Single White Unemployed Female: Grad School Instead of Job is a Good Trade

I changed my mind. I think I know what I’m going to do with the rest of my life.

A week ago, after spending a good deal of my current and past internships writing press releases and doing work with social media, I realized that I could see myself with a career in public relations.

Unfortunately, the search results in the “Jobs” section on washingtonpost.com aren’t seeing eye-to-eye with me. Every position that someone fresh out of college a year ago would have been able to snag is now asking for two or more years of professional experience.

Despite ignoring that little detail, submitting my resume and cover letter, and calling to “make sure they had received my information,” there haven’t been many responses. I’ve found a few internship opportunities that look promising, but they’re only for the summer.

Meanwhile, I kept hearing about a university in D.C. that had a great Masters program in communication. It’s for a year, and it would allow me to live at home, even though that would require my dad and I to sign a peace treaty.

I did a bit of thinking, and realized that in this economy, maybe getting my Masters (something I had planned on doing a few years down the road) wasn’t such a bad idea.

As a result, I have now begun the process of applying to graduate school for communication, and though I have made the decision to apply, I have not figured out if I will go just yet.

Even before I can discuss why I wouldn’t choose to go, I actually have to get in.

I contacted the graduate school’s admissions office to make sure that June 1 was the actual deadline to submit an application. The woman I spoke to said yes, but advised me to get my information in as soon as possible because they had already accepted a good deal of the class. She also informed me that this year’s applicant pool had been more competitive than in previous years. I have a GPA similar to the average for accepted students, but who knows where it will stack up this year.

If I do get in (knock on wood), I have to figure out what’s easier: taking out a bigger loan and getting my Masters out of the way, or deferring my acceptance, saving some money and taking out a smaller loan. The risk that comes from the latter is that I might never go back because of a promotion at work.

While I may make good money, a graduate degree is a nice thing to have as security for the future.

For now, I just need to focus on taking the GRE and submitting my application. I’ll also continue to apply for jobs, and see what comes out of it.
Now, back to work.