What are the pros and cons of applying to PhD programs right out of Undergrad?

I am perhaps an in-between case as my intentions to apply to PhD programs immediately after my undergraduate degree were thwarted by a serious knee injury. My surgery and convalescence luckily did not require an entire year; they did, however, take the four-six months I had planned to devote to the graduate school application process. As such, I delayed my plans a year and went on to apply to my current PhD program the following application season. I was understandably upset at first about both my injury and its effects on my meticulously-planned career path. Looking back, however, I am very glad that I had that extra year between undergraduate and graduate school. Not only did it provide time to strengthen my resume (perhaps leading to admission to a better graduate school), it also provided time for me to grow, relax, and be extra sure that graduate school was what I wanted for myself. I had a lot of fun that year and, although it was a bit expensive to live without a stipend, I think that break was necessary to "recharge my batteries" and prepare me for the seven year sprint that is a PhD in psychology.

Hi, I finished my Bachelors in 2007 (June) and entered a PhD program in September 2007 in the field of Computer Science. Before applying to graduate programs, I had done 3 short-research internships (2 months each) at other labs in different universities. To say the least, my work experience at that point was indeed limited. However, I dont think it impacted my applications and got accepted to a number of programs in the US, Canada and Switzerland. Personally I would do it the same way if I could. Ultimately, however, a lof of this depends on the field you are considering for graduate school. My studied field is quite mathematical/theoretical in nature, and consequently going directly form undergrad to graduate school allowed me to "stay fresh". Other people I knew who took time to work in-between had some adjustment period to get back into "school-shape". This however did not  negatively impact their schooling for very long (maybe a semester). Other domains may be different, but I do think there is generally a re-adjustment period going from work to gradschool. Of course, work experience can be extremely beneficial and I think it simply depends if you feel ready and excited to go do gradschool. If you're interested in applying to graduate schools as a prospective international student, I invite you to follow us at http://blog.gradtrain.com/.