Why did you go to grad school?

I was interested in medicine and engineering biology. This gives a few different career options, but after a fair bit of time working in a lab. After briefly considering the doctor route, I decided research was the right direction for me. I'm still not 100% set on research for life, but a PhD opens a lot of doors that a BA in biology only nudges a crack.

My other option was computing, but the current state of the bay area leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I saw those 1.3k enrollment numbers in CS and recognized that competition is only going up in an industry with eyes mainly for recent graduates. CS / IT pays well but plateaus quickly. Biology tends to have a lot more breadth in its sectors and depth to its careers.

When did you go to grad school?

Last year - now.

What is a good reason to go to grad school?

You are passionate about pursuing a research question. You enjoy independence and open projects. You want to ask questions that might not be answered on a private company's dime.

What is a bad reason to go to grad school?

You want to continue education. You want to make more money. You want to boost your resume.

What is the best state of mind to start grad school?

Excitement, you will only become more jaded after day 0. Also have an idea of fields / questions you would like to pursue, but don't expect to stick to them if they turn out not so great.

What obvious and not so obvious things should I look for when choosing a program?

Look first at the careers the program will enable for you. Look at the area that you may be making connections in. Look at both the individual labs and the program itself. I picked my school because the program itself seemed more invested in the students. The other school I was looking at felt like it had less organization and less of a community, which turned out to be incredibly important when I decided that the three candidate labs I had were all bad fits. Both had a great neighboring industry presence and I would not have considered them otherwise. Graduate school is partially about passion, but you have also got to be realistic about what it will give you.

Ask the students in the program and in the labs what they really think about it. You'd be surprised how many world-class PIs have students who hate working for them. Ask the officials what the average time to graduation is. If they don't tell you, it's probably above 6 years. Computer / soft-science work tends to be a bit quicker / less time per week, but lab work is much slower. Most time-to-graduation averages do not partition by computer vs. lab work, so keep that in mind.

How on earth am I supposed to generate income while simultaneously committing enough hours to my studies? During the school year in undergrad I worked usually less than 10 hours a week.

If you are in a PhD program, you will make a small but decent amount of money. It's not enough to go out and buy fancy cars or have a family, but it is usually enough to support yourself. Some schools match their stipend to the cost of living in the area, some don't. Some provide graduate housing that students can afford, some don't. Don't ever pick a program that you think will send you into debt. And graduate school is usually a poor choice if you are already having money troubles.

Expect to commit to the program as a full time job while you are in it. I work 40-80 hours / week and would not be able to handle any extra work outside of maybe selling hobby items online or maybe part-time tutoring / consulting in later years. This time goes to teaching, classes, and research year-round, with free time going first and foremost to activity that take care of my health.

Masters are a different beast that I can't really comment on.

1. I'm in grad school now. I like going to school and my workplace is paying for my classes. It will help in my career choice, but it won't provide me with advancement. It will just enhance the skills I already have, which I suppose is a benefit for me and my workplace. I have always been in some sort of class or another most of my life. I jump at the chance to start a new class.

2. Not until my 40's.

3. I think a good reason to go to grad school is simply the desire to learn. Or, because it's required for your field.

4. Not for the paycheck.

5. Best state of mind? Interest. Be intensely interested in your chosen field of study and enjoy yourself, regardless of what you might think you will do with the degree.

6. I looked for the ability to take online courses, as well as the ability to spread the degree out over a long period of time.

7. I work full time and take one grad class at a time. I would love to quit work to go full time, but...life, and all.

Good luck. :)

I dropped out of grad school twice, so, you know, take this all with a grain of salt.

1. Why did you go to grad school?

I was dissatisfied with working in industry, and learning more math and computing were hobbies of mine.

2. When did you go to grad school?

At 28 and 32

3. What is a good reason to go to grad school?

Because despite the odds you want to work in academia.

4. What is a bad reason to go to grad school?

Because you don't like working in industry. I have been told that it used to be very different, but academia has most of the things that make working in industry suck now. Also, university administrators do not respond nearly as well to being told to fuck themselves as managers do.

5. What is the best state of mind to start grad school?

You are going to work your ass off and either pay for the privilege or be paid poorly. In return you get access to an institution's resources and people who know more about things you really want know more about than anyone else.

6. What obvious and not so obvious things should I look for when choosing a program?

Faculty working on something that interests you, or at least something you won't mind doing the grunt work for.

7. How on earth am I supposed to generate income while simultaneously committing enough hours to my studies? During the school year in undergrad I worked usually less than 10 hours a week.

Be an RA if you can, then you're getting paid to learn things, which is what you're there to do anyway. TA is easier to get, but it's a lot of boring work and very frustrating work. Never TA a calculus class.

1. Why did you go to grad school?

- I was teaching grade 2 in a private school for pennies, my mind was turning to gelatin, I was involved in campus/community radio and the radio folk would hang out in the grad student pub on campus. The grad students seemed to be having fun.

