辭職考研，這5件事情你考慮清楚了么？

Do you have some vague plans to go back to school at some point, and get more education? Can't go wrong with another degree, right?

你是否想過(guò)回歸校園，接受更多教育?不想在另一個(gè)學(xué)位上有任何瑕疵，對(duì)嗎?

Well, no. In fact, that's actually a pretty dangerous assumption.

額，不是的。實(shí)際上，這是一個(gè)很危險(xiǎn)的想法。

Getting an expensive degree without knowing exactly what you'll be getting out of it is a quick way to rack up debt that won't necessarily help you achieve your goals. So, before you (possibly) get yourself in a lot of trouble, here are five questions to consider before applying to school, again.

追求昂貴的學(xué)位資格，卻不知道自己能從中獲得什么東西，很快你就會(huì)累積龐大債務(wù)，還不能實(shí)現(xiàn)夢(mèng)想。所以在你(可能)讓自己陷入麻煩前，你應(yīng)該考慮下面這5件事再考慮是否應(yīng)該繼續(xù)報(bào)讀院校。

1. What are the requirements, and do they seem interesting to me?

報(bào)讀的院校的要求是什么，我是否對(duì)它們感興趣?

First things first, are you even interested in additional studies? You never want to get a graduate degree solely because you don't like what you're doing now or because you don't know what you want to do next.

先說(shuō)重要的，你對(duì)進(jìn)修是否感興趣?你不會(huì)只是因?yàn)椴幌矚g當(dāng)前的工作，或不知道自己接下來(lái)的計(jì)劃才想要獲得一個(gè)碩士文憑吧。

This means doing some serious self-reflection and figuring out what concrete evidence you have that you will like what you're learning in the programs you apply for. Take the time to look at class descriptions and syllabi. Do they excite you? Or is just looking at them making you cringe? If you can't make a compelling argument for why you would at least enjoy the next year or two, that's a pretty big red flag.

這意味著你需要謹(jǐn)慎地自我反思，并考慮有哪些具體的例子是自己感興趣的、足以讓自己申請(qǐng)的?；c(diǎn)時(shí)間去了解課程內(nèi)容和教學(xué)大綱。這些事情是否讓你感到興奮?還是說(shuō)這些事情讓你退縮了?如果你無(wú)法給出一個(gè)很肯定的答案，那么這是很危險(xiǎn)的。

2. What exact outcome do I hope to achieve by attending this program?

我希望從課程中得到些什么?

Your undergraduate years are a great time to explore your interests, as are your first few years of employment. Doing a master's degree generally is not. The program is too short, and you really need to be spending your time focusing on your goal, which you can't do if you don't know what it is.

你的本科學(xué)習(xí)是你發(fā)現(xiàn)興趣、也是提前體驗(yàn)工作的最佳時(shí)期。然而研究生學(xué)習(xí)一般就不是這種情況。課時(shí)太短，你真切地想要花點(diǎn)時(shí)間在自己的目標(biāo)上，并且是如果你不知道自己的目標(biāo)是什么你根本完成不了的。

Maximize your chances for achieving your goal by knowing exactly what it is before you go get a graduate degree. It'll allow you to tailor the experience to your needs and use all the resources available to you to their fullest extent. This will also help you gauge which program is right for you.

在決定報(bào)考研究生之前，先明確自己的目標(biāo)，把能夠?qū)崿F(xiàn)目標(biāo)的機(jī)會(huì)最大化。這能夠幫助你根據(jù)自己需求精進(jìn)經(jīng)驗(yàn)，并充分利用所有可獲得的資源實(shí)現(xiàn)最佳的效果。最后你就知道最合適自己的課程是什么了。

3. What evidence do I have that these outcomes are realistic?

我如何得知這些結(jié)果是現(xiàn)實(shí)有效的?

Look beyond marketing materials. Assuming you know what you want out of a master's degree, ask to speak with alumni, and comb through outcome surveys for the programs you're interested in. You're trying to see how likely it is for you to attain what you're being promised.

