I finally got an appointment with an eArmyU counselor on Fort Hood. It is for July 18th. I hope to have the opportunity to enroll in Utah State University's online M.S. program in technical writing. Concurently, I have decided to drop out of the Touro MBA program. It would, of course, be impractical to do both the Touro and the Utah programs, and technical writing follows more along my lines of interest and career goals. And, since the USU program is offered through eArmyU, I will be able to tap into all the resources offered to soldiers through that initiative. Now I'm just gathering all the materials I need for my appointment, and for the application package to USU's graduate school. One neat item arrived in the mail today: my diploma from Charter Oak State College! Tracy<>< B.S., Individualized Studies, Charter Oak State College, Nov 2001
Tracy, Does the program you've alluded to require exorbitant experience in the field of technical writing? Kind regards, Steven King
Best of luck Tracy, I'm glad you found a program more in line with what you're looking for. Maybe after the USU program you can go back and finish your MBA. Bruce
Re: Re: Leaving Touro The USU program is designed primarily for practicing technical communicators, but is open to all students who want to transition into tech writing from other fields. All those who seek to gain admission must submit a resume as part of the application package. I intend to show in my resume how my experience has prepared me for the field. During my research into the the tech writing field, I had found out that tech writing encompasses a broud range activities, from developing coursware, to writing manuals, to writing business communications, and writing up procedures and policy statements. I find that have done a little of each of those things. Tracy<><
Looking for advice I need three letters of recommendation. According to the instructions from USU, two of them had to be from teachers, since I have attended school within the last five years. Fortunately, the two teachers I had for the last term at Touro have agreed to write letters of recommendation for me. I need another letter. I asked myself the question "from whom" and found some suitable answers on this thread. It seems to me that I should ask for one from my employer; in my case, either my commander or first-line supervisor. But I wonder if it would be better to have one each from my commander and first-line supervisor. Is it possible to have too many letters for recommendation? On another note, should a resume used for graduate school admission differ from one used for job hunting. If so, how? Specifically, does length of the resume count as much for grad school admission as it seems to for securing an interview for a job? Does one format seem to work better than others? Tracy<><
Re: Looking for advice I'd say send all four letters. What's the worst they can do? Disregard one positive recomendation in favor of three other positive recommendations? BTW, congratulations. I imagine that it takes some intestinal fortitude to bail out of one program in favor of another. Good luck, Jack
Re: Re: Looking for advice That makes sense. I think I will ask both my first-line supervisor and my commander for a letter, and send them along with the letters from my teachers. It did take some hand wringing to finally make the decision to drop out of Touro (which is justly lauded by many contributors to this board.) In the end, though, I decided to apply to the USU program because technical writing is my career goal (I would have used the Touro MBA to try to break into the tech writing field, too.) The USU program is specifically a tech writing degree, and the fact that it is offered through eArmyU sweetens the pot: free tuition, fees, books, a technology package (consisting of a laptop, printer, and internet connection), and services specifically tailored to distance learners. Tracy<><
Bruce, Thanks. I think that I would still like to get an MBA sometime, especially if it would help me advance. Tracy<><
Re: Re: Leaving Touro Thanks, Eli. You have every reason to be proud of your Touro degrees. I wish you success. Tracy<><
