Last week, a friend of mine sat down next to me in our research methods and data analysis psychology lecture and let out one of those discouraged, exhausted sighs we all know so well. When I asked her what was bothering her, she recapped a conversation in which her TA for the lab section told her that she would not be admitted to graduate school unless she began working in a research lab before her third year.
Our professor was preparing to begin class, and as a hush fell over the lecture hall, I assured my friend her TA was most likely exaggerating, that there was still plenty of time to get involved in research or make plans for graduate school. Although rushed, my advice was not unfounded — this past semester, I have heard dozens of professors tell tales of numerous major changes and multiple gap years before deciding to get into research or pursuing advanced degrees.
One humanities professor, currently fulfilling a book deal, taught English to workers in a Chilean mine for five years before applying to graduate programs. Another biochemistry professor worked in a country club bar before he decided to go back to school. While the nature of their intermediary jobs varied wildly, the message in each and every one of their speeches was the same — don’t worry if you don’t know what you want to do with your life, you have nothing but time.
Later that day, I brought this story up to the project coordinator in the lab in which I have worked for almost a year now, expecting some validation I could pass along to my friend for some peace of mind. Instead, I received a laundry list of qualifications any competitive graduate school applicant should have on a resume — three years of experience as a research assistant, a Distinguished Major Program and a two-year position as a lab manager after graduation. Other students I knew pursuing the same path echoed those requirements.
In the past, graduate school was only for those truly interested and passionate about continuing their education in a particular field. However, as the job hunt grows increasingly brutal with each passing year, it seems like more and more people are choosing to stay in school for as long as possible — either with the hope that an advanced degree will make them more attractive candidates or with the intention of simply delaying the inevitable.
At risk of repeating a cliché of millennial angst, times are changing, and the next steps after graduation — be it an advanced degree in neuroscience or a position at a hedge fund — are far more difficult to follow than they were in our parents’ or professors’ generations. In the current hyper-competitive climate, the advice I have received from these panels of professionals seems about as helpful as someone telling me to “go with the flow.”
It pains me to think I might have to cut back on the number of credits I take simply because the topic interests me, and I shudder at the fact that I will actually have to type the words “Distinguished Major” in an email to my research advisor soon, but these are realities students have to face, sometimes in direct contrast to the platitudes fed to us by professors.
While a good portion of the anxiety my friend and I experienced sitting in that lecture hall can be assuaged with some careful planning and accurate information, I have found that it most frequently comes from those who are in the thick of the process themselves. We are so lucky to go to a school with such an esteemed and wonderful faculty, but pieces of their wisdom have outlived their usefulness. As much as I want to believe I have all the time in the world to figure out what I want to do with my life, and perhaps more importantly, how I’m going to do it, the truth is that these four years have already started — and will continue — to fly by.
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