Friday, September 26, 2008

Roll with the changes...

After much deliberation and processing, it seems I will be putting off graduate school for another year. There is no big reason, just many small reasons that have weighed heavily upon my head.

#1. 5th year summer studio lasts the entire summer, overlapping with 3 year graduate architectural programs which start in the summer.
#2. I only need 5 more Geography classes to attain a double major. By finishing this, I increase my chances of acceptance to a graduate Planning program. This also means I am not limited to design jobs (graphics, interiors, engineering, architectural, etc) and it opens up the government job option (planning, consulting, etc). Taxpayer money is the best kind of money...just ask the banks and lenders the government is bailing out...haha.
#3. I have not had time to study for the GRE this semester and at the going rate, I don't plan on ever having time. I've only got 12 credit hours and my tuesday/thursday schedule is open but I find myself either reading for Geo 502 Urban Planning or processing work for studio during what were planned to be my GRE study times.
#4. I've always dreamed of getting my graduate education outside of the home state but my search for schools elsewhere has also made me more aware of how wonderful North Carolina's school system is in comparison to others. In state tuition would save me tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars (depending on where I go). NC State and Charlotte have Architecture, UNC-Chapel Hill has Planning. The education I'm striving to get is available in my own state and its cheap in comparison to other options.
#5. Kaylin. I'd like to be close to my girlfriend. Shes in Durham going to school at Duke. Its hard to admit but there is a high possibility I might be miserable being hundreds of miles away from her. She says I shouldn't base my decision on her and as I already stated in the beginning of this post that each of these by themselves wouldn't be reason enough to stop my rampage to graduate school...but as a whole, they present a very tight case.

Yeah, I think I've made my decison.

1 comment:

Jami Southern said...

God I wish I hadn't forgotten my digital camera! All my pictures from the disposable look like I'm a million miles away.
Great pictures as always.