I have a question. Could I go and get a masters (or PhD) in a field completely unrelated to my B.A. degree? If, say, I degreed in Lit but wanted to study economics-- does one go and get another b.a. or apply to a masters program?

I think apply to a Master's program. My friend had a BA in Theater, but got a Master's in Family Therapy.

Depends on the requirements of the program. Most have some vague language about how the applicant should have some "experience in the field"

I would consult with a graduate program in your field of choice. You may have life experience that makes up for your lack of formal schooling in this particular area. Also, sometimes you can get a "conditional acceptance", which requires you to take some prerequisites before being officially admitted to the program. t /graduate school administrator hat

Some have background requirements that you can make up while in the program. It depends on the program. My brother is getting his PhD from the Neurosciences program, and his background was a bachelors in psychology from a community college. I don't think he's had to do any makeup classes, but I do know he's had to work harder to get up to speed on the chemistry and biology than some other students.

Bon, I've known people who have done graduate work in very different fields from their undergrad, but they've come in with a lot of background in the new field. People don't typically do a second BA, but hypotethetical-you would have to cover any specific admissions requirements either during undergrad or classes you've taken since you've been out of school, plus prove to them that you knew your shit, perhaps even more than someone with a background.

The requirements vary by field -- when I was in grad school in Lit, there weren't many specific "you must have courses in X, Y, and Z", but they were heavy on the knowing-your-shit. OTOH, when I looked at doing a Master's in CS, there was a very specific checklist of courses that was the same pretty much everywhere. Econ (if that was a real example) is probably somewhere in-between.

</graduate school administrator hat>

Is the Graduate School Administrator Hat related to the Sorting Hat?

Some programs might require you to do a little post-bacc work (i.e. take a few college-level courses without being in a degree program), but I don't think you'd need a whole BA or BS.

Normally I put TiVo links in the Technology thread, but this one, about Overlap Protection is important enough for natter.

About time, and shame on the networks for making it necessary.

I wanna go to graduate school, but I don't know what program.

and then theres our chunk of land, where there is not one, but two downed powerlines

Ah. I was encouraged when my street was finally cleared of the huge tree blocking passage until I noticed the power pole and transformer in the pile of debris. Oh well.

Lagging behind in the sleep-drugs convo, I use GABA to head off anxiety attacks and help me sleep. I used to take Valium until I realized I was having to take more and more to get the same effect, and that was bothersome. When I researched it and found it worked by (something like) increasing the brain's receptivity to GABA, I thought, why not just give my brain more GABA? Which logic would probably give a doctor hives, but it works.