Graduate school may be a fad for students who don't want to face the idea of obtaining a job, paying off mountains of student loans or making decisions that could change the rest of their lives. Lingering in grad school for a few extra years may make some students' careers, but unnecessarily waste time and break the bank for others.
"It's a fallacy to say that you can't do anything with an undergraduate degree," said Karen Nemeth, a counselor with Career Services.
According to Nemeth, a little extra training or a certificate may get some students where they need to go. Some students may absolutely need to advance into school to obtain their chosen career. Other students go to graduate school for all the wrong reasons.
"Just because everyone else is going or you don't know what you want to do is not a good reason," Nemeth said. "Grad school is not a place to find yourself but to clarify career objectives."
Students should understand that graduate work is difficult, time-consuming, and costly.
"Be prepared to search for funding and to lose your social life," Nemeth said.
Nemeth suggested that students passionate about their area of work or in need of an advanced degree for their profession are ideal candidates for graduate school.
"If you have a certain career goal in mind, absolutely head straight to grad school," Nemeth said.
For students like junior industrial engineering major, Geoff Gross, the ideal choice is to go directly to grad school.
"I've already had an internship experience, and I need more schooling for my career anyway," Gross said.
Chris McQuinn, a junior anthropology major, has serious concerns that going to grad school might set him back a few years because he knows there are jobs available now for those with undergraduate degrees. Still, McQuinn realizes he might get an entry-level position and become stuck when promotions require further academic work.
"I know I want to go to graduate school. I just don't know when," said Keith McArthur, a senior geography major.
Like many students, McArthur said he had interests in traveling Europe and perhaps getting a little real world job experience before leaping headfirst into graduate work.
Nemeth said that breaking from school to avoid burnout might be beneficial for some students, but detrimental for others.
"It's an individual decision. Some students need to plug ahead," Nemeth said. "They know that if they get a decent job, it may be hard to give up a paycheck and go back to school."
Some MBA programs require one to two years of professional experience before they will even consider an application, Nemeth said.
"Sometimes work experience can help diminish the weight your low GPA has on getting into graduate school," Nemeth said. "You aren't applying to the school. You're applying to the program."
Nemeth recommends that students explore the amount of funding and research driving the program.
"It's scary. I don't know if I'll be able to get a job if I choose to stop going to school," McArthur said.
The Graduate Record Examination is the most common entrance exam and may be taken as a general test or subject test. The exam is now computer-based and thus more accessible to students wishing to take the exam more than once or at various times of the year, according to Nemeth.
Nemeth said that students should also be aware that the computer format allows GRE exams to be molded to each test taker. Correctly or incorrectly answering a question determines the difficulty of the next question.
According to Nemeth students may wish to think twice before retaking a GRE test, unless they plan to considerably step up their performance by preparing a great deal more.
"If you take the test twice and score mediocre both times, that just reinforces that you are a mediocre test taker and a mediocre student," Nemeth said. "Grad schools are looking for students they can mold, not mediocrity."
For letters of recommendation, Nemeth said students should realize that faculty members with higher status will pull more weight simply because of their title. Obtaining a recommendation from a professor, associate professor, or assistant professor is ideal. Teaching assistants and advisors are the bottom out the chain.
"Ask them if they feel they can write you a strong letter of recommendation," Nemeth said. "If they hesitate, it's probably best to thank them and look elsewhere."
