100 Reasons Not to Go to Grad School

[Solmyr]

In any case what we are talking about might not be applicable to Finland.  It is an article by North Americans to give North American students food for thought about getting expensive graduate degrees under the specific circumstances present here today.  It is not some condemnation of graduate studies for all time and all places to the contrary the people who write on this blog love study and higher education.

You are probably right, since in Finland there are no tuition fees and students actually get paid state support. You can still rack up some debt but nowhere near the same amount as in the Anglo-Saxon system.

[grumbler]

If you go to Grad school for the wrong reasons, then these apply.  Good grad school teaches you how to actually research and write papers that people will care about and that meet the standards of the particular academic community.  Also, unless you are a wunderkind entrepreneur or have some other very distinctive blip on your resume, no business will hire you for a middle/upper management level track unless you have that "check in the box" MBA.  Education is not a prerequisite for success.  But success has a very high level of correlation with success.

Well, yeah.  Duh! 

As for "no business will hire you for a middle/upper management level track unless you have that "check in the box" MBA,"  I assume that is just throwaway hyperbole, which the readers are supposed to recognize as untrue.  Because, of course, it is untrue.

[CountDeMoney]

As for "no business will hire you for a middle/upper management level track unless you have that "check in the box" MBA,"  I assume that is just throwaway hyperbole, which the readers are supposed to recognize as untrue.  Because, of course, it is untrue.

I was middle management.  I had no MBA. 

[Caliga]

I did a solid year of graduate school and, point in fact, the reason why I took a leave of absence (and eventually withdrew) is because I liked working at a real job so much more than graduate school.  The work was far more fulfilling (since I was helping people and achieving tangible things) AND I was getting paid to do so, rather than the other way around.  Most of the people in my program actually seemed to be suffering, and if they were lucky enough to get a job after they finished their PhD they had zero control over where they ended up living... a prospect I definitely was not looking forward to either.  I actually saw several couples break up since they couldn't both find jobs in the same city.

[The Brain]

I did a solid year of graduate school and, point in fact, the reason why I took a leave of absence (and eventually withdrew) is because I liked working at a real job so much more than graduate school.  The work was far more fulfilling (since I was helping people and achieving tangible things) AND I was getting paid to do so, rather than the other way around.  Most of the people in my program actually seemed to be suffering, and if they were lucky enough to get a job after they finished their PhD they had zero control over where they ended up living... a prospect I definitely was not looking forward to either.  I actually saw several couples break up since they couldn't both find jobs in the same city.

The couples were either same sex or featured a working woman. Either way fuck you, Democrat.

[CountDeMoney]

I actually saw several couples break up since they couldn't both find jobs in the same city.

As well they should.  One's partner should never hold back another's dreams.

[Caliga]

@Brain Quit stalking me.

[CountDeMoney]

@Brain Quit stalking me.

He has different dreams.  Let him go.

[Valmy]

You are probably right, since in Finland there are no tuition fees and students actually get paid state support. You can still rack up some debt but nowhere near the same amount as in the Anglo-Saxon system.

I suddenly have this image of long axe majors studying for their final exams at Offa State University.

[garbon]

Unless you have pretty good connections and/or some source of money you can rely upon, it's hard to imagine anyone wanting to risk getting a PhD nowadays.  Which is a shame, since presumably it will lead to yet further stratification in society.  Just anecdotally, I know a guy who was a poor farm boy from western Canada and went on to get his PhD, graduated with a mound of debt, and in 10 years or something has found very little work.  And there are all kinds of horror stories like that.

Oh I'd only go if I went to a school that gave me a stipend because yeah otherwise not worth it.  Same sort of reason I don't think I'll get an MBA unless I had a company that assisted in paying for it.

[Valmy]

But going to university - especially at a graduate level - is about engaging with academics not listening to them, though those do look interesting.

I had a look at some of the English ones.  With the exception of the wonderful Paul Fry, are all American academics so effetely homosexual?

I guess my point is if you just love the content you can now study it on your own better than ever.  Graduate school should be for people who are committed to becoming specialists and devoting careers to this stuff.

As for the effete thing...yeah that is pretty common for Ivy league types.

[Legbiter]

Came across this blog:

http://100rsns.blogspot.ca/

Any grad students here? What do Languish grad school-goers think? Accurate or bunk?

100% accurate.

Yep.

[Legbiter]

This one caught my eye as well.

In 2010, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, there were 33,655 Americans with doctorates collecting food stamps. Together, they could fill a stadium. The 293,029 Americans with master's degrees collecting food stamps could fill Cincinnati.

[PDH]

I got government cheese before I got my MA.

[Malthus]

Heh, I remember back in the day making the decision to go to law school rather than grad school (I applied to and was accepted to both - I also applied to teacher's college, but I was turned down!).

The main reason I chose law school over grad school is that I had a horrible sinking feeling that if I went to grad school one day I'd be right back where I was at that time - no money and not knowing WTF I was going to do. Only older and in debt.

Of course, the same went for many who went to law school, but that wasn't nearly as true when I went as it is now, apparently.