What Does PhD Even Stand For?

Hello Dear Friends!

I apologize for my absence. I've had a bit of a rough time these past few weeks. Finals are right around the bend, and as excited as I am for winter break, I still struggle with the fact that every semester I finish is another semester closer to being done with school in general. The problem is, I LOVE school. 

I love learning from professors who have such an extensive knowledge of the subjects they teach and are so passionate about them. I love how each semester I find out another tidbit that reminds me why I am in my majors. I find myself growing more and more passionate about them. I absolutely love to learn and dissect the works of great Philosophers. It's given me an entirely new understanding of the concept of "putting yourself in their shoes.

The problem with all of this, is that my thirst for knowledge and hunger for learning is leading me down a path I never, ever, ever, expected to take. And that is Grad School. 

I have been tinkering with the idea for the past year and a half or so, but never really thought it would amount to much. But, I am firmly convinced that the Masters Degree is the new Bachelors Degree. College degrees are so much more common than they once were. And in this day and age common is not the right recipe for a great job in the field I love. A field which is rather small anyways. So I had been thinking about it, but the other night finally began the search.

I had planned on going back to Montana for grad school, but I found that MSU doesn't have the program I had in mind. Neither does my current school....Or schools in Denver. Or Fort Collins...The only one I found was in Boulder. So I began searching even further. I still have residency in California so I began looking there  and that was REALLY outside the box of anything I had ever imagined.

Berkeley? Stanford? UCLA? Sheesh. All of them have the programs I want, but there is one small, tiny, little, miniscule problem.

They are all only PhD programs. o.0

That is definitely not a route I ever expected to take. I don't think that I'm cut out for it, I wasn't even sure I was cut out for Undergrad! However, I find myself really considering this route. I would enjoy teaching at the college level, and a PhD is nothing to turn your nose up at. But it scares me. It's a huge commitment and will take every ounce of strength I have to complete. 

So, I present to you my list of possible grad schools ranked in no particular order. But maybe a little bit what I think I could actually, maybe, possibly, achieve. 

• San Diego State University (SDSU)
• Colorado University-Boulder
• University of California-La Jolla
• Berkeley
• Stanford

O, and for what it is worth. My current studies have me as a double major in Journalism (Concentrating in Public Relations and Advertising) and Political Science. My goal in grad school, whether that ends up being a Masters or a PhD is Political Theory and Comparative Politics. If anyone has ideas, please let me know!