What to do After College? Attend Graduate School, Take a Year Off or Experience the Real World

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The Pre-Grad School Break

After four years of hard work (and maybe, just maybe, a little bit of fun), you find yourself in possession of a brand new bachelor's degree. The big question, then, is this: Should you find a job and earn back some of the money you've spent over the course of your college years, and maybe even make your first forays into the career your college education has theoretically prepared you for? Or should you apply to graduate school and fill up your brain with as much information and knowledge as you can before heading out into the workforce?

Depending on what you would like to do for a living, and depending on what field of study you have focused on as an undergrad, you essentially have three options:
  1. Enter a grad program immediately after college.
  2. Work in your field of interest for a few years before going back to school.
  3. Avoid graduate school altogether.
Fortunately, the decision you make will likely be based on your answers to a concrete set of questions you can ask yourself. And that's the good news: It is very difficult to make the wrong decision here. Really, you just need to consider your academic and career objectives.

The Immediate Graduate Degree
Certain courses of graduate study are best undertaken immediately following your graduation from college. These include the more intellectual, esoteric, and academic areas of study. If, for example, you have just earned you bachelor's degree in philosophy, then no amount of pre-grad school real-world experience as a philosopher will make you any more prepared for graduate study. In fact, taking a break following college could very well prove detrimental. The kind of deeply academic and intellectual work required of Ph.D. students in philosophy will necessitate the kind of thought and research you utilized over the course of your undergraduate studies. So in this sense, enrolling in a grad program immediately after college graduation is probably a good idea, for all of the skills you will need to use in grad school will not have had the chance to decay.

There are other areas of study that will benefit from immediate graduate work, too. Pre-med majors, for example, usually enroll in medical school immediately following college graduation. If the ultimate goal is to work one day as a doctor, then no amount of real-world experience will help further that dream more expediently than the attainment of the M.D. degree. In this case, a break between undergraduate matriculation and med-school enrollment is rather nonsensical.

The Real World Is Good For You
In some cases, working in the so-called real world for a few years is a good idea. In fact, there are some graduate degrees whose ultimate efficacy is enhanced by the student's having some sort of non-academic experience in the field before enrolling. Specifically, those who wish to pursue an M.B.A. may be wise to work in their area of interest for two to four years before going back to school.

There are several advantages to this. First, certain classes in an M.B.A. program will seem much more relevant and informative if you have the kind of real-world experience that helps clarify the lessons and theories being taught. Many investment bankers, for example, choose to go back for their M.B.A. at some point in their career. And when they do, they have a whole range of financial and institutional experiences to pull from as they seek elucidation on the topic at hand. In certain fields, and business in particular, there is just no substitute for the kind of benefit real-world experience provides. The second advantage is that many businesses will pay for the employee's graduate school fees, assuming the employee promises (in writing) to work for that company for a set number of years after the attainment of the degree in order to ensure that their investment is worthwhile. So from a financial point of view, having an established relationship with a company that is willing to help defray the costs of a graduate education is, literally, priceless.

What, Me Study?
Finally, there are those for whom graduate education is just not the right option. Some fields simply do not necessitate their practitioners to earn any sort of advanced degree. This, of course, is not a reflection on the prestige or utility of those fields; it is, rather, merely a reflection of the real-world responsibilities inherent in those areas. If, for example, you majored in English as an undergrad, and you decide to go into journalism, a graduate degree will likely do little to further your career, or even to expand your career prospects. In fact, it may ultimately prove detrimental. In that field, for example, the best thing you can do is to get your writing out there for people to read, and whether that means writing for local publications or making your way as a freelancer, you probably don't want to lose any time.

It is, however, important to remember that graduate school will always be there, and that you always have the option to go back if that is what you choose. The most important thing to remember is that there is no shame in not going to graduate school. There are plenty of highly intelligent and successful people enrolled in them, and there are plenty of highly intelligent and successful people not enrolled. The key is to do what is most suited to you, your career, and your goals. You can become a success whatever you decide. Just make an informed, mature decision, and the rest will likely follow.

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