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When Plans Change Senior Year
Sydnei Kaplan
If this is the summer before your student’s final year in college, you might feel a bit dazed. How did the years pass so quickly? And what will your new graduate be doing this time next year?
Some students are career-focused from the get go, and some know early on that graduate school is in their future (for example, most pre-med students). Many others don’t consider the possibility of graduate school until this last college summer, or at some point during senior year or soon after graduation.
I remember how it played out with my daughter. The job market after she graduated from college was poor. This was in the first few years after 9/11, which were hard on college graduates. With jobs scarce, many grads moved home with their parents after coming up empty in their initial job search efforts. My daughter was one of them.
During the year she lived at home, she started thinking about graduate school — partly because she’d loved college and fantasized about being a student again and partly because she felt that, with an advanced degree, she would stand out in a sea of grads with bachelor’s degrees.
To make a long story short, my daughter applied, was accepted to, and attended graduate school, where she earned a master’s. She found employment after graduation, but the job hunt was still difficult because, even with the additional education, she lacked professional experience. A graduate degree is by no means a guarantee of employment.
We find ourselves in a similar environment right now as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its complicated and challenging impacts on higher education and employment.
The best reason for your student to attend graduate school is to improve and enrich their professional prospects. A graduate student should be very self-directed, and have a strong passion for education and the desire to use that education to improve their career.
More questionable reasons to attend graduate school include avoiding financial obligations (such as student loan repayment), having difficulty with the job hunt, not possessing a clear direction, or assuming (without having done the research) that a certain career path requires a graduate degree.
Reflecting back, I recognize that my daughter’s decision to enter graduate school fell into this “questionable” category. On top of everything, she increased her student loan debt because she applied late and did not research scholarships or financial aid. However, in the long run, her graduate degree did lead to higher earnings.
On average, people with advanced degrees earn more than those with only an undergraduate degree. But the added value of that degree depends on the area of study.
A study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce examined annual earnings by degree level and field. Engineers with advanced degrees saw the biggest pay increase, followed by computer science and business grads. Communication majors were the only ones that did not get a bump in income after a master’s degree, but did get a significant increase after receiving a Ph.D.
What does data like this mean for your student? A graduate degree is only as valuable as its payoff. Research is crucial before making the decision. Students who aren’t receiving financial help from their parents may incur additional debt to secure the degree and they need to be very confident that they will earn back their investment sooner rather than later.
As soon as your student expresses an interest in graduate school, have open and exploratory conversations about their goals and options. Don’t be shy about asking questions! This is the perfect time for you to be a helpful sounding board.
Do they have valid reasons for wanting to continue their education? Have they done the research — on their own or at the campus career center — and concluded that the extra education is likely to be valuable both professionally and financially? And this may seem obvious, but are they a strong student, receiving mostly A’s, in the field of study (usually their academic major)?
Ask if they've formed good relationships with faculty, including some of the more senior/tenured professors in their department. Graduate school admissions are competitive, and they'll need multiple letters of recommendation. In addition, their academic advisor and/or thesis advisor will be someone who can provide a frank opinion about what kind of candidate they might be, and what programs they should aim for.
Once your student determines that graduate school is in their future, they should prepare much as they did with their undergraduate applications and the summer before senior year is a great time to start. There is a major difference this time around — most likely you as a parent will not be involved with the process. However, understanding what’s required, and having a sense of the timeline, can help you advise your student.
In addition, it’s important to talk about finances. Will you contribute or will your student be self-supporting in graduate school? Encourage them to explore in-state options and programs that might offer merit aid and fellowships.
Ideally, students begin preparing for graduate school before senior year of college. Graduate school applications are more comprehensive and time consuming than college applications and graduate schools take the decision to admit seriously.
Most graduate program application deadlines are in December or January for entrance the following autumn. At any given university, different departments will have different deadlines and requirements.
Here is a simple timeline for your student to follow.
