I know what you must be thinking… “Hell No! I hated school the first time around. Why should I spend my time in a classroom ever again?”
This is a compelling point. If you are trying to make
a healthy transition in your life—leaving the Sex Work industry—why would you
add even more stress to your life to attend college?
Why burden yourself with waking up early to fight
morning traffic to commute to school?
Why burden yourself with speaking with a college
advisor only to be met with reluctance and under-estimation?
Why sit in a classroom listening to a professor
lecture on and on about a subject that is difficult to understand?
Answer? To find meaningful high-quality work AFTER you
graduate! No one said that success was easy. And college is no exception.
If you haven’t, please read my previous post called “Transitional Careers for Porn Stars: 7 Companies and Industries That Pay Well for Those Who Have Data Analytics Skills.” You can find that post, here. To be clear, there is the ONE THING that all of those careers have in common.
They ALL require AT LEAST a bachelor's degree! Yes, it
is true that most, if not all, jobs these days require a college degree (a Bachelor’s
degree at minimum). Even more alarming is that college degrees, at the bachelor’s
level, are ubiquitous—EVERYONE has one!
I am not writing this to intimidate you or discourage
from finding a new path or career. Quite the opposite, actually.
I am writing this post to persuade you, that there is
an opportunity for you to leave the Sex Work industry completely! Having a college
degree, especially one in data science (or Business Administration with a quantitative
focus) can open so many possibilities for you. You can kiss the Porn Industry
goodbye forever. Tchau! FOREVER!
That’s the “why,” the case for going back to school to
acquire a college degree. But what about the “how?”
How do you choose what to study? And where to study?
How will you pay for this expensive education, because let’s face it, college,
for the most part, is expensive?
I will formally begin this post now. I will walk you
through a process that takes you through some key questions that I will
address one at a time, at length:
What do you need to study to do data analytics type
work after you graduate?
Where to study, and where NOT to study?
How to save your money throughout the process?
Let’s discuss the first question.
1. WHAT DO YOU NEED TO STUDY TO DO DATA
ANALYTICS TYPE WORK AFTER YOU GRADUATE?
Firstly, not all college degrees are created equally. The
same can be said of the school that you attend. More on this later! So, if you are
looking to find work as a data analyst, you are going to need a college degree
that is quantitative. Like:
Statistics and Mathematics
Engineering
Computer Science/Data Science
Bachelor of Business Administration (with an emphasis
on quantitative disciplines)
Some of the quantitative degrees like Statistics,
Engineering, and any form of mathematics will require TREMENDOUS effort to
complete. These types of degrees are the hardest to prepare for, and typically
attract top level talent at the University level.
Those who are enrolled in these more quantitative degrees
“kicked ass” in high school, and were most likely in the Math Club, spending
their time preparing for math contests against other schools. These folks are
the nerds that will be running the world when they graduate from college. Let’s
appreciate them for this fact!
If mathematics is not your strength, don’t worry. There
are other degrees that you can acquire that will also prove to be valuable in
the job search after you graduate. More on this soon, but first, let me describe
a Computer Science/Data Science degree path.
The Computer Science and Data Science degrees are relatively new for undergraduate university programs. These types of degrees are more common at graduate level (Master’s). Yet, well-funded state-schools will have a computer science—and even a data science—degree offering, typically administered through the college of “Engineering and Computing” at that University.
One such school is Florida International University
(FIU), a well-funded public school in Miami, Florida. FIU even has an option
where students can opt for an “Accelerated Data Science Pathway,” where
students can acquire both their undergraduate AND graduate degrees in 5 years. Click
here to read up on the program.
Programs like this are as competitive as you would
expect, but well worth it; you are leaving the school with 2 college degrees.
With a quick check, I was able to determine that many
of the top public state-schools in Florida—University of Florida (UF), Florida
State University (FSU), and University of South Florida (USF)—have a computer
science or data science bachelor’s degree option.
For your edification, use Google as a resource to find
these undergraduate degree options. Simply type the name of the universities
that are close to you (within reasonable proximity to the city you live in), then
type “data science major” or “data science undergraduate degree.”
Also, you can find Computer Science/Data Science
degree options at schools with an “Engineering” and/or a “Computing” department.
