To go to Grad School or Not to Go to Grad School?

I relate way too much to this post! Getting to research clinical psychology has been a dream of mine for a long time. However, most people that complete their PhDs in clinical psychology end up practicing in large hospitals and making little money! Few achieve their goals of having their own lab and being able to teach. I often think I should just get a PsyD degree, since although it is not free I would spend less time getting educated in order to get to the same place of just practicing as a clinician. However, I refuse to abandon my goal of being able to teach, conduct research, and practice as a clinician. My mentor is an African American man from a small town who has accomplished all of these things, and his tenacity to get where he is, against many more odds than I have, inspires me to stick to my chosen path.

Hi!!

My name is Francesca Donnachie and I'm currently studying my masters of forensic science at Strathclyde University in Scotland. I don't know much about the US education system but do know that deciding to go on to further studies can be a bit whack.

I originally never planned to do my masters mainly because my undergrad uni work rough and I didn't think I would be bat shit enough to put myself through that again but here we are!! I honestly don't think I would be doing my masters rn if it was for the big rona coming along and basically turning my life upside down. I originally thought I would maybe stick close to my degree but there isn't a whole load of forensic anthropology related masters in the UK at the moment so I broadened my search and found the course I'm currently on which I do love. I would say it's not light feat to take on further studies and it definitely has to be something you are interested in and willing to research random pieces of info about it at 3am. Whether taking on further education or just looking into it, make sure it's something you really want to do then light that fire under your arse and get cracking. However, if you are unsure and not 100% then there is no rush to commit to going into further education and I would recommend taking your time to find a course that you really like and it will make the world of a difference!! (lol hope this helps 😎)

Hello Everyone!

My name is Katy Gruber, I am a Classical Studies major at Tulane University and graduating this spring with my BA and Certificate for Geographic Informational Systems (GIS). The question of whether to go to grad school or not has never been a question for me, but it was a question of what I wanted to study.

Before transferring to Tulane, I was a student at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) in Western Michigan. Overall, I ended up having the worst time there because I was confused about my future, and between my learning disabilities getting progressively worse and other factors, I was at the worst point of my life. This was detrimental to me because I was planning on continuing my environmental studies or related objectives to go on and study freshwater ecosystems; however, studying them as an undergraduate was just not what I hoped or expected. After two years there, I took a gap year and transferred to Tulane to be closer to home.

When I came to Tulane, I had utterly changed tactics, so I could graduate, which was to work on finishing the core curriculum for undergraduates and then take time to figure out what made me happy and engaged in academics. That plan is how I ended up in Classics because I was taking a class to fulfill a requirement but the professor I had pushed me to look at the subject of Classics differently. For the first time in a long time, I was engaged in figuring out what Classics is and why we even have this type of study still available today (if you can't tell, I was definitely cynical about the whole thing). It took several months, but I ended up finding myself in awe of the subject as I listened more because the topic is very literature-based, yet they have been able to intertwine science to make it a meaningful topic of study that it let me reexamine my interest in the sciences but in a new light. I went on attending more classes with the Classical Studies department, rationalizing that I was doing this to fulfill my core curriculum plan, and it turned out that I loved Classical Studies. I liked it because the topics they study are complex, and they challenge me to think about what I don't know and how I can find more information about these amazing topics.

With my background in sciences and now my knowledge of Classics, I found something I want to explore further. My goal for going to graduate school now is to continue studying classics but incorporating digital humanities, and contribute to adding more scientists in this field because there is still a lot more we can learn from history. To prepare to go to this next step, I have already taken the GRE this past July using the GRE at home. I only used the Kaplan study prep book because I know my test-taking abilities enough that anything more wouldn't make a life-changing difference. If I had any advice if you are prepared to take this next step, do what you are comfortable with, and don't let commercials or ads shame you into thinking you have to buy a product or service to be successful. Because the one thing I noticed at that time I was preparing for the test was the number of ads from either being on youtube, social media, whatever it may be to get me to buy something to prove that I'm smart and capable. I always had to remind myself that I can do this and know that no one is alone in these struggles for higher education - which is why we are all here.

I think this is SUCH an important discussion and I'm so thankful to Izzy for having me reflect and share. Here's my experience (which is still very much ongoing).

