The Secret to Getting Your Money’s Worth in Grad School
I loved grad school. I mean, I loved grad school.
I made friends, learned specialized skills and was propelled into a career I enjoy and make good money doing. It was one of my best life decisions ever, and I do not regret it one bit.
In fact, that very principle is sort of what this site is built around. Yes, it’s about spending/budgeting/finances, but it’s also about those things in relation to a girl with a master’s degree. When I first started writing here, I wrote about the top 10 reasons I think you should consider grad school, whoever you are and whatever your career goals. And I still think that those points are valid.
But, confession time: I have to admit I may have been more than a little biased about the experience. While my education was fantastic, I’ve encountered more than my fair share of nay-sayers; maybe you have, too. So what’s the difference? Why did I love school and get more than my money’s worth, but others regret their decision and debt?
I think I know the answers, the “secrets,” if you will to getting all you can from the grad-school experience. If you’re a student, if you’re thinking of becoming a student or if you just want to hear the other side of the great debate, consider these:
Secret #1. DESIRE
First things first: I never thought I’d go to grad school. I was shocked to get in and had sort of a shifting-eyes-back-and-forth mentality the first few weeks, thinking someone would tell me I shouldn’t really be there, and yes, there had been a mistake, thank you very much.
Why? It’s a long story, but primarily I’d gone to a small, not regionally accredited undergrad. I’d majored in education, not writing like I later realized I wanted to pursue. I had little experience in the field, and I felt so unqualified, so unskilled, so behind the pack.
When I found out I got into a school that would make me able to pursue my dreams, I could’ve cried.
Secret #2: TEACHABILITY
I went to every class I could, even to lectures I wasn’t required to attend. I took notes even when the material wouldn’t be on the test. I read every book we were assigned, studied hard for every test, pushed myself with every paper. I was there for real, with all my chips on the table.
Secret #3: ENTHUSIASM
At The Writer’s Coin recently, there was a discussion of the value of a library card versus the value of a college degree. Great points made, I think. Mostly though, what he’s saying about the value of a library card is what I’m saying about grad school: use it for all it’s worth. Even as a commuting grad student, I used computer labs, libraries, city parking. I knew the campus facilities and spent time learning about my professors. When I was job-hunting, I contacted every teacher I’d had at school, asking for contacts, references, advice. I met with someone in the career department. To me, this is using the resources in front of you.
So, there you have it, the secret to a valuable grad-school experience: college is what you make of it. The choice is up to you.
January 11th, 2008 at 10:03 am
I completely agree. I loved my time in law school, but I think it’s because I really wanted to be there, spent time talking to professors even after my class with them was done, took advantage of the research resouces I had (now that I am out of school I appreciate the free Westlaw and Lexis access I had even more) and participated in activities I was excited about without paying too much attention to what would help me get a job. For example, I wrote for a specialty journal rather than law review because I liked their mission and preferred their company. Because of those things I excelled at that journal in a way I might not have on a more “prestigious” journal and that ended up helping me with some potential employers than if I had been just a cog o law review.
Your tips are spot on.
January 11th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Thanks for the nod! I agree though that you pretty much get what you put into it. I had a good but not great grad school experience but what I took away from it made it so worthwhile.
January 11th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
As someone who is hearing back from grad schools right now this was a very relevant post to read, thanks for the insight!
January 12th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Oh Iagree. I can’t wait to go, although I can’t afford it!
January 14th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I enjoy reading your blog. Would you mind if I link you in my Chicago’s Home Weblog sidebar at:
http://genopetroche.blogspot.com/ ??
Regards,
Geno
January 15th, 2008 at 3:08 am
i love this post. just what i need right now. i used to have the desire to earn an mba degree and when i finally got in, i have lost that desire. i began to wonder why i wanted it in the first place and would i really benefit from it.
i think what i really need is to be there fo real just like what you said in secret #2.
January 15th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
FF: Almost went to law school, though I can hardly believe it now. I’ve heard it’s insanely intense, so you probably know even better than I do about diligence/desire/etc! Thanks for the comment!
WC: Wish there were a way to get college kids to feel the same way about making the most of the experience, right?
Jude: Cool! Best wishes to you!
Thanks, Gene. I do love your blog and am honored for the link.
Grace: That’s fantastic that you’re pursuing an MBA. Just between us, if I go back for a degree, that’s the one I’m eyeing.
May 24th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
[...] I say they’re wrong. Here are (my) top 10 reasons for thinking grad school has been one of my best decisions, ever. [...]
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:01 am
[...] The Secret to Getting Your Money’s Worth in Grad School [...]
January 22nd, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Grad school! Yes, easily the best years of my life.
Grad school, though, as you’re writing of it, is nearly an obsolete notion. “Grad school,” for many, is night classes, while pursuing a full time career, and, more and more, classes on the computer.
This makes for an entirely different experience. We like to be able to quantify things, and so we suggest that grad school equals 30 credit hours of intensive coursework plus a capstone paper of some kind. But those who get only those 30 hours get not so much, in my estimation. Just more seat time. Just like undergrad work, only you have to spell better. Or something.
Grad school, for me, was not a series of courses but an intellectual millieu. I learned, I read, I taught, I wrote. More than that, I *thought.* I did so amongst scores of other people engaged in the same activities. We sometimes hear the university denigrated as an “ivory tower,” but it seems to me that anything purporting to be “civilization” would want to dedicate a space where people can work and live for a few years of their lives, somewhat apart from the compulsions and madness of the capitalistic world, in order to find themselves. To discover what has preceded them. To forge a path forward.
But no. Our world is losing its ability to support such goals. Gotta keep people working, you know. Maybe they can eke out a few hours a week to log on at the University of Phoenix. Learn a bit or two about what-all.
But they do so only in a way that tacks on little bits of knowledge and experience to their already chosen path of a working life…not in a way that allows a full investigation and reintegration of a life.
IMHO
I’m glad for you. Really. Thanks for telling us about it.