<p>I'm coming close to the end of my undergraduate years as BA and I have loved every moment of it. Still, I'm starting to get cold feet (the metaphoric kind...I'm wearing fuzzy socks and slippers) about what to do next with my life. The idea of going to grad school and avoiding the real world for another year or two is appealing to me suddenly. </p>
<p>The problem with that is, I can't afford graduate school tuition. I can't even afford my tuition right now. Nor do I want to pursue a career in education and academia so I don't see a purpose for getting a Masters or PhD. Still, I feel that while I've learned so much, I am nowhere near the level I could be if I was to continue studying acting or play-writing at a higher level. </p>
<p>The questions are: is it worth it to pursue graduate studies for acting or play-writing if you already got a degree? And where to go for higher studies? Grad school or conservatory program? Money? </p>
<p>Help! I'm feeling rather anxious and terribly uncertain about what else I could do with my life, if not grad school or grad school at all.</p>
<p>In my life, I have found that avoiding the real world usually turns out to be the wrong decision.</p>
<p>Take some time to really think about where you want to be in five or ten years. There’s nothing wrong with taking a lot of time to think about this, grad school isn’t going anywhere. You can get some job that only takes up 40 hours a week and pays your bills so that you can live while thinking. I’ve found that actually living in the real world helps me think about the real world much better than going to school does.</p>
<p>Once you have decided where you want to be in five or ten years, research people who are already in that place. You can interview them about how they got there, or if they are famous you can research their lives. From this you should get a pretty good idea of how people really do achieve in the real world the things you want to achieve.</p>
<p>RealKEVP, really great advice. Using grad school as a means to delay a difficult life decision is definitely a mistake, and can be an incredibly expensive mistake too. If you don’t know yet whether you want to go to grad school, don’t go. You certainly don’t need to go to grad school to be a successful working actor. I’d second RealKEVP’s advice to find a job, really any job that you can do, and from there pursue your acting. Working can really help you gain skills and confidence and never hurts. My daughter grew a lot the year she took off from school and was a hostess in a diner, some days working 11 hours straight. There were many days she hated going, but overall, it was a very positive experience for her, and she got far more confident and focused on what she wanted to do. I realize this can seem daunting, but if you can settle in a place with relatively livable expenses that has an active theatre community, you can then both work and audition for community & professional theatre. Once you land a role or two, you can then decide whether this is something you want to pursue. I myself have my MFA and many programs don’t accept applicants straight out of undergrad anyway–they want their students to have life experience first. So if you did decide to go to grad school, you’d bolster your chances by taking the years off to regroup, gain skills and focus.</p>
<p>The real world is daunting, but the only way to navigate it is to plunge right in. You’ll make mistakes, but that’s totally normal–that’s how you learn. Best of luck.</p>
<p>Thanks to the both of you! While grad school is still at the back of my mind, I think I will hold that thought off for a few more years. I think it’s really the state of my current bank account and the realization that moving back home was never an option that has me more scared than the the thought of the “real world”. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, interviewing people and living in the real world sounds like a plan. Next question…where am I going to live? Choices, choices… :)</p>
<p>Alos - you should stop in NOW to your college’s career services office. Every college has one, and I’m sure your school also has a great theatre alum network, too. Don’t wait until the spring to look at options. Get your name out there, and if you have a few things lined up as options, you may not feel so overwhelmed with all those choices that graduation gives you. Freedom can be daunting!</p>