This week, I reflected on grad school decisions with several recent graduates, including some who did not go to grad school and others who did. Their insights are below:“Look, the PhD in virtually any field is a terrible economic investment,” says Robert Ziegler, a third-year philosophy PhD student at the University of Virginia. He argues that if people are going to enter grad school, “they really need to find the activity fulfilling.
In the end, I’m glad I decided against the PhD. But I’m even more glad that I took the time to develop some skills while deciding.This advice goes for grad students in professional fields, too. Reagan Johanson McQueen, a recent law school graduate, says if she could do it all over again, she would have worked a few years before grad school. Employers are looking for applicants with diverse skills, she says.
A business mentor once told me something similar about his MBA. Getting the credential made sense only after he spent years postgrad building up the ideas, network and industry expertise with which he could use his advanced degree.Many recent graduates conflate wanting to go to graduate school with the familiar desire to succeed academically. Combined with a lack of knowledge of other available opportunities, many rush into grad school when other options might be more sensible.