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The simulator didn't really mirror my experience but I do think folks should think twice about going to grad school. Economically, it is often not the best deci

The simulator didn't really mirror my experience but I do think folks should think twice about going to grad school. Economically, it is often not the best decision... plus you spend the best years of your life with less personal freedom (or financial ability) for long vacations/adventures, etc. Going to grad school was the wrong economic decision for me... and perhaps the wrong 'life' decision as well.

parpfish 2y ago
i think this depends on what the alternative career/job would be compared to grad school. if you had the option of getting into a well-payed, cushy tech job grad school would result in less personal/financial freedom. if (like me) you didn't have that option out of undergrad, grad school was comparatively a period of great freedom. * i made enough on research/TA stipends that i lived a slightly-fancier-than-my-undergrad lifestyle that wasn't too far behind what my classmates that became teachers were living. * TONS of freedom with respect to how I wanted to work and having full control of my schedule I feel like grad school gave me a pretty idealistic way to spend my mid 20s. And (luckily) in that time I was able to develop enough skills that I could jump into one of those high-paying, cushy tech jobs when it came time to realize that academica sucks and I wanted to leave.
- Suppafly 2y ago
  >i think this depends on what the alternative career/job would be compared to grad school. This, the economy was shit when I graduated, I wasn't interested in a phd, but strongly considered getting a masters, and would have likely been financially better off had I stayed in school those extra two years instead of graduating into a horrible job market and losing that fresh graduate advantage when applying for jobs once it finally got moving again. In retrospect, I would have much rather lived a college lifestyle and did research/ta type stuff instead of doing the tech support type jobs I ended up with to make ends meet.

parpfish 2y ago

i think this depends on what the alternative career/job would be compared to grad school. if you had the option of getting into a well-payed, cushy tech job grad school would result in less personal/financial freedom. if (like me) you didn't have that option out of undergrad, grad school was comparatively a period of great freedom. * i made enough on research/TA stipends that i lived a slightly-fancier-than-my-undergrad lifestyle that wasn't too far behind what my classmates that became teachers were living. * TONS of freedom with respect to how I wanted to work and having full control of my schedule I feel like grad school gave me a pretty idealistic way to spend my mid 20s. And (luckily) in that time I was able to develop enough skills that I could jump into one of those high-paying, cushy tech jobs when it came time to realize that academica sucks and I wanted to leave.

Suppafly 2y ago
>i think this depends on what the alternative career/job would be compared to grad school. This, the economy was shit when I graduated, I wasn't interested in a phd, but strongly considered getting a masters, and would have likely been financially better off had I stayed in school those extra two years instead of graduating into a horrible job market and losing that fresh graduate advantage when applying for jobs once it finally got moving again. In retrospect, I would have much rather lived a college lifestyle and did research/ta type stuff instead of doing the tech support type jobs I ended up with to make ends meet.