Graduation day is less than two weeks away! For most undergrads, reaching the finish line is a celebration. For others, it’s one of the scariest things ever.

After graduation many people begin the process of trying to find work in their chosen field, whereas others may decide that they haven’t had enough schooling yet.

In some cases, students choose to attend graduate school to further their education. This could be due to a requirement from potential employers. However, for others it’s a way to escape entering ‘the real world’.

This form of escapism stems from an insecurity about being unable to land a career in their chosen field, or an uncertainty about their former study. The option to attend graduate school allows students to put off dealing with these harsh realities for a couple of months or years.

“I’m pre-medical, so the goal for me is to become a doctor,” said Cornell ’25 student Ocean Karim. “The decision to go to graduate school instead of medical school was a very impulsive one. My undergraduate GPA was not the best for medical school. I felt that continuing higher education as I continued to build my portfolio made a lot of sense.”

Graduate school can serve as a crucial stepping stool towards an end goal, especially for students have studying law or medicine. It’s also an opportunity to build their resume and/or improve their grades.

“There are a lot of doctors with an MPH as well, which is really cool because being able to understand clinical health and population health works to make a better medical practitioner,” says Karim. “The next steps after grad school would be for me to find a job within the public health sector, and generate more funds and experience so that I can apply to become a medical school student.”

Furthering one’s education is not cheap. The cost of college has been known to double as years progress. The average person leaves undergraduate school with a large amount of debt, and the decision to continue on learning serves to add more.

Even though most student loan companies will wait until several months after graduation before adding interest, the additional borrowed debt for graduate school will evidently make up for that paused interest.

Graduate school may serve as a distraction and something to do for the time being, but it does come with disadvantages. Before deciding on that next step, students should heavily consider the pros and cons.