As Data Science and Computer Science are heavier in programming
and coding, this might still be a degree pathway that is challenging. But
rejoice! The next option is to complete a bachelor’s in Business.
Studying Business Analytics at the undergraduate level
is not common, although universities are beginning to create curriculum for
those who are interested in quantitative business disciplines.
For a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), you will
need to choose an “emphasis” within the degree. To avoid being complicated, you
can speak with an academic advisor on which disciplines to study if you wanted
to get into data analytics after graduation. Here is a small list of subjects
that are typically listed on job descriptions for a data analyst role:
Economics, which is the study of how markets react to the supply and
demand of goods and services.
Operations,
which is the study of how to make organizations’ internal processes more cost-effective.
and Supply Chain Management, which is the study
of how goods are created from scratch and sold as a final product.
Getting a Bachelor of Business Administration might be
the best path if you are more interested in Business and even becoming an entrepreneur.
This section covered the “what” to study when
attending a University. Let’s get into the “where” and “where not” to study?
2. WHERE TO STUDY, AND WHERE NOT TO STUDY?
I will begin this section with “where not” to study. DO
NOT study at a “for-profit” school. Schools like Keiser University, Southern
New Hampshire University, and the University of Phoenix, are NOT viewed by prospective
employers as “legitimate” universities. Not only are they NOT credible in this
regard, but they are also expensive.
Universities that you should study at are “not-for-profit”
or “non-profit” schools. So, any state school that is private or public is
acceptable for the most part. But the higher the school’s reputation, the more
beneficial getting a degree from that institution becomes.
Congruently, schools that have higher reputations
typically have higher graduation rates, because the students that attend are
smart, resourceful, and ambitious. These are the types of schools that you
should target in your search.
Let’s use California as an example. What schools in
this state are good for the purpose of obtaining work AFTER graduation? I have
already implied that the schools with the highest and furthest-reaching reputations
have the highest legitimacy perceived by prospective employers. So, there are
four schools that are the most reputable, two of them are private schools, and
the other two are public schools.
University of California at Berkeley, and University
of California at Los Angeles are the two top public schools in the state of
California, and subsequently, are ranked within the top 30 of schools in the
nation. They are… “Kind of a big deal.” Also, since they are public schools, tuition
is relatively affordable; the cost of attending a full load of classes is
roughly $14,000 a year.
The two most reputable private schools in the State of
California are University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, and Stanford
University in Palo Alto (Southeast of the San Francisco Bay Area). Both these
schools are considered “power houses” (forgive the sports reference) and are
also listed within the top 30 of schools in the nation. It is important to note
that these schools are astronomically expensive; tuition is within the range of
$56,000 to $60,000 per year!
To be clear, these are the BEST options in this state,
but not the only options. When deciding which school to attend, make sure that
the acceptance rate is lower than 50%, and that the graduation rate is higher
than 80%.
The reason why it is prudent to attend a school that has
an acceptance rate that is lower than 50% is because it demonstrates
that there is a high level of competition to attend that school. The lower the
acceptance rate, the higher the competition for securing a seat, the “smarter”
the student body is likely to be.
Also, schools with higher graduation rates mean
two things. One, that the student body has the intellect needed to complete the
course work at that school; in other words, the students are smart. Two, the University
has resources that help students succeed in the classrooms, whether it is access
to wellness programs, advising, coaching, etc.
You can do further Google research with this formula:
“Top Universities in (The State of Interest)”
Each school that you will find in the Google search
results will have brief statistics on the right side of the screen. You can see
metrics like the admission rate (which you want to be lower than 50%), and the graduation
rate (which you want to be higher than 80%).
You must now be thinking… “Wow, college is expensive!
How can I save money while attending school?”
Let’s discuss how to cut costs on studying at a worthy
university.
3. HOW TO SAVE YOUR MONEY THROUGHOUT THE
PROCESS?
One way that you can save money is to apply for scholarships.
FAFSA, for instance, is a platform that offers financial aid for those seeking
to obtain an undergraduate degree. It is a needs-based financial solution,
meaning that if you have a smaller income, FAFSA pays for more of your tuition
costs than you do.