且不看營(yíng)銷材料。假設(shè)你了解自己從學(xué)位中所得到的，詢問(wèn)身邊的校友，并設(shè)計(jì)一些與課程相關(guān)的調(diào)查問(wèn)卷。你就能從中發(fā)現(xiàn)，有哪些你想象中想要得到的結(jié)果。

Numbers certainly help paint a picture, but speaking with alumni is even more valuable in understanding how the program played a part in helping students reach their goals. If you speak with a few people who felt they were left fairly unsupported in terms of next steps, that should be a red flag.

數(shù)據(jù)當(dāng)然可以描繪一副藍(lán)圖，而與校友的交談卻是一個(gè)更可貴的機(jī)會(huì)，去了解課程是如何幫助學(xué)生實(shí)現(xiàn)夢(mèng)想的。如果你跟一些校友交談，而他們認(rèn)為學(xué)得不怎么樣，那么你就該注意了。

4. Do I need this degree to do what I want to do?

我需要這個(gè)學(xué)位去做我想做的事情嗎?

Ask yourself if you really even need another degree to do whatever it is you want to do. Is a master's in community health necessary to work at that nonprofit you admire? Do you need an MBA to launch that clean tech startup you've been dreaming about? Maybe. Maybe not.

問(wèn)問(wèn)自己，是不是確實(shí)需要額外的學(xué)位頭銜去做一些自己想做的事情。碩士學(xué)位對(duì)于你在公共衛(wèi)生事業(yè)單位所獲得的成就很有必要嗎?工商管理碩士文憑對(duì)你在新技術(shù)公司的發(fā)展有關(guān)鍵作用嗎?也許有，也許沒(méi)有。

Do your research about what the perception of graduate education is in your field. Pop on You may find out that you do indeed need to pursue additional education, or you may find that getting some more work experience would be just as valuable. It's important to find out which before you dive in.

那么，你就應(yīng)該在領(lǐng)域里進(jìn)行相關(guān)的研究生教育資料的收集。你可能會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，你缺啥需要進(jìn)修深造，或者你也會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)更多的工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)也許更有效。在你決定之前，你應(yīng)該確定哪種情況對(duì)你更適用。

5. How much is this going to cost, how am I going to pay for it, and is it all worth it?

讀書深造要花費(fèi)多少?我該如何支付，這些錢都花得值得嗎?

Finally, you really want to be thoughtful about how much graduate school will actually cost you, and how exactly you plan on paying for it. Sure, education is invaluable and all, but that doesn't take away the reality of needing to find a way to afford it.

最后，你真正要考慮讀研究生所需要的費(fèi)用，并知道自己如何去支付。當(dāng)然，教育是無(wú)價(jià)的，并且不能否認(rèn)要找到支付費(fèi)用的方式。

Understand your loan options and what financial aid is available. Ideally, come up with a few different strategies for paying back them back, because sadly you can't always count on all your current options being available when you graduate.

了解可以尋求哪些貸款和經(jīng)濟(jì)援助。理想情況下，有多種不同的策略可以償還，不過(guò)實(shí)際上你不能總是依賴現(xiàn)有可獲得的途徑。

In addition to that, you should always think about your expected salary after the degree to see what the return on your investment is — really ask yourself, is this financially worth it? Will this be enough to repay my loans? While it feels unfair to weigh tuition (and education) against a salary, it's the realistic and responsible approach to take.

除此之外，你還有想想畢業(yè)后的預(yù)期薪水，看看你的投資回報(bào)如何，問(wèn)問(wèn)自己，這符合經(jīng)濟(jì)效益嗎?我的薪水足以支付我的貸款嗎?當(dāng)然，把薪水和學(xué)費(fèi)(或教育費(fèi)用)相提并論是不公平的，但這是很實(shí)際也很密切相關(guān)的。

In the end, the most important thing is to decide how you will evaluate whether or not a master's degree is worth the time, commitment, and tuition. For some, the chance to study something exciting is enough. For others, it's only worth it if there's a concrete career path at the end. Either way, figure out what makes sense for you before applying.

最后，最重要的是你如何評(píng)估自己的研究生學(xué)位經(jīng)得起實(shí)際、承諾和費(fèi)用的考驗(yàn)。對(duì)于某些人來(lái)說(shuō)，能夠?qū)W到感興趣的東西就足夠了。而對(duì)于某些人，最終獲得一份好的工作才算是指的。無(wú)論是怎樣，在決定報(bào)考之前還得弄清楚自己的意圖和想獲得些什么才是最重要的。