Bad reasons for going to graduate school

http://blog.brazencareerist.com/2012/03/29/5-bad-reasons-to-apply-to-grad-school/

In this link: Bad reasons to go to graduate school... and (at the end) some good ones.

We’re at a point in the economy, job market, recovery—the whole gestalt—where you and everybody else have a nifty little piece of paper with some initials printed on it. Look, ma! A degree! Here’s a link with a truly depressing take on what your undergrad degree is worth. Spoiler alert—this article raises the problems, and contains some amusingly cynical writing, but doesn’t say very much about what the solution is, except that it’s “innovative.”  http://www.youtern.com/thesavvyintern/index.php/2012/04/03/why-your-college-degree-doesnt-mean-sh/

And the educational market is at a point where those schools which are not Ivy League institutions (and even some who are) are scrambling for more enrollments. There is a dip in the number of students headed to college. There is a dip in the pockets of people willing to pay for college. There is a dip in the number of students looking for solid undergraduate education rather than on-line fluffer-nutter sandwiches.

Put those together—tough job market, struggling colleges—and what happens? Why colleges will invent new master’s degrees to entice people who have no clue what to do at the end of a bachelor’s degree. It’s a way to keep the cash cow rolling, a way to pump more money out of you (or whomever you’ve borrowed the money from).

Before you get serious about signing on the dotted line for a graduate degree, take time. Talk with employers you think a masters might appeal to. Talk with college professors who have mentored you. There are good reasons to get a masters. But there are also some reasons that are smoke-and-mirrors.