Anonymous
03/15/2015 18:33
Subject: s/o Is it better to work after undergrad for a few years before returning for grad school?
Depends a bit on the person and grad program. Personally, my two years of work experience helped me to pick the right grad program and made me more focused and driven while there. When I reentered the job market I was more competitive than people who had gone straight through, and my work experience also contributed to my success if the program. That said, in certain fields and if the individual is confident in the path they want to pursue, it would make sense to go straight. In my professional degree program, it was pretty obvious who went straight from undergrad, and it wasn't a good thing.
Anonymous
03/15/2015 16:27
Subject: s/o Is it better to work after undergrad for a few years before returning for grad school?
Anonymous wrote:It depends on your graduate program and target degree.
It depends on your undergraduate degree and your grades.
It depends on your cash flow.
It depends on how many kids you have and when you are planning on having the next or first one.
It depends on where your spouse is in their career.
It depends on how mature you are and how much drive you have.
I really hate these kinds of "Seussical" posts.
Anonymous
03/15/2015 15:02
Subject: s/o Is it better to work after undergrad for a few years before returning for grad school?
It depends on your graduate program and target degree.
It depends on your undergraduate degree and your grades.
It depends on your cash flow.
It depends on how many kids you have and when you are planning on having the next or first one.
It depends on where your spouse is in their career.
It depends on how mature you are and how much drive you have.
It depends on your undergraduate degree and your grades.
It depends on your cash flow.
It depends on how many kids you have and when you are planning on having the next or first one.
It depends on where your spouse is in their career.
It depends on how mature you are and how much drive you have.
Anonymous
03/15/2015 14:44
Subject: s/o Is it better to work after undergrad for a few years before returning for grad school?
Anonymous wrote:I blew through school K-JD and my wife took ~7 years off between before beginning a PhD. I actually think we probably should have swapped lives because as a professor we hit the worst of the worst times in terms of having kids and raising small kids. Oddly my career mellowed right around the time we began having kids (left biglaw to go in house). I am actually the primary parent and do the bulk of the heaving lifting but I think that's because I also spent 10 years working before slowing down my career. My wife doesn't have the luxury, sadly.
I honestly think, for women, getting trained and getting into the market as soon as possible matters more because of biology. If you want kids in your early to mid 30's, you kind of need to be working and establishing yourself in your late 20's. Otherwise, you are going to be in the same pickle as my DW (who is admittedly handling everything incredibly well).
Ha, um... or you marry a partner who is supportive and will actually do the majority of the parenting. If your career is mellowing, it shouldn't be a problem that your wife's is ramping up. Unless, of course, you want to try again and say that for anybody expecting to have kids around age 30, you should get your long days out of the way before hand. Not just women.
Anonymous
03/15/2015 13:52
Subject: s/o Is it better to work after undergrad for a few years before returning for grad school?
very hard to finish a PhD if you aren't sure you want to have one. The only way to be sure is to work a few years and mature first.
Anonymous
03/13/2015 20:31
Subject: s/o Is it better to work after undergrad for a few years before returning for grad school?
With the possible exception of medical school I think it's better to work first. I think people who have alredy worked are more purposeful about grad school and are less likely to go because they have a degree in English and don't know what else to do. This is especially true of law school.
Anonymous
03/13/2015 19:35
Subject: s/o Is it better to work after undergrad for a few years before returning for grad school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My dh and I have been discussing which would be better - I always thought it's smarter to get the graduate degree out of the way after college, before career, marriage, kids, etc. make returning to school much more difficult. DH says it's better to get a few years of work experience first, then return either P/T or F/T for graduate degree. Any thoughts?
Agree with your DH. It's even better if your employer pays for your graduate degree.
Pro tip: Unless it's a professional degree (Law, MBA, medicine), if you have to pay tuition for graduate school, you don't belong in graduate school.
Teachers in VA have to have to go to grad school before they can work.
No they don't. Tons of teachers in n VA don't have masters. I'm one of them.
Anonymous
03/12/2015 20:21
Subject: s/o Is it better to work after undergrad for a few years before returning for grad school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My dh and I have been discussing which would be better - I always thought it's smarter to get the graduate degree out of the way after college, before career, marriage, kids, etc. make returning to school much more difficult. DH says it's better to get a few years of work experience first, then return either P/T or F/T for graduate degree. Any thoughts?
Agree with your DH. It's even better if your employer pays for your graduate degree.
Pro tip: Unless it's a professional degree (Law, MBA, medicine), if you have to pay tuition for graduate school, you don't belong in graduate school.
Teachers in VA have to have to go to grad school before they can work.
Anonymous
03/12/2015 19:59
Subject: s/o Is it better to work after undergrad for a few years before returning for grad school?
Work for a few years. I went straight through and it worked out ok in the end but being overqualified and underexperienced really was an obstacle at first. Plus, I might have gotten some help for grad school rather than pay all out of pocket and I would have gotten more out of grad school had I worked a bit first.
Anonymous
02/23/2015 10:45
Subject: s/o Is it better to work after undergrad for a few years before returning for grad school?
I blew through school K-JD and my wife took ~7 years off between before beginning a PhD. I actually think we probably should have swapped lives because as a professor we hit the worst of the worst times in terms of having kids and raising small kids. Oddly my career mellowed right around the time we began having kids (left biglaw to go in house). I am actually the primary parent and do the bulk of the heaving lifting but I think that's because I also spent 10 years working before slowing down my career. My wife doesn't have the luxury, sadly.
I honestly think, for women, getting trained and getting into the market as soon as possible matters more because of biology. If you want kids in your early to mid 30's, you kind of need to be working and establishing yourself in your late 20's. Otherwise, you are going to be in the same pickle as my DW (who is admittedly handling everything incredibly well).
I honestly think, for women, getting trained and getting into the market as soon as possible matters more because of biology. If you want kids in your early to mid 30's, you kind of need to be working and establishing yourself in your late 20's. Otherwise, you are going to be in the same pickle as my DW (who is admittedly handling everything incredibly well).
Anonymous
02/22/2015 09:13
Subject: s/o Is it better to work after undergrad for a few years before returning for grad school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Go to grad school straight off. Much harder to go back once you have a life.
This.
Ha,ha,ha. Not for me. Being in school is easier. Pick your poison.
Anonymous
02/22/2015 09:10
Subject: s/o Is it better to work after undergrad for a few years before returning for grad school?
Anonymous wrote:Go to grad school straight off. Much harder to go back once you have a life.
This.
Anonymous
02/22/2015 08:52
Subject: Re:s/o Is it better to work after undergrad for a few years before returning for grad school?
I have a Ph.D., and not taking time off before starting the program was the biggest overall regret among my classmates.
Anonymous
02/22/2015 08:48
Subject: s/o Is it better to work after undergrad for a few years before returning for grad school?
I'd work to be damn sure I actually wanted to work in the field. I worked in a non-profit for two years when I was considering an MPA, tried a year as a teaching assistant to see if I'd like it, got my M.Ed I did an evening program, worked as a teaching assistant, 2 hours of homework, 4 hours of class a couple times per week plus the weekends and I was able to do it quite easily. I appreciated school much more after being in the working world.
Anonymous
02/22/2015 08:24
Subject: Re:s/o Is it better to work after undergrad for a few years before returning for grad school?
Anonymous wrote:Top MBA programs require job experience first. Law students with some work experience are more attractive job candidates. So for those two work experience is a good idea.
I believe this is considered the preference and often the requirement for top law and business too. I've read it many places and the career counseling at our graduating senior's New England SLAC holds this position too. Have heard that other SLAC's advise students likewise. Don't know what top public universities tell their students.