2. When did you go to grad school?

- I was 28 when I started.

2. What is a good reason to go to grad school?

- passion for your topic, need more intellectual challenges, you like the university environment, personal growth

3. What is a bad reason to go to grad school?

- to please your parents

4. What is the best state of mind to start grad school?

- I'm not sure you can choose your state of mind. You just do it. At the beginning of the program, it looked completely impossible to do, then you do it one step at a time. People are there to help you along the way, mostly, because they went through it. Sometimes you have to bleed..

5. What obvious and not so obvious things should I look for when choosing a program?

- funding funding funding...scholarship programs, grants, loans, jobs on campus. The grad school program that I am teaching in offers some funding to every student, these include TAships, research jobs, etc.

6. How on earth am I supposed to generate income?

- I guess the way you always have

Note: you have two 2's.

I didn't go to grad school.

1. I didn't go for a few reasons. First, I would have to pay for it which sounded lame. Second, a lot of my friends were going because they didn't know what to do next and school was an easy path to keep following. That seemed like a bad reason, so I opted out.

2a. When didn't I go? In the past. I'm still open to the idea of going in the future, and there might be a time when that higher education is the best path for progression for my current career path. Or, it'll be the best way for me to shift my career path. My mom got her master's in her mid 40's and changed her work, so I know that's a viable path.

2b. If you want to go to a profession that requires higher education. I have friends who are engineers and they just have to go to grad school to be competitive. I have friends who want to be managers and they went back to grad school after a few years in the workforce to give them a foot into middle management. It's mostly been a good decision when you know what you want to do with the certification you'll be coming out with. Also, you have to understand that this fancy and expensive certification does not guarantee anything. You are not promised a job, which is another reason you really want to know what you want to do, you might have to fight to find something while debt breaths down your neck.

3. I touched on my opinion of this in question 1, but the broader answer is "when you don't know how the investment will pay off." I went into the workforce with the mindset that my first two years were going to be my graduate studies. I took a shit job in the "mail room" of a company, and didn't really worry about looking good or not drawing attention, because this was just a two year program. With that mindset I was able to learn how to fight my way out of entry level and into the work that satisfied me. I got paid for that education while having friends who were paying for a less practical application.

4. I haven't been in grad school but, for me, the best way to approach a long term project is to have a vision of what you want at the end of your journey. Make sure it's tangible enough to provide clear motivation, but malleable enough to evolve as you learn.

5. What are you actually learning? Are they practical skills in a practical environment, practical skills in a theoretical environment, theoretical skills in a theoretical environment, theoretical skills in a practical environment? In which of those situations do you learn best? What do you want to explore, build, or study?

6. I drove a taxi in undergrad. Might not be as profitable now that Uber's out there, but drunk people tip well if you're fun enough, and if you can buckle down and commit to work during key party nights you can make very, very good money with about 12 hours work per week.

Otherwise, what can you do well? What skills are you looking to build on in grad school? Can you figure out how to use those foundational skills to generate income? If the answer to that is "no" you might want to find an answer to that question before anchoring your foreseeable career future to that profession.

Good luck!

As a guy who never went to college, but understands its value, i have a different take. Some people like to say "follow your dreams." These people are idiots. Follow your talents instead and use those skills to build a great life that feeds you, your family, and your passions. Your talents pay the bills so anything that develops them is a good path.

Will going to grad school further your talents? Will going to grad school increase your abilities that will pay your bills? Is there another way to increase skills and abilities, or is there a career path that will pay you enough so that you can have hobbies and passions outside of work?

I'm damn good at my job, I get paid well and I love my employer and coworkers. That does not mean that this is my dream job in the slightest. But I have a reachable goal of retiring at 55 if nothing bad comes in my way. But this is not my dream job, and it is not my passion either.

As for family, doing a job that you are good at, and getting paid well for doing the work tends to quiet the rabble. This is your life and your path, and no matter what you choose to do, never forget that.

Pinging everybody who replied in no particular order. thundara bfv NotAnotherNeil lil CurmudgeonsMuse Isherwood am_Unition

Ok so, funding. I have a certain amount of debt now, I'll probably not have less debt afterwards. I think I'll just have to compare packages between wherever I apply, factor in cost of living in the different areas, and somehow reach a sensible comparison of cost.

Timing - Sooner seems to be better than later, by and large, especially in my field. (Clinical Research) If I want to get to a point where I am able to effect the kind of changes I want on research protocols and planning, I'll need a Masters of Public Health or something similar. In addition, I'm pretty much intentionally capping my earning potential for the next few years. That said, my application to any given program might be stronger with more and diversified field experience.

