Navigating Your Graduate School Decision: Key Considerations for Prospective Students

Dennis Guzik is the host of the Be the Ultimate podcast, where he shares valuable career advice.

• One of the most common questions he is asked as a former corporate leader is whether to go to grad school.

• The first factor to consider is if grad school is necessary and if it will benefit your career.

• If the answer is yes, then it's important to think about whether you enjoy the field of study and can handle the time and cost.

• While going to grad school while working full time may take longer, it provides a steady income and potential employer support.

• Full-time grad school offers a more immersive experience but requires financial investment without a salary.

• Another option is going straight to grad school after obtaining a bachelor's degree, which may be beneficial with more experience under your belt.

• Ultimately, the decision should be based on personal preference and weighing the factors of liking the field, needing it for your career, and being able to handle the commitment.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Hi folks. Well, it's Dennis Guzik, the old jarhead with the Be the Ultimate podcast, where I give you some just straight out great career advice. So what are we going to talk about today? Well, today, you're lucky, okay. One of the biggest questions I would get asked when I was a leader inside of the corporate world was should I go to grad school? And that's a big decision, time and money wise. So I thought I'd give you some of my thoughts on this thing and you could take it from there.

Speaker 1: 0:38

So let's not kick this around anymore, let's get going, okay, first, the thing I think you have to think about first is do I need it and will it help my career? So two parts of that do I need it? Obviously, if you want to be a lawyer, you got to go to law school. If you want to be a doctor, you got to go to med school. Then there's a second part of that will it help? Okay. So if the answer to those first two questions is yes, then either got to go to grad school or you need to change your career path. Simple as that. If the answer to do I need it and will it help, and the answer to that is no, and going to grad school is kind of like pursuing a hobby. It's an expensive one, better think twice about doing it. But then there's that middle ground. Right, I don't necessarily need it. It may help my career Not necessarily, sure. So let's go on to the next factor. The next question you need to ask yourself right, and I think that is do you like this field to study? Right, it'll be a whole lot easier to put in the time needed and the cost if you like what you're doing, if you like that field of study. If you don't, then you got to ask yourself why are you on this career path and maybe consider a different one, okay?

Speaker 1: 2:01

Third factor to think about here is how much time and money and disruption is going to grad school going to cost At this point in your personal professional career? Can you withstand the time and cost of going to grad school? And I'll tell you this generally, it doesn't get easier. The older you get, the older you get, the more senior you get in your job, the more family obligations you have, the more difficult it is to take on a graduate school program.

Speaker 1: 2:37

So if you decide to go, there's a couple other things that you need to think about, and one of those is should I go full-time or part-time? And this is a really common question. I would get Okay, part-time can take longer, but you are still earning a salary while you're in school, so that helps, and then if your employer will cover some of that cost, that's a huge help. Okay, you may get an obligation to stay with the company after you graduate, or even before you if you stop, but if you like your employer and you think you're staying there and they're willing to pay to improve you, then that's a big help, and you should really consider going part-time Now. Full-time, though, has its benefits, right More immersive, you get more time with the professors and the fellow students, so that's the good side. The bad side is you're paying for it and you don't necessarily have an income.

Speaker 1: 3:35

One other factor that's really common nowadays is going to grad school right after you get your bachelor's degree. Days is going to grad school right after you get your bachelor's degree. Some schools will say, okay, you finish your bachelor's degree and I don't know, make it up mechanical engineering, and if you stay one more year and get your master's, that's all it's going to take. You is one year, a couple of years down the road. You want to enroll in somewhere. It'll probably take you two years, so think about that, right.

Speaker 1: 3:59

The benefit of waiting, though, is that you go into the program with a little more experience, a little more ability to understand things and even ask relevant questions. So good stuff, right? That's all I do In the end. It's your call, but I would recommend you weigh the three factors like it need it and can you accept the time and cost? And if the answer is yes, then think about the full-time, part-time considerations I laid out. And then you go to the next step, and that is deciding where to go. But that's for a future podcast. Thanks for listening, and Semper Fi, I hope you enjoyed it. And look at my book. Find a Job that Fits your Life life and I'll talk to you next week. Bye, thank you, thank you.