Is Graduate School For You?

I seldom make long-term plans. I prefer to do things spontaneously. Attending graduate school was no exception. I’ve never really thought of having a Master’s degree beforehand. The month I sent my application was also the same month when I had a sudden realization that I want to have a Master’s degree.

Having said that, there were still quite a few things I considered before I pushed through with my application for grad school. What were my “ifs”? Find out below…..

If you have means to financially sustain your stay in school, consider graduate school.

Taking further studies definitely entails cost. It can deplete your hard-earned income and your savings account. One can always search for scholarships, though. I personally applied for a partial scholarship grant and was luckily granted a 25% tuition fee discount. It may not seem much, but it’s better than paying full tuition fee.

If you are willing to sacrifice part of your time to attend classes or do academic stuff, consider graduate school.

Most graduate students are employed. If one wants to pursue a graduate program, he must be willing to allot his time which could have been used for rest, recreation, or social life instead.

If you are aiming to specialize on a certain field, consider graduate school.

My undergraduate course is in the field of Economics which touches a little bit of Marketing. I found Marketing to be a fun and an interesting field but I’ve always thought that what I’ve learned from college was not enough. This led me to apply for a Marketing program (particularly Marketing Communications) in graduate school. Specializing in your chosen field also gives you an edge and makes you more competitive compared to other job applicants.

If you want to grow your network, consider graduate school.

I want to meet more people. Graduate school can be a great avenue for me to meet people from different industries and from different age groups. This can help boost my social skills and network with people of different backgrounds.

If you want to search for your partner in life, consider graduate school. 

During my graduate school orientation, the speaker told us that there were students in the past who found the love of their lives through their stay in graduate school. This is not the primary reason why I entered graduate school but hey, a little inspiration wouldn’t hurt, right?

If you are young and still don’t know what you want to do with your life, consider graduate school.

It would be a lot better to take a graduate school when you’ve had a couple of  years of work experience, but there are some programs out there that accept applicants who are fresh from college. When I applied for graduate school, I was just 20 and had six months of work experience.  I knew that I liked Marketing but I wasn’t sure which side of it I wanted to pursue as a lifelong career. Maybe graduate school can help me find that out.

If you are looking for a new environment, consider graduate school.

For eight years (high school and college), I’ve been under the same university, University of the Philippines. When I applied at DLSU for further studies, people were wondering why there and not stay in UP. I tell them that my previous school does not have programs in the field that I like. Also, I believe that if you don’t step outside your box, there wouldn’t be much growth. I think that studying in La Salle would let me grow in a way UP can’t. I also want to try a different academic and social environment. In my stay so far in La Salle, I’ve seen for myself that the stereotypical La Sallian is not entirely true. I even found myself thinking that students from La Salle and UPLB exhibited the same vibe. I’m still a proud Isko but I’m also enjoying being an Archer a lot.

If you are hungry for continuous learning, consider graduate school.

Having a graduate degree is generally not a need but a want. As I’ve mentioned, I never saw myself pursuing further studies a few years back. However, I have the urge to learn more. I wanted to learn from the experiences of people who belong to different industries and hear their inspirational stories about how they made it to the top.

If you want to have a break-free moment or add spice to your daily routine, consider graduate school.

Having the so-called Quarter-Life Crisis? Then consider taking a Master’s degree. One of my classmates shared that she took graduate school because she wanted to escape for a while from the stress of her job. For me, I think that graduate school can make one’s life more hectic but add spice and purpose to it at the same time.

If you are seeking for self-discovery and personal growth, consider graduate school.

This is probably the main reason why I chose to take up graduate school. There are a lot of things I wanted to discover and improve about myself. I wanted to improve my personality, my self-confidence and to get a grasp of which career path to take. I think graduate school can finally help me find answers to all that.

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