Dropping out of grad school after 1 week? (accepted, program, graduate)

[Cream1]

Hey all,

I was recently accepted into a grad school program but the workload and stress is already making me physically sick. There is not much of a support system (it's an online program) and I already work full time. I know full well that grad school is not for everyone. I guess I am one of those people.

Any thoughts of sticking it out for the next two years? Or should I save my time, money, and sanity? I would love to hear some grad school stories from some of my fellow city data friends.

[L210]

Are you in one of those programs that require a lot of busy work? I noticed that non-traditional colleges such as those that are for-profit or mostly online tend to assign a lot of busy work. I did an online graduate program in 14 months while working full-time, but it was at a public university.

[Cream1]

No, it is through a 'traditional' brick and mortar university with a top ten ranking in the field.

[jobaba]

What kind of program is it? Technical (hard science/engineering) or non-technical.

If it's non-technical, definitely stick with it for a while.

My grad school was in a non-technical field. The workload was tough, but that was it. There was nothing I couldn't grasp.

If you're doing something technical, and you are behind because you've been out of school forever for instance, that is a different story.

[Cream1]

It's non technical. Thanks for your response.

[cry_havoc]

I mean the question is can you do it, and how will it benefit you?

We cant answer if you can do it. If you can stick it through is it worth it? Will 2 years of stress lead yield good benefits?

Im in the same boat going to grad school while working fulltime. The program is designed not to be too stressful. It is stressful but nothing I cant handle and the benefits are huge.

[jobaba]

Originally Posted by Howiester

It's non technical. Thanks for your response.

Also, remember that you are in summer session now. Summer session is accelerated and very intense. So, that may be why you feel it is so difficult.

[CindyDavis]

Originally Posted by Howiester

Hey all,

I was recently accepted into a grad school program but the workload and stress is already making me physically sick. There is not much of a support system (it's an online program) and I already work full time. I know full well that grad school is not for everyone. I guess I am one of those people.

Any thoughts of sticking it out for the next two years? Or should I save my time, money, and sanity? I would love to hear some grad school stories from some of my fellow city data friends.

That's not exactly a normal description of graduate school.

[jasper12]

If you can't handle the first week, dropping was a good decision. Grad school is only tolerable if you keep the end goal in front of you.

[Coney]

It really depends because I've had some classes where they overwhelm the student with a lot of work at the beginning of the semester and then it eases up. I think some professors like to use the shock and awe approach at the beginning.