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I absolutely loved grad school, both Berkeley (master's in journalism) and Michigan (Ph.D.).
The Ph.D. program was VERY different from master's programs, which OP, it sounds like you were in (and had to pay for). For Michigan at least (which was #2 in my field at the time -- it's always in the top 3), getting in was the hard part -- they only admitted you if they could fund you, which meant you paid no tuition (and for me coming from out of state that was a huge deal -- back then, in '93 when I started, out-of-state grad tuition was around $20,000 IIRC and I didn't have to pay it) AND got a stipend. So that made it very competitive to get into, but once you were there, the program was pretty committed to keeping you.
I loved, loved, loved grad school at the doctoral level. That may have been where I was (I would have HATED Michigan for undergrad as I would have felt lost, but for grad school, it's about as good as it gets) but also the fact that I went in my early 30s after many years in the corporate world (years that told me I did NOT want that life). My Ph.D. got me a job as a professor, and although I could have made a lot more money staying in the corporate world, my quality of life would have been way, way, way worse. Most of the time I think I have just about the best job in the world.
OP, did you ever think about getting a Ph.D.? A master's degree in a liberal arts field doesn't get you too far. I wonder if that was part of the problem?
I absolutely loved grad school, both Berkeley (master's in journalism) and Michigan (Ph.D.).
The Ph.D. program was VERY different from master's programs, which OP, it sounds like you were in (and had to pay for). For Michigan at least (which was #2 in my field at the time -- it's always in the top 3), getting in was the hard part -- they only admitted you if they could fund you, which meant you paid no tuition (and for me coming from out of state that was a huge deal -- back then, in '93 when I started, out-of-state grad tuition was around $20,000 IIRC and I didn't have to pay it) AND got a stipend. So that made it very competitive to get into, but once you were there, the program was pretty committed to keeping you.
I loved, loved, loved grad school at the doctoral level. That may have been where I was (I would have HATED Michigan for undergrad as I would have felt lost, but for grad school, it's about as good as it gets) but also the fact that I went in my early 30s after many years in the corporate world (years that told me I did NOT want that life). My Ph.D. got me a job as a professor, and although I could have made a lot more money staying in the corporate world, my quality of life would have been way, way, way worse. Most of the time I think I have just about the best job in the world.
OP, did you ever think about getting a Ph.D.? A master's degree in a liberal arts field doesn't get you too far. I wonder if that was part of the problem?
No I didn't even get that masters degree but I was moving from Arizona to Greenville SC and in the job market there my B.A. was more than sufficient .I have mostly worked in marketing and in politics which I really enjoyed. I feel like I just took a different path and I was able to get training in marketing and finance along the way. I enjoyed Political Science at the undergrad level but graduate school was not for me. To me it was all work and none of what I had enjoyed as an undergrad. I did enjoy getting into grad school and being able to spend time in Arizona and learning some graduate level theory that I otherwise would not have been exposed to but on the whole I think leaving grad school was better for me.
Last edited by senecaman; 10-28-2018 at 02:23 PM..
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RamenAddict
I have two graduate degrees, neither of which I got right after undergrad. I think I appreciated going back much more after working, plus I think with my second grad program, I probably got into a much better school than I would have gotten into straight after undergrad.I was definitely NOT ready to go straight after undergrad. ..
^^ my observations and experience as well...
Some majors favor a bit of work experience to enhance the results of the Grad program.
I started grad school a couple years after I got my BS. I found it to be much easier and less stressful than undergraduate. And no, I wasn't burned out. I think part of the reason for that was that I was going part time ... just taking one or two courses at a time, at night. And my employer paid all the fees.
I loved everything about grad school but dropped out (77-78) due to lack of money (Pratt Institute) and because I could look around and see equally (maybe better) talented and connected students and we were not ALL going to get professorships or even teaching assistant positions. Well maybe if I relocated to Oklahoma or similar (Georgia O'Keefe had to do this in order to support herself early on).
It was the right decision but I still miss being surrounded by people in that level of art daily. Teachers were great. I saw no snobbery even though I was from a small town, small state and not city sophisticated. That is one thing money cannot buy, going back to youth and doing things you could not afford then. Probably why parents spend too much on their kids, giving them things they don't appreciate just because they didn't have them.
A few years after my dropout I met someone like me who did get her Masters in Art. She was being treated like a slave teaching at 2 colleges who paid her low wages, no tenure track, no health benefits, etc. She was also a sculptor doing good work.
