"I'm Thinking of Going to Grad School"

So, you're thinking of going to grad school. I think that's great, because in some ways, being a graduate student is terrific. However, in some ways, being a graduate student is a bit of a crappy career path. It really depends on your motivation, your career goals, and your opinions on education in general. It's not a trivial decision.

Basically, my opinion is this: if you don't like school or "academia", don't go to grad school. You probably won't like it, and will likely hate it. If you enjoy school and are good at it, you might like grad school, but there are other considerations to be had too.

So, without further ado, here's the breakdown of reasons to go and not go to grad school:

Reasons to Go:

• Pursuing an academic career: This one is pretty obvious. If you want to have a job in academia as a professor or researcher, you'll need to start you journey in grad school. Doing some postgraduate work is a good way to figure out if going down this path is right for you. Talking to other grad students or professors is also a good idea. The academic life is something of a calling, but look into it if you think it's for you.
  
• Gaining experience for a particular career: While a Bachelor's degree is a good thing to have on your resume, there are a few jobs that typically look for more. For example, some jobs in finance or investment banking look for individuals with Master's or PhD degrees. Some administrative positions in education require at least a Master's. And I've also heard that you'll be taken more seriously as an author with an advanced degree. In some disciplines such as mathematics, graduate level education is much different from undergraduate, and employers may be looking for something specific. In all of these cases, the knowledge and skills you'll acquire in graduate work will be helpful, and be put to good use.
  
• Continuing previous work done: This is perhaps an unusual reason, but still a valid one. You may have done some work for a professor or researcher during your undergrad, as a research assistant, programmer or TA. If it went well, and there's still more work to be done, maybe they'd take you on as a graduate student. You gain a good reference and an advanced degree for your resume. They get continuation on their work and an established collaborator. For some people, this is a win-win situation. I personally think this benefits everyone involved, and can foster strong professional relationships.

Reasons to Not Go:

• "Couldn't think of what else to do": This is hands down the worst reason to go to grad school. Indifference is a terrible thing to have in academia. If you're not "into" your research, it will show. It is hard to be motivated and take initiative to read current journal articles on narrow topics such as pair approximation methods in lattice-based population dynamics models. It'll also be hard to prepare for tutorials for dozens of first year engineering students, some of which are wondering why they lost marks on that one question they knew they got right, and others of which get up and leave noisily as you try to demonstrate how to compute a matrix inverse. Believe me, if you really turn your nose up at either of these situations, perhaps graduate work is not for you.
  
• No interest in research: If you don't like the idea of doing hardcore academic research, perhaps consider another career option. Research is the order of the day as a graduate student (and in turn as a professor). If you're writing a thesis, you must come up with some original research to publish. If you're taking a course-based degree, you will still have to read academic papers and books. In any case, graduate study is much more independent than undergrad. Even if you like the teaching aspect, disliking research will not make for a good time in grad school.
• Money: It has to be said: If you want to make a lot of money, don't go to grad school. You will be poor. Even if you score a major grant or scholarship, you will make less than entry level wages. People who want a corner office on the top floor and a posh urban loft typically don't go to grad school. They go to the so-called "corporate" world, right after college or university. Wanting to make a lot of money isn't bad and I'm making no judgments here, but I can say that you probably not enjoy the grad school life. I certainly know people who went to work right after their first diploma/degree, and they couldn't be happier for it. You just have to know yourself and what you want. The upside here is that your career prospects may improve if you have an advanced degree, so you may need to do a cost-benefit analysis to see if it's worth a few years of have a "lower" income.
  

This list is by no means exhaustive, but hopefully it paints a picture of what the grad school life is like. I can say that I think I make a good decision for myself. On the whole, I love what I'm doing right now.