Should You Go to Graduate School?

Advice from a Professor with 20+ Years of Experience

Well, the answer is: it depends. Having spent more than 20 years in a university setting—as a graduate student, and professor mentoring graduate students—I can tell you it’s rarely a simple yes or no. There are several factors to consider, and to help you decide, I’ll share some questions that, if answered honestly, might light up a few bulbs.

Why?

Let’s start with why. Why do people go to graduate school? Some want to advance their career, gain specialized knowledge, or increase their reputation in a field. Others hope it will boost their earning potential—though, to be honest, that doesn’t automatically happen and varies by discipline. Some pursue graduate school out of passion for learning or contributing to their field.

Sometimes the reasons are personal: achieving a long-term educational goal can bring satisfaction, or it could be a family expectation. And, of course, many pursue graduate school simply to earn the “Dr.” before their name—a title that carries prestige and can open doors in academia, healthcare, or research.

The point is to figure out your reason first—it will guide the rest of your decisions. Knowing your “why” helps you decide if the next step makes sense given what it will take to get there. And that leads to the next big question: what will it cost you?

What?

Now that you have at least an idea of why you want to go to graduate school, the next question is: what will it cost? The costs aren’t just financial—there’s also the investment of time, mental energy, and, yes, sometimes even your sanity. Graduate school is a serious commitment.

Money

Let’s start with money. Tuition, fees, and living expenses add up fast, and costs vary a lot by program. A public university master’s program might run $20,000–$40,000 per year, while private schools or professional degrees (like law, medicine, or business) can top $60,000 annually. And that’s before adding housing, books, health insurance, and everyday living costs—which you’d face anyway, but grad school usually makes them harder to juggle.

Some students are fortunate enough to have employers who offer tuition assistance, or they land scholarships and fellowships. These can significantly reduce the burden, but they’re not guaranteed, and applying for them can be competitive and time-consuming. Funding opportunities also vary by discipline: STEM fields, for example, tend to offer more research assistantships, teaching assistantships, and stipends, while humanities and professional programs often require more out-of-pocket spending.

While money is important, it’s far from the only consideration—graduate school also requires another scarce resource: time.

Time

Time is another major cost—and in many ways, it’s even more precious than money. Do you realistically have the extra hours to study after work? Will your employer give you flexibility for classes or exams? Graduate school demands a level of commitment that can stretch beyond evenings and weekends, and work-life balance for graduate students is notoriously difficult. This becomes even more challenging if you have a partner, children, or other responsibilities depending on you. Every lecture you attend, every paper you write, and every late-night study session requires time that could otherwise be spent working, resting, or with your family.

I can tell you from experience: I began graduate school with three children, graduated with six, and now—believe it or not—I have nine. If you ask me how I did it, I don’t fully know. I mean graduate school—I know how I got the children. But I would say it was thanks to my wife. There were sleepless nights, missed family moments, and sacrifices I didn’t always anticipate. Somehow, it worked out, but it required constant planning, compromise, and a willingness to accept that you can’t “do it all” at once. Time, more than tuition, became the resource I had to manage most carefully. Yet even with enough time, there’s another critical resource you must consider: your mental capacity.

Mental Capacity

Mental capacity is a whole different challenge, and in many ways, it can be the most critical resource of all. Graduate school can be overwhelming, especially in a STEM PhD program, where the workload is intense, deadlines are relentless, and multitasking becomes a daily necessity. On top of that, you may face difficult advisors, unexpected research setbacks, or group conflicts that test your patience and resilience. I wish I could say professors are always angels—some are—but occasionally, you’ll meet the exception, and learning to navigate these situations becomes part of the experience.

The key is to honestly assess whether you have the emotional and cognitive bandwidth to handle the demands of your program. Stress, uncertainty, and mental fatigue are constant companions in graduate school, and without the capacity to manage them effectively, even the best time management and financial planning can fall short. Before committing, consider your coping strategies, support system, and ability to sustain focus under pressure—because mental capacity, more than anything else, often determines whether you succeed or burn out.

Now that we’ve discussed why you might go and what it will cost, there are still questions of timing and school choice, which I’ll cover another time—once I’ve regained a little more mental capacity myself. But if you’re in a rush to make a decision, you can always consult with me.