As the spring semester winds down, many college students begin thinking about their plans for the summer or future semesters. The decision to go to graduate school in the future or not is the big one. This is something that I, myself have grappled with, before ultimately making the decision to not apply to graduate school any time in the near future.
Some people prefer to attend grad school directly after finishing undergrad while others prefer to wait a few years before returning to school. There is not a right or wrong way to go about it, but there are pros and cons to both approaches.
The pros to going to grad school directly after undergraduate include the factor of time. Many people say that if they did not go to grad school directly after undergrad, then they probably would not have gone at all. Life can sometimes get in the way if one decides to wait depending on what is going on in someone’s life. Some people also list getting grad school “out of the way” as a pro because with going right after undergrad, they are getting their education done all at once.
Some cons to going to grad school right after undergrad include the possibility of accumulating more student debt all at once. Also, many industries want one potential candidates to have actual career experience rather than just a degree, so in some cases, getting a master’s degree does not guarantee an advantage in the job market.
Another pro to waiting before going to grad school is gaining experience in the career field before you decide to invest more money into that field. Another pro is that some employers will actually pay for their employees to go back to school so there’s no debt accumulation. A con to waiting to go to grad school is that it may be more difficult to go back to school if one is balancing a full-time job, a family or whatever else one may be doing later in life.
Overall, there are pros and cons to both approaches, and not one approach is going to be best for everyone. Personally, I am incredibly burnt out from doing online school for the past year and a half, and I have decided to not pursue graduate school in the near future, possibly not at all. For anyone who is considering their options, I wish you luck and hope you make the right decision for you without listening to outside pressures.
