Graduate school a popular option for many students coming straight out of college
By Samantha Masunaga
Feb. 15, 2012 2:42 a.m.
Graduation will not signify the end of paper writing and exams for Stephanie MacAller.
The fourth-year English student plans to jump straight into a graduate program and pursue a doctorate in English, ideally at her first choice, Columbia University.
It means five to eight years of work, but if she can achieve her goal of becoming a professor, it’ll be worth it, she said.
The timing was all practicality. She worked for a few years before completing college and now she knows the path she needs to take.
“I feared my skills would atrophy if I took a year off,” she said.
“I already took time off from school and I feel better about asking professors for letters of recommendation while I’m fresh in their minds.”
Stories like MacAller’s are not uncommon. At UCLA in particular, 700 recent undergraduate students chose to jump straight into graduate programs at their alma mater, 440 of whom were accepted.
These figures are part of a recent trend at the university.
Since 2008, when undergraduate applications to graduate school were at a low of 276, the numbers have risen steadily.
At universities similar to UCLA, such as UC Berkeley, University of Michigan and University of Florida, the number of seniors going straight into graduate school has hovered steadily around 30 percent for the past two years.
The reasoning behind the interest is elusive.
“You always hear when times are tough that people go to graduate school, but personally, I haven’t seen any solid data to support this,” said Jason Wall, research analyst at the UCLA Career Center who compiles the data for the First Destination Survey, a questionnaire given to graduates at the end of every quarter.
“That’s an issue we’d love to learn more about.”
Part of the difficulty lies in the nature of the Career Center’s survey. Participation in the survey is optional. The most recent evaluation captured responses from only about 33 percent of the class of 2010.
Earlier preparation for post-graduate life may also be a factor in the increased admission rate, as students are starting to visit career counselors during their first year of college, said Karol Johansen, counseling manager of pre-professional services at the Career Center.
Beyond this background analysis, counselors emphasize that there isn’t a definitive course for attending graduate school.
Before applying to programs, students should be sure of their career goals and ensure that an advanced degree is necessary in their field, since more schooling is an expensive investment, Johansen said.
This practical aspect was a major factor in Evan Shi’s decision to postpone graduate studies.
The fourth-year computer science student was once interested in bioengineering and wanted to go to medical school after graduation. But after doing summer research at UC San Francisco and mulling over his plans with the doctoral candidates and doctor in the lab, he realized that it wasn’t for him.
“With medical school, it’s $50,000 a year. Then you have your residency and you can’t make a living for eight to 10 years,” he said.
“With a B.S. in computer science, you can get a job right out of college and can make some money.”
Shi changed majors and now said he plans to get his master’s degree or master’s in business administration when he has accomplished his potential with a bachelor’s degree.
Students who feel ready to enter a graduate program should make sure they have shadowed or done internships in their field to make sure their career choice is what they want, Johansen said.
And there’s nothing wrong with waiting, Johansen said.
“I waited five years,” she said. “It allowed me to reassess my goals and solidify them.”