From as early as my sophomore year of college, the plan was always to go to some form of graduate school. But I’ve only actually begun thinking about why since my graduation of college. I had heard repeatedly that a graduate degree today is equivalent to a college degree twenty years ago. In order to be a competitive job applicant, a college degree alone just isn’t as impressive as it used to be. The idea of graduate school was also, at least for me, a mildly comforting prospect. It signaled a next step, a continuation of a path that I had been on since I was five years old and first entered the education system.

Right now, the plan is law school. This time last year, it was grad school for a PhD program in American history. So who knows where I’ll be this time next year.

I declared as a history major my sophomore year of college, to the chagrin of most of my relatives. I got the usual questions of, “what are you planning on doing with this?” I always hated this question, mainly because I had no idea how to answer it. The only answer that seemed to shut them up was Grad school. “I’m going to get my PhD,” I would say. “I want to go into Academia. I want to be a professor.” But after saying it enough, I actually began to believe it. This wasn’t something I had thought of extensively. It just seemed like a logical next path. I had always loved history, writing, and teaching. Professorship seemed, at least initially, appealing and reasonable.

What finally turned me off from that was my bitch of a senior thesis. Looking back, I’m very satisfied and proud of my work. But actually developing it was pretty brutal. It began with constant reading and research, followed by what felt like endless writing and more research. Trying to complete a thesis that wasn’t absolute garbage was incredibly difficult to juggle along with my other coursework and intermittent depressive episodes that characterized my senior year. My last stretch of finishing my thesis was around the beginning of the COVID pandemic, which presented new challenges. But more than anything, I found myself dreading the two things that I had formerly loved so much: writing and history. That’s when I simultaneously developed a new respect for professors everywhere, and decided that grad school for history was not for me.

That decision was both liberating and terrifying. I was so relieved that I no longer had to worry about grad school applications or pursuing a graduate program that could have - probably would have - made me miserable. And yet, I felt lost. I had no idea what to do next.

Fueled by my anxiety, I began to apply to hundreds of jobs. Graduation had passed and I was back at home in Connecticut. I was looking for some way to get back to Richmond (where many of my friends and boyfriend lived), but had no money and no place to live. A few months later I landed a job in Richmond as a medical scribe and saved up enough money to move in with a few of my friends back in Virginia. While I was thankful to have gotten a job, it still felt impermanent and directionless. Not to mention the pay is laughable.

That’s when I began to grasp at the idea of Law School. My mother had been pushing me in this direction for years, arguing that my reading and writing skills that I developed as a History major would translate well into a career in law. I’ve never really had a passion for law or for argumentation, which is what I had assumed being a lawyer was all about. But I began to consider this path more seriously after speaking with a few lawyers who actually say that they enjoy their careers. My boyfriend has also recently started law school, so it has been nice to glimpse the process through him. And in the past few months I have been assured, repeatedly, that going to law school does not require that I actually become an attorney. It would be, as my mother puts it, “an investment in my future.” A way to “expand my options.”

So, last month I began studying for the LSATs. I also began to do more research on law school in general, law careers, and different kinds of attorneys. It’s still not something that I’m wildly passionate about or fully committed to. For now most of it all depends on how well I can do on the LSATs and what financial packages schools can offer me.

Right now my biggest worry is that I’m gonna tank the LSATs and law school won’t even be an option for me. I hate standardized tests, I think they’re so stupid. I understand that they need some way to measure applicants on a “level” playing field but honestly, these tests are so flawed. Still, I’m studying my ass off because, as of right now, grad school is the goal. Another big worry: money. Living on my own for the first time made it very clear, very fast, how important a reliable paycheck is. Given my loans that I have to start paying from undergrad, I really can’t afford to go anywhere that doesn’t offer me a good financial package.

But my biggest worry is that I’m studying, researching, and mentally preparing for a path that I’m going to end up hating. I declared as a history major to follow my passion. That’s what everyone has always told me. Well, I’m still passionate about history but discovered that I definitely do not want to go to grad school for it. Will law be any better? Worse? I will say that the more research I do, the more I feel like this path has the potential to be fulfilling. Human rights, social justice, and environmental law careers have all caught my eye. The problem is, the fields that seem to offer meaningful change in people’s lives usually aren’t the most financially rewarding. But, for now that’s all been stuff I’ve heard off of random google search articles. I know there’s still so a lot for me to learn.

