To go to grad school or not, that is the question!
The one word answer to this question (as Shakespeare himself would have said) is - NO! And a two word answer would be It depends. A lot of people go to graduate school for a lot of different reasons. I am not sure what particular type of insanity drives you towards it, but lets put out a few reasons you shouldn't go to grad school, shall we? As a current graduate student I am speaking to you the 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.
Money Matters
You will be poorer than the unemployed. No seriously! You don't get paid enough because you are a student (and we all know students don't have to eat or pay rent), and you don't get the long vacations you used to, because you are an employee (RA). 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, 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.
The significant other
Do you have a significant other right now? Then hold on to them tightly. And don't let them escape (they will try to at some point in your PhD). Not only they will provide you with moral support, but often humanitarian support too (food aid is much appreciated). If you are single, then you are likely to stay that way for a very long time, so get used to it. If you think I'm exaggerating, recall your TA (now you are nodding in agreement right). It turns out being poor, often overworked, and a certified nerd doesn't quite make you a babe magnet. Note : If ladies are indignant that this doesn't apply to them. All I have to say is I entered the grad school single, so go figure.
Second, lets be honest, your chances of winning a Nobel prize, curing cancer or AIDS, or (most disappointingly) invent awesome star trek machines, are minuscule. Now don't get me wrong, and I'm not prejudging anyone, but you must appreciate that statistically speaking, the probability of a graduate student making world changing contributions to human knowledge is minuscule. Add to that the achievements of school dropouts like Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and things start looking very bleak indeed.
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 machine (and the gods of your choice for abondoning you), and finally sacrifice a lamb on a new moon night to the great god Imhotep. The sequence is important, don't risk doing it backwards!
