*Abrakadabra JOB!*

As a student rapidly approaching my senior year of college, I often ask myself: what's next? By the time most of us reach our final year of undergraduate education, we've been going at it in an academic setting for over 16 years straight. A departure from this scholarly mentality has its pro's and con's...

Let me begin with a disclaimer. Like many of you reading this entry, I am not a person with all of the answers or even a definite lifelong objective in mind. As such, my opinions on why continuing directly on to grad school or not are, for the most part, subjective. However, considering that the 'post graduation plans' discussion has been an ongoing one in my circle of friends, I imagine I will touch upon several universal thoughts.

Pro's:
-time and experience to see 'what's out there'
In my quest for discovering what it is in life that will give me the most fulfillment, I am toying with the notion of several 1-2 year community building/educational programs, such as Teach for America, Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, CityCorps, and various teach abroad gigs.
-deferring college loans
On a very practical level, many students are given additional incentive to join up with some of the programs listed previously because they defer the period in which you must begin paying back college loans. Similarly, many students prefer to work for a year or two in an attempt to pay back some of there debt before entering a graduate program.
-real life work experience
Whether you take on a job you realize is suited perfectly for you or is something you definitely don't want to do, I believe that learning either, early on, is of great value.
-realizing you may not actually need to go to grad school
There are many professions that absolutely require additional schooling in order to specialize in one's field of work. However, it is highly recommended to double and triple check (by applying to jobs in said field, talking to people who have or have not pursued continuing education and are currently working in an area you desire to) that going to grad school (at all, or at least directly) is the best route for you personally.

Gray Area:
between pro's and con's this is the section I consider the gray area, because what may be a pro for one person could be a serious con for another...
-a mental break from school
This is a tricky one. On one hand, a break from learning does sound like a breath of fresh air...but doing so, for some, may run the risk of breaking free entirely of the study-write papers-perform well on exams mode, and find it very difficult to hop back on that horse after a year or so of working..or volunteering..or 'finding yourself' while backpacking across Europe...
-a change of scenery
For me, such a label immediately paints a romanticized picture of a 20 something year old venturing off to a foreign land, taking in all of the sights, sounds, and smells a community has to offer and growing immensely. Ideally, this will be the case...but it is always wise to consider whether a dramatic move really is what's best for you. Take into consideration what it is about your lifestyle at present that you find most/least enjoyable. If a move elsewhere is the change you think you need, all the power to you!

Con's
-getting out of the swing of things
As mentioned above, if straying away from school will hinder you from returning and working with as much drive and energy as you believe you would have coming fresh out of college, then this may be something to consider. Another alternative is to take some time to work in an academic (perhaps research) based field...while you won't be in a proper student-teacher setting, this may serve you just as well or better.
-time
Depending on what your priorities in life are, you may find yourself on a self-mandated 'timeline.' It may sound crazy to think of now, but factors like starting a family, living of a decent salary, etc. are considerations that may influence how soon you decide to continue on with your schooling
-college life
This title suggests that I recommend a return to grad school for another 1-5 years of endless keg stands and beer pong tournaments...not exactly the idea of 'college life' that I had in mind. What I'm talking about is the infinite lectures, performances, colloquiums that we are all exposed to in a college setting. I know this is something I will certainly miss, and it's something to deeply consider upon graduation. If you won't be in school a year from now...in what sort of environment will you find yourself, and will you find that stimulating enough?

Those are my thoughts for now, stay tuned for more rants on Arianna's thoughts for the future...!

It's such a cliché, but it's true--time goes by so fast, especially in college. I cannot believe that I am a senior that will soon have a diploma shoved in my hand, expected to get out there and do something with my life. It feels like I was dying over my second progression in Writing the Essay just a year ago, so what is this?

With graduation less than a year away, it's time to think about what I'm doing after I graduate, and I know that I'm not alone. (And by the way, it's never too early in senior year to think about post-graduation plans. Grad schools often have things due by early December.) Many of my friends and I are standing at the same fork in the road, wondering which way to go:

Graduate school or work?

I always thought that this would be a simple answer. I want to be a professor, so why wouldn't I just go to grad school? Why wait? But, as I started researching graduate schools, I realized that "what I want" is only half the equation; "what grad schools want" is the other half.

I thought that any grad school would be happy to accept recent graduates. I was a fool. If you're thinking about heading straight to grad school, learn this lesson: slow down and do some research. For certain majors and vocations, it might be a good idea to head straight to the next level of education. However, in quite a few majors (like mine, which is International Relations), the graduate schools sort of suggest that they want students with practical work experience. For example, Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs says that its average first-year student is 26-27 years old. Do the math.

It's much the same for lots of people in business. I even went to Wasserman's Grad and Professional School Fair a few weeks ago and asked International Relations representatives up-front whether they wanted students with work experience. I got one of two answers: "No, anyone is welcome to apply!" (but you could clearly tell that work experience wouldn't hurt) or a hushed "Yes, we prefer that you have work experience." It was a pretty solid response: work experience never hurts one's chances at grad school, and often will help.

"Psh, whatever," you might say. "Forget this low-life's advice and forget working. I'm going to grad school if it kills me." That's fine, too. There's no reason not to give applications a try. In fact, my plan is to apply for a few grad schools I really like and then also apply for jobs. If a grad school takes me, awesome. If a job takes me, that's just as awesome. But the key lesson here is to not put all your faith in only one option. That is the worst way to short-change yourself and your opportunities--especially in this environment, where people are all rushing to obtain a job or a space in grad school in order to ride out the recession.

Everyone will have a different strategy. And looking back, I realize that this entry is really stream-of-conciousness-ey. But hopefully this gives you an example of what another student is thinking about. (And how messy all of this is in his head.) Of course, I can't speak for everyone. So how can you figure out what to do?

Remember to check out the Wasserman Center's resources. They have job fairs all year long and can even help you talk things out. My career counselor couldn't tell me what to do, but she provided a sounding board that helped me straighten out my thoughts. And sometimes, that's all you need.

Either that, or spend another year at NYU by failing Writing the Essay. But I really don't recommend that.