Comments | public_health: How to choose a grad school while balancing loans, career paths, and a serious relationship?

sa_rah_rah in public_health

How to choose a grad school while balancing loans, career paths, and a serious relationship?

Apr 05, 2010 16:16

Do I go to grad school, and if so, where? Struggling with the best approach to the decision-making process.

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Comments 7

changeofthemoon April 5 2010, 21:26:28 UTC

Have you thought about waiting another year and applying to online programs? Some top notch schools including Hopkins and UNC have online programs now that you could do while you're still working. I don't think it's crazy to do it, but it seems like there's a lot of cons and given that there would be a way to get your MPH and still keep working it might be worth considering.

winterthunder April 5 2010, 23:52:49 UTC

The six figure thing is sobering, but keep in mind that under the recent federal financial aid reform your loan repayments are limited to 10% of your gross income and will be forgiven after 20 years, or ten if you go into the public sector. You're not alone in being unable to find funding for an MPH; we tend to fall into this little black hole of being a "professional" degree that is nonetheless required by most schools if we want to go on to a PhD program. I'm waiting on one more scholarship decision, but I'm starting to brace myself for the idea of taking out $75000 in loans for grad school this fall. Have you looked into whether your company will pay for part of your tuition? It will probably require you to return after you graduate, but some companies will help out if you can demonstrate that it will help you do your job more effectively ( ... )

rabbitica April 5 2010, 23:54:52 UTC

This is a hard one, clearly! I will agree with you that it is entirely possible for you to be making less when you get your MPH than you do now. Especially because you love your current job, I second the idea of an online degree, although that really turns on what kind of grad school experience you want to have. An online degree just won't be the same, but do you want the full immersion, or do you just want the letters next to your name for the ability to advance ( ... )

shikamboo April 6 2010, 04:30:16 UTC

Regardless of the state of the economy, why would you leave a job that you love? Finding a job that you love and an employer that you can stand is pretty difficult. You could get a similar job somewhere else and loathe it. If your boyfriend wants to stay where you currently are, it seems like the easiest and best solution to put off grad school until you're really ready to move on.

peanutbuddy April 12 2010, 17:22:39 UTC

I was in a similar situation as you this time last year, with one big exception: I hated my job. I had a nice, well respected, stable job in the public health field making 42K a year, and I was just given a promotion. Even though it wasn't in the area of public health I was interested in, it was still hard to leave that financially stable situation/lifestyle to go back to school. I still have about 15K in loans from undergrad, and it is daunting the amount of money I will owe after grad school, but I try not to stress it. Like another poster mentioned, repayments are manageable and you can refinance the loans at a fixed interest rate which helps a lot ( ... )