<p>I graduated this year and am entering a PhD program next year. I’ll be working at my university this summer and am considering taking an undergrad course (in my field) this summer just out of interest, but I’m wondering if it will just cause " burn out" and if it’s worth the cost (approx. $2,500).</p>
<p>Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>If you’re working at the university where you will be a grad student, you might be better off devoting your full attention to your work, especially if it is research that will lead into your graduate program.</p>
<p>If you’re working at the university where you were an undergrad, this is probably not as important. But $2500 is a lot of money, especially for someone who is about to start graduate school. Graduate students’ stipends don’t stretch very far. If unexpected expenses come up during graduate school, you may have to dig into your savings – which is presumably where that $2500 would come from. (One of my offspring is in graduate school, and although he is paid as a teaching assistant, he has found it necessary to dig into his savings several times, which he did not want to do.) </p>
<p>Unless you have a generous relative who would pay the tuition for the course you want to take as a graduation present, it might be better to see whether you can formally audit the course (for a much smaller fee) or whether the professor would let you just sit in on it without registering (for free). After all, you don’t need the credits, right? You would just be taking the course because you are interested in it.</p>