“Why go to graduate school?” is a question many students ask after completing their undergraduate degree, unsure of whether grad school is really the best way to help them achieve their career goals. Both the cost in tuition fees and the extra length of time out of employment can mean that applying to graduate school is a decision not to be made lightly.
For this reason, it is essential that your overriding reasons to go to grad school are firmly founded. Below is a list of 10 of the most common reasons to go to grad school, which, depending on your field and mindset, should help you decide whether applying to graduate school is the best next step for you.
“为什么要去读研?”这是很多学生在完成他们的本科学位之后会问的问题, 他们不确定读研是不是帮助他们实现自己职业目标的最好途径。在综合考虑学费成本和长时间不就业的情况下，也就意味着申请研究生不是一个能够轻率做出决定的事。
出于这种原因的考虑，你必须找到一个压倒性的理由说服你选择去读研。下面是出国留学网为大家独家整理并且翻译的为什么读研的10个最常见的理由，这也取决于你的专业领域和心态，应该能够帮助你决定申请研究生对你来说是否是最佳的下一步。
1. Invest in your future
Although it’s not strictly necessary to have a firm view of your future career before applying to graduate school, it certainly helps. This is because grad school often acts as the academic version of professional training, enabling students to graduate with all the right knowledge in all the right places, ready to jump straight into their desired careers.
Either way, students applying to graduate school should do so with their eyes on the future, seeing further study as an investment in their own potential and not simply as a way to postpone the end of student life.
1、投资你的未来
虽然在你申请研究生之前，没有严格要求你对自己未来的职业生涯有一个明确的规划，但是如果你有的话，当然会有帮助。因为从学术方面看来，研究生院是一种专业训练，使学生能够在正确的地方获得正确的知识，准备好投入他们的职业生涯。
无论哪种方式，申请研究生院的学生应该着眼于未来，将攻读研究生作为一种自己潜在能力的投资，并不是简单地作为一种延长学生生涯的方式。
2. Get noticed in today’s job market
More people than ever are attending graduate school today, and because of this an undergraduate degree alone can sometimes fail to get you noticed alongside equally or more highly qualified candidates. With university education in contemporary society increasingly viewed as more of a rite of passage than a luxury, and 11% of the workforce (in the UK) now holding a graduate degree, bachelor degