Thread: Work or grad school.. really stressful dilemma!!

If you don't know what you want to do, making a rushed decision isn't necessarily going to serve you well... though if you have a general idea, there may be some core studies you can dig into while making up your mind for a final destination.

IMHO, if you have the option to stay in school, you should do so. It is not going to get easier, that's for sure. Once you start taking on a lot of responsibility, going back to school will be MUCH more difficult.

Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

The best thing I can come up with right now is to get a job for a year or two and spend that time deciding my future.

I think that is exactly what you should do, or else keep taking undergraduate classes for a while. My sister spent seven years in college, and I think that's awesome. I sort of wish I had done that, sort of. Graduate school should never be a hasty decision. You are only 21 and are not even finished with college. There is no point in stressing over that stuff right now. My senior year in college, I was just concerned with finishing college. I totally planned on screwing around for a while after college and figuring the rest out later. After I graduated, I just took my graduation money and partied all summer in Baton Rouge. I didn't use my psychology degree for another seven months, and it was another five years and three months before I went to law school. Both of my parents went five years between college and graduate school also. If you know exactly what you want to do for the rest of your life and are ready to go do it, then applying to graduate school now would make sense, but if you are not sure, I think you should wait a bit before you make the big decision. And it really is a huge decision. You don't want to go all the way through graduate school in economics and have a mountain of student loan money to pay back and then decide that you want to be a heart surgeon. It's something to take some time to think about, like getting married.

There is a delicate trade-off here. Let's say grad school is 2 years for you, and you want to look at where you'll be 5 years from now. That means 3 years of work. If you go to grad school right away, then your entry level positions will be better, and after 5 years (from today), you'll have done much more meaningful work, for a lot more money (even if you consider the extra interest you earn on working early). If you can afford it, that's the way to go... EXCEPT....

...you don't seem to be certain of what you want to do. In that case, it might be worth getting some work experience first. Going to grad school and studying the wrong thing is a huge waste of time and MONEY. Going to work for a while is not a waste of money, and at the very least, it's a life lesson where you make money (as opposed to a life lesson where you don't). That's definitely the safest route if you're not 100% sure of what you want to study in grad school, and what you want to be doing 10 years from now.

The only con of going to work now is that the longer you work, the harder it will be to go back to your student life. Many people have warned me about it, both students and profs. I chose to go to work, knowing it will be very hard to go back to grad school at this point, but I'm pretty successful in my job right now, so I don't really feel the need. Once that plateau approaches, we'll see . I'm in an industry where it's really easy to be self-taught, though.

Oh yeah, and if you're in the US, you'll probably get raped by tuition/loans, so you'll have to be careful there too. On one hand, with work experience, you'll have an easier time getting a loan and paying it off... but on the other, you'll be getting into more dept a few years later in life, which might hinder real estate prospects and the likes.

Not really sure if I can add much value to this, neither can I offer an answer which I think you would see as a suitable resolution. I finished college at 19 and went straight to work - I was bored of learning stuff I wouldn't need to know later in life. Like you I didn't know what I wanted to do as a profession, and didn't want to rush a decision on what I wanted to learn to support this.

So took the decision to go to work, and see what I could do there, and then make the decision that if I wanted further education I could do it a year later. As it turned out I did well in the company I joined, and 6 and a half years later I am still there and doing well.

I think since you have to make this decision NOW then it could be bad for you if you rush it. I mean you don't want to choose something that you don't want to learn right? If you apply to grad school now, do you have to choose what you learn now? If not could you not just apply anyway, then choose what to study when you have had a better think about it?

Taking a year out seems to me to be the option which would best suit your situation, do you have a careers adviser or anyone there that can give you some proper advise?

You need to see if your degree will get you into something that you want to do. It it were possible, I'd say that you should get a job that lets you keep going to school, or at least a part-time job, in the field and see if you that's really what you want to do. Meanwhile keep taking undergraduate classes in other areas that interest you. If you find out that economics isn't the right thing, you won't have wasted the grad school time on it, and you can switch to something else.

I agree with everyone here. It's really hard to go back to school once you start working and have to worry about the real world. Getting as much learning as you can early also gives you a head start in your career and you won't spend too much time stuck in bad job positions.

Perhaps you could take a gap year traveling? I plan to do this between degrees. It doesn't have to be expensive either, there are plenty of organizations out there who will help fun you reach English in various countries.

I say this because it'll give you a year out to think about what you want to do, without risking not wanting to go back to school. Also, if you're saying it's late to apply to Grad Schools, you'll have an extra year to get you alications in early, should you decide on it.

I think you should take a gap year and just get some time off and think about what you really want/feel you should do.

Maybe you could get a full time job for a few months and see if you feel responsible enough with it. If you don't feel up to it then go down to a part time or just quit.

I honestly believe that you should continue on at school though, after all it's far better to have more qualifications/education on your CV and even if you found out that you wasted a few more years getting an education, atleast you worked for it and can't say to yourself that you didn't try.

Good luck with your decision

Meh DUN meh DUN DUN DUNNN!!!! and meh.

Thanks for the replies guys. Going to grad school really narrows your job options later on.. yeah you'll make more money but you'll have less choices.

I don't need to keep taking undergraduate courses.. I'm happy with my major. Besides, my tuition is incredibly high. I also can't "waste" a couple of years in grad school because unless I can get a job as a TA or something, it will cost me more than my current tuition.

You are right about it being harder to reenter the education system later on... one of my good friends though is doing exactly that and I think she is happy about it.

Maybe spend a year out in the uk?

People have raised interesting points so far, but I think the best thing you can do is make a pros/cons list for all your options, that way you can get a better overview of things from your point of view. If it were up to me though, I would finish my education to try and get a career started as soon as possible. The sooner you start your career, the sooner you'll retire .

Hmm Adam, not a bad idea!

Spart, by 'finish education' do you mean go to grad school first?

The other thing about grad school is it's not really necessary... unless you're in a field like computer science or engineering or something like that. Hmmmm.

Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

Spart, by 'finish education' do you mean go to grad school first?

Yeah, but that's just my little opinion. Like I said, there are pros and cons to all of your options, you may not perceive them the same way that I do depending on your situation/values.

Also, if you think that a graduate degree will have little or no impact on the quality of your future career (our education system is a little different, so I don't know how that's possible, but eh...), then I would definately suggest that you start your career right away. You'll be less indebted (or have more savings) and you'll be able to make big financial decisions sooner (new car, house, investments...). Your whole working life would basically be shifted earlier by a few years (which will make you really happy when you'll be on the verge of retirement in 30 years ). Keep in mind that corporate advancement has less to do with your qualifications at entry level, and more to do with work experience and connections, so the sooner you get your foot in the door, the better.