I don’t want this section of the blog post to be about
scholarships. I want it to be more strategic, and reliant on your success in
school, as opposed to your need for financial assistance. For more information
on FAFSA, please click here. You can also watch YouTube videos on the
process of applying. There is so much more information out there on the subject
that is more detailed than the information that I can provide here, sadly.
I would like to offer my story and strategy for how to
save money while pursuing an undergraduate degree AND graduating from a top
tier institution. It is a two-fold strategy, but depending on your situation,
you can use this strategy in combination with FAFSA in order to minimize your
university costs. Use FAFSA for your benefit if needed.
Here is the story, it begins in my senior year of high
school.
When I moved to Florida many years ago, I was
fortunate enough to attend a prestigious private school. Although I knew that
my studies were important, I didn’t take full advantage of my experience at this
prestigious school. I was only taking two honors classes, one advanced placement
class, and the rest were college preparatory courses. I scored very low on my
SATs; my score was less than 1100. And lastly, my graduating GPA (Grade
Point Average) was only a 3.7 (weighted).
I wasn’t the worst student, but I was not special by
any definition. I had friends who were taking mainly a combination of honors
classes and advanced placement courses who graduated with GPA’s above 5.0
(weighted). They were special!
So, when it came down to applying to schools during
the early part of my senior year, I was mainly unsuccessful. I didn’t get into
my “reach schools” which were the University of Florida (UF), and the University
of Miami (UM). I got into two other schools—Florida State University (FSU) and
Florida International University (FIU)—but these were not the universities that
I was inspired about.
In an environment where you are expected to perform
beyond ordinary, I felt like a loser, ultimately paying for my acceptance deposit
at Florida International University.
Funny enough though, I didn’t graduate from FIU. I ended up
graduating from one of the reach schools that rejected my initial application,
The University of Miami.
So how did I get there?
This is what I wish for this third point to be; a
compelling strategy for how to not only SAVE money in your university studies
but also to ATTEND the school of your dreams. You can be what is known as a
TRANSFER student. I will get into that part of my story next.
The next part of my story is much like a rollercoaster.
There was no straight line, or path that I took to graduate from the University
of Miami. I was suffering from multiple rounds of depression, and I dropped out
of school many times.
Again, I was not a stellar student, but I did manage
to maintain a 3.2 at FIU during my first 2 years of college. This is vital, and
I will come back to why having a 3.0 GPA (or above) is so important for
transfer students.
From the time that I began my studies to the time that
I had graduate at UM, I had studied at Miami Dade College, Furman University,
and the prestigious Stanford University in Palo Alto. I had pursued perhaps 6
or 7 different majors, ranging from Business Administration to Psychology, from
Elementary Education to Music Performance, and finally graduating with an Interdisciplinary
degree called “General Studies.” My emphasis was in Sociology and English
Literature.
During the time at these schools, I observed and carefully
noted my status as a TRANSFER student. For definition’s sake, transfer students
are students who begin their university studies at one college and then TRANSFER
into another college to graduate.
So then, what is my super-crazy-amazing strategy for
saving money and studying at your dream school?
First, pick a college
that has a HIGH acceptance rate, or in other words, a school that is easy to
gain admittance.
Second, complete your
CORE CURRICULUM requirements while maintaining as high of a GPA as possible.
Shoot for a GPA close to 4.0. I mean, totally kill it! Destroy your studies. Be
the best student you can be in the shit school that you’re in.
Third, after two years
of studying at said shit school, apply to the school of your dreams as a TRANSFER
student.
It is much easier to get accepted as a TRANSER student
into a top-tier university, than it is to be accepted straight out of high
school. The competitive landscape for gaining admissions into a top school,
straight out of high school, is out of control. The level of competition is too intense.
Let’s say that Stanford was your dream school in high
school. Typically, Stanford admits those with higher GPAs and higher SAT and
ACT test scores. BUT EVERYONE WHO APPLIES TO STANFORD will have high GPAs and
high test scores. So how do you differentiate yourself from others who are applying?
In reality, you can’t! And this is something that no
high school counselor will tell you. If you think my experience as a transfer
student is too “anecdotal” then consider a conversation I had my Resident
Assistant (RA) when I was attending Stanford for Summer Quarter.
He told me that he attended a community college in
Ohio (where is Ohio anyway?), kicked butt in his classwork—he had a 4.0 GPA—and ultimately transferred to Stanford.
