Life of a Graduate student can be a roller coaster ride. I can only speak for myself and what my Graduate friends have shared with me. I’m not trying to discourage anyone from pursuing a Graduate degree.
First things first you will be in more debt that you already were.
Your social life might be all over the place. Your friends are working 9-5 jobs or odd hours. When you’re free to hang out no one is free. Ever. If you’re like me you’re trying to make new friends. You’ll find yourself giving advice to Undergrads. Realizing another Graduate student had given you a similar lecture when you were an Undergrad. Did you listen to the advice? No.
I can’t speak for the people living with roommates other than their parents, but I can speak for the people whose roommates are their parents. You’ll notice things about your parents you never paid attention to. Now those very things start to bug you and you’re in a weird situation to tell them about it or go about your business.
You’ll have a lot of “what if” moments. “What if I never went for a BS in Psychology?” “What if I listened to my mother and minored in CS?” Trust me, it will drive you nuts.
Classes that were meant to be taught at night are being taught during the day. For a graduate student that means you must pay MORE for the class. Framingham State University is $1650 for a day class versus $1055 for a night class. Day classes will also limit your employment options. Now that you’re paying for classes (unless you paid for Undergrad too) skipping is not an option anymore. You’ll put more effort… well should be. I am guilty of skipping some of my day classes though.
Guess what? After all your hard work, you might not land your dream job. You’ll notice your graduate degree can only be utilized when certain conditions are met. That means you will be interning for longer than you anticipated. Finally, when you’re given a full-time position. It might not have been what you expected. Back to the “what if” moments. Maybe you should’ve kept your money and went for a Certification instead of a Graduate degree. Probably would have saved a lot of money because now your debt is 2 times what it used to be. A typical day for some Graduate students goes like this: go to work or do homework during break, go to 2nd job for next shift or just work the 2nd job during the weekends, go to class, and back to more homework. If you’re trying to fit in a workout, it’ll probably be either early morning or at midnight because class might not get out until late at night. The good old days of Ramen Noodles for meals will return. Since there might be no financial aid for graduate school all of your money is going for your education.
The positive side of being a Graduate student is more doors will be open for exploring. Maybe there’s a cool research project you’ve wanted to do! Well, now is your chance! Good luck with funding though.