5 Reasons to Work Before Starting Grad School
To grad school or not to grad school? That is the question.
When my senior year of college began, all that I seemed to hear were the words GRE, letters of rec, and personal statements. Thankfully, I realized that completing undergrad should be a time of joy, not of existential dread, and I was able to savor the rest of my senior year.
Our society covertly and overtly assigns timelines for when we are supposed to achieve certain professional and personal goals. It is easy to feel as if we are failures if we do not ascribe to the pressure-cooking standards of the hamster wheel of this culture. However, taking a break between undergrad and grad school was the best decision I made for myself professionally and personally, and here is why I think you should too:
1. Gain confidence in your grad school decision
If I had to choose a grad school program during my senior year of college, it would have been vastly different than the program I actually ended up choosing.
My gap between undergrad and grad school gave me the opportunity to gain insights from professionals, giving me data to weigh the pros and cons of going to grad school at all, and then, later on, to figure out what type of grad school would work best with my long-term goals. I engaged with people in various roles at my workplace, asking them to share about their career trajectory.
Most grad programs require you to concentrate in a specific area, whether that be a certificate, thesis, or dissertation. Witnessing mid- and senior-level professionals, specializing in work that they were passionate about, inspired me to examine my own passions and how they could intersect with my talents.
Without this time away from school, I would not have a) figured out that I was passionate about research, b) discovered that public health aligned with my outlook towards my place in the world, and c) observed the variations of public health specializations, providing inspiration for my own concentration.
When I applied to and then commenced grad school, I was confident that I made a decision that was based on data and introspection, not pressure from what others expected of me.
2. Financially plan for the burden of grad school
Grad school is expensive! Even if you are in a program that is fully funded (i.e. STEM Ph.D. programs), the stipend you receive will probably not cover all of your expenses. Working and saving before going to grad school will lessen that financial burden significantly. In addition, having work experience can make you a more desirable candidate for the program, resulting in extra scholarships.
You may also want to consider working full-time as you go to grad school part-time. Tip: If you get a full-time job at the university where you are a part-time student, many universities offer almost 100% tuition remission!
Some may also want to use this time to fully consider whether grad school is worth the return-of-investment. Average tuition at a private university in the U.S. is about $40,000 a year and taking out loans on top of any undergraduate loans you may have can be stressful.
If you decide to move forward with grad school, try to use your break from school to pay off as many of your undergrad loans as possible. It is vital to consider your full financial situation before starting grad school because loans can have long-term impacts on your financial goals.
3. Avoid burnout
For every person that I know who went to grad school immediately after undergrad, they all complain about the same thing: burnout. Your rhythms are essentially identical as an undergrad: class, homework, and complaining about class and homework. Your schedule is flexible which can result in you never taking breaks and feeling mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted all the time — just like you were for the previous 4 years.
People criticize the 9–5 life, but I never loved something so much than my 9–5 job post-undergrad. Being able to separate my work life from my personal life was exactly what I needed. I could fully focus at work and then come home and do whatever I want, whether that be hanging out with friends, exploring a new part of town, starting a plant collection, taking salsa dance classes, or watching Netflix.
I no longer felt guilty for doing fun things on the weekends because there was no looming project that I was supposed to finish by Monday morning. I was able to finally breathe for the first time. And when I started grad school, it was like coming back from a refreshing vacation: I was more ready than ever to be fully engaged with my program.
4. Prepare for the grind of grad school
Some think that grad school will be just like undergrad. In most cases that is not true, especially if your grad program is quite different from your bachelor’s degree.
My transition from a biology degree to public health school was not too jarring, but I still had to learn how to read public health papers, understand statistics, and write with a scientific voice. I developed these skills in my job between undergrad and grad school, where I conducted literature reviews, assisted with paper writing, and attended data analysis meetings.
My job also provided a new toolkit for organization and time management skills. My organization in undergrad was almost non-existent, but when I saw how systematized my supervisors were, time management and organization became a requirement for succeeding in my job. From learning how to create useful to-do lists and timelines, to constructing multitudes of subfolders in my inbox, I was able to carry over these skills to my grad program.
I also learned that my time is valuable not only to myself but to my entire team. As opposed to undergrad where I was just working for my own success, my work ethic at my job affected my co-workers and the greater mission of our public health research studies. Gaining this greater sense of purpose with my work has helped me stay focused when chaos ensues in grad school.
5. Develop emotional maturity
Many young adults report that the transition from undergrad to the real world is quite difficult. You are taking on more responsibility in your personal life and have less of a support system than your college years. Young adults even report “post-graduation depression.”
Hearing this may make you want to go to grad school right away to avoid these mental and emotional stressors. However, addressing these issues while you are working in your 9–5 will help you develop healthy coping mechanisms that you can then bring to your grad school program experience.
For many, the first few years after college are your ‘growing up years’ and developing adulting skills like a proper sleep schedule, exercise routine, regular medical appointments, financial planning, and relationship boundaries, will provide you with a solid foundation to launch into your grad program.
This break also gives you the space to be introspective and ask yourself about your personal values, vision, and life mission statement. Understanding who you are and what you care about is a life-long journey but beginning the foundations in your gap between undergrad and grad school, will set you up for a forward projection professionally and personally.
Remember, it’s YOUR decision
Ultimately, only you will be able to make the decision whether a job between undergrad and grad school is right for you or not. Just make sure that whatever you choose is your decision and not the decision of your parents, advisors, friends, or societal expectations.
No matter your decision, you are bound to learn more about the world and yourself.
