One of the hardest decisions you have to make as a college student is deciding what to do after you graduate. Do you get a job? Do you go to grad school? Do you travel around the world for a few months? Do you move back in with your parents until they kick you out? With so many options, it’s often hard to figure out which one is right for you. There are so many factors at play that everyone’s situation is unique. However, I’m going to share my story in hope that you’ll be able to find at least some common ground.
I didn’t really know what industry I wanted to work in until my junior year of college. Around that time, I started taking courses outside of my major, and it really got me interested in a specific field that combined my major with other fields. Sparked by this new interest, I took advantage of the last two years of college by:
- Taking classes that focused on topics related to my newly discovered interests
- Building relationships with my professors who taught these courses
- Working hard to develop skills that would help me get a job in the field
Despite all of my efforts, I still didn’t have the skills I needed to land a job in the industry by my senior year, so I started talking to my professors about graduate programs. One of my professors turned out to be extremely helpful. Not only did she recommend the graduate program that I ended up attending, she saved me some money by advising me not to apply to a graduate program (where her husband happened to teach), because it wasn’t a very strong program for what I wanted to do. The power of networking is incredible.
That brings us to the main focus of this article. Should you take a break before grad school? Personally, I decided not to take a break before grad school, and now that I’ll finally be graduating in August, I can look back and evaluate the pros and cons of my decision.
Pros
- Easy adjustment because I was still in academic mode
- Kept me focused on my goal
- Same age as most of the other grad students
Cons
- Didn’t have time to save up money to pay for grad school
- Burn out from too much school
- Older than others when finally entering the real world
As you can see, the pros and cons seemed to balance each other out for me. While I didn’t officially take a break before grad school, there was a period of about a year where I struggled to keep myself motivated to finish my thesis. However, there’s no telling what would have happened if I had taken a year off before grad school. Who knows if I would have had the motivation to go back?
Now it’s your turn to share. Did you take a break before grad school? Why or why not?
If you enjoyed this post, subscribe to my RSS feed or via email for free updates.
{ 3 trackbacks }
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
When I go back to school this fall, I’ll be three years out of college. What’s funny is that while I always planned on going back to grad school, I’m headed in an entirely different direction now.
Although I’ve dreamed of getting my MFA for years, when I graduated, I intended to apply to law school after a year of “real world” experience. While studying for the LSAT, I worked part-time as a legal assistant at a firm specializing in intellectual property, which is what I thought I would be interested in. Well, it turns out, a legal career wasn’t right for me, but I’m grateful that I took the time to explore it before I committed myself to two years of law school.
In the past two years, I’ve really wrestled with the decision to apply and then attend graduate school for a fine-arts degree. Ultimately, I think it’s the right decision for me–but I’m glad that I’ve bulked up my work experience before heading back to school. While I want to teach eventually, and an MFA may help with that, teaching jobs are few, and competition is fierce, so I’m glad I have other job abilities I can draw on in the future.
I took about two years off between college and graduate school. It wasn’t a conscious decision, it just kind of happened that way. I really never planned on going to graduate school after I changed my major in college. I also had my oldest daughter my junior year and was looking forward to not being in school so I could spend time with her.
I finally decided I needed to go back in order to earn a higher salary, and be able to quit my 3-11pm job. I went back when she was 2 years old so that I could be finished with school by the time she was in kindergarten.
It all worked out in the end! I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer here, just what works best for you.
mfaorbust: I actually had to choose between a MFA program and a MS program. It wasn’t much of a choice though, because the MFA program literally cost 4 times as much as the MS program. This blog might have been about paying back six figures in student loans had I gone the MFA route. Instead, I settled for the MS program, which helped me land a job at the top company on my list. However, I don’t have a terminal degree, so that means more school if I ever want to try teaching at the university level, which doesn’t sound appealing to me anymore.
