A Life in Line

I am having a blast deciding which schools to apply to, but I do believe it has become an obsession, as do most of my interests. However, this obsession is not a bad thing. I think it reinforces the fact that I am destined to be a researcher. I can research any topic into oblivion until I know more about it than most people. And I’m pretty sure this obsession has sticking power. Right now, my research is focused on finding the schools that will prepare me best for a career in research. Some schools do not focus on that, but rather focus on preparing you to be a good practitioner — something I am not interested in. We need both, but I have been in the private consulting world for long enough to know that I don’t want to do it any longer.

As I said in my previous grad school planning post, a career in teaching and research at the university level just seems to be the ideal mix of my interests, desires, and even my personality. I am a thinker; therefore, I would be so happy in a job that lets me think, I think. Plus, the autonomy that is allowed in a university professorship would allow me to work when I am sharpest according to my own biorhythms. Case in point: it’s currently about 1pm and I would give anything to be able to just close my office door and take a nap, because I am very tired. It always happens mid-afternoon. (Of course, it would probably help if I didn’t eat a huge lunch, but that’s not the point!) Unfortunately, I can not close my office door and take a nap for two reasons: 1. my company does not like people closing their door, because we have an “open office policy,” and 2. I have to remain billable 8 hours every day or the bosses aren’t happy. As a professor, I will be able to shut my door and focus on my work without anyone fussing at me, and I can come and go as I please all day, as long as I do what is expected of me. I would be able to only see visitors during set office hours if I wanted to. Now, let me make it clear…I believe I would be a much more friendly professor than that, but the point is that I could do it if I wanted to. If I sent out an email here at work saying, “I now have set office hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am to 12pm. Plan your meetings with me accordingly,” I would be laughed at, not to mention lightly scolded for it.

My list of schools that I will apply to has remained largely unchanged since the last post, although I may add additional schools to the list to increase my chances of being accepted. I would prefer to stay in the south, since I’ve always lived in the south, but I may have to suck it up and move out to California or New England. It wouldn’t be a terrible thing, and it would only be temporary. I am sure that once I finish the Ph.D. I will be moving wherever I can get a job, so I better get used to it.

I have been researching graduate schools extensively over the last few weeks trying to decide which ones I want to apply to. Thanks to the Planetizen 2009 Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs, I was able to narrow the search down considerably just by focusing on the list of the schools with strong transportation planning specializations, which is what I think I want to specialize in. Those schools are the following:

1. Georgia Institute of Technology
2. Harvard University
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
4. Portland State University
5. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
6. Texas A & M University
7. University of California, Berkeley
8. University of California, Irvine
9. University of California, Los Angeles
10. University of Maryland
11. University of Michigan
12. University of North Carolina
13. University of Southern California
14. University of Texas
15. University of Washington

I have narrowed this list down even further by eliminating schools in places I would not want to live, such as California. I’ve basically narrowed it down to seven schools:

1. Georgia Institute of Technology
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3. Rutgers
4. University of Texas
5. Texas A & M University
6. University of Washington
7. University of North Carolina

I may add others to the list as I do more research, but those are the ones I will start with. It’s not going to be cheap applying to all these schools. Every school has an application fee of at least $50. In addition to that fee, I have to pay $10 per transcript request to send each school my transcript from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Reformed Theological Seminary, even though I took only one class each at those schools. Thankfully, Georgia Tech, where I did my undergraduate studies, does not charge for transcript requests.

I’ve always had an interest in research, so I’ve been leaning heavily towards pursuing a career in teaching and research at a university. It seems to be the ideal mix of my interests and desires:

- Teaching
- Researching topics that interest me
- A level of autonomy
- Interaction with some of the brightest minds in their field, and
- Interaction with students, which I think I would really enjoy.

This would mean that not only would I need to get a Ph.D., but I would also need to go to a school that is a strong research university. I discovered an organization that offers classifications of universities according to several criteria — one being its level of research activity. The organization is called The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The highest level for a doctorate-granting university is “Very High Research Activity.” All fifteen schools on the list above are universities with “Very High Research Activity,” so that is good.

I have to be patient, because it’s going to be a long process. First, I have to take the GRE this May, and then I have to get all my information together. I will have to get three references for each application. I’m thinking I will use Dr. Nelson Baker, my supervisor at Georgia Tech when I taught the engineering graphics lab, and at least one of my former work supervisors. I may need one more. I will then submit my applications late this year for Fall 2010 admission. Most of the schools have deadlines of early January for Fall admission if you are applying for a research assistantship position. That’s something I really need to get, because I do not want to take out more loans for graduate school. I have a feeling my final decision about which school to attend will come down to who offers me the best financial aid package.

Overall, I’m pretty excited about the prospects — moreso than about anything I’ve planned in my life up to now. I think I may have finally discovered what I am supposed to do for the rest of my life.

I’ve never read a book that described my personality more accurately than The Renaissance Soul: Life Design for People With Too Many Passions to Pick Just One. I am a Renaissance Soul. I have too many interests to settle on one. I typically don’t follow through with things I start, and that’s just fine with me. I am excited by the pursuit of knowledge on a particular topic. I hate long term goals, because I’m most likely to change interests long before I would ever reach those goals. I don’t like planning things too far into the future, because I’m not sure I would want to do that thing when the time comes. I like to go with my own flow.

If any of these statements sound like you, then you may be a Renaissance Soul, too. I urge you to read the book. It was an eye-opener for me, not to mention a huge relief to finally realize that I’m not weird. I’m just wired differently than others. People look at Leonardo DaVinci and Benjamin Franklin and see geniuses because of their many passions, but those same people look at Renaissance Souls today and say, “He’s just flaky. He can never stay focused on one thing.” It’s considered normal to be like Mozart who stuck with his one passion — music — for his entire life. He made a great contribution to the music world. But I would argue that the contribution from the Renaissance Souls of history have been even greater, because they cover a much larger variety.

Thoreau said it best when he said, “If a man loses pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” This is my theme. I march to the beat of a different drummer, and, quite frankly, I prefer my drummer’s beat. It’s more liberating. It’s who I am, and it suits me perfectly.