I was asking myself lately whether it is worthwhile to go back to school in order to switch careers. While there are advatanges to starting over, it may not be suitable for all.
Evidently, the most prominent advantage of going back to school to study a new major is freedom. I get to choose a new field I'd like to go into, and as long as I graduate with a new degree, I have a chance at working in my dream job. For example I could study nursing or bio-chemistry, or anything that I find interesting. Once my new degree is in hand, I have a shot at working in the new field. However, this approach has some serious downsides in my opinion.
One of the downsides is aging. I'm in my early thirties now. I have been contemplating architecture since I like drawing and have a passion in construction. The only way for me to switch to architecture is to pursue a 3-year Professional Master of Architecture program. This would take me 4.5 years if you count the 1.5 year it will take me to apply to and enroll in the school. After graduation, it's the start of the rat race, i.e. competing with other fresh graduates who are in their early 20s to get internships and work as an intern for another 3 years at least. The internship is a required step in the architect's career path. The year count is now at 7.5 years and I haven't even started yet in my new career as an official architect. After the internship, only then can I start expecting good job offers or going solo, at which point I will be in my early 40's perhaps still competing with 20-somethings :-) who have a clear youth advantage fueling them with undoubtedly more energy and drive.
And guess what?... What if I made a mistake in picking architecture as a career? Ouch, that will be painful... For the 20+ year old, it's OK - they will just have to try something else. But what if it's the second or third college degree at a much older age? Well, this is what I call high risk! Of course, this means that career changers need to do a lot of research about their new field before making a career move to mitigate risk. I'm currently reading a book entitled "Becoming an Architect" by Lee Waldrep who himself found out that he was in the wrong career after getting his doctorate in architecture and starting his third month of work. I am still at the beginning of the book, so I will post about it more in the future.
Other than the time disadvantage, there is also the money issue. It can be very expensive to go back to school full-time. For example, tuition for many architecture schools is between $20,000 and $30,000 a year, unless if I go to a state university paying resident tuition which would be $11,000 a year more or less. Add to that the opportunity loss of not generating an income and it starts to look very pricey even with resident tuition. The question is will the return on investment be high enough to justify these expenses? Probably not financially, since it takes so much time before one can start working as a licensed architect and the income is not higher than other professions (median income in WA state is $65k according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, I think people who have the median income probably map to the 5-10 year experience level.) Will it be rewarding on a personal level? Perhaps.
So the more I think about going back to school, and the less attractive the idea becomes.
Evidently, the most prominent advantage of going back to school to study a new major is freedom. I get to choose a new field I'd like to go into, and as long as I graduate with a new degree, I have a chance at working in my dream job. For example I could study nursing or bio-chemistry, or anything that I find interesting. Once my new degree is in hand, I have a shot at working in the new field. However, this approach has some serious downsides in my opinion.
One of the downsides is aging. I'm in my early thirties now. I have been contemplating architecture since I like drawing and have a passion in construction. The only way for me to switch to architecture is to pursue a 3-year Professional Master of Architecture program. This would take me 4.5 years if you count the 1.5 year it will take me to apply to and enroll in the school. After graduation, it's the start of the rat race, i.e. competing with other fresh graduates who are in their early 20s to get internships and work as an intern for another 3 years at least. The internship is a required step in the architect's career path. The year count is now at 7.5 years and I haven't even started yet in my new career as an official architect. After the internship, only then can I start expecting good job offers or going solo, at which point I will be in my early 40's perhaps still competing with 20-somethings :-) who have a clear youth advantage fueling them with undoubtedly more energy and drive.
And guess what?... What if I made a mistake in picking architecture as a career? Ouch, that will be painful... For the 20+ year old, it's OK - they will just have to try something else. But what if it's the second or third college degree at a much older age? Well, this is what I call high risk! Of course, this means that career changers need to do a lot of research about their new field before making a career move to mitigate risk. I'm currently reading a book entitled "Becoming an Architect" by Lee Waldrep who himself found out that he was in the wrong career after getting his doctorate in architecture and starting his third month of work. I am still at the beginning of the book, so I will post about it more in the future.
Other than the time disadvantage, there is also the money issue. It can be very expensive to go back to school full-time. For example, tuition for many architecture schools is between $20,000 and $30,000 a year, unless if I go to a state university paying resident tuition which would be $11,000 a year more or less. Add to that the opportunity loss of not generating an income and it starts to look very pricey even with resident tuition. The question is will the return on investment be high enough to justify these expenses? Probably not financially, since it takes so much time before one can start working as a licensed architect and the income is not higher than other professions (median income in WA state is $65k according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, I think people who have the median income probably map to the 5-10 year experience level.) Will it be rewarding on a personal level? Perhaps.
So the more I think about going back to school, and the less attractive the idea becomes.
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