As we map out our post college paths, the graduate school question instantly comes to mind. It’s all anyone seems to be talking about, dialing home about, and speedily running to career services about. And the question still remains: are we ready to bravely join the suit-and-tie clad work populace on their tightly wound 9-5 routines? Or are we not quite willing to part with fluorescent-lighted classrooms, gifted professors, and the art of simply learning? Are sixteen years as students enough, or does the fact that we’re “technically done now” freak you out?
In this day and age, the grad school question is increasingly complicated. It requires us to consider an amalgamation of factors, some of which neatly coincide, others of which collide and clash, leaving it up to us to weigh the pros and cons of laboring through GRE prep books and program applications.
First of all, there’s the cost. While public universities cost $10,000 to $25,000 per year, private ones demand as much as $40,000 for that upper-level degree. Some of us have just emptied our pockets for our undergraduate education; are we in the position to trade first-year salaries for the lofty price of grad school? Will spending the big bucks upfront confer us the starting salary and job title we’re hoping for?
But with this said, it’s important to keep in mind that times have changed. The same post-graduate steps we may have taken 10, or even 5, years ago might not be as practical in the wake of today’s crippling economic recession. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the number of new students enrolled in 2010 graduate programs actually dipped for the first time in 7 years. While eager-to-learn professionals are more reluctant to abandon current jobs, businesses with tight budgets have been forced to reduce grad-school funding. And then there’s the uncomfortable fact churning in the back of all our minds: will there be a job waiting at the end of your graduate degree?
But this is not meant to deter the grad-school bound from expanding our intellectual curiosities. It’s just to get us to think—really think— about what we hope to take away from graduate school, why we’re choosing a given program, and (the most nagging question of all), when we should be applying.
As always, a sure way to start detangling these thorny questions is to do your research. If you have a so-called dream job in mind, see what kind of advanced degree and/or work experience is required to seize that prized opening and advance up the ladder. Talk to everyone you can—family, peers, teachers, professionals, and our ever-helpful Career Services staff. Generally speaking, keep up with the changing current of your specific industry and the general job hunt game; research the credentials and qualifications needed today to make headway in your field-of-choice.
Across all professions, hiring recruiters value work experience, which proves our ability to perform job functions in ways schooling often can’t. While that prestigious degree shows your depth and breadth of knowledge, time spent immersed in a field’s fast-paced climate proves you’re well-prepared, experienced and refreshingly easy-to-train. In fact, most master’s and doctorate programs highly recommend—or even require—candidates to buckle down for a few years of applicable experience BEFORE applying. A year or two in the work force adds “real-world” experience to your application credentials, a perk that admissions officers eat right up.
But much more than an application perk, meaningful work experience both during and after college offers an expanse of time to just figure things out. It’s by trading the confines of campus for the vibrant work arena—enmeshing ourselves in this whole wide world of professionals and their ideas and perspectives—that we can genuinely know what it is we want to do. Only then might we decide how graduate school fits into our long-term career eq
uation. Is that advanced degree the logical next step in achieving our career goals? Or do we see space to move up the ladder through work experience alone? So before you dive into scribbling applications and snagging teacher recs, thoughtfully consider some of these larger questions. Keep in mind the insurmountable value of work experience and first-hand professional insight. And, most importantly, remember that it‘s okay not to have all the answers yet; it’s often by keeping our minds wide-open—letting all that impending real-world experience take its course—that our questions will be answered right for us.
