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What should I do after graduating college?

I recently got accepted into Notre Dame's Master's of Science in Digital Marketing program, and I have less than a month to decide whether to go or not.

I am currently a senior at Eastern Illinois University and work as a creative media intern for the FCS-level Division 1 athletic program. My goal is to work for a college athletic department in marketing, communication, or student-athlete brand development. I don't want to be stuck doing content creation such as video and graphic design forever. I want to work at the Power 4 level eventually. If I went to Notre Dame, I would have to take out at least $50k more in student loans. I likely will be able to be a student intern for Notre Dame athletics social media, which is paid hourly, but I have not found any opportunities that directly help pay tuition. My other path would be applying for entry-level jobs in college athletics or other graduate assistantships, but those opportunities won't really be open for me until around January since I am graduating in May.

I understand working in sports, especially college athletics, is all about connections, so I understand how valuable building a network at Notre Dame can be. Especially since my network is mainly just Eastern Illinois, which isn't at the Power 4 level and where I want to end up eventually. Plus I understand having connections with the Mendoza School of Business will be very helpful if I want to work outside of sports.

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Thank you comment icon Hi Bryce! Community guidelines don't allow personal contact info on the platform, so I had to remove the part that contained your portfolio. Is there anything from your portfolio that you'd like to add to the context of your question to help professionals get an idea of your background? Jennifer Arieta, Admin
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Johnson’s Answer

Hi Bryce,

Congratulations on the acceptance, and on being this honest with yourself about the trade-offs. Here is how I would weigh it. The $50k question comes down to what the degree unlocks that your current path does not. You already have the thing that matters most in college athletics: real experience in an athletic department, and a network you can grow from there. Entry-level roles and graduate assistantships opening in January are not a detour; they are the standard route into the Power 4, and a paid assistantship would let you keep building while somebody else covers tuition. If a specific Notre Dame role or the Mendoza network is the difference between you and a job you want, the loan can be worth it. If it is mostly the school name, I would be cautious about borrowing $50k for it while an unpaid-by-tuition path exists.

One more angle: connections beat campus names. Reach out now to people doing the jobs you want at Power 4 schools and ask how they got there. If the honest answer is 'the degree', take the loan seriously. If it is 'grinding through assistantships and being relentless with outreach', your May graduation plan already works.

Johnson Tran
Math Tutor / Educator

Johnson recommends the following next steps:

Message three people this week who hold the athletic-marketing roles you want at Power 4 schools and ask them directly whether their master's degree was what got them there.
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