<p>For those who have attended grad school or have practiced what their grad degree allowed them to practice, do you regret doing it? Do you think there were alternatives that you would have been more happy with? If there is something you personally do not like about practicing what it is you’re practicing, what is it? Please state what your current status is (e.g. grad school student [what year?], currently practicing [for how many years?], drop-out, etc.).</p>
<p>I got my MS in structural engineering in 1986, and I’ve been practicing on and off since then (I’m a mother of three children, ages 11, 14, and 16). I am VERY glad I went to grad school, because that’s where I met my husband! </p>
<p>If I had it to do over again, accounting probably would have been better for me. It used to freak me out when a boss would hand me rough architectural plans and say, “Here, design this building.” Ack! I guess I’m not a “big picture” person! My husband and I own our own firm, though, so it’s perfect. He can figure out the overall design scheme for a building, and then I can perform the calculations for all the individual components. I love details!</p>
<p>I would NOT want to practice structural engineering without an MS - there is too much to learn in 4 years, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Yup … but that might possibly be because it’s a beautiful Easter afternoon outside and I’m stuck in lab.</p>
<p>I’m currently finishing up a 2-year MS in evolutionary biology and heading into a PhD in biomedical sciences.</p>
<p>Although I don’t regret my decision, I often wistfully wish I had pursued something in the arts. When I go long periods without enough time to indulge in my creative urges, everything goes downhill. I constantly feel inspired to create, and only rarely get to pursue larger or highly involved projects.</p>
<p>Ultimately, I had to make a choice between these two “opposing” sides of my personality. No matter which I chose there would always have been a feeling of loss, but it’s much easier to do art “on the side” than science.</p>
<p>i’m 1.5 years into my masters degree in engineering, graduating in June, I loved it, what is your field?</p>
<p>I’m a current third-year student in a biomedical sciences PhD program.</p>
<p>I wish I had taken a year or two off between undergrad and grad school to do tech work. I’m very happy with the lab I joined, but I didn’t have a good idea about my research interests when I came to grad school, and my first year would have been a lot less stressful if I’d had a better sense of what I wanted to do. </p>
<p>I didn’t want to take time off because I felt that I wanted to get into grad school and be finished as soon as possible, but I wish I’d realized that it’s not really possible to rush through grad school, and I would have been better-served by taking some time for myself.</p>