# How do you find a job when you graduate college **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 11, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-find-a-job-when-you-graduate-college/279315 "2004-12-11T15:36:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-find-a-job-when-you-graduate-college/279315/21 "2004-12-12T23:10:07Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > Do you know if masters programs offer assistanceships or some other means of income and tuition reimbursement while you go to school? I know PhD programs offer a variety of things like teaching internships, or research scholarships where you teach and do research in exchange for free tuition and a stipend, but I don’t know if a MS does. > > If they do not, I guess I can try for a PhD with some kind of tuition waving internship then if I can’t handle it I can drop out and get a MS. But as I said, I don’t think I have the heart for it. I love chemistry, but to me a job is a way to make enough money to enjoy the rest of your life and graduate school for a doctorate has the opposite viewpoint (your job is your life). At the same time I can handle undergraduate level coursework and still have a life and not feel overwhelmed. And the extra income of a doctorate over a BS doesn’t really appeal to me since I don’t think i’ll have a family. That may change, but even if it does and assuming my wife works and I am a BS chemist our income should be sufficient. When applying to grad school, the path to some level of guaranteed support is admission to a PhD program, not a masters program. Of course, it is much more difficult to gain admission to a good PhD program (vs masters). Most schools are quite picky and you will need to have a very good undergrad record and GREs. It’s not quite as hard as getting into med school, although it can be even harder in certain fields. It is true that one way to earn at least a masters is to get into a PhD program, and drop out when you fail to clear all of the PhD hurdles. Almost for sure, you will be awarded a consolation masters. As to your point about the income differential between a BS and a PhD chemist as not “sufficient” for you, I don’t think that this should be the driving force for getting into a PhD program. To earn a PhD in a scientific field such as chemistry is no cakewalk. You must love the subject as it will require very hard study, research, and resilience. At the end, should you finish, you will have attained the highest possible academic achievement in your field, and it will definitely open doors for you. The suggestion to get a job and then take advantage of employer-sponsored continuing education is not a bad idea. But this does require extra dedication, time and energy to work a full-time job and taking classes at the same time, unless you can get a leave of absence. I just favor getting all your formal education behind you before embarking on a career. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-find-a-job-when-you-graduate-college/279315/22 "2004-12-13T00:07:50Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > **Wes** , you worry too much. I get that alot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-find-a-job-when-you-graduate-college/279315.md?page=1)