Anna: I definitely agree. I know a few friends who took a couple years off between college and grad school for various reasons. Some didn’t enjoy their jobs, and others just weren’t ready for more school yet. However, it’s pretty amazing how everything seems to work out in the end.
I think it can depend on what field you are in. My particular graduate program required X number of years of work experience and/or other post-graduate experience (which would have conferred some hands-on experience). Other programs that offer my degree don’t have that requirement, but they aren’t as strong.
Where I work, having hands-on experience is important, so people who are hired without any previous experience (even if they have a masters) are often hired at a lower position.
It’s different with a doctorate though…
I took a year off between undergrad and grad schools, but that was mainly b/c I didn’t plan on grad school originally. I made the regrettable decision to major in something I didn’t want to pursue (long story), which led to a dead-end job in a field I didn’t enjoy (also long story), which forced me to get creative with finding writing experience and, then, further education.
Looking back, though, I am *really* glad I took that year between, not that it was an option at the time to go straight to grad school. For me, the difference in maturity between almost-22 and just-turned-23 was huge. I didn’t pay for college, I didn’t worry about finding a job, I didn’t understand how finances worked… until I was out of school, trying to figure things out. This, I’m sure, is not the experience of everyone… and for that reasons, I think different situations call for different responses.
Sounds like you made a good decision by lumping it all together, especially since it helped you land your job!
I graduated with a B.S. in Public Administration and the goal at the time was to manage a campaign for a public official then after wining, working. So I jumped on the campaign, we won, then I moved myself to Texas! So my track is mixed with professional experience / life experience because I think it is important to see, live, and work in different parts of the world before deciding where you’d ultimately like to call home. I know that I am a rare case because most people don’t have an option. I do want to go back to school for an MBA, I just don’t know when that is going to happen, however during my time in between undergrad and grad school I have ruled out Law School which I am very thankful for!
I have mixed feelings about when to attend graduate school. I took a 5 year break after college. I was able to make money mistakes and bounce back. I also have money set aside for a rainy day. However, I’ve also experienced a lifestyle inflation, so it’s going to be hard for me to go back to a student lifestyle (and survive on my stipend). I also will be a lot older than the other students in my classes, so I think this will also be a difficult transition. I guess I’ll just have to see….
Had a 2 year break before I went to grad school. It worked for me as I needed to finish my licensure exams first. After I passed my licensure exams locally and internationally, and I was able to earn enough money to pay for some part of my grad school, then I’m back. Now I’m at the end of the road, I’ll be defending my thesis on Wednesday.
I would MOST DEFINATELY wait before going to grad school, especially if you have a liberal arts degree and want to go into a non-science related profession. I took one year off between undergrad and grad school and tried to find a job in my area of interest – international nonprofits. I applied to over 25 jobs and the two that were nice enough to return my calls or reply to applications sent said that I needed to have a masters degree to get into this field. So I went back to grad school at a school I thought was great and middle of the road in terms of expense (not cheap like the State schools but not as expensive as the Ivy’s – $27K). It turned out to be a joke and a waste of money. Before I knew it, I was halfway through my first semester, miserable, already $12K inthe hole and realizing that my credits wouldn’t transfer to a more “reputable” school. In the end, I finished the 2 year program with $60K in debt (including my $14 K from undergrad loans) and started panicking. With student loan payments of over $500 a month, what was I to do? I ended up taking a job in a related field (I got my MPA in international nonprofit mgmt but ended up working for local government in community development) and am overall quite happy. HOwever, I wouldn’t have spent so much money on my MPA if I thought I could get the international job I wanted. Being 25 when I graduated with little to no work experience made me VERY unattractive to employers and the “but I have a master’s degree” was pretty much scoffed at. Moral of the story? Really do your research. And get a few years of work experience to save money, be sure of what you want to do, and have the skills to get a great job with your masters degree when you get out.
Oh and my current job would pay for up to $6,000 per year for grad school – definately should have waited and gone to school part time while working!!!