Graduate school can be personally and professionally rewarding, but it can also be a lonely, stressful undertaking. Before you decide to devote years of your life to earning an advanced degree, evaluate your reasons for doing so. Graduate school often isn’t the only way to achieve your professional goals. Deciding not to pursue an advanced degree can save you money and time, as well as the potential stress and heartache of burning out and quitting an ill-suited program partway through. The cost of education is rising, and the debt you take on might not be worth it. If anything on this list resonates with you, graduate school might not be your path forward in life. So if you’re wondering whether or not grad school is worth it, consider these seven reasons why you should avoid it all together.
You’re avoiding the world
Graduate school is not a good way to hide from anything. Your student loans, the job market, and your personal troubles will still be there when you graduate, and the longer you avoid dealing with them, the more onerous and complicated your problems will become. Going to grad school requires that you devote most of your time to an intense and stressful workload, and possibly take on additional student debt. This isn’t a good idea if you’ve already got problems that need addressing.
You think a graduate degree will give you a leg up in the job market
A small handful of jobs do require an advanced degree to land an entry-level position. Most do not. Look at all your education options before you apply to graduate school. There are often ways to change careers or earn extra qualifications for your current job without putting in the time, expense, and work of earning another degree. Going to graduate school doesn’t just cost you in terms of tuition, but it also costs you the wages and job experience you could otherwise have earned in that time. The job market is not going to be significantly better when you have an advanced degree, so think carefully before you over-qualify yourself.
You don’t know what else to do other than go to graduate school
Graduate school is not the place to figure out what to do with your life: it’s where you go when you’re certain about what you want to do with your life. Move to a new city, take a job or request an informational interview in a field you want to learn more about. Even consider volunteering, which has many professional and personal benefits, but don’t go back to school if you’re feeling lost. Between additional student loans, a heavy load of coursework, and extra strain on your mind and relationships, graduate school is an expensive, stressful, and inefficient way to do your soul-searching. Think about it: studying a single subject in great detail is not a good way to survey all your choices in life. Do yourself a favor and find a cheaper, less stressful, and more productive way to explore your options.
Someone else is pressuring you to go to graduate school
Maybe your parents want to live vicariously through your academic achievements. Or perhaps your partner thinks it would be cool if you had more earning power. If other people are trying to talk you into going to graduate school, resist the pressure. Grad school requires a lot from you. You’ll be the one who has to shoulder that burden, not the person who wants you to go. Grad school may be worth it for them, but that doesn’t mean it is for you.
You don’t have your act together
To reiterate: grad school is demanding. You’ve got to have the small, routine aspects of your life together if you want to have a chance of success in graduate school. If you’re a chronic procrastinator, not a hard worker, or need to take care of a lot of other business in your life, grad school is probably not your game. It takes diligence, focus, and a high level of productivity to get through grad school successfully. If you are struggling to keep up with your responsibilities, don’t add graduate school to your plate too.
You’ve been accepted to PhD programs with no funding
Don’t accept an offer of admission to a PhD program unless the department is also offering you a fellowship or teaching assistantship. Admittance without college funding usually constitutes a polite rejection; the school doesn’t consider you promising enough to invest in, but they’re still willing to collect tuition from you. Think long and hard before going into debt for an advanced degree, particularly one that’s not in a lucrative field. While there are many ways to avoid student loan debt, most of these options apply to undergraduate degrees. Many people who paid for their PhDs remain under the burden of their student loans all their lives.
You want to relive your college experience
The academics, social life, and overall atmosphere of graduate school are nothing like what you experienced in college as an undergraduate student. There are some key differences between undergrad and grad school. College is often about exploration and having fun as much as it is about learning, but graduate school requires seriousness, focus, and hard work. That’s not to say that fun and exploration are absent from the graduate school experience, but they are seriously toned down. Grad school is a job. It has its own set of rewards, but if you’re expecting it to be a continuation of your college experience, you’ll be disappointed.
Conclusion
If nothing on this list applies to you, and you have a concrete, productive reason to earn an advanced degree, go for it. Grad school can be worth it and can be immensely enriching and fulfilling. Just do your research first and be aware of the realities of graduate education. You probably don’t need an advanced degree to enjoy your work and be happy in life.
