When is the right time to go to grad school? (Master's Program)

Daniel,

Working in career placement for the last seven years, I have noticed two things:
1. I have many young customers who went straight from BA to grad school, who have no real relevant work experience. They are over-qualified for entry-level positions, and under-qualified for the positions they think they deserve simply by virtue of their education. They don't realize the number of people they are up against who have both education AND experience.
2. A lot of people are working in jobs waaaayyyy outside of their major, for various reasons, including realizing their major was not the right field for them.

That being said, as old as I am, I can tell you that school is much easier when you are young. It's not so easy to retain information when you are much much older.

I personally think the best thing to do is to get a full time job, and start grad school, one or two classes at a time. It will spread out the expense, let you get some experience, etc.

hope this helps!
Kim

Try looking into graduate assistantship programs. When I was getting my masters in communication, I applied for several grad assistant programs. I was lucky enough to get one and as a result, by working in the GA program, I was able to get my degree and come out debt free. How does it work (or at least how did mine work)? I worked 21 hours/week and in exchange, I had 3 classes paid for per semester (my program was 3 classes/semester to be full time). I also had a stipend. It wasn't much money, but I made a little extra cash every week which never hurts.

Take a very short break after completing undergraduate studies. Most entry level professional positions are requiring masters or Ph.D.'s these days.