<p>Hi There,</p>
<p>I am a 2008 graduate (undergrad) and I have had it with working in the business world already. I am absolutely not cut out for this stuff. Anyways I want to go to graduate school and hide out in academia, at least for now.</p>
<p>I graduated with a 3.85, phi beta kappa from a top 5 public school with a degree in psychology. However, I am actually not that keen on psych grad school so I was wondering what programs I would be able to get in to. I know I could do law school, but what about other subjects....who would be likely to take me in with my psych degree?</p>
<p>I have such diverse interests I feel like it would be helpful to know my options, then start narrowing them down.</p>
<p>Thanks for ur help</p>
<p>-The Fresh Prince</p>
<p>Hi there!
I am currently applying to PhD programs in biomedical sciences and have been researching PhD programs for quite some time now. The advice I have gotten time and time again, at least in my field, is that the worst reason to go back to grad school is because you want to avoid the "real world." Now, maybe that only applies to the sciences because of the amount of underpaid hard work involved, BUT mind you, PhD programs in other fields don't even pay you at all and you still have to work just as hard to finish your thesis! Maybe money and time is not an object for you, and maybe other people will disagree with me, but to be honest I think you should really re-think your logic on this. Just my 2c!</p>
<p>Having said that - we can narrow down your choices by elimination... Sounds like medical school or sciences would be out, unless you wanted to do more course work... How about clinical psychology or... law school?</p>
<p>The impression I got was that the OP is not trying to avoid hard work, but just dislikes the business environment. But I could be wrong.</p>
<p>Just curious, OP, what kind of work have you been doing and why do you hate it? With that info, maybe others could more effectively point you in the right direction.</p>
<p>You graduated in June of 2008, started working in some sort of business environment, and now half a year later, you are sick of it. Do you really think that eight months is a fair amount of time to make a decision like this? Do you think that you are unhappy with your current position? company? job duties? What is it that you are so unhappy with? If it is the lack of intellectual stimulation, then that is a legitimate reason to reenter academia. If it is the anonymity that goes along with being an entry level employee, following the instructions of a moron boss- consider moving to a smaller company. Grad school isn't some sort of oasis in the professional world, it comes with lots of its own challenges and frustrations. If you shared a little more info about your current position, things you find frustrating, things you liked about undergrad, unpursued dreams etc perhaps we might be able to give you a little more pointed advice.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for all the posts back already. I had a feeling that my post would stir up discussion about my reasoning for grad school rather than the actual grad school so let me try to clarify...honestly I enjoy learning, I enjoy school, and I enjoy working in an academic environment so I believe that those qualities combined with my ability to achieve academically make a career in academia a good fit. I spent last summer interning at a huge corporation and have been working for a very small company i since I graduated and can't help but feel that I'm constantly trying to jam a square peg into a round hole. Lack of intellectual stimulation is definitely a part as well, as mentioned by belevit</p>
<p>Therefor, in my opinion this is not just some oh I'm 23 and I hate going to work and I miss being in college so I'm going to spend my life racking up debt in college type deals. I have done a lot of soul searching and researching and figure this could be a good fit for me so I'm looking for info on what my options are.</p>
<p>Thanks again for all your help</p>
<p>Will Smith,</p>
<p>I'm also a 2008 graduate in a Ph.D program. I knew I didn't want to work straight out of undergrad; I wanted more academic development.</p>
<p>Let me tell you, though, if you are planning a Ph.D you will be absolutely miserable if you don't have a focused area of research and a dedication to getting a position that requires a Ph.D, or for which a Ph.D is extremely useful and almost a requirement. I really recommend that you don't try for Ph.D programs at this time; instead, focus your energies on master's programs because they're shorter. Unfortunately, the flip side is that you generally have to pay for them. So another thing to consider is if you're willing to shell out the money for a degree that you essentially don't need.</p>
<p>Also, you never even specified your interests or what kind of sector you work in (you just said "business world" -- that can mean a lot) so it's really hard to help you. You also never said what it is you dislike about the business world. A lot of people move out of the business world to academia to avoid things that they hated about it only to find that those things are replicated, in a different form, in graduate school. Grad school is very different from working in the private sector but in many ways, it's similar as well. There are a lot of elements in common in both.</p>
<p>What I can suggest is professional master's degrees -- like international affairs/relations, public policy, public health. These things will allow you to 'get your feet wet', so to speak. If you decide that you love academia and this is the place for you, you can always subsequently apply to Ph.D programs. If you decide that it's not for you then you have a useful professional master's.</p>
<p>If you go to law school most likely you will still work in the business world after graduating, just in a different capacity.</p>
<p>^^ what the person said.</p>