<p>I know it kind of reeks of the “prestige/money” obsession, in many fields, just getting a grad school degree (masters, etc) will net you a higher salary. Personally, if it’s something you love learning about and doing anyway, why wouldn’t you spend an extra ~two years (or more if we’re talkin’ PhD) studying it so you can then do it for a higher salary?
I’m referring, in my case, to computer science. Of course I plan to get paid to spend extra time learning about something which fascinates me! Why not? I have the rest of my life to do it in the workforce afterward-- and with a higher salary than if I hadn’t spent that extra time at all.
Though, I admit, I actually am very interested in possibly entering academia as a professor or the like, but I’m not sure how things will pan out for that. My primary plan is to enter the non-academic workforce after graduate school.</p>
<p>Even so, I don’t think one has to rush out of school to get out into the “real world.” Not everyone has the same life objective.</p>
<p>Now, are HS kids overemphasizing the importance of grad school? Maybe. But they’re still high school seniors; they don’t know if they’ll really be applying for post-graduate education yet. We should probably wait until they’re actually at least halfway through college to worry. It’s probably better for them to be over-planning than under-planning, right?
I’m a HS senior myself, so obviously, I’m biased. Heck, I don’t even know if I’ll really go to grad school. But, at the moment, I want to!</p>
<p>My post is long enough already, but I think this topic kind of reflects on how attitudes toward education are changing in general. Years ago, college was optional. A high school degree was really enough. Now, college degrees are what HS degrees once were. I imagine it kind of follows that today’s Masters degrees could be what plain old BS/BA’s once were.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s because for many high school students on CC, their parents, parents’ friends, and teachers went to grad school, so that’s their model of what people do when learning a profession.</p>
<p>Neither I nor my husband has ever even * attended* a 4 year university- so not everybody thinks they have to go to grad school.</p>
<p>I have attended a community college, but wasn’t able to take enough language in high school to apply to an instate university & those synapses are too shot to try now.</p>
<p>My older daughter did attend a school that is known for the high % of graduates who receive a ph.d, but she is only just now applying to grad school ( she graduated in '06)</p>
<p>Many /= everyone. I’m just thinking that students who post here are more tuned in to their educational options than the average high schooler, which might suggest that either their parents or their teachers/mentors are more likely to have pursued a graduate degree than the average working adult.</p>
<p>Yeah. On my mom’s side, no one has a grad degree. On my dad’s side, it’s 3/4 kids (MBA. Medical Doctorate, and Ma in Public Health) and my grandmother, who Mastered in Engineering (or math?, I don’t remember)- I think my grandfather also had a MA but I don’t know. </p>
<p>If nothing else, I’m pretty aware of the fact that it can help.</p>
<p>I agree with starbright sort of. I think most high school seniors write about grad school because they dont’ really understand what it is and because it’s a much easier thing to plan for than joining the workforce. Grad school seems from a distance to be sort of what they’re used to: an application process, a planned course of study with classes and projects, and eventually graduation. Whereas getting a job, none of them know how to do that. THey might have part time jobs but htey don’t understand how to apply for a real job, or even really what jobs are out there and available to them. So they say, I’m going to grad school. </p>
<p>Then they get to college and realize that not only are they not going to grad school, they’re not even going to major in engineering because they’ve discovered the wonders of sociology/Medevial studies/Math/neuroscience/architecture/English/French Literature whatever.</p>
<p>Getting out and working for a few years can fix a LOT of transcript ills. DH had a 3.2 UG but got into several top law schools after five years of a career-track position, rapid advancement and strong recs from his colleagues.</p>
<p>Then they get to college and realize that not only are they not going to grad school, they’re not even going to major in engineering because they’ve discovered the wonders of sociology/Medevial studies/Math/neuroscience/architecture/English/French Literature whatever.</p>
<p>Too true^^ </p>
<p>Then they find after graduation, that perhaps a * job* would be a better idea than deferring loans from undergrad and incurring more loans for grad school, and they scout around for vocational programs at the community college.</p>
<p>S2 has put off grad school (full-ride plus generous stipend at a top private) to work for a year (many PhD programs are paid for). Wants to get some real-world experience under his belt and was offered a great job in his field beginning in August. S2’s GF has been working for two years in one of those coveted IB type jobs, and has had enough of the “real world” and is going to return to grad school along with S2 (different fields). S1 wants (for now) to go to a top law school so his college selection, major, etc. is somewhat organized around that goal. I think some planning ahead is important, and goals do change. Nothing is fixed in concrete at this age, so I don’t actually see what the concern is.</p>
<p>“…so I don’t actually see what the concern is.”</p>
<p>It’s when I read posts on the engineering forum that say “I am debating whether I should major in chemical engineering or something else because I have to get a 3.8 to get into graduate school. I don’t think I can get a 3.8 as an engineer so I am looking at doing business instead. I’m a senior in high school btw.” or something along those lines.</p>
<p>I am going to try to be cordial as I reply because I find this original assumption that going to graduate school is somehow a cop-out for real life very offensive. Obviously spoken by someone who has never been to grad school and has no idea the intense level of work that is involved. Going to graduate school is infinitely more challenging than just going out a getting and job after college and anyone who wants to further their education and learn more should be celebrated, not belittled because they aren’t making money.
