By Anusha Khan

Deciding when to apply and attend your masters program could provide just as much stress as picking between the programs you are considering moving forward with. Whether you envision yourself deferring to maximize your work experience, or wanting to complete your schooling as soon as possible—I wanted to share a little about my own journey and hope it provides some insight when you are weighing your options.

When I graduated with my Bachelor’s degree, a lot of my friends opted to begin their graduate degrees straight away because of the new waiver of standardized testing. I personally felt burnt-out from my studies and desperately sought to leave my home state for a while, without the concern of school. My first job was not my dream job, but it was an important stepping stone to my following job which allowed me to live in a big city for the first time in my life. While moving through my life stages and increasing the time between my previous degree, the voice in my head pushing me to pursue my Masters felt like it was quieting.

One of the most important pieces of advice I received was that: if you chose to delay going back to school, you must be intentional in the choice to return back to academia. When you work full time, it can often feel as though you are on a continuum and there must be an external force to push you back towards finishing your educational pursuit. While working full-time made me crave the learning environment, it was my own desire to study global health and learn strategies to address systemic inequities that drove me to submit my applications and pursue my MPH degree in the same cycle.

Ultimately, I have my own experience in choosing to take several gap years, but I also have plenty of friends who went straight through. The decision is squarely on your shoulders and the options to attend school are an incredibly important privilege. If you have felt a calling to this educational institution, and feel this degree is integral in your career pathway, delaying may only offset you from jumpstarting your career at an earlier time. Visit the schools in which you want to apply, send in your applications, and wait until the new pathways present themselves.

You may be surprised with the outcome you reach once you have set the wheels of your future in motion.