Dear Dr. Johnson,
I applied and got into a graduate school program, but it is a very niche field that many people I know have yet to hear about. The credentials of other students who’ve been accepted into or graduated from the program are impressive—many had near-perfect undergraduate GPAs and maintained them in the graduate program. This makes me view it as a selective and worthy program that I was lucky to get into because my college GPA wasn’t top-notch. However, because I lack funding to pursue the program and may need help paying for it, my parents and some people closer to me think it’s not good enough. For instance, someone pointed out that an alum of the program now works “freelance,” a red flag in their eyes. However, I have a feeling this is not the right attitude to approach the decision with, even if I decide against the program. How do I deal with vacillating between feelings of low self-esteem, compared to other high achievers, and the opinion that the program I was accepted into isn’t worth the cost?
– Uncertain
From Dr. Vicki Johnson:
Congratulations on your acceptance to a competitive program! You should be particularly proud that you prepared a compelling application. But before you decide to take on significant costs to accept your spot, I’d like to unpack a couple of the concerns you raised.
Right now, you are worried about how parents and friends who are unfamiliar with your niche field view the program. Someone made a judgemental comment about an alum being a “freelancer”. It doesn’t sound like anyone knows whether this freelancer is achieving their career and personal goals, so why assume they aren’t?
The more important question is, what have all the other alumni achieved? It doesn’t sound like you know.
Because you are taking these opinions of friends and family seriously, there are some questions you should be asking yourself. Do you want to join this graduate program solely because other students in it have high GPAs? Or are you valuing this program because it will help you achieve your academic and career goals? The first is not a good reason to join a graduate program; the second one is.
Graduate programs are training programs and there are hundreds of options. Before making an investment in graduate study, the program you choose should provide you with the training, curriculum, networks, and opportunities you need to achieve your future goals. This is because many graduate programs – including prestigious, expensive ones – won’t!
I think if you had done this in-depth research, you could easily provide your parents and friends with evidence of why it’s the best program for you, in response to their concerns.
If you haven’t done this research, or if you don’t have specific career goals necessitating this graduate degree, you’re going to have a hard time defending your choice.
Perhaps this is what your friends and family are trying to communicate because they are concerned about how much it will cost you (or them, if you are asking for their financial support).
You need clear reasons to invest in a graduate degree and I recommend starting with gathering solid evidence that this program will help you achieve your future career goals. This will not only help you defend your decision to make the investment, it will help you worry less about the opinions of people who are not informed.
If you can’t find this evidence, I would encourage you to research and consider more graduate school options, including those that offer funding (we list hundreds in the free ProFellow database!).
Best wishes as you navigate this decision!
Dr. Vicki Johnson is the Founder and Director of ProFellow, the world’s leading online resource for professional and academic fellowships. She is a four-time fellow, top Ph.D. scholar, Fulbright recipient, and an award-winning social entrepreneur. She is the creator of the Fully Funded Course and Mentorship Program, which helps graduate school applicants enter top graduate schools with funding awards.
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