My experience has been that my M.S. hasn't particularly helped me to get jobs, but I think that's more because I did my research in a particularly specialized f

My experience has been that my M.S. hasn't particularly helped me to get jobs, but I think that's more because I did my research in a particularly specialized field (vehicular networking) than because the degree is worthless. I worked full-time while going to school, and I think that has done more for my career than the degree did. I know how things work in far more detail than I did after college, but it feels more like another iteration of breadth-first as opposed to a solid spike of knowledge. About the only thing that my M.S. did for me was killing a latent desire for an academic career. Several conversations with professors who told me, point blank, that they got Ph. D's because they never wanted to get "jobs" gave me sufficient motivation to avoid that track. That said, I enjoyed grad school far more than the time I've spent working, and if I could do it over again I would. The only thing I'd change would be to pick a more widely relevant area for my thesis, which seems to be the only thing anyone really cares about with an M.S.. That said, you mention that you already feel like higher education is overrated, and that you don't think you're likely to go to a great grad program. I think this is an open-and-shut case against grad school at this time. I'd head out and make your mark on the world in some other way. You can always revisit grad school if you change your mind, but you won't be able to get your early-to-mid 20's back if you spend them on something you seem to be hesitant about right out of the gate.