Should You Go To Grad School?

Graduating in 2009, as I did, was a difficult time for many of my peers. The rough, volatile economic conditions forced many graduates to reevaluate their post-college plans. Without a job, what would they do? Find an internship? Start a company? Job hunt? Sit at home? Go to law school or grad school?

I’d argue that the additional education argument, such as law school or grad school, felt the most productive my peers because they are safe options (at least temporarily). You’ll pay a large sum of money to continue and hopefully advance your undergraduate studies.

A piece from Swarthmore’s website provides unique perspective on the Grad School dilemma:

Should I go to graduate school?

Short answer: no.

Long answer: maybe, but only if you have some glimmering of what you are about to do to yourself. Undergraduates coming out of liberal arts institutions are particularly vulnerable to ignorance in this regard. For four years, they’ve been asked to take chances, experiment, change course when it suits them, freely enrich their minds and their hearts. Most such students then approach careers with something of the same spirit, and generally, they should. Take some chances after you graduate, try different things. Why not?

Just don’t try graduate school in an academic subject with the same spirit of carefree experimentation. Medical school, sure. Law school, no problem. But a Ph.D in an academic field? Forget it. If you take one step down that path, I promise you, it’ll hurt like blazes to get off, even if you’re sure that you want to quit after only one year.

Two years in, and quitting will be like gnawing your own leg off.

Past that, and you’re talking therapy and life-long bitterness.

It’s not because academia is so great that anyone denied it is forever shattered. Don’t get me wrong: as one of the lucky few to get into a tenure-track position, I am loving it. Every day is a hoot: this is a truly privileged situation. I love my job, and my job is my life, or a big part of it. But the problem here is that academia is also insidious. If its peculiar subculture suits your personality and your skills, then grad school is worth enduring.

If you and academic life are a mismatch, then grad school won’t help you discover that. It will just confuse you even more.

What do you think?

Read the rest here.