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Current job or grad school?

dukebound85

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Original poster
Jul 17, 2005
19,218
4,342
5045 feet above sea level
Which is wiser?

1) Stay with current company
Pros
-Make a nice salary
- Will pay for my masters (will still have to work full time at same time) and it will be unaccreddited but recognized by my company as a masters
- Awesome co-workers

Cons
- Dont like NY
- Don't care for my job
- Far from family

2) Go to grad school
Pros
- would have it all paid for plus a nice stipend per month all the way up to my PhD in a field I have an interest with a prof I get along with well
- Will be back in CO
- Will be home
- Will be investing in myself
- Will be in a younger community
- May meet the Mrs. dukebound85:p

Cons
- Lost wages opportunity (though partly offset by stipend)


I am REALLY leaning towards option 2. Is this a wise move, in these times?

Thanks for input
 
TuffLuffJimmy said:
I'm not going to make the decision for you, but I know New York has been hard for you and I think option 2 would really benefit you.
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ucfgrad93 said:
Agreed. It seems like option 2 would be the best one for you.
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That' is what I am thinking too

leekohler said:
Go back home if it isn't working there for you.

BTW- what happened to the military?
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Still a possibility, Seems my goals change on a whim:eek:

But I think its almost crazy to turn down free grad school with a stipend to boot in a great city at a sweet school though
 
150px-No_2_APTSWSM.jpg


mr_hankey_the_christmas_poo_by_staceyw.jpg
 
dukebound85 said:
1) Stay with current company
Pros
-Make a nice salary
- Will pay for my masters (will still have to work full time at same time) and it will be unaccreddited but recognized by my company as a masters
Click to expand...

You're an engineer, right?

Unaccredited = Total Waste Of Time. PLEASE trust me on this. I've known several engineers who couldn't get registered, join professional societies, etc. because their degrees aren't accredited.

Seriously, go home, my friend. There are fine institutions in Colorado, and being close to family and friends will definitely make the whole experience much easier and more pleasant; and most likely, you'll be more successful as a result.

Money will NOT buy happiness for you or for anyone else. You've been wrestling with this for a long time, and I do hope you're able to find peace with a decision soon. And please let us know when you do, so we can be there to cheer you on. :)
 
You seem to be a similar position to I. I just graduated in May and can't find a job, so I'm taking classes at a local community college. I am trying to decide whether to go back to school or continue looking for a job. But, the most glaring resemblance I see is "May meet the Mrs. xxx." This is my main motivation to go back to school after losing my last girlfriend while I was in college.

I say, if you can get it paid for, go back. You can make the money back after you get the Masters that you had "lost" while in school. Plus, you don't sound happy with your living and working situation right now. That is a recipe for disaster.
 
i think you need to find "option 3"

You've posted what seems like an endless series of schemes to get out of your current situation........is option 2 just another?
 
Option 2...

Take the pay cut, do what makes your happy, there will always be another job.

Best of luck...
 
Well, I was in an almost identical situation just very recently (other than being far from family and also not having anyone to pay for my education), and I went with the option #2.

Good luck!
 
Has anybody here thought that there could be more options than the two?

When in doubt, you can move back to Colorado where you know you like it. That could be a great step 1. You may want to decompress and get a low stress job and don't jump into graduate school.

Generally speaking, unless you are some genius, grad school is going to be far harder than the undergraduate education you have had if you choose the same field. If you choose another field, it may or may not seem harder, but for any accredited master's degree program in any field, it will always be a ton of work.

I don't recall anybody meeting a spouse in graduate school, but may have found a mrs. right now but found the work load didn't allow the proper time for a solid relationship to bloom. I am speaking from experience. ;)

There are so many other times in your life you can find way more time to find your mate than within the rigors of grad school.
 
As someone who has been laid off twice in the past three years, go back to school. Always show loyalty to yourself before any company. (They care more about their bottom-line than they'll ever care about your bottom...)
 
63dot said:
I don't recall anybody meeting a spouse in graduate school...
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I did. She came over from Italy for one year of graduate work for my professor.

63dot said:
...the work load didn't allow the proper time for a solid relationship to bloom.
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Not only did our relationship bloom, but she went back to Italy after her year was up and we carried on a long distance relationship for 2 more years. During that time we saw each other three times: she came here twice and I went there once. Although, really, if it wasn't for email (wrote to each other every day), we might not have made it. This year, we'll celebrate 10 years of marriage and we have a beautiful 5-year-old daughter. We beat the odds and are still going strong.


63dot said:
I am speaking from experience. ;)
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So am I. :)
 
well my parents living situation is VERY unstable

is it worth leaving a stable job and stable home to back to co where my parents may be kicked out of their house?

egads why does that have to happen!:eek:

granted ill want to get my own place but at least temporarily, id like to live at my parents while i find it
 
jamesdmc said:
I did. She came over from Italy for one year of graduate work for my professor.

Not only did our relationship bloom, but she went back to Italy after her year was up and we carried on a long distance relationship for 2 more years. During that time we saw each other three times: she came here twice and I went there once. Although, really, if it wasn't for email (wrote to each other every day), we might not have made it. This year, we'll celebrate 10 years of marriage and we have a beautiful 5-year-old daughter. We beat the odds and are still going strong.


So am I. :)
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Not only is this a testament to keeping a relationship alive in grad school, which is no walk in the park (and many relationships are not either ;) ), but keeping a relationship alive with such a long time apart and via email. Kudos to you and your wife. I am amazed that you did it and against those long odds with grad school for both of you, a very long distance, and only email (even if it's what you think was the life raft), is not the most common story I hear.

More times than not, it's grad school that takes precedence (think Mr. Obama working towards a graduate degree moving to Massachusetts leaving wife behind who would not tolerate it well there and moved back to Hawaii with the two getting divorced a few years later...and Obama met someone else while there in school on the east coast), or the realities of being 100s if not 1000s of miles away as long distance relationships can't be all that easy, even with technology of email which can hardly be the same as being with somebody.

I do know of people who move to California from other states or nations, retain good jobs here or at least good compared to what they left behind, but leave their spouses and/or children behind only being able to send money back home, or one day hoping to bring them to California. It amazes me that people can depart from their family for that long, and keep it together and eventually reunite.
 
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