[SoloAJ]

MrMon, I appreciate the reply and will have to reread to further digest....

I should make note that my degree won't be "just an education degree" probably. The English Education degree from here would be almost as marketable as a plain English degree outside of teaching.

It is also worth noting that I'm at one of the top universities nationally for education of teachers. States come here to career fairs with contracts in hand and hire blind. Nutty, but worth mentioning.

Anyway, your plan of the Masters/Certification isn't a bad idea, though I'm not sure how tangible it is, particuarly in terms of my money situation.

I would still qualify for loans, but as of right now, if I don't get my degree....then I qualify for $10,000 of grants at minimum over the next two years. If I get the Bachelor's, I lose those grants, whether I'm in a Masters program or the English Ed program.


I'm surprised that you think a BA in English Ed would be so susceptible to Ed Majors with minors in English. As I become surrounded more and more by English Ed majors in my English classes, I'm finding that most of them are getting only passable grades and/or they hate teaching. I have a relatively good feeling that if I get an English Ed BA in 2 years, that I would be in the top 10% of candidates between my grades and the ISU prestige.


Anyway, the teaching certification situation for me right now, would simply be getting the English Education degree. In theory I can then compete for a job in 2 years in most of Illinois. While I'm hardly a lock, being from this school with good grades is a start. I just need to excel at the actual methods and student teaching.

I'm going to talk to the advisor today to find out one very key thing. "If I switch my major to English Ed right now, and then next year don't like it, how hard will it be for me to switch back to English and just apply for graduation? Are there limitations such as needing your last 30 hours to be from teh major you're declare as?" Etc.