I have no idea if I end up going to law school, and there are a lot of questions that I don’t even know to ask yet. I’m thankful to my friend Izzy for starting this blog. I think it’s important to externalize our anxieties, experiences, and questions about higher education. It’s a huge decision. Having a community like this is so valuable to know that we’re not alone in this experience, and that we have each other for advice, guidance, and support.

It is so nice to hear about other students' processes for deciding whether or not to go to graduate school. As a psychology student, my process has been a little different. I am not a graduate student yet, although I am applying to PhD programs in School Psychology this year. For a lot of psychology students, it is pretty clear-cut about whether they should go to grad school or not. If you don't like research but want to be a clinician, you get a masters degree. If you like research and want to have the option to stay in academia, you get a PhD. What can be a lot harder though is deciding what specialty to pick, because there are so many options.

I've known I wanted get a School Psychology degree for a while, but I've definitely had some times where I questioned whether it might be better to get a PhD in Clinical, Developmental, or Educational Psychology. The main thing to keep in mind when making this decision is whether you want to be a licensed psychologist or a basic researcher. The only psychology degrees that lead to licensure are Clinical, Counseling, and School. Within those degrees, the major differences are who you treat and in what setting, although there can be some overlap. You can find a lot of this information on the APA website or from other online sources, and they will state it a lot more eloquently than me. Also, the differences are more complicated than the quick summary I just gave, so if you are thinking about a graduate degree in psychology, I would highly recommend you check out the APA website.

In my opinion, the most important things to think about when deciding what psychology graduate degree is right for you is what you want to do with your career and how much longer you can stand to be in school. If you can figure this out, it can really help!

I was in middle school when I decided that I was going into anthropology- which subfield was always up for discussion, but I knew for a fact anthropology was for me. As I got older and became more aware of the job market and how difficult it could be to get a job with an anthropology degree, I changed my tune.

When I started my junior year at Tulane University, I was under the impression that I was going to use my BA in anthropology (and minor in Classics) to be in Human Resources or something of that nature. I took one Human Resources class and knew that was NOT for me. While on the other hand, every single anthropology or Classics course that I took kept drawing me in and I wanted more. But, I was still hesitant to go to grad school. I wanted to be done. At the time, as a dumb kid, I wanted to be done with school and go home to my boyfriend who lived in California.

It wasn't until I went to Crete for a month and actually worked with ancient artifacts that I knew and decided that I was going to get my Masters Degree (at the least.) One of my mentors continuously encouraged and pushed me to pursue it, and it wasn't until this time in Knossos with her and four other girls who had varying interests in archaeology that I had that "this is what I'm going to do" epiphany. When I came back to the states, the summer before my Senior Year, I applied to an anthropology M.A. program, and miraculously was accepted- despite not having done the GRE.

I'm finishing up Masters and my Capstone Project is discerning the potential of using pXRF on an assemblage of ceramics housed in a museum, with little to no provenance.

Choosing to go Grad School doesn't provide all of the answers, some people might know immediately what they're going to do with their degree, others (like me) still feel lost. It's not an easy decision, despite the fact I somewhat did it on a whim. This subject, this field, still excites me and I will always love it, but I can't 100% say that I knew that Grad School was for me. I will say that I still question whether or not I'm going to take the next step to get a PhD.

But I do not regret my decision to go to Grad School in the slightest. It's made me a stronger person, it's given me so many opportunities to dab my toes in this field that I love and to meet people whose articles or books that I've read for class. It's been a remarkable journey and while I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up, I'm glad I had the opportunity to at least experience what life could be as an archaeologist (in training).

I was also hoping to marry Percy! but instead of that manifesting in pottery-love, I wanted to be Rick Riordan. So here I am, over ten years later, doing it! Becoming an author is scary for so many reasons. But one of the doubts that I hear in my head a lot is “is this just a ten-year-old’s pipe dream?” I’ve been writing stories since I could write, so I never doubt that this is what I /want/. But plenty of people want to be an astronaut or a firefighter until reality hits. My mentor says about being an author: “don’t do this unless you have to, and if you have to, you will.” When you love something, especially something that has zero guarantees, it’s not because you chose it. It’s because you have to! So here I am, graduating in Creative Writing and going to get an MFA even though I know I’ll be broke and stressed :)