iām not in grad school/havenāt applied for other reasons, but a big piece of advice my v wise mentor/professor in college about grad school was that she really stressed not going into debt for grad school, especially in todayās world and job market. so even if you arenāt sure youād 100% āuseā it, if itās with scholarships and a fellowship so you graduate debt-free, worry less. on the other hand, even if youāre very sure you would āuseā it but youād have to go into debt seriously ask yourself if itās that worth it.
if you only want a masterās (in the US), there are not always as many fellowships / assistantships for masterās students so go for a PhD program with a āterminal masterāsā so you can do two years, decide if you like it, and if you donāt you still get a masterās at the two year mark (this was also advice i received). my obvious caveat is that iām not in grad school (yet?) but iād literally trust this professor with my life so i trust that this advice is sage enough to pass on!
Oct 18, 2024
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I never wanted to go to grad school either but I decided to get my mba and countless career advancement opportunities have come my way as a result.
a huge component for that was the affordability of the program I enrolled in, so please dont go into crazy debt for this degree unless youre confident the career earnings will outweigh the effort it will take to pay off that debt.
Also understand you will be incredibly broke during this grad program unless youāre already making good money or have a decent savings to fall back on. thats part of the commitment.
Overall I am in support of pursuing higher ed, but only if the economics are safe and youre ready to grind.
Mar 17, 2025
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Iām actively pursuing a PhD right now, so for me itās a yes, but Iāve had two friends drop from their respective PhD programs in the three years Iāve been in mine and for them itād be a hell no. You have to be really honest with yourself and take the decision seriously, but if you feel there arenāt much stakes (for instance you get into a fully funded program or get scholarships/fellowships) then Iād say itās worth a shot. I would never recommend grad school if youāre only doing it to ātake a break from the real worldā or something like that, but if getting a specialization in something would help you meet personal or professional goals, then itās probably gonna be worth it for you.
Oct 17, 2024
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Make sure you have some idea of why you want to do grad school. Don't just do it because you feel you need to, or want a distraction. And if your program requires a thesis/dissertation, make sure you are really passionate about the subject. Like, as passionate as the people who make three-hour video essays are.
Oct 17, 2024
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being traditionally cool is really quite boring and iterative, and itās actually very cool and sexy to geek out about something you like or share bits of knowledge on a topic youāre passionate about
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i had it for a little over a year until i was like wow this is actually terrible! i genuinely think it has negatively impacted society by ruining peopleās attention spans, having a horrific algorithm, and most of all by the most mind-numbing or outright harmful trends -
fake words that people now use IRL (āunaliveā), trad wife tiktok, shein hauls, body-focused fitness vids that encourage fatphobia and unhealthy habits, shallow political/feminist theory and queer discourse, āalpha maleā podcaster tiktok, encouraging overconsumption in general, trends ruining local spots or niche thingsā¦ the list goes on
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a million times cooler than the lackluster āsleekā tech color palette used today
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