This past summer, I thought I had the rest of my life all planned out. After graduation, I was going to attend grad school for journalism in New York City, work my way up at a reputable magazine and eventually move back to Los Angeles as a West Coast editor.
Upon returning to Tufts, however, I realized that my future wasn't as clear-cut as I had thought. Talking to friends and faculty, I began to question my decision to go straight to grad school.
It all started while doing a reading assignment for my TV reporting class. I read in Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel's "The Elements of Journalism" that "theories of journalism are left to the academy, and many newspeople have historically devalued journalism education, arguing that the only place to learn is by osmosis on the job. As even highly respected TV journalist Ted Koppel once said, 'Journalism schools are an absolute and total waste of time.'"
It got me thinking: Were the next two years of my life going to be utterly useless? I immediately set up an appointment with Career Services to discuss my future. I have decided to wait to attend grad school, aiming to achieve real-life experience in my field first.
How can you tell if you're ready for grad school? The first step is deciding on a profession. If you're unsure of what career path to take with your bachelor's degree in art history, it might be best to take a year off and explore your job options.
Visit Career Services and find out what opportunities are available. A great way to explore possibilities is to spend your summer or winter vacation working for a temporary agency. You can try out various fields and see what sparks your interest. Working as a temp can also help you form valuable contacts. Keep these names in a networking file for future use. After graduation, call your contacts and try out the jobs that engrossed you. You may discover a passion for a career that does not even require you to return to school.
On the other hand, if you already know the field you would like to work in prior to your senior year, you're ready to decide if grad school is the right option. There are many factors in making such an important decision. Aside from the obvious financial matters, there is the important question of how large an advantage attending grad school will give you. Of course, if you want to be a doctor or a lawyer, additional schooling is a must. But what about a career in politics, education or, in my case, communications? A master's degree can't hurt - but how much will it help?
The best way to find out about the possible benefits of grad schools is to talk to people in your potential field. If you want to be an anchorman, for example, get in touch with various broadcast professionals and listen to their experiences. Did they go to grad school? If not, do they regret their decision? If so, was it helpful for them in securing a job?
You should also try to speak with current grad students to find out what the curriculum is actually like. The information posted on a school's website often differs from real life experiences.
Location is another aspect to take into consideration. In my case, I knew I should be in New York, the magazine capital of the country. This made my decision easy. I based my potential schools on this factor, realizing that the contacts I met in grad school would be greater in an area where my profession was more popular.
Research the locations in which people in your field tend to live; doing so can help to narrow down your school choices. Also, think about where you want to be, since many times, the place you go to grad school is the place you'll enter the workforce post-grad-school-graduation. If you hate the West Coast, you probably shouldn't apply to Stanford for law school.
Once you've decided that you indeed want to attend, you need to get moving on the application. Most schools have a December or January deadline for the following fall term. Go to Career Services and develop a timeline. When will you study and take the GREs or MCATs? Who will you ask for recommendations? What are you going to write for your personal essays?
If the list seems like too much for you to handle during your senior year, reconsider applying. Trying to get into a great grad school while studying for your five classes and attending tennis practice every night can be extremely stressful. You can always take a year off and apply when school is over.
Whatever you choose, make sure it is your decision. It is great to have input from friends, family and faculty, but only you can know if you're ready to go to graduate school.