My career was a self-employed photographer and now retired I am back into "Art".
PS When I first went to undergrad college I had Poly Sci as major. Never took a class haha. Didn't have any guidance on what to major in, maybe that was a good thing.
I enjoyed being an undergrad, but being a grad student was horrible. It combined all of the worst aspects of school with all of the worst aspects of a job, with none of the perks of either. Plus, my Masters degree is completely worthless in my field, and is seen as a negative. Honestly, at least in STEM fields, graduate students exist to provide cheap and compliant labor that the professors get the money and glory for.
My experience was similar. I liked undergrad school better than graduate school. I even had a year break in between undergrad and grad school working. What I did not like about graduate school was how political the department was. Some of the professors so hated one another that they would not even speak to each other. That made the overall experience quite negative for me. The grad experience also soured my ambitions to teach in higher education. That and the job market to teach was not exactly strong.
I really do like learning and to some degree writing papers, but being around a bunch of professors some of whom did not seem professional made me feel like it was a version of high school.
I loved graduate school, particularly the classes. My degree is in STEM so we don’t really pay for it out of pocket. The small groups, reading papers, presentations etc. were great. My thesis was a beast, and getting it done was nightmarish at times, but that is sort of the point. I actually got paid to do my project in addition to my tuition so I didn’t really have to TA any classes. It was lovely.
Otoh, my daughter took a gap year between her under grad and grad, and now is taking a break between masters and doctorate to go to sea for a few years. I think she will have a very hard time walking away from that kind of money but it’s too good a job to pass up.
I found undergrad more fun, but graduate school more rewarding personally and academically. Since I'm also in STEM, I'm not sure from a financial standpoint that it was worth giving up 2 years of earnings, even though the school did cover all costs plus research pay which was basically a modest housing allowance. It has opened a lot of doors that would have been harder to open without that experience.
I can relate to the comments about being a slave to your grad advisor, I think that is the general expectation. I hung out with a lot of grad students as an undergrad, so I knew that I was signing up for that. For me, grad school was the only 2 years of my life where I had a large peer group that I had an easy time connecting to and relating to, so it was nice to really feel like I fit in with everyone else for once. I was very tempted to stay on and do a PhD, but everyone I've known that has pursued that, did burn out at some point in the process. Since I knew I had no desire to go into academia and tenure track positions are very competitive and hard to come by, I figured it was best to stop at a Master's.
I loved graduate school, particularly the classes. My degree is in STEM so we don’t really pay for it out of pocket. The small groups, reading papers, presentations etc. were great. My thesis was a beast, and getting it done was nightmarish at times, but that is sort of the point. I actually got paid to do my project in addition to my tuition so I didn’t really have to TA any classes. It was lovely.
Otoh, my daughter took a gap year between her under grad and grad, and now is taking a break between masters and doctorate to go to sea for a few years. I think she will have a very hard time walking away from that kind of money but it’s too good a job to pass up.
OP maybe take a gap year and come back fresh.
It's been awhile since I was in grad school . 94 - 95 to be exact . lol I am glad to have gotten into the program I was in for Political Science .It gave me a chance to live out west which was a priceless experience and it did exposed me to graduate level theory that broadened my ideas about politics. But once I started in the program I quickly realized I was tired of writing papers after being an undergrad for more years than I had counted on and I now had to write even more and longer papers and I just didn't want to do that anymore.I had no real goal for the degree so I dropped out and never went back. I moved back to South Carolina where I was from and lived in the city of Greenville where having a B.A. was more than adequate to get a job.For me personally the on the job experience and the training I received was more valuable than an M.A. degree from the program I was in.
Last edited by senecaman; 10-28-2018 at 10:47 PM..
It's been awhile since I was in grad school . 94 - 95 to be exact . lol I am glad to have gotten into the program I was in for Political Science .It gave me a chance to live out west which was a priceless experience and it did exposed me to graduate level theory that broadened my ideas about politics. But once I started in the program I quickly realized I was tired of writing papers after being an undergrad for more years than I had counted on and I now had to write even more and longer papers and I just didn't want to do that anymore.I had no real goal for the degree so I dropped out and never went back. I moved back to South Carolina where I was from and lived in the city of Greenville where having a B.A. was more than adequate to get a job.For me personally the on the job experience and the training I received was more valuable than an M.A. degree from the program I was in.
Ah I see. To be fair, isn’t a career in political science academia about writing papers first and foremost?
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