Sometimes I wonder if people really understand graduate school. Like college, graduate school is an investment and like any other investment, graduate school is a commitment. I’m not trying to sound all-after- school-special, I’m just making sure that you’re aware of the realities of professional education. It is not easy and sometimes I don’t think people take it as seriously as they should. Graduate study is rewarding and fulfilling but I believe it’s a true labor of love. I think students enter this realm largely unaware of what it’s really all about. It is by no means a lavish life. There is mental fatigue, financial strain and emotional stress. There will be days when you ask yourself out loud, “WTF am I doing here?” Those moments are a lot easier to get through when you’ve prepared for them. I hope this information is helpful in that regard.
Undergraduate vs Graduate Study
Most baccalaureate degrees generally prepare you for life. The academic skills you’ve acquired throughout your secondary years are honed and tweeked to ensure that you are a broadly educated, socially aware, critically thinking, contributor to society. You’re taught to reason, justify and support your decisions. Through your major you can elect to develop a specialized professional skill set that will give you the fundamental preliminary skills needed to embark upon the career of your choice.
Graduate School on the other hand is all about the mastery of skills and the sustenance of the knowledge. In graduate school you build upon your existing skills and understanding and are trained to be an authority in your field. In college, you learn how to do your job but in graduate school you learn about your job/profession through the context of its history, roles, functions and broader implications & impacts. You learn the conditions necessary for success in your position and you learn how to assess and ensure those conditions as things change and evolve in the world. With this knowledge you’re positioned for leadership.
For example, let’s say in college you learn how to be a Human Resources (HR) officer. You learn the basic functions and procedures of a Human Resources office/division and you learn how to make sure the job gets done. In graduate school you are taught Human Resources from the perspectives of where it came from, why it matters and what it has the potential to do/be. You understand its necessity in the organization(even in the world) and you learn the conditions necessary for it to thrive. Armed with this knowledge you are positioned for great responsibility within your organization. That responsibility is almost always accompanied with the compensation (fiscal, personal, ethical, etc) that we’re all working to realize
Don’t get me wrong, like Rev. Higgs at my church sings every year around graduation time, “The Tassle is worth the Hassle”. I’m not writing this in an effort to shoot anyone’s dream or dissuade you from pursuing the graduate degrees of your choice. On the contrary, I aim to be the battery in your back. Graduate study is slowly becoming a mandatory step in ascending the ladder of success. You can do this. You must. I’m just trying to see to it that you know exactly what it is that you have to do and can prepare yourself accordingly.
Leave a comment. Let me know if this was helpful and of any other information you’d like to see me write about. I’m an open book. Got a question. Leave it and I’ll do my best to answer it.
As always I hope this helps,
Tykeia
The GlamNERD.
Article by Tykeia Nicole
Tykeia Nicole aka The GlamNERD is a lady first - a twenty-something Columbia University graduate student, university administrator and blogger. She lives the life of a glamorous nerd on a NYC based mission to show the world that you can balance stellar grades, no nonsense business savvy and live in constant pursuit of all things FABULOUS. Recognizing the void in the blogosphere that prepares and sustains students seeking to further their education, Tykeia Nicole started writing. January 2010, marked the launch of her brainchild – TheGlamNerds.com; an innovative, insightful and interactive experience geared to inspire the college/graduate school bound and the world to succeed academically and live fabulously in the process. An innate intellectual, beauty maven, opinionista and slave to a good shoe, she blogs by the mantra “Hunny... I really don't claim to be a genius, or to have all my ish together…I'm a nerd who just happens to sit at the cool kids table.” The GlamNerds.com is a movement; taking the blogosphere by storm. Don’t miss the bus!!!
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I couldn't agree more. Graduate school is a wonderful, fulfilling experience and is a true investment. What people need to realize that it is mainly about committment and dedication for the work you are passionate about. Do not take that leap until you are mentally ready to endure the labor.
I am in my first semester for school counseling… My entire life changed in a matter of weeks because of new jobs, etc. Then school started & I've endured more stress in the past 3 weeks (personal, work related & academically) than ever. At the same time.. I am embracing it b/c I love being a grad student. Its preparing me to make a difference in the world at large.. and yes its an investment.. The time commitment is pretty much 90% of your time is spent in school or thinking about it, but I was blessed to get a graduate assistantship (if you're in grad school or thinking about it.. Being a GA is going to be the greatest invention ever) so I don't pay tuition..
Anywho.. Great post.. Would love for you to explore the differences in more depth..
Lastly, I'd encourage everyone reading to pursue education to the highest height they can.. Especially if you can get someone else to pay for it
I still think all this shit is a sham. And it costs too much goddamn money. *Shrugs* The degree better be worth all the heartache this caused me….
Sorry. Yeah. Huge difference. People who don’t know that, usually haven’t gone to grad school before.
I'm in a M. Ed. (specialization in guidance counseling) as well. Between that, work, and kids, mentally I'm spent. I think in undergrad you have the advantage of not having to do too much of a balancing act. You can miss a few classes to catch up on sleep. Depending on where you go to school and how much aid you get, you can ball a lil bit on that stipend check. Grad school, it's all on you financially, academically, and mentally.
I also think support structure is a lil different in grad school. In undergrad, you spend the 1st 2 semesters (sometimes more) depending on what career really piques your interest. Something like an educational buffet. But come grad school, you better know exactly what you wanna do career-wise when you register for 1st year. Otherwise, you're gonna sink to the bottom of the shark tank really fast
I love my grad school experience, but wow, it's damn near impossible to get financial aid unless you're going for the doctorate. If I had my head on straight back then at 21 (a difficult task) I would have either waited and saved up or entered the work force a little early and had the job pay for it.
I'm currently a 2nd year in grad school and working on my thesis. Between class, writing for prelims, completing my internship, and working PT, I really don't have time for the kind of foolishness I see a lot of undergrads on campus partaking in. I agree with the author that many don't realize that it's a big commitment. This can be said for first semester grad students as well who enter campus thinking they will get a prolonged sense of the undergrad experience of partying, tailgating, drinking, and greek life. After the first semester, there are usually about 5-7 drop outs in my program SMH. Oh well, more scholarship money for me I guess.
I’ve always heard… “in undergrad you learn how… In grad you learn why”
Tuition and Rent is Too Damn High