Ever since graduating college I’ve debated about whether or not I should go to grad school.
I work in finance so an MBA would be a natural grad degree to get.
At first I was sure I would get an MBA. It seemed like something I would need for my career.
So two years ago I studied for and took the GMAT, and then I applied to a part-time MBA program.
I was accepted and attended orientation. I signed up for classes and mapped out the next five years of classes.
But then something happened. I got a book deal and was faced with the reality that there was no way I could write a book while taking MBA classes.
So I delayed my enrollment a semester.
Fast forward to the next semester and I was again faced with the reality of what sort of time commitment was needed for the MBA program. Could I truly promote and market my book while also going to grad school? Did I even want to get my MBA?
Everyone who considers grad school needs to weigh the pros and cons. While having a book deal made it easier for me to decide, I think I knew all along what I truly wanted: I wanted to hustle!
Each person’s situation is different. But first let’s dive into two key questions that everyone considering grad school should ask themselves.
What Is Your End Goal?
Everyone who is considering grad school should ask themselves what their end goal is.
What do you hope to accomplish by getting a grad degree? Is your goal to be qualified for a job you otherwise wouldn’t be qualified for? Is it to pivot out of your current career path into a new area? Or perhaps it’s more ambiguous, such as “to help me progress my career.”
Your end goal is important because it must justify the time, money, and energy you put into your grad degree.
In my situation getting my MBA was ambiguous. It was meant to help me continue to progress in my career. But for me, my career was – and still is – a backup plan.
In my ideal career scenario I see myself running a company that I started. I’ve known for a while now that I want to be an entrepreneur.
Corporate America is a safe backup plan, and getting my MBA *might* help me, but when push comes to shove getting my grad degree would actually hurt my ultimate goal of becoming an entrepreneur, for a couple reasons:
- It would cost me about $50,000.
That $50k is after over $30,000 of employer tuition reimbursement (approximately $5k a year for six years). That either means more student loan debt or dollars diverted away from paying down other debt, building savings and investments, or even investing money into my business ideas.
One more note on the employer tuition reimbursement: you have to pay it back if you leave within two years of receiving it. So even if I left immediately after graduating I would have to give back approximately $10k to my employer.
- It would take considerable time.
Time that is precious to me as I work on side hustles and continue to test business ideas. Time that ultimately is more of a loss than the dollar cost.
More likely than not I would have to sacrifice most – if not all – of my side hustles. That means no testing of business ideas and certainly a loss of exposure to upside.
My situation is unique from your situation, which is unique from the next person’s situation. You may be able to relate to me, or not.
If you want to be a lawyer and that’s what you are set on doing, you have to go to grad school. If you want to be a psychologist, you have to go to grad school. And if you want to be a business executive in corporate America, it certainly won’t hurt you to add an MBA to your resume.
Force yourself to determine your end goal of getting a grad degree. And then weigh whether the sacrifice is worth it. For many people, it is. For many others it is not.
What Will You Do Instead of Grad School?
There are two broad camps people fall into if they are trying to talk themselves out of going to grad school. They are:
- They have other things they want to pursue – such as a business idea or side hustle – that they would have to give up if they went to grad school.
- They are concerned about whether grad school will get them to their desired end result. Will it truly be worth the money?
Those who fall in the first camp are typically entrepreneurial and the fact they have a business idea or side hustle in mind makes me think they should definitely pursue that first. You can always go to grad school later and you are much more likely to regret not pursuing your business or side hustle than you are to regret not going to grad school.
Those in the second camp should be honest with themselves: are they truly afraid that grad school won’t get them to their end result, or is their concern an excuse to not put in the work and time grad school requires?
I’ve seen others pursue grad school who would otherwise be watching Netflix and hanging out in their spare time. While there’s nothing wrong with relaxing, if you have a clear reason for going to grad school and you aren’t sacrificing a business or career opportunity to do so, it just might be worth your time.
Obviously my thought process is geared towards those who are entrepreneurial, but that’s because at the end of the day I think those individuals have an “easy” choice that they just need to have the guts to make.
For everyone else it’s more difficult. It always makes me sad to see people who give up on grad school simply because they are comfortable where they are at now.
What about five or ten years down the road when you are in the same job and decide you want to move up or move on to something different? You may end up regretting not putting in the time, effort, and money a few years back and knocking out that grad degree.
Trying to Change Careers? Options Other than Grad School
Those who are trying to change careers are in a unique situation. Assuming you are not trying to move into a career that requires a grad degree (i.e. law school, counseling, etc.), you may be able to avoid grad school altogether.
In my post The One Reason Why Blogging is the Ultimate Side Hustle I made the argument that if you start a blog you will gain extensive content marketing skills. These skills can be leveraged to pivot into marketing, even if you have no background in marketing prior to that.
In today’s digital world there are numerous opportunities to gain “on-the-job” learning if you are looking to shift into a new career field. I know a ton of people who have started a blog and moved to full time content creation (and made a lot more money, I might add).
This doesn’t only apply to marketing or content, though. If you want to pivot into health care policy, you could be proactive and learn about health care policy through websites or books and ultimately network with those in the field to get a foot in the door. This could potentially save you $100k that would have gone towards a masters degree.
My point here is simple: consider non-traditional avenues for getting to your end goal. It’s more popular than ever to hire someone who has non-traditional experience for a job, and it’s worth your time and money to consider those other avenues.
Are you considering grad school? What pros and cons have you considered? Do you have a hustle you would rather pursue?
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I have toyed with the idea of getting an MBA as well over the years. My original plan was to get one after a few years of work experience because I was told it was the best way (plus networking [It’s more who you know than what you know]) to get a nice office job instead of doing what I had been doing.
