<p>You know how everywhere you look, they tell you not to go to grad school because you don't know what else to do? Well, that's me. I got my bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering this previous May (2009), and wasn't really sure if I wanted to keep studying in my degree field, or move on to a programming career (I've worked at a small startup for several years now, and have always loved programming), so I decided to go to grad school in my degree field (Mechanical Engineering). It was really easy for me to get in at my undergrad institution, because it isn't very competitive, and I had a few professors who knew and liked me. I got into my master's program easily in spite of a terrible GRE score and essentially no research experience.</p>
<p>I'm in my 1st semester of this program, and I know that I don't want to be in grad school right now, because I'm miserable and don't know where I'm going. It's hard to do the work required for classes and my research, because I'm so unmotivated.</p>
<p>My question is, should I drop out now (like, tomorrow), or should I wait out the semester? I could see myself eventually deciding that I do want to pursue more education a few years down the road (maybe in this field, maybe not), and I would hate for this mistake to prevent me from doing so, but I need to get some perspective and figure out where I want to go. I wish I had done this instead of entering graduate school, but I can't unring that bell.</p>
<p>If I quit now, I will have two classes with "W"s on my transcripts. If I quit after the end of the semester, I will have whatever grades I manage to earn. I have the ability to pass both of my classes (meaning B or higher) at least, if I can somehow muster the motivation to do the work.</p>
<p>Finish out the semester - it will leave a much better impression of your attempt than a withdrawal will. Find someone you know and recruit them to help keep you on the ball.</p>
<p>hey man
i registered because i wanted to ask why your miserable.
i just graduated with a BS in CS but now i’m getting bored with just ‘working’. i am planning on pursuing a EE masters to fill my void. i want to test the waters without getting soaked if you know what i mean.</p>
<p>If you can drop now and get a refund on your tuition, drop now. It it’s already past that point I’d just wait out the semester. Plus, who knows, maybe the first semester is just super rough and you’ll change your mind a couple months from now?</p>
<p>Though I agree that you should finish the semester, this hardly seems like a fit issue. I doubt finding a new program would do you any good at this point. Time off, and work experience on the other hand, that might do the trick.</p>
<p>Outlaws brings us a good point: there is almost nothing that people do right out of undergrad that doesn’t suck. I had multiple entry level jobs in my field between undergrad and grad school. They all were marginal at best. Grad school can be overwhelming and I am putting is substantially more time than in my other jobs, but at least I can feel like I am investing in my future. Very few entry level jobs give you that feeling.</p>
<p>outlaws, This by no means meant to discourage anyone from going to grad school, if they’re relatively sure it’s what they want to do. Most of the people around me are excited about what they’re studying, and I think for many of them, they couldn’t imagine doing anything else.</p>
<p>My thing is, I’m just not sure this is what I want to do, and I have been pretty successful in finding programming jobs that challenge me. Even if I do want to grad school, a master’s in computer science might be more appropriate, since that’s something I’ve always been interested in.</p>
<p>Edit:</p>
<p>I forgot to add, what I’m planning to do is take a leave of absence next semester so I can try to figure out where I want to go. That way, I could pick up school if I decide it’s what I want to do after all. Now to make it through the rest of the semester…</p>
<p>I’d have to side with the rest here, just finish it out. Tedious and tumultuous as it may be the rest of the way, it’ll look much better should you decide to switch to something else or pick this back up.</p>
<p>You may also get a sense of accomplishment by pushing yourself to finish it. Maybe, maybe not.</p>