which master's degree should I do?

[Anonymous]

I'm worried about career stability, salary, and satisfaction. I've never had any of those.

Considering Public Health or Special Needs & Inclusion (it's not a teaching degree)

This is my personality: quiet, caring, sensitive, introverted, nurturing
I love special needs children. But I also think about problems like clean air, clean water, environmental issues and animal welfare issues.

[Anonymous]

Would those degrees actually help you get a job?

Have you thought about nursing?

[Anonymous]

If you're introverted and quiet, yet worried about stability and salary, do accounting. Those other fields will chew you up and spit you out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would those degrees actually help you get a job?

Have you thought about nursing?

I have thought about nursing (I wanted to be a NICU nurse), but I am worried I'm not cut out for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're introverted and quiet, yet worried about stability and salary, do accounting. Those other fields will chew you up and spit you out.

I don't think I'm good enough at math to be an accountant, but I like numbers in the financial sense.

Could you explain why each of those careers would chew me up and spit me out? That would be really helpful.

[Anonymous]

There are not many jobs in either one of those fields. If you wanted to be a special ed teacher that would be one thing, but what would someone do with a degree in "special needs and inclusion" that doesn't involve teaching?

[Anonymous]

Both of those sound like they'd lead to a job dealing with people. What about working to see what you like before spending money on a masters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: There are not many jobs in either one of those fields. If you wanted to be a special ed teacher that would be one thing, but what would someone do with a degree in "special needs and inclusion" that doesn't involve teaching?

She can add on the teaching certification. There are TONS of jobs with special needs people. That's a high need area. Public health, I'm not sure. Can someone else answer this question? Are jobs readily available for MPH degrees? I'm honestly not sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: There are not many jobs in either one of those fields. If you wanted to be a special ed teacher that would be one thing, but what would someone do with a degree in "special needs and inclusion" that doesn't involve teaching?

She can add on the teaching certification. There are TONS of jobs with special needs people. That's a high need area. Public health, I'm not sure. Can someone else answer this question? Are jobs readily available for MPH degrees? I'm honestly not sure.

I used to work in a college of public health. No, there's not a lot of jobs for people with MPHs. The market is saturated, and the curriculum isn't entirely practical or rigorous, so the wages trend towards the lower end (lots of $40k-$60k). There are a lot of program assistant type jobs for research grants, but if OP is looking for stability and salary, that's not a place she should want to find herself in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: There are not many jobs in either one of those fields. If you wanted to be a special ed teacher that would be one thing, but what would someone do with a degree in "special needs and inclusion" that doesn't involve teaching?

She can add on the teaching certification. There are TONS of jobs with special needs people. That's a high need area. Public health, I'm not sure. Can someone else answer this question? Are jobs readily available for MPH degrees? I'm honestly not sure.

I used to work in a college of public health. No, there's not a lot of jobs for people with MPHs. The market is saturated, and the curriculum isn't entirely practical or rigorous, so the wages trend towards the lower end (lots of $40k-$60k). There are a lot of program assistant type jobs for research grants, but if OP is looking for stability and salary, that's not a place she should want to find herself in.

Did some people ever graduate from the program and seem to regret their choice of study? I hear about people with PH degrees claiming they make six figures after years in the field.

[Anonymous]

Especially with GOP at the helm, don't expect a lot of funding for public health projects. Many DC nonprofits are struggling and CDC, NIH, HHS, etc won't be hiring. You have to look at your strength and skills in addition to what you like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: There are not many jobs in either one of those fields. If you wanted to be a special ed teacher that would be one thing, but what would someone do with a degree in "special needs and inclusion" that doesn't involve teaching?

She can add on the teaching certification. There are TONS of jobs with special needs people. That's a high need area. Public health, I'm not sure. Can someone else answer this question? Are jobs readily available for MPH degrees? I'm honestly not sure.

I used to work in a college of public health. No, there's not a lot of jobs for people with MPHs. The market is saturated, and the curriculum isn't entirely practical or rigorous, so the wages trend towards the lower end (lots of $40k-$60k). There are a lot of program assistant type jobs for research grants, but if OP is looking for stability and salary, that's not a place she should want to find herself in.

Did some people ever graduate from the program and seem to regret their choice of study? I hear about people with PH degrees claiming they make six figures after years in the field.

I constantly met people who regretted their choice of study. It was a really depressing place to work.

Many went back to get additional schooling on top of the MPH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: There are not many jobs in either one of those fields. If you wanted to be a special ed teacher that would be one thing, but what would someone do with a degree in "special needs and inclusion" that doesn't involve teaching?

She can add on the teaching certification. There are TONS of jobs with special needs people. That's a high need area. Public health, I'm not sure. Can someone else answer this question? Are jobs readily available for MPH degrees? I'm honestly not sure.

I used to work in a college of public health. No, there's not a lot of jobs for people with MPHs. The market is saturated, and the curriculum isn't entirely practical or rigorous, so the wages trend towards the lower end (lots of $40k-$60k). There are a lot of program assistant type jobs for research grants, but if OP is looking for stability and salary, that's not a place she should want to find herself in.

Did some people ever graduate from the program and seem to regret their choice of study? I hear about people with PH degrees claiming they make six figures after years in the field.

I constantly met people who regretted their choice of study. It was a really depressing place to work.

Many went back to get additional schooling on top of the MPH.

Did former students actually come back and tell you they regretted it? That seems strange to me. What other fields did they pursue?

[Anonymous]

Special need and inclusion: teaching or not, it is a job that will put you in schools or near schools. I can't imagine you would have much cared without classroom experience or the equivalent.

You have described yourself as kinda quiet and not all that much good at anything. Figure out your strengths. Then figure out what kind of job you want. Then choose the degree.
I suspect that the side of public health that doesn't require and use statistics is the part of public health that involves interacting with other humans, you have ruled out math, and you have ruled out too much human interaction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Special need and inclusion: teaching or not, it is a job that will put you in schools or near schools. I can't imagine you would have much cared without classroom experience or the equivalent.

You have described yourself as kinda quiet and not all that much good at anything. Figure out your strengths. Then figure out what kind of job you want. Then choose the degree.
I suspect that the side of public health that doesn't require and use statistics is the part of public health that involves interacting with other humans, you have ruled out math, and you have ruled out too much human interaction.

I didn't rule out human interaction at all. Introverts don't necessarily want to be totally isolated! I can get a teaching certificate after the degree. I'm good at a lot of things, but I'm not a math person. Your post is sort of ignorant. The things I listed are not bad things... being sensitive, nurturing etc can be advantages. Not everyone is a loud, annoying extrovert type in the world (thankfully).