc a course and look at poll results and try to make models for academic journals.

Karl Rove and David Axelrod are considered the einsteins of this field but keep in mind only 2 people every 4 years get to run a campaign that big.

By 60k by the time you retire do you mean 60k a year? Dog even your BA in history would do that, i'm pretty sure mid-career salary for literally any degree is pretty close or above 60k, unless you went to a literal meme school. You don't need a masters for that

Polling is one subset (albeit a popular one) of political science. There are many different focuses you can have other than that. Might differ between grad schools though, of course.

This. Juco professors make good money, get weekends off, make their own office hours, have great hours, get weekends off, some semesters only work 4 days a week, federal holidays off, multiple breaks a year, low stress, etc, etc

Get a PhD in Econ. You will be able to get all of those jobs everyone in here listed, and you'll get paid 20k+ a year until you get your PhD, then you will get your 60k salary starting.

get a degree in dick sucking you'll be making mad dosh sucking jew penis the only cons are too much dickcheese, bad smell and public humiliation

Law and MBA

Any suggestions for a postgraduate pathway for a philosophy graduate that won't be mind numbing or make me even more poor

A lot of people are surprised by this, but Philosophy degrees are highly represented in the world of advertising - I think it might even be the most common undergraduate degree held in the field. It makes sense when you think about it though, since a philosophy education gives that rare combination of creative and analytic skills.

With that in mind, any sort of training/education/experience that will make you more desirable to an advertising agency is a really good investment.

Depending on your exact level of experience and schooling though, you might have to start with something kind of mind-numbing like copy editing.

I hate this meme. Are you a sheltered richboy or a foreigner?
The average american makes ~30k per year.

I would personally go for Political Science. It seems the most interesting and useful of the ones you list.

I got a BA in History. I'm looking at a Masters called MSc in Comparative Public Policy and Welfare Studies. Does this sound completely stupid to you?

What degree classification did you get/

OP here again
very true, i guess i said that because I'm really not familiar with the day-to-day life of the paralegal, but maybe i should look into it more. not above that job, i would certainly do it, i am very open to working at a law firm in come capacity. thanks
>You should reading political behavior of the American Electorate and see if you actually are interested in it before you commit.
i really appreciate this and i will def look into this "American Electorate" but, from what i've gathers so far, polling is just one subset of the type of work polisci major do. thanks
i was also under this impression: polling is def a part of it, but not all there is to it. my prospective grad school offers polisci Ma with specializations in public policy, public administration, and one or two more categories i can't remember off hand..gotta learn more from them directly in order to pick a path
>Get a PhD
in a perfect world my friend...in a perfect world
something to think about too...i like philosophy...but i hate consumerism lol still, it's not going anywhere anytime soon, and we all need money to live, me included. thanks guys
tell me more...comparative public policy interests me. maybe we can learn something from one another that'll help us both discover the best path for ourselves