It appears as though those who believe it is inappropriate that students may be considering graduate school so early are a bit out of touch with the current job market and economy, maybe because they’ve gotten their education long ago and been in the work force for a while. Right now it is extremely difficult to get a decent-paying position that you could potentially live off of with just a Bachelor’s degree. There are a handful of Bachelor’s degree in which this is possible, but for the vast majority, students are finding that a higher degree is needed in order to land even an entry-level position. It has not always been this way, but things have simply changed. The economy has changed, there are less jobs out there that offer a living wage and there are a lot of graduates with a Bachelor’s looking for a job. To make matters worse, those who do have a higher degree may have been laid off and are also looking for a decent job, so having only a Bachelor’s doesn’t make you so special anymore. This is the message we are getting as young students and I can tell you it has been the experience of all of my peers who have recently graduated from college. There are a lucky few who have landed decent jobs right out of college, only to be laid off 6 months later.
It is a very good point that the sample we see here is not the average high school or college student. People who utilize this website do so because the are very invested in their future and have high aspirations for themselves, this to be commended. If you think students are being too intense in thinking of their majors in terms of where they can get the highest GPA and how that will affect graduate school admissions, you are hopelessly out of touch with how grad school admissions work these days. It is incredibly competitive and only becoming more so. In order to get into a good program you might very well need a 3.8 GPA. This is, of course, not the case for every program but for the best programs this is true, they simply won’t take you with a 3.5. Not every student has to get into the best graduate programs, but these smart and ambitious young people realize that going to a mediocre graduate program can have devastating effects on their job prospects.
If you have a problem with students considering and planning for graduate school at an early age then discourage your own children from doing so, but don’t put down people who are being responsible about their future. Trust me, their concern is not needless. If you disagree why don’t you try to apply to graduate school yourself or get a good-paying job with only a Bachelor’s degree and no experience.
~A very hard-working graduate student</p>
<p>^Well the OP is in grad school right now. And I have sat on grad school admissions for many years at a number of top schools. I do concur however that it is not at all a walk in the park and a top program is extremely demanding and just as ‘real world’. But I’m not sure that was the OP’s point. </p>
<p>The last thing any top PhD program (by that I mean truly research oriented PhD programs training future academics), are grinders who intrumentally chose their path to get the ‘right numbers’ (esp when those numbers are not particularly important relative to so many other factors). On that, I entirely disagree about the “3.8”-- where on earth these things come from is beyond me. It’s that kind of black and white thinking around ranks and simplified numbers that sorely misleads students who might otherwise be great students for grad school later on. </p>
<p>And the last thing any top PhD program wants are students who apply because they can’t get a job in the current economic situation, students that are going into it out of social/parental expectations, those that think it would be cool to have a PhD, or those that don’t know what else they want to do with their life.</p>
<p>Most students on CC <em>are</em> out of touch with grad school (by that I mean PhD programs). It’s not their fault or a judgment on them: they are in highschool after all. But when I query them in private PMs, to figure out their question or how I can help, most touting “I’m going to grad school” have not a clue what they are talking about. So where is it coming from? Parent pressure? Collect-the-set mentality? Fear of the unknown job world? It is not about inside information and experience that they love research in a particular field (and frankly, if that isn’t the main criteria, it’s a waste of everyone’s time). </p>
<p>I shudder at the thought of some of these kids on this ‘track’ to grad school for all the wrong reasons.</p>
It’s probably better for them to be over-planning than under-planning, right?