To Go or Not To Go?

*Here’s a little something my roommate Briana and I cooked up. I have to credit most of it to Briana’s wit and wisdom, but I helped. Enjoy!

Briana and Kristen’s Guide to Deciding Whether or Not to Go to Grad School

© 2010

Warning: We might not actually know what we’re talking about.

Authors’ Note

We don’t know what we want to do with our lives after college.  Do you feel the same way?  Well, if you do, you’ve stumbled upon the right document.  If you choose to continue reading, keep in mind that these musings are not adequate substitutes for discussions with your adviser.  Our goal in this document is to help us (and you) determine whether grad school is the right thing for us (and you).

To go or not to go, that is the question!

Why do we want to go in the first place?  What are our motives?  Are they noble or superficial?  The most obvious (to Briana) is peer pressure.  It seems as though EVERYONE is doing it.  Logic follows that we should do it, too.  Kristen recalls an incident occurring during our freshman year when a bunch of our friends were considering transferring from Concordia or changing majors.  It made her question her own choices, but in the end, she realized that she had known what she was doing all the time, and that she was questioning herself just because everyone else was.  Therefore, if you have a gut reaction to something, Kristen says, “Give it some credence because it’s probably legit.”  If you don’t have much of a gut, you’ve probably been exercising too much, so you’ll need our help.

Another main factor that is causing us to consider grad school is a feeling we’ve termed the Right Now Syndrome.  We feel as though, if we don’t go now, we may never go. We’ll get caught up with life and work and maybe even starting a family, and we’ll forget all about these seemingly noble aspirations.  We’re afraid we’ll let life sweep us away and that we’ll miss out on an opportunity that we should have taken advantage of.

Another important part of this is the reference letter. It will be far easier to gather references now than down the road. If we decide in a few years that we would like to attend grad school, the professors that we would have asked to be a reference, had we gone right away, may have forgotten us enough so that it will be difficult to write an accurate and effective reference letter. Not to mention the fact that we may have changed or gained new skills during the interim.

Why grad school? The answer is obvious; school is just what we do.  We haven’t had any life that hasn’t revolved around school for the last 15 years.  Every educational step has had a clear sequence for us.  Elementary School to Middle School to High School to College.  It just seems obvious that Grad School would come next.  This is a different kind of choice than any we’ve had to make before regarding our academic career.  Before, everything was a given; college was expected of us. The question was never “whether” but “where.” Therefore, we find ourselves in uncharted territory. “It’s like a knee-jerk reaction to think we should keep on with school because it’s all we know.  It’s too scary to go into the unknown,” Kristen wisely mused.  We literally don’t know what to do with ourselves.  “We’re not sure if we’re ready to shed our identities as ‘students,’” Briana quipped.

And finally, the “unmentionable” variable: ability.  Are we even smart enough for grad school?    Would our advisers tell us if we weren’t?  It’s something that’s hard to admit to yourself.  Think about it:  do you want to admit that you’re a dummy? (Okay, if you graduated from college, you’re probably not actually a dummy, but you get our point.)  We personally have no idea how “hard” grad school is anyway.  How is it different from college?

A Passionate Affair

And then there is the matter of picking a specialization. Everyone says that choosing your undergrad major isn’t as big of a deal in the long run, because most bachelor’s degrees don’t lead you to a specific career the way postgraduate degrees do. To some, choosing a major is a big deal, and can prove quite difficult. To others, it’s obvious. But no matter what, your bachelor’s degree is just a bachelor’s degree. It could get you a certain job, but it could also get you a million others. The possibilities are boundless. But with a  graduate degree, you have to know exactly what it is you want to do, and you have to be passionate about it. “And therein lies my problem,” said Briana.  You really have to want it, and we just don’t know what we want.  As Hamlet said, “Ay, there’s the rub.”  Of course, Hamlet was talking about suicide, not grad school, but we digress.

Kristen and Briana’s problem is that they just don’t have that one specific thing that they are absolutely certain they love and want to devote their lives to. And not even lives; there’s nothing we want to devote the next two to six years to. So where does that leave us? We’ve come to a fork in the road. Or a dinglehopper, if you will.

Passion is important for the prospective grad student, because the process is arduous, long, and often tedious. Not to mention expensive. Thus, this hypothetical student should have a good idea of what she wants out of her graduate school experience and degree.             So, what’s your passion? If you have one, great. If not, go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect 200 dollars.

And what about time? Do you have enough of it to devote to this involved venture? This uncertain voyage?  If the application process is as taxing as it looks, you should be sure you truly have the time and desire to go through all this work!

How shall it be done?

Also, what is the best order for this decision-making process?  Do you pick your specialization first, or do you decide whether or not you do indeed want to go to grad school in the first place before picking the specifics?

Another facet of this complex situation is preparation. Briana and Kristen are a bit disconcerted by the fact that they have been told next to nothing about how to go about making grad school decisions or how the application process works. We’re sure that if we asked our advisers, they would readily provide the information, but in truth, we’ve only just begun to consider the grad school option. The information we have discovered, however, tells us that we should have been discovering this information two years ago. What’s a person to do when she begins to consider so late in the game?

Is all hope lost? Or just most of it?

And there is the matter of all the hoops one has to jump through and all the hunting one must do independently to be considered. Why isn’t there more help??

In Conclusion

We hope we have helped you, the potential prospective grad student, in your decision making process.  Thanks for reading and good luck!

Why go?	Why not go?
-Because you want to learn more about something-Because you need more education for the career you want	-Because “everyone else is doing it”-Because you don’t know what else to do-Because you think everybody would be impressed -Because you think you’ll make more money -Because you’re not smart enough