Grad School Right After College? Do This Instead
So you’ve graduated from college. You’re on top of the world for a few minutes. Maybe an hour. Then, reality sinks in.
What do I do next?
Which jobs should I apply for?
Do I have any relevant experience?
Why does everything suddenly cost so much money?
When college ends, the real world begins.
Finishing college is great and will give you access to job opportunities, but it is an artificial environment. It’s a microcosm of the real world.
When you leave college, you may not feel that you have skills that employers actually want. That’s OK.
You’re not the only one who has ever had that feeling.
Like a baby bird pushed from the nest by its mother and told to fly, leaving college can feel more like teetering on the edge of a cliff than a gradual climb up a mountain.
There is one thing that you need to remember: Do not go to grad school because you don’t know what to do next.
It may seem tempting. It could feel like the safe option.
But grad school is massively expensive. If you haven’t figured out who you are and why you need (no, not want) to go to grad school in the first place, then you could be setting yourself up for disaster.
You might feel lost, but that’s the point
It is completely normal for difficult feelings to emerge after your college graduation. It’s a big life transition.
You are leaving the warm and fuzzy cocoon of classes, extracurricular activities, and a social safety net to set off on your own and forge your own path.
And that’s what you need to do, forge your own path.
You have to take what you’ve learned in college and frame it in a way that it meets a need for those who will hire you. You have to learn to market yourself. You have to hone your writing skills for job applications and cover letters.
There are a huge glob of practical skills that you will need to develop that likely did not practice in college.
College is theoretical. The real world of jobs and responsibilities is practical and action-oriented. This switch in mindset can feel overwhelming.
Again, it’s OK to feel the post-grad anxiety. Struggling is how you grow. Feeling challenged is what shapes you.
Getting lost is how you find yourself
You’re struggling. You thought it would be easier to get a job out of college. The allure of applying to grad school is getting stronger by the day because, if you did that, you would at least know what you’re doing next.
But the not-knowing is crucial to your future success.
The discomfort brought on by not-knowing is what forces you to grow. How you handle inevitable setbacks will define your character. Overcoming adversity is how you develop marketable skills.
College is not real.
You turn in assignments, one after another, and then you get your grades. Life after college is not like that.
In college, you have constant feedback built into the education process.
In the real world, mistakes can have much more drastic consequences.
That is a good thing. Having actual consequences for your actions forces you to learn from your mistakes. Messing up means you have a vested interest in the path you take. You have skin in the game.
This also works in your favor.
Because you have the freedom to do whatever you want, you have the potential to find yourself. You have the chance to figure out your calling.
Nothing is more energizing than that.
You have to put yourself out there. Whatever you find interesting, seek it out. Apply for that internship because you’re passionate about the topic. Volunteer for an organization because your heart sings when you read about their mission.
Do things because you want to, and do them without the expectation that you will get exactly what you want.
In college, you complete the assignment according to the grading rubric, and you get an A. In the real world, you have no idea what’s going to happen when you act. That is both terrifying and invigorating.
You need to follow your heart. You have to try new things. If something seems interesting, go after it. If it doesn’t work out, that’s OK. Assess where you went wrong, learn from happened, and move on.
Life after college is where the real work begins.
After you do that for a few years, then — and only then — should you consider applying to grad school.
I know, this formula will not apply for everyone.
Some people grow up knowing that they want to be doctors, or veterinarians, or lawyers, and so they go on to get more education right after college. But, for most people, there is a not typical progression, nor should there be.
Life is a series of ups and downs, and its in the pits of setbacks and despair that you figure out who you truly are.
Think back over your life. Has it really ever been another way? Did you have any great epiphanies after getting a string of good grades in school?
Or did you learn more about yourself from that time you had to pull an all-nighter? Or when your professor told you that the work you submitted was actually quite bad?
What happened after that? What did you do next?
I bet it shaped you more than a neat collection of gift-wrapped As and routine feedback.
Grad School will be there if you need it
You might eventually get to a point where you need to go back to grad school.
This could take many forms, but it typically happens when you have already found your calling. You know you want to commit yourself to a certain career, and you know grad school will you help you take it to the next level.
That’s how it was for me.
I studied finance, political science, and Spanish in college. After using Spanish and business skills in the Peace Corps, dabbling in political campaigns in Montana, and bouncing around non-profits and state government, I learned that there was a thread that connected it all for me. It was service, empowering people, and talking about mental health.
I followed my heart and my interests, and switched from political work to the mental health field.
It was a huge risk, but it came with huge reward. I loved it. I loved working with youth who had mental health issues. Later on, I loved running a program to help school districts improve how they identity and refer students with mental health concerns.
And it was only after all of that, after I thrashed around for a bit, that I knew I had to go back to grad school.
I am six months away from completing my master’s of social work degree. I’ll graduate from grad school nine years after I graduated from college.
A master’s degree is necessary to move up through the mental health field. It gives me access to another level of career opportunities, and it allows me to work towards licensure as a clinical social worker.
I never would have discovered this path if I didn’t push myself out into the great unknown, if I didn’t take chances and expose myself to failure.
Like I said, grad school is incredibly expensive. And it requires a certain amount of tedious jumping through hoops, just like college did. So, don’t commit to it unless you have a well-thought-out reason for going back to school.
It’s worth it to me because I took the time to find myself. I learned what I did and did not enjoy doing by acting and taking risks.
Don’t go to grad school because you don’t know what to do next.
Take a long and honest look at your fear and anxiety about the unknown.
Be curious about what it is telling you. Then, act on it.
The worst and best thing that could happen is that you find yourself — and that’s what life is all about.
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