Since there are a number of you who are either undecided between graduate school and seeking employment immediately after graduation, or who are planning to prepare materials for both, I have a few words of advice.
In the first place, if you consider graduate school to be even a remote possibility, I highly recommend applying for a program that will grant you at least a Masters degree. Even if you are more concerned with gainful employment, a graduate degree is greatly beneficial. Studies have shown that individuals with a Masters degree on average earn 20% more than others with only a Bachelors. I can speak to this from personal experience, since I spent two years in the work-force between receiving my Masters and beginning my PhD - and even though I was working in physics/programming with an education in philosophy, I was instantly able to demand and receive $20-25/hour after receiving my Masters, whereas I could only make $15/hour or so before.
Note: This is with a Masters degree in philosophy - It doesn't matter which field in which you have a graduate degree, just that you have one.
Second, a graduate degree allows you to skip past entry-level positions in many cases and allows your career to start at a faster pace and in a better position.
This is not to discourage at all working solely on job applications, but a note about the less well-known benefits of graduate school for the undecided.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Where are we supposed to submit our paperwork? Do we just send you an e-mail with our attachments?
ReplyDelete-Kalle Yee
Just email all work to me, and I'll respond by email.
ReplyDeleteVery insightful post professor. I'm torn between going straight to grad school or just going straight into the work force.
ReplyDeleteI'm also glad that you clarified that it doesn't matter what you get your masters in. I was under the impression that you can only work in the field in which you have your degree.
I'm currently a Africana Studies major but I'm really interested in Business. So I was thinking of going to grad school to get an MBA but I'm not sure if this possible because of my major now. A counselor told me that I shouldn't go straight to grad school to obtain this degree because it may be too soon and I'm a bit to young to jump into that field. So that's why I decided to work for about a year before I go to grad school.
Any advice for my situation???
Brenda A.
I appreciate your advice in regards to those of us whom are still in between job employment & grad school.
ReplyDeleteIn your opinion, do you feel it should be a necessity to go in grad school immediatley after graduating from undergrad (in my case, Business school) even if you are still undecided on what exactly you want to do as a career? A friend of the family, advised me that getting an MBA does not necessarily boost your income to $80-100K from say $50K/ year. Thus, essentially they suggested I wait before entering business school, until I fully know what I want to do.
The Pro to enter business school right away would be the mere fact that I am still in "schooling" zone and willing to sit through classes, etc. Whereas, if I took a couple years off before entering grad school, it would be tougher to get back in the "zone" if you will & endure the tests, etc.
So, is there truly a strong necessity to enter grad school under these circumstances?
Bryan R.
Just shed some light on those that are undecided and speaking from experience of working in the I.T. industry for over 9 years and going immediately into the work force without even finishing my degree (whew that was a long running sentence), it really depends on what you want to do with your career and what your current situation is at graduation time (from undergrad). Every person has a different story, and the real answer is that it really depends. Grad school will benefit those that are looking for positions in fields that require more high level educations (such as the one that I am currently looking to get into) as that level of education guarantees certain fundamental concepts are already covered and they don't have to explain those to you day one. On the flip side, certain fields don't require more than a undergrad degree in anything.
ReplyDeleteTo summarize, the answer is that it really depends on many factors, both personally and professionally.
I was debating between grad school or entering the job force and decided that I would like to try and do both. Ultimately I decided to try and find a job after graduation. I had an internship over the summer at a company that pays for their employees to go to school to receive an advanced degree so they may advance in the company. So I thought why choose between the two when there is an opportunity out there to do both. So my goal is to find a job that will hire me to work and pay for me to go to school to get my masters. It may be a little stressful trying to juggle both things at once but in my opinion it's one of the best options out there. So for those of you who are still torn, this could be an option for you guys that could make your decision that much easier.
ReplyDeleteBrian T.
While I used to be hell bent on just getting a job after graduating from Binghamton, I have come to realize how beneficial having a master's degree would be. In addition, there's also the fact that our economy is in a less than ideal state, and how difficult finding a job has been. I think it was a combination of the two that led to my eventual decision to apply to graduate school. At the same time I remain very open-minded towards all opportunities. If I am offered a job after acceptance to grad school I might just have to take it. At this point my primary concern is to not stress too much over any developments.
ReplyDeleteTo respond en-masse: Leland has a good point that given the current state of the economy, graduate school is an increasingly attractive option - and it is said that an MA is the new BA. It not only improves your chances at a decent wage, but it allows you to ride out difficult economic times and emerge better poised to land the job you'd like.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Brian R. and Brenda, while it's not necessary to go to grad school immediately, I found it beneficial in my own experience and through observation of my friends who took the other route. Once you're working it becomes difficult to get back into the academic mindset and find time to apply. I recommend simultaneous job and grad school applications in that case.
As for undergraduate major and graduate program, as long as there's a way to demonstrate that there's a relationship between the two, or even additional coursework, it shouldn't matter. My education was entirely in philosophy until 2006, when I first taught a college course and then worked in physics, consulting and freelance writing for two years. Then I applied to the Comp Lit program here, despite an admittedly patchy literary background and got in easily (after all, philosophy and literature are related).
In conclusion, I do recommend against the "year off" since it can wind up being several, but if you prepare graduate application materials now, while working on job applications, and have them ready, I can say that a year off is not an unwise decision, since that will certainly make the transition back easier.
Karell Belle
ReplyDeleteI can relate to what Brian and Brenda mentioned above because I am interested in Speech pathology but to work in that field you must have a Master's Degree, I would like to take the prerequisite classes for the speech pathology master's program first and then apply into the program. But while I am taking prerequisite classes I would like to have a job at the same time. So it is a really difficult situation.
-Karell Belle
I see what you mean my how important it is to have a masters but since I plan on moving to Israel next year it is a completely different situation. over there it is much less common for people to have a BA most just have an associate degree or a certificate of some sort. not to say that I don't plan on ever getting a masters, but just not next year.
ReplyDelete-Hadas
Thanks for the insightful post. I'm currently a Junior majoring in Computer Science and was not certain whether I should prepare for graduate school or get a job right after graduation. That's why I posted a comment saying I want to learn about graduate school application and job application for this course. However, after reading this post, it helped me to think about this matter once again and helps me to decide what I should do in the future.
ReplyDeleteI have never thought about going to graduate school after college because I always wanted to seek for employment after graduation. However, this post sort of changed my mind a little bit. I may think of going to graduate school after working in the field for couple of years. Thanks Professor Rowan!
ReplyDelete