Gradschool - Rhea

The one word answer to this question (as Shakespeare himself would have said) is - NO! And a two word answer would be It depends.

As a current graduate student I am speaking to you reader from the 'other side'. Before you young'uns, finishing your undergraduate, take the plunge you should know a few facts of life about grad school.

You will be poorer than the unemployed. No seriously! You don't get paid cause you are a student right (and we all know student don't have to eat or pay rent), and you don't get the long vacations you used to, because you are an RA (an employee i.e.). In short you get the worst of both worlds.

But hey, with the economy as it is, you might as well get a graduate degree, enhance you skill set etc., and reap the rewards later. Not quite! The economic benefits are not that great. Factor in the amount of work you put in, and the years you spend, adjust for inflation and you are pretty much dead. Finally, it doesn't help when your college buddy who had joined an investment bank turns up in his BMW, with his (2nd) wife, and invites you to his 4 bedroom house for a party he is throwing for his dog's birthday. Trust me on this last one!

Second, you won't be playing around with cool looking machines like this -

If your laboratory sessions during your junior/senior years have taught you anything, then you should know that these things cost money, real money. So you won't be allowed to get close to any lab until you have undergone extensive training, which will sap all your enthusiasm (and the will to live). Even if you get past the training, the lab equipments don't just work because people have learnt to operate them correctly. Oh no, you first have to pull out all your hair in frustration, curse the machines (and the gods of your choice for abondoning you), and finally sacrifice a lamb on a new moon night to the great god Imhotep. I can vouch for the last one, it works!