Interesting Grants and Loans situation

[SoloAJ]

Bandit,

I found out though, that I wouldn't actually have had any more degrees.

I thought: I could get a BA in English now and then in two years a BA in English Education. This would be more marketable for a job, yadda yadda.

Reality per my advisor: I wouldn't have gotten a second BA. You can't have two BAs in the same major. Both of those are "Bachelors in Arts - English Major." The only difference is that for the English Education track, the STATE of Illinois gives you the teaching certificate. The school doesn't give me anything else.

So in reality, I wouldn't have gained a damn thing by getting this degree (except maybe for marketability outside of teaching). And even that is easily fixed, I will just have to get to the interview and then I can explain that I am basically overqualified compared to other teachers (becuase of 2 years of English major) or compared to other English-related jobs (becuase I had teaching classes...this could be valuable in a job I was training or something).

SO long story, it wouldnt be worth the 10k drop whatsoever it turns out. You certainly had me convinced that it might be worth it, but after talking to the advisor....it really wouldnt have been much. It simply would have been 2 more years of education, which I'm getting anyway.

And your numbers seem roughly equivalent to my hometown area. But that is 2007 numbers, not 1995 numbers.


As for location, it is so early too try and figure that out. I have 3 semesters of class and then student teaching before I'm done now. I have always wanted to look into NoCar or SoCar, because of the weather and such. Do you recommend North Carolina as a place to visit some and find out if I like it there?

[The Bandit Fish]

[ QUOTE ]
Bandit,

I found out though, that I wouldn't actually have had any more degrees.

I thought: I could get a BA in English now and then in two years a BA in English Education. This would be more marketable for a job, yadda yadda.

Reality per my advisor: I wouldn't have gotten a second BA. You can't have two BAs in the same major. Both of those are "Bachelors in Arts - English Major." The only difference is that for the English Education track, the STATE of Illinois gives you the teaching certificate. The school doesn't give me anything else.

So in reality, I wouldn't have gained a damn thing by getting this degree (except maybe for marketability outside of teaching). And even that is easily fixed, I will just have to get to the interview and then I can explain that I am basically overqualified compared to other teachers (becuase of 2 years of English major) or compared to other English-related jobs (becuase I had teaching classes...this could be valuable in a job I was training or something).

SO long story, it wouldnt be worth the 10k drop whatsoever it turns out. You certainly had me convinced that it might be worth it, but after talking to the advisor....it really wouldnt have been much. It simply would have been 2 more years of education, which I'm getting anyway.

And your numbers seem roughly equivalent to my hometown area. But that is 2007 numbers, not 1995 numbers.


As for location, it is so early too try and figure that out. I have 3 semesters of class and then student teaching before I'm done now. I have always wanted to look into NoCar or SoCar, because of the weather and such. Do you recommend North Carolina as a place to visit some and find out if I like it there?

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh, well in that case carry on!

I am fairly sure there are a number of resources onlien that can give you an idea of starting pay for teachers in different areas around the country.

Well NC and SC are beautiful states, but honestly most southern states pay teachers next to nothing. A friend of the family teaches middle school Social Studies and after having been there awhile he's only making ~30k, so if you're looking for good pay I'd avoid NC public schools. Heck the community college here starting pay is 34k. Thats sickening. NC does have lots of plusses, but teachers salary isn't one of them. Actually, I think Louisiana paid better than NC does which is pretty surprising, but I cannot recommend that anyone move to Louisiana.

[SoloAJ]

eeeeee...I did not realize the pay in NC was lower than it was here. I thought it would almost certainly be higher. Really though, all that matters for that is the comparison of standard of living too.

One thing I had thought about (I hope I didn't already mention this in this thread, but I'm lazy and not checking), is the idea of--if possible--getting hired in the burbs area somewhere and working for a few years there and make a ton of money and save save save. Then move back to local area when the time is right (read: job openings), and have some nice cash to sit on here for a bit and live a little easier.

I am disappointed to find that out about NC and SC. I really didn't think they'd pay less than the ol' midwest (non-chicago) areas. The weather woudl still be an improvement though. Maybe I will have to make an excuse to roadtrip to NC next summer [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[The Bandit Fish]

[ QUOTE ]
eeeeee...I did not realize the pay in NC was lower than it was here. I thought it would almost certainly be higher. Really though, all that matters for that is the comparison of standard of living too.

One thing I had thought about (I hope I didn't already mention this in this thread, but I'm lazy and not checking), is the idea of--if possible--getting hired in the burbs area somewhere and working for a few years there and make a ton of money and save save save. Then move back to local area when the time is right (read: job openings), and have some nice cash to sit on here for a bit and live a little easier.

I am disappointed to find that out about NC and SC. I really didn't think they'd pay less than the ol' midwest (non-chicago) areas. The weather woudl still be an improvement though. Maybe I will have to make an excuse to roadtrip to NC next summer [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Well NC and SC don't have the money that states like IL and NY do, so pay ends up being lower. Cost of living isn't that much lower (that depends on where in each state you're comparing obviously).