Why/Drive/Reason - I care a whole heck of a lot about the wellbeing of my patients and their families. Cardiac illness always seems to occur in particularly vulnerable places and moments. My own story has it's ups and downs, and there are lots of people more and less affected than I am. But even if I had only my subjective experience of the disease, that is enough to set me firmly against this kind of illness. If one kid gets to skip having open heart surgery at age 11, I'll consider it worth it. I am lucky enough to be living in a time where cures are being developed. I get to watch in real-time as all of medical science begins to connect, interface, and develop meaningful improvements in quality of life for people once condemned to all kinds of misery. I have to believe that's a worthwhile goal.

On a slightly more pragmatic note, if I want a plot of land on a lake or mountain somewhere someday, I'll need to find a way to finance the process. Getting the advanced degree sooner theoretically means raising my salary cap, and as long as I stay employed, and continue to be worth more, I'll be better off financially in the mid-long term.

Theoretically.

Beyond 'It would be cool to live/work overseas' can anybody see any practical benefit to pursuing positions abroad?

I'll probably add to this post.

1. Why did you go to grad school?

I liked doing research -- I'd started as an undergraduate and wanted to do more. And I wanted to learn more quantum mechanics and apply it to models to understand some (approaching...) real world problems. I liked the place, the research and the atmosphere and fellow graduate students.

2. When did you go to grad school?

I went straight after undergraduate, age 22. Finished just over a year ago.

3. What is a good reason to go to grad school?

I think about the only reason to go to grad school is that you like doing research and/or learning the subject to greater depths whilst on the front lines, worry about and performing the nitty-gritty side of things.

4. What is a bad reason to go to grad school?

Expand career opportunities. To stay a student. To get "Dr." in front of your name.

5. What is the best state of mind to start grad school?

Be open minded about what you're researching and focussed on the task at hand. Treat it like a job: when you're in the office/lab/library, don't procrastinate and waste time. Do stuff. Take time off; go on vacation. Watch your mental and physical health. Both of these things can suffer in grad school -- if they are, take a step back, take some days off, make time to do fun stuff. Don't work yourself to the bone -- life is short and you should be doing fun stuff and enjoying some of the freedoms that grad school gives you.

6. What obvious and not so obvious things should I look for when choosing a program?

Assuming STEM, as this is my background: supervisor is the most important person. Try to find someone who you get on with; a strained relationship with supervisor definitely makes life more difficult (I had some experience here). Find out about money for traveling to conferences etc. Work environment (will you be in cubicle farm? small shared office?) and atmosphere (is everyone in 14hrs a day, 7 days a week? are people happy? do people look permanently tired/ill?). Talk to grad students 1-to-1 away from faculty to get some honest perspective on pros/cons of the place -- most will be happy to give you the low-down. If profs don't give you time/space to talk to grad students whilst at interview, take this as a bad sign.

7. How on earth am I supposed to generate income while simultaneously committing enough hours to my studies? During the school year in undergrad I worked usually less than 10 hours a week.

Again, from a STEM perspective, you'll be earning money. Probably not great money, but enough to live off. Many places (if you're a full-time grad student) won't allow you/be at all happy with you having another job. I know in my contract that I signed, it explicitly stated I couldn't have a second job. Often you can make some extra money teaching/TAing for classes, although the hourly pay is rough in reality.

1. Many reasons, but the biggest was an ex-colleague of mine. He's the closest thing I've ever met to a mad scientist, though the dude was incredibly kind. I've seen this guy tinker around in the lab on nights and weekends to create instruments that no one else had yet designed, only to have PhD's swoop in and slap their names on it. When he looked me in the eye and told me I'd never regret grad school, I listened.

2. Started this August, and I'm 28. No one else in my class had anything more than a summer between their undergraduate career and the start of their graduate school career, and that put me at a disadvantage, academically. On the other hand, they lack the experience of working in industry, and can't as easily pinpoint skills that will help them later in their careers. Most of them don't know exactly what their expertise will be.

3. Because you're passionate about your area of study. Because doing the easier things in life doesn't sharpen the mind. Because to some degree, you're a masochist.

4. I agree, the worst answer is probably "because you're supposed to". If you don't feel like you need to be there, for whatever reason, it's going to be almost impossible to push yourself through.

5. Originally, my plan was to roll into my new city and have a week or two to acclimate and tackle various errands. I waited too long to put in my two weeks notice, and found myself accidentally having my last day of work the day before grad school orientation. Things turned out just fine, perhaps because I carried the momentum from the crazy effort I was putting in with the job I just left. So I'm not sure there's a correct answer here, because a clinical doctor would probably recommend taking some time off to collect your thoughts.

6. Find a department with several faculty members doing groundbreaking research. Browse as many rankings of programs as you can. Analyze whether or not you think you'd be a good match with the culture of the area that the school resides in.

7. You shouldn't plan on working on anything but your studies. Apply for grants, scholarships, and the like, or take out loans, if you have to. If you can find a school willing to pay you for attending, well, that probably holds some sway in the decision-making process.

I've said it elsewhere, but a graduate school degree is, in large part, a pedigree. Sure, it's an incredibly formative experience that can redefine who you are, but so can a job with the right demands. Sometimes you just gotta play the game.