do you know what you're doing after grad school?

juillet
Mon, 11 Jun 2012 18:53:16 +0000

I had a general idea of what I wanted to do in undergrad. I liked doing public health research and I knew that I wanted to do that in some capacity, so I applied to MPH and PhD programs in public health with the final goal of getting a PhD in the field so I would be eligible for research jobs in the field. I was pretty sure that I wanted to work for a government agency (local, state, federal, didn’t matter) or some kind of think tank, or other non-academic position.

Four years later, and I’m still relatively positive that’s what I want to do. My goals have only shifted a little - I’ve realized how much I love statistics and how much I want to do that. It’s not uncommon for people in my field to earn an MS in statistics after the PhD, so that’s what I plan to do (part-time, while I work). I have better ideas about the kinds of agencies and think tanks at which I would like to work, but I still know I want to do public health research.

I agree with polarscribe, in that graduate school is training for a specific type of job and you should only go if you are reasonably sure you want to do one type of thing (broadly speaking). If you have no idea, go work for a few years and figure it out. You may find out you don’t need a graduate degree to do what you want to do, or you may realize that you hate what you thought you wanted to do (e.g., thought you wanted med school, shadowed a doctor, can’t stand blood, but realized you like managing people, get an MPA instead and run a hospital).

It’s a waste of your time if you don’t what you want to do when you enter graduate school. Especially if you do a master’s; the program is short and usually expensive, and you need to target your experiences and coursework so that you get what you need before you graduate. PhD programs are too long to invest time into without being sure that you want a research career that requires a PhD.