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mathmollusk
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Is it a bad idea for me to get a master's in secondary education and teach high school (math) for a few years before I do a PhD? My main goal is to teach college. However, I've missed all the PhD application deadlines this year and figured I might as well pick up the HS teaching degree as a "backup" before I do my PhD in case I can't get a tenure track job in academia down the road (likely not, I know).
My main concern is that my rec letter writers will forget who I am when I ask them for letters 3-4+ years after college.
Related question: Is it really any worse to teach HS than college? I'm thinking another option would be to just stick with HS teaching and not even try for the PhD if my rec letters are going to be "stale" by that time. What attracts me to college teaching is less hand-holding and having to take trash talk from problem students and their parents as well as less issues with administration. Am I mistaken in this belief though? Seems like college could be just as bad/good in different ways.
My main concern is that my rec letter writers will forget who I am when I ask them for letters 3-4+ years after college.
Related question: Is it really any worse to teach HS than college? I'm thinking another option would be to just stick with HS teaching and not even try for the PhD if my rec letters are going to be "stale" by that time. What attracts me to college teaching is less hand-holding and having to take trash talk from problem students and their parents as well as less issues with administration. Am I mistaken in this belief though? Seems like college could be just as bad/good in different ways.
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