You can start a graduate program after you have tried something else first. For that matter, you can try two or three or four things first. In the process of giving something else a chance, you may discover your life’s calling and settle into a livelihood long before you would have finished graduate school. Having secure employment and income in your twenties gives you more flexibility when it comes to starting a family than you would have if you were to emerge from graduate school at 30 without any savings, and quite possibly in debt. Moreover, if you choose to start graduate school after working and saving for a few years, you can give yourself a monetary cushion that will improve your standard of living in graduate school and give you some peace of mind, which is a rare commodity among graduate students.
Even if you work and save for a few years and give yourself a financial cushion, know that your peace of mind will be short-lived. How long is that cushion really going to last? Two years? Five years? Ten years? If you go to grad school at 28 instead of 22, you won't finish until you're 36 or 37 or 38. Your monetary cushion will be used up, and no one will care about the work history you built up in your 20s. When you don't get that coveted tenure-track job after 3 or 4 years of trying, you'll not be 30 and broke -- you'll be 40 and broke! You'll finally have realized just how much adjuncthood sucks, but your only other option will be to go back to the entry level nonacademic jobs you had in your 20s -- that is, if anyone will even hire you, because now you're overqualified for those but underqualified for anything else.
ReplyDeleteGood point.
ReplyDeleteI entered grad school at age 22, and looking back, I wish that I had at least spent a year or two pursuing other dreams before committing to this program. I wanted to teach English abroad, work in a national park, learn more languages, and so on. I could have done all those things and entered graduate school (if that was still on the agenda) at age 25, which wouldn't have been out of the ordinary. But now if I want any shot at a tenure-track job, I have to stay in academia permanently. Search committees don't like a candidate who finishes a PhD and then has a CV gap (though they couldn't care less about what you did *before* the PhD).
ReplyDeleteI started grad school when I was 29. I loved almost every second of it--except the first quarter, where I didn't understand a tenth of what I was reading. For a lot of people, grad school sucks. But not for me: I drank lots of beer, hung out with girls....yes, but I really, really had a good time with great people who are still my friends. And, I got a job. So you can see that I did not get my PhD in English, and others' situations will vary
ReplyDeletei started grad school ten years ago when i was 35 and actually my life has improved ever since. i have had a great experience. but then, i went at my own pace: ta-ing sometimes, research trips other periods, and so forth.
ReplyDeleteSome similar thoughts are expressed here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8OdgwiiafY
Aw @#%&, you mean they get worse?!
ReplyDeleteI joined the Peace Corps after my M.A., thinking I would return to school after two years, and I was wrong. In the PC, I traveled, learned a foreign language, helped other people, and discovered an inner patriot I never knew existed. I talked with my friends who went on for PhDs or battled their way through a tough market, and found that my career prospects were as good if not better than most of theirs. I'm not selling the Peace Corps to everyone because PC is tough, but there are other choices aside from more school.
ReplyDeleteThis is one reason I had for leaving. I worked for a year between my b.a. and my m.a. I then took another year off between my m.a. and starting a phd program. I ultimately decided to leave grad school because I am still young and I want to have a life. I didn't want to sacrifice all of this time and suddenly wake up in my mid thirties with no partner, no career prospects, no sanity, and no life experience.
ReplyDeleteYou only get one shot. I'm now saving to travel around South America for three months.
It's completely possible to have it all! I am debt-free, receive a normal stipend of around 1400 a month, and am pursing my PhD to be complete by age 29 (I'm 27 now). I am in a committed relationship, I travel, and I enjoy conversations and life around me. No way would I give this lifestyle up for the 9-5 pounding of real life. I have way more free time now and when I was getting my MA then when I worked for the two years in between my MA and PhD. I also have summers off and every University break to do as I wish.... I couldn't think of a better life. My solution would be for those that don't think they can balance the life or who don't have the money, should really think twice about graduate school so you don't feel trapped.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the post about saving some money and trying some other career choices first. I did that, and enjoyed my MA a lot because I had practical experiences and confidence and a savings account. I have somewhat enjoyed the PhD track, now at the end I am extremely tired. But, I think I have coped well from having that experience and savings to draw from. Every time I've been down, I believe I could still get a professional job with my background. That is, as the author says, a rare commodity of peace of mind.
ReplyDelete