When Not to Go to Grad School

Published July 01, 2009 @ 10:39AM PT

1. When you don't know what to do next and you think grad school will help you figure it out. It will help, but you might spend two years and $60,000 to figure out that you just got the wrong degree and what you really want is medical school or an MBA. (I actually did my MPH because I didn't know what to do next, and it worked for me, but I am an anomaly)

2. When you're fresh out of college. You don't know what you want yet. Really. I promise. You might get it right, but the odds are not in your favor. Take a couple years and work. It will give you some time to figure out what you need from grad school, or if you need grad school at all.

3. When you just finished Peace Corps. You are already used to being poor, and you've got better language skills than you'll ever have again. Get an in-country internship and start building connections and relevant experience. Then use that to go to a top flight grad school and a jump-start on your post-grad school career.

4. When you're pregnant (or your partner is). Graduate school seems like it will be a flexible time to have a baby and/or a toddler. It's not. Your professors will notice when you miss class, and the constant feeling that you have work you ought to be doing is not especially compatible with parenthood.

5. January. Even if your school lets you start in spring semester, the majority are not set up for students to begin that way. Most of the classes offered will require prerequisites offered in the fall. And the other students will all know each other already; you'll miss the September friend-making rush.

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I recently heard from someone that you should try to line up to go to grad school directly after Peace Corps so that the Peace Corps non-competitive hiring eligibility freezes during the time you're in school so that it is eligible right when you get out of grad school. Is this a good idea?

Thank you,

Dedicated Reader

Posted by Phi Pham on 07/02/2009 @ 08:48AM PT
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Honestly, I think if your only hope of employment is the non-competitive hiring eligibility, then you are in bad shape. Better to be hired for your actual skills than a bureaucratic plus-up.

Posted by Alanna Shaikh on 07/02/2009 @ 09:11AM PT
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Alanna Shaikh has spent the last ten years immersed in global health; she has worked for NGOs, companies, universities, and the US government on projects that ranged from preventing antibacterial resistance to improving maternal and child health.