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Is it bad to reapply to the same graduate school over and over again?

Is it bad to not attend graduate school right away?

  • I don't want to waste time and money because I don't know what exact career I want yet but my parents are pressuring me since they are retiring in a few years. I found these pros of waiting on a site: The reasons for working for a few years before going to graduate school: you can better know your career goals by working in the field for a few years; some graduate programs require work experience; you bring a broader world view to your studies; you have a more mature outlook on school and work; many employers will pay some or all of your graduate school expenses; you can gain solid financial footing; you can improve your chances for acceptance to graduate programs -- especially if you were not the best student in your undergraduate program. But what I'm worried about is recommendation letters. Graduate schools tend to ask for recommendation letters and I think it's much harder to ask my professors years after I graduate. Is that list up there accurate?

  • Answer:

    For some kinds of programs (mainly career and professionally-oriented ones), recommendation letters from an employer or work colleague are fine. But for others (mainly doctoral programs in academic subjects), they're worthless, or even a negative (they'll think you don't really understand the nature of their program, or else your past faculty had no use for you at all). So if you're considering doing graduate work in a traditional academic field, either get the letters now, (but remember, some programs don't like letters that are more than 2-3 years old) or stay in touch with your faculty so they'll write them later. But you're right--there are some real advantages to waiting a while before going to grad school. Some professionally-oriented programs even require it. Many of the best MBA programs never accept students right out of a bachelor's degree program--they want you to come in with some work and life experience to share and build on.

Lumpy Space Princess at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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I waited a few years and used my co-workers as references. I waited until I knew what I wanted to do in grad school. Yes your list your list is accurate.

monkey

The list is accurate. Talk to your teachers that you would ask for recommendations NOW about what you are planning on doing. Most of them will probably be quite willing to fill out recommendation forms for graduate school in two or three years. I talked to my master's thesis chairman about would he be willing to read and review a manuscript about a research project I've been thinking about doing for YEARS. He was quite willing and asked me to contact him by email to schedule a time. I received my degree in 2000. I still really haven't started gathering the data for the research project, but I do have table template. lol!!! I'll probably have to change that template later on, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Work experience is always good. Oil companies that hire graduate students who are just about to receive a master's degree send them right back to school to get Ph.D. and pay most of the tuition along with giving a very adequate salary to pay any additional fees or tuition.

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