Like you I didn’t have time then & still don’t now since I’m pursuing other income streams. Plus, I can’t justify the education costs. Right now, a master’s wouldn’t boost my income so there’s a minimum return on investment after factoring in the required time and money.
My original plan was to start two years after college. Now I am six years out and it’s unlikely I will ever go. There’s just too many other opportunities.
Thanks for covering this–it is a tough choice for many. I was a finalist for a graduate fellowship right after college, but I didn’t end up getting it, so I decided not to go straight into graduate school. Free grad school is pretty rare in my field (education) so it would’ve been great to take it. But I ended up getting a job in a tough market, so it all worked out. It really depends on the field and your goals, like you said.
A very tough choice! My wife is pursuing psychology so it was almost a no-brainer to at least get her masters. For others it is much more difficult and far from black and white. That’s too bad to hear about the fellowship but it sounds like everything worked out for you. Education reminds me of business where a ton of people pursue grad school.
I went straight from undergrad to grad school. Though it was a great experience and I don’t regret it, I wouldn’t do it over again. In my field (social work) and my preferred area (outreach), it really didn’t pay off to get the grad degree (if I had done counseling, it would have paid off). If I had thought ahead about what I really wanted to do and got more work experience prior to attending, I would have made a more informed decision.
Seems like a ton of people go straight to grad school, and now that I’m a little more than six years out I can see how different perspectives can be once you’ve gotten some work experience. I do think there is a problem with some people getting too content or simply losing motivation who decide to not go back when they really should.
Hey David, I had similar thoughts to you a few years ago. I went to the U of Minnesota and received a Master’s of Financial Math and got a good job out of college. After a few months, I realized this wasn’t for me. I wanted to build things, build companies and enterprises.
MBA or side hustle? I’m choosing to learn through online businesses. For less than $500, I can create an online business with unlimited potential. If I fail, great, I’ll have learned something :)
P.S. if you still live in the MPLS area, would be great to get your perspective on consulting given this is of interest for my team.
I think we have a lot in common! There is huge value in testing a business with $500 or even a few thousand, even if the business ultimately fails. Worst case scenario you lose some money but learn a lot in the process.
Yes I am still in the Twin Cities – feel free to shoot me an email (info on the contact page).
Hey David, that’s a great post. I think my situation is totally different than yours. I see my career as a software developer also as a backup plan. However, I’m facing the awesome situation that I don’t have to pay for my studies in Germany. So I decided to do the master degree (even if it’s not necessary for software development) and use the time so I can start my online business because I don’t have to work 8 hours/day.
Keep up the good work! ;)
Yes if it’s free that’s a whole different scenario! Grad school is quite expensive in the United States, but it’s still a very popular route. And a huge number of people work full-time while going to school at night – my wife included!
This is a good question…UI think that money spent on studies are a good investment…hower being on a budget in this moment I’m more focused on savings and side hustle…but I’m looking for some interesting course that are interesting and not very expensive!!!
I think there are a lot of good “alternative” options to grad school that would work for most people and are more affordable. If you are looking for something more skills-based self-learning may be an ideal option. I know that’s what I’ve done with spreadsheets and to a lesser degree, programming.
I really wish I had done this type of thinking back when I went to law school. We’re constantly trained that making money requires getting a good job and it never occurred to me that there are millions more ways to make money out there.
Seriously, when I graduated college, I just assumed that the only ways to make money were to become a lawyer or a doctor. I think if most people remember how many options there are out there – including options to make your own job – it’ll make the idea of grad school less appealing. Or at least help you make an informed choice. I’m not anti-grad school by any means, but I definitely think it’s a decision to think about more than most people do.
Grad school is an easy way to feel like you’re progressing towards higher income or a more promising future in general. I think it does make sense for some professions – you aren’t going to meet with a counselor or lawyer who didn’t go to grad school. But I think you bring up a good point that people don’t always fully vet their options prior to diving into grad school.
I think you probably made a wise choice. I think if you pursue a masters, it has to be clear what the end goal is…it shouldn’t be “ambiguous.” I went to get a JD but you can’t practice law without that so the choice is clear. The MBA decision is definitely a lot tougher. However, being that you clearly have plans to run your own business and have shown success in your entrepreneurial endeavors, I think hustling is the way to go. Five years is a long time! I went to law school part-time and that was only 4 years.
Yeah the MBA is definitely ambigious. I’ve seen it help people’s careers but I’ve also seen it not really make a difference. It ultimately comes down to what your long-term goals are. Unfortunately many in their 20s aren’t quite sure what their end goal is with their job/career – or might think they know but they realize years later they don’t want to do what they ended up doing!
Thanks for the insightful post! I’ve been thinking about going to grad school for the past two years now, but right now all my extra time and focus go into my side hustles. Like you said, I think the end goal is really important so I’ll give up my grad school plans if my goals change courses.
Thanks for the kind words. I have gone back and forth on grad school for years now but I’m at peace with my current decision. I think it’s important to stay open to all your opportunities, but ultimately you have to decide what your goals are. And those goals can change!
I have 2 Masters degrees, but I no longer use them because I now own my own businesses.
That said, I don’t think I’d be where I am today had it not been for grad school. Both experiences and degrees opened doors I didn’t even know existed. Additionally, working through school taught me how to manage my time effectively and prioritize my tasks/goals.
Sure, I could have done without the $42K in loans (thank you, scholarships and assistantships for paying the bulk of my way), but I can’t think of another path I’d have chosen.
Considering grad school or hustling is always an interesting topic. I tell everyone that I’m never going back to school. I’ve read more books since I’ve been out. There are also so many different ways to learn things these days. I don’t have the patience to sit in a classroom or take online classed.