Dr Know
April 15th, 2010 | Published in Diversions
Graduate School?
By: Candi Young
It’s your senior year, you’ve changed your major 5 times over the course of your undergraduate work, and you still don’t have the slightest idea what you want to do when you grow up! Many graduates go through this dilemma – where will I live, where will I work, do I go back to school, where is the money?? While I may not be able to answer this for you, I hope to encourage those of you with even the slightest thoughts of sticking it out to reapply for graduate school in the fall to give it some serious consideration.
For some expert thoughts on grad school I elicited advice from the Director of the MS-Marketing Program at Texas A&M University – Dr. Stephen McDaniel, on why you should continue your education. For starters, “an advanced degree will tend to make [you] more marketable” right out of college and can be a good way to “differentiate” yourself from others. For example, with the MS-Marketing Program, graduates who have a job within two months of graduation have “ranged from 80% to 100% over the past few years.” Another reason Dr. McDaniel cited for the benefits of furthering your college education are the possibilities of an increased starting salary. Who wouldn’t like that?
Dr. McDaniel also explained that many of the MS-Marketing students are already in “school mode” and feel that they might as well get it over with since they aren’t sure what the future could hold in a few years. It could include having to work part time and attend grad school all while juggling family responsibilities, which can make going back to school seem like a daunting and unattainable task.
If you’re still questioning whether or not to take the plunge, I really encourage you to at the very least take the entrance exam as soon as you can. The scores are good for 5 years and that will give you plenty of time to make a decision. It is true what they say, if you don’t use the knowledge you’ve gained, you lose it. Once you’ve been out of school for a few years it is definitely more difficult to find that motivation to get you back on campus and back in that “school mode.”
Any questions/comments? E-mail me at: HYPERLINK “mailto:cly.mweekly@gmail.com”cly.mweekly@gmail.com
Thanks Dr. Mac!
