After everything you’ve done to get here – from sample graduate school essays to all the documentations, paper works and interviews – is going to graduate school the right decision for your? Passing everything, from the admissions essays culled from sample graduate school essays to the admissions interview, is just a start. Once in graduate school, you need to survive and ideally, survive with honors. With the sample graduate school essays, the interviews and all the effort you’ve put in this, is it really what you want to do?
There are some factors that shouldn’t be considered when thinking about graduate school. Including these factors in your decision process can mislead you. It is always best to want to be in graduate school for what it can best offer you: advanced learning. Consider other alternatives if you are thinking of graduate school for the reasons listed below:
1. Dissatisfaction at work: Understand what about your job you don’t like. Graduate school may just be an escape for you. In the end, you may still acquire a job you dislike, albeit with a graduate degree this time.
2. Loving the student lifestyle: Who doesn’t love being a student? Of course, this does not mean you can survive the grueling demands of graduate school. And even if you do, you will eventually still have to go out there and work.
3. Unemployment: Getting a graduate degree is not always the answer to finding the job you want. Sometimes, all you have to do is gain some experience. Expand your search for suitable work first. A graduate school degree cannot do much help in a job market that also puts value on actual work experience.
4. Peer or parental pressure: A lot of parents take pride in their children’s academic achievements. And, yours might be wanting you to take further studies. Your friends might be asking the same of you too, so they still have you as constant companion as they strive for further education. Don’t let the decision for graduate school education lie in their hands. In the end, it’s up to you.
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