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Peachgal

Grad School

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I need some advice here...

Well, I juz finished my BA in Art Majoring in Psyc this May...I am currently working in a telecommunication company near KL...my prob is that I am not sure if I should apply for grad school now...I did plan to continue wid grad school after I got my degree...but after I started working...I feel that I kinna lack of working experience and plan to work for some time before I continue wid my grad school...but my fren who is now in grad school same major...keep persuading me to take grad school..he sounds as if I will regret if I dun take grad school as I am unable to excel in my job with juz a degree... I can do nthg wid juz a BA in Psych...so now i am confused...If i decide to go for grad school then i will have to giv up working...by doing so I am worried that I will hav no experience at all when I go back into the society after i finish my grad school...which will be dont know how many yrs later... But if i giv up grad school then am i trying to giv up a good opportunity...as ppl usually say...higher edu better pay higher respect...will i regret later if I giv up grad school now?

Plz help...I am darn *pening* here...i gotto start applying for grad school now as the due date is near...

Thanks...

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u could spend the rest of ur life workin..... if u wanna have the experience n attend grad school y dun u take part time study..... its still the same .. but u got to really make sure u could cope wit it...

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ahh... grad school....

it's a mixure of feelings i have here coz i've gone thru what you're going thru right now...

i think what you can do is, put working and grad school on the weighing machine and then see which is more important to you in life. there're actually a few ways to go around this topic.

1. like what ivone4eva said: take the grad school as part time study, but make sure you can cope with it because it's gonna take a toll on you. it's never easy to multi task, not to mention when work on hand is so rush that you don't even have time to eat, yet there's still assignment waiting for you to complete and submit in a week's time. but well, the experience can be very rewarding. at the end of the day, you not only accomplished both, but you can right away apply the theories on your practical job if they're somehow related. in conclusion, this option is meant for really discipline individual who has excellent time management skill and knows what to do when crisis comes.

2. Full time Grad School: goes back to school, it is the best thing on earth, school is always the best place, doesn't matter to study, or to socialize, get ard to know ppl and join the student activities. there're just 101 things you can do in school where you can't find anywhere. however, by the time you graduate and walk into the real harsh world. what is a experience-less master ? the title may sounds good, but is it really as good as it taste ? do some research, ask ard the post-grads from your field whether does it make sense to give another 2 years to school.

3. Work first, then Grad School: at first glance, this might be the best choice. well, in ideal case, this can be the best choice. since some of the grad school has real working experience as their pre-requisite to take up the course, i.e. MBA or some other science related post grad, this is because some of the post grad courses are research/practical based courses. with no working experience, you will have a big problem there to cope with the studies.

all in all, i think working and grad school is as important and ultimately, they're both great achievements in life. nowadays, if the billboard falls off a busy pedestrian, i'm sure it's gonna kill a whole bunch of ppl with bachelor degree... bachelor degree is soo common that it's like normal secondary school cert like that.

tell us more about your concern, we try to analyze along the way.. aight ? good luck

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Maybe you should ask yourself. do you really want to study because of getting the knowledge or you want to study is to get a better position in the company?

There is a lot of fresh grads with bachelor of degrees now, and you can see in the papers they are jobless! They are so common like what Ken said, and then maybe in the future there will be a lot of Postgrad students and then maybe a lot of doctorate people... then the harder the chance of securing a job by then.

Try to ask yourself what you actually wanted.. since you have just grad, everything for you is very new, maybe you may think that you have not enough knowledge and couldn't apply what you have studied before and apply into your job. But give yourself some time to settle down. Until a certain time, when you feel that you need more than your current situation, then you pursue your studies is better.

It is never too old to learn. But for a freshie, experience is really important after you grad. For me, I think the higher you go in education with no experience, employer might have a bit worried about hiring you since you are quite expensive with null experience.

Well, sorry for the long babbling, but this is what I think lah. tongue.gif The decision is still in your hands! Good luck!

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In my opinion, I believe working after a BA before pursuing grad school would be the best because after spending so many years in school, its definitely good to work for a change before you pursue grad school. Working experience certainly helps when you pursue grad school.

I'm also majoring in Psychology but I do not plan to go to further my studies in Psychology. Instead after working for a few years, I'm planning to pursue a graduate degree in Public Health.

This semester I took a class in Careers in Psychology whereby the first semester was spent looking at jobs with a BA degree while the second half of the semester was to examine jobs with a graduate degree. According to my professor based upon her experience in grad school, most people who worked before pursuing their degree tend to have a slight edge over others who go to grad school right after obtaining a BA as their working experience helped them to deal with grad school. And yes, with a graduate degree you would also be able to earn more. wink.gif

I do not understand why your friend is persuading you to go to grad school now. It's never too late to go to grad school and with a few years of working experience under your belt , its definitely an asset. Depending on which grad school you apply to, some have working experience as part of their requirement and this is an area where you have the edge over others who apply for the same school. smile.gif I wish you best of luck in making a decision! thumbup.gif

*btw, are you planning to pursue just a MA or you're planning to go on to PhD?

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Thanks lot gals/guys...all the advice really helps... smile.gif Below are some clarifications...

First of all... I dont think I will take part time study...reason is that I will probably be continuing my study oversea and if so I will need to apply for a job oversea b4 i could take part time study...mayb I should consider part time job if possible...

Reason I wanna attend grad school

I am actually interested in Industrial/Organizational Psyc...plan to work in HR, PR, Marketing field...but i am only a BA student majoring in Psyc...irrelevant for jobs in these fields...my only options will be edu, social, counselling field which dont really interest me...maybe a MA or PHD in I/O may helps???

On the other hand...since my friend is now taking grad school...the way he talks seems to giv me the impression that I made the wrong choice for not going to grad school once after I grad...its not right for me to work in the very beginning...i am on the wrong track go back to the right track quick...making me feeling guilty...

To make it worst...moz of my friends are taking grad school after they grad...1 by 1 applying for grad school... dry.gif making me feeling left out...

Mayb the feeling of not wanting to b left out and all those brain washing thingy tongue.gif been influencing my decision?

Reason I wanna work b4 grad school

Since I start working...I found that I really lack of what i call 'society experience'...and I find that 'society experience' is esential when working...and I kinna enjoy my working life now...I am learning new things everyday...thgs I nvr learn b4...Is it bc I am new to the working life thats y I kinna enjoyin it now and i may regret later?

On the other hand...i cant find any grad school which offers any interesting research in I/O psyc...plan to look for a better research rathe rthan taking whatever thats available and regret later...Am I juz being too picky?

Ans to wen's ques...gotto depends on the research...either one will do...

Thanks for all the help...your help is much appreciated... smile.gif

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Hi Peach,

I am not too much an expert on this... but this is one perspective.

Working also provide you education in form of experience... which is realistic and practical.... have you consider this?

Good luck and being choosy is not wrong... you are deciding for your future! After all the mind numbing considerations... have a chocolate:p

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Hi Peach,

I am not too much an expert on this... but this is one perspective.

Working also provide you education in form of experience... which is realistic and practical.... have you consider this?

Good luck and being choosy is not wrong... you are deciding for your future! After all the mind numbing considerations... have a chocolate:p

or you can alwiz work and study at the same time..

im currently doing it right now. smile.gif

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