How to Ride Out the Recession in Grad School
By Don Asher
Worried about the recession? Maybe it's time to hide out in graduate school. There is a time-honored tradition of sitting out a downturn in a classroom. Let's look at the pros and cons.
There doesn't seem to be any question that this recession is going to be pretty deep compared to recent, mild recessions. So the ugly truth is that many, many people are going to lose their jobs, and they're going to find it very difficult to replace them. This is only now beginning.
If this recession is short and deep, the upturn will be in full swing when you get out of grad school. If it is long and deep, you will have avoided some of the worst of it, and will re-enter the market with advanced skills anyway.
But I think the smartest way to use grad school is as "career insurance." Under this model you don't decide to go to grad school -- you decide to apply. If you lose your job, you can go ahead and show up at the grad program.
If the downturn doesn't bite you after all, you can keep your job, forgo grad school, and all it cost you was the trouble of applying.
Most interesting of all, if another school year rolls around and you still have a job but think your employment status is iffy, you can ask for a deferral and buy yourself another year of career insurance. This is how this strategy works most like other forms of insurance.
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VOCABULARY WORDS
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ride out - deal with problem and survive: to manage to deal with a difficult situation successfully and survive without too much harm
upturn - improvement: an improvement in the economy or in business conditions
forgo - abstain from: to do without something, especially voluntarily
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QUESTIONS:
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1. What do you think of attending graduate school?
2. What do you think of sitting out a downturn in a recession?
3. In Korea, do you think it is beneficial to go to graduate school? What are the pros and cons of going to graduate school?
4. Did you have any memorable experiences related to the 1998 Korean recession?
5. What changes do people need to make in their lifestyle during a recession?
6. What do you think will be your strategy if there would be a recession in the near future?