A few of my students have told me that they are thinking of going directly into grad school after completing their BFAs and my advice to them is to wait. Especially for people earning degrees in creative fields, where the work is the determining factor. No one needs to give you permission to write or to make things, so just do it. While corporations are not for everyone, the experience can be, among other things, focussing. Meaning, the experience forces you to think about your priorities and long-term goals. Also, the skills or concepts that aid success in the corporate world are similar to the creative world: hard work, creative thinking, repetition, exploration/experimentation, marketability.

When I graduated from the University of Connecticut with a degree in illustration, I figured that all of the hours put into figuring out sumi ink were a waste. A really fun waste. But no. Those hours disciplined me and eventually showed me how to get results (hard work, practice, repetition).

After school I worked at a marketing firm in New York City, ending up in business development. While the job was incredibly educational for a lot of reasons, it also convinced me that the only career I would be happy with was one in a creative field, perhaps teaching (mainly to support my bookmaking habit). So I went back to school looking for a skill set. This is not at all what I am getting from school. Skills (like web building) are the thing I teach myself in my spare time. But there are reasons to go, if you’re thinking about it. Here are the reasons you might want to go:

1. To have time/space to develop a portfolio or a body of work.

Graduate school is basically a two to three year island of experience in which you are able to learn whatever skill or field you’re interested in. Through the guidance of faculty and other students, you are able to step back from what you know and examine your own work in relation to a larger context, hopefully finding a space into which your work will fit…or will be accepted. For instance, I’m working on an illustrated book project, which is what I’m most passionate about, and am finding practical ways to make it work. Eventually, this book (and all of the other related drawings, artist books and ephemera) will compose my portfolio.

2. To network.

Professors at universities are connected. Well, the good ones are. Before selecting a school, research the faculty. You should be able to find them online, find recent or current projects in which they are involved, and gain a basic understanding of their network. Where are they published? With whom do they collaborate? What are their ideas? Basically, you want to be around humans who can help you get from where you are now (professionally, creatively) to where you want to be. Of course, the path will change throughout grad school, but you should basically always be working on what you’re passionate about. Good teachers will help you develop these passions and introduce you to the ideas, books, fellowships, grants and people to help you. (Here are some of my teachers’ websites: Ellen McMahon, Philip Zimmermann, Ander Monson.)

3. To be a better thinker.

Prepare to read. Prepare to write. Prepare to unlearn all of the things you believe (about design, about writing, about art) to rebuild new beliefs. Ok, that’s a little dramatic. But really. Every semester I feel this purging of what I think I know and this slow restructuring of ideas and possibilities. For instance, when I read Designers, Visionaries and Other Stories (which I link to much too often), the field of design expanded exponentially. It was the difference between designing a book cover and designing systems of thinking, which change behaviors, which affect the world. I still don’t know how to reconcile these conceptual gaps, but I needed to learn new approaches to the field. The best grad students read everything they can, write when applicable and genuinely question their own belief systems. Do this.

4. To develop your research methods.

Grad school is all about research, a term I knew little of as an undergraduate. We all research in various, individual ways, but in order to develop work more cohesively, more substantially, there needs to be some organization to the research methods. This might include reading, interviewing, exploring archives, experiences, etc. Basically, research broadens and deepens your thinking on a particular subject. For instance, I’m working on some projects that explore family, so I’m reading about recurring themes (like outlier minds), interviewing and looking at public records. Research should expose you to new communities, new ways of thinking and seeing and change your approach to a medium.

5. To teach.

CNN Money reports that a college professor has the number three best job in the country. This is a load of crap. In most places, teachers are underpaid and overworked, and the stress of getting tenure in some environments does not warrant the excellent schedule. (The schedule is excellent.) And the politics of many departments is frustrating, petty and driven by traditional hierarchical systems. But! There are good schools and well-run departments, and it’s possible to find a good fit (the most important thing). Currently in the fields of art and creative writing, an MFA is the terminal degree (unless you’re into rhetoric/literature…then a PhD is your track), meaning that you are qualified to teach after you graduate. Look for schools with teaching opportunities for grads.

6. To explore forms.

Concepts of form and content are touched upon in undergrad (in my experience) and explored in great depths as a grad. For instance, why use one book form over another? Why write an essay in the form of an email? Why paint on canvas v. cardboard? Grad school is about developing your thinking, and one way you do this is to push the boundaries of what you see in the world. It’s about asking questions. For example, I like to think about what the invisible looks like. The reason my essays are graphic and associative in terms of the narrative is because it’s the way I imagine my mind working. It seems to be the way thoughts move, organically, and so the form makes sense for my story. The form itself is probably not new, but the combination of forms might be. This is a goal of research and exposure: finding new combinations of forms, or new forms alone.

7. Because it is funded for you.

Grad schools fund their candidates, at least in part. This can take the form of tuition waivers, assistantships (like teaching or other jobs), scholarships and fellowships. And this is how universities show their commitment to their students. Find out how much you will be funded, and how long the funding will last (the entire program?). Ask about both external and internal resources outside of your particular department. Again, if you want to become a teacher, you’ll need experience, so make sure to ask if the option is available and what you need to do to get it.

8. To put your ideas into the world.

Passion is often connected to a desire to share information. We want the world to see or touch or hold our ideas. To know something they didn’t before. To think differently. To change behaviors. Through the development of your thinking, research and exposure to new people and new ideas, you’ll find new forms to contain your ideas. And then you’ll find ways to position your ideas in a larger context. This might be through publishing (books, essays, your own things), websites, exhibitions, events, murals, communities, systemic planning or other forums. And, wonderfully, an idea can take on many forms. All of my projects are instantly given two forms: whatever they are and this website. Sometimes there are more, like drawings, notes, multiple books. Forms are meant to be massaged, played with, destroyed and rebuilt into new things. And grad school is a place to do that.

So…

Graduate school is a commitment. You are committing to not make real money for an extended period of time, to devoting the majority of your time to your work (I work 7 days a week for 5-14 hours per day), to having that work questioned on a regular basis. I also think the institution of our educational system is a bunch of crap in a lot of ways (for instance, hierarchies) and that graduate school is basically unnecessary (again, you don’t need permission to write the things you want to write, or make the things you want to see). In fact, I could post eight reasons not to go. But, if you’re thinking of going, see if you fit this criteria more or less. And if you’re dedicated your work, it might be a way to develop your passion.

Read what other people have to say:
Peterson’s Graduate Planner
Core 77: Why Grad School
Speak Up: Grad School
When to Get Your MFA, or Not