Recall that I mentioned to get as close to a 4.0 GPA
so that you can qualify for not only needs-based scholarships, but merit-based
scholarships as well (depending on the school and state). This is important if
you are looking to cut costs in college tuition.
Destroy your classwork. Eat, breathe, and live your
classes, so that you can put yourself in the best position to succeed
elsewhere.
So, just a recap. Spend your first two years at any
sub-par college (please be sure it is NOT Keiser University; your first college
should be of higher legitimacy). Then, transfer to the school of your dreams.
But I haven’t mentioned “how” you will save money with
my strategy. Let’s investigate.
Scenario A.
Let’s say that you were fortunate enough to spend all four years at
Stanford. That would be a cost of over $200,000 in tuition. This cost doesn’t
include your living expenses, which will also be substantial during this time.
Scenario B.
Now, let’s say that you attended an unranked public university for the first
two years of your undergraduate degree. We will say that this school is like
Florida International University, a good school, but no where near the caliber
of Stanford. Tuition at a public state school for those who live in the state
is typically less than $10,000 per year in the state of Florida.
So, for your first two years, you pay $20,000.
You destroy your classes after two years, apply to Stanford,
get accepted, and finish your last two years at the school of your dreams,
which will cost slightly more than $100,000 for those two years.
So, for the entirety of your undergraduate degree you
pay $120,000 dollars, which is slightly more than half of what you would have
paid if you went to an expensive private school for all four years of your
undergraduate degree.
If you attended an elite public school for your last
two years, like say, University of California at Berkeley, then your tuition costs
would be even lower. Total tuition for the four years would be around $50,000 (assuming
you attended a California public school for your first two years and you are a resident of California).
I haven’t even factored in scholarship money that you
would likely qualify for if you are “low-income” (needs-based) AND if you are a
“high-performing student” (merit-based). Though, merit-based scholarships are competitive, and dependent on the state and school.
Keep in mind that elite schools have higher standards
and might require you to retake one or two courses. You might graduate in one semester
after the typical four-year period. But isn’t it worth it if you can save
mountains of money on school AND attend the school that inspired you?
It is important to end this section with a caveat. It
is still difficult to get into an elite school like Stanford as a transfer
student. That is why it is important that you kick-immeasurable-behind in the
first two years of your undergraduate career. Get that 4.0, baby!
Here are some things to consider if you plan on going
back to school:
1. The better the school, the better the career outcome. This is just how things work in our society, as having a college degree is so common now. You need to find a way to differentiate yourself from those who are competing for the same job as you. Going to a “better” school is just one way to do this.
Also, having a deep understanding of the concepts that you have studied, and how it relates to the organization that you are applying for is important too.
2. “I’m too old for college.”
You are NEVER too old to get your degree. It took me 13 years to get my
bachelor’s degree in a society where it is common to have this credential after
only 4 years of rigorous study. I received my first master’s degree a year
later at one of my dream schools Northwestern University (MS in Communication
Studies). And, I am halfway finished with my second master’s degree (MS in
Business Analytics). It is important to be urgent with the decisions that you
make in your life, but school is truly one of the few things in life where you CAN
take your time.
It is true that you will be at a disadvantage in the
job market if you are older. Yet, if you are able to differentiate yourself from
others—and make the case that you will be adding value to the organization of
interest—you will be able to find your niche, whether that is in Corporate
America or as an entrepreneur.
Finally,
3. Give Praise to Your Family.
I hope that this consideration applies to you. Your family will be of tremendous
help to you during and after this process. Whether they can offer financial support
to make paying for college easier, or emotional support which will make being away
at school easier for you.
THANK YOU!
Thank you so much for reading this blog post. It was
lengthier this time, but I hope it was valuable to you. Don’t be discouraged
from your path. Leaving the Sex Work industry—for good—has so many risks and challenges
associated with it.
Going to college IS risky, but necessary if you are to
enter the job market and be hired for work that is meaningful and sustainable.
In the beginning of your transition, you will fall. You
will stumble. You will get knocked down. But you know what? You will get right back
up because that is the type of person you are. You are a fighter, and a born
winner!
Thanks again for your support. Enjoy the journey!