Grad school...should I?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Los Angeles
1

<p>Plenty of people here on the UCLA sub-forum have discussed, opined, whined, fretted, talked, and ruminated about grad school.</p>

<p>"If I get a 3.9, will I not be able to go to medical school? My friend's cousin's boss said that if you get anything less than a 3.95, you automatically get DQed."</p>

<p>"I want to go to b-school. Should I major in econ? What should I do to get into Wharton straight out of undergrad?"</p>

<p>"I don't know what I want to do with my life. What kind of grad school should I go to?"</p>

<p>These sample questions are just a few of the things I've seen asked. But never once have I seen:</p>

<p>"What are suggestions for good things to do after undergrad that I can develop my language skills?"</p>

<p>or </p>

<p>"Do any of you guys have suggestions for finding jobs in Italy so I can backpack through Europe for a year?"</p>

<p>Here's the deal, kiddos. Grad school is not for everybody. Trust me, I know. I'm in one, and it's killing me. You almost certainly don't want a PhD, MA, MBA, JD, MPP, MEd, MD, DO, or DDS. At least not straight out of undergrad. You want a couple of years in the "real world"-- or at least an approximation of it. You want time to get to know who you are without the protective walls of dad's checking account and UCLA's semi-ivy covered walls. You want to know WHY you want that graduate degree before you go.</p>

<p>Otherwise, you end up with a degree and a career trajectory you have no idea why you ever wanted to pursue.</p>

<p>Of course, some of you do know what you want. That's great. I applaud that. In fact, you don't count. But if even a small, tiny, miniscule, infinitesimal part of you says, "Gee, maybe I want to spend a year teaching Spanish in Russia..." then go!</p>

<p>Believe me, you have plenty of time to get old and have a career. You only have about a decade to do crazy fun stuff that will set you apart.</p>

2

<p>sigh...</p>

<p>very true advice.</p>

<p>but some of us (like me) are not comfortable with being so free after undergrad. If I were to go teach Spanish in Russia, I feel that I could be doing something else (grad school), and achieving something quicker. </p>

<p>some of us just want to become established as quickly as possible. I just wanna frickin' get school over with (yes, all 8- X amount of years)!!!!</p>

<p>I hate school.</p>

3

<p>vega07,</p>

<p>You're what...19? How do you even know what you want to do? Trust me, now that I look back, I sure didn't.</p>

<p>Barring any unforeseen circumstances, you should live to be at least 70 to 80 years old. What would you rather dwell on as you age: the knowledge that you got to your career faster, or the wonderful year or two you spent exploring the world, your own desires, and where you wanted your life to lead you?</p>

<p>Trust me. You want the latter.</p>

4

<p>true, a lot of people go to grad school at untraditional ages after spending years with doing whatever they could with their bachelors. sometimes those candidates are more sought after.</p>

5

<p>The best student here in my year at IR/PS (in my opinion, at least) is 27.</p>

6

<p>I just turned 18...and your original post UCLAri describes me exactly.</p>

<p>lol...but I am very unsure, like many others, of these gap years.</p>

7

<p>So was I. In the long run, I wish I had spent a couple more years doing fun stuff. After I'm done with grad school, it's off to the 9 to 5 for me.</p>

<p>:(</p>

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<p>what would you have done? and what's preventing you from backpacking through Europe or teaching Spanish in Russia after grad school?</p>

<p>heh.. it's been a little of the opposite for me. I decided a while ago that grad school was definitely not for me, and have been quite surprised to find that many of my peers have grad school plans... now I feel a little left out :P</p>

9

<p>
[quote]
what would you have done?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I think I would have maybe done Teach for America or the Peace Corps. I also thought it might have been fun to have spent a year or two just doing odd jobs in Europe and traveling around. </p>

<p>
[quote]
what's preventing you from backpacking through Europe or teaching Spanish in Russia after grad school?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Debt.</p>

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<p>There's only a six month grace period after graduation, I believe, before you have to start paying back loans?</p>

11

<p>Pretty much, yep.</p>

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<p>Hmm...a couple of years off...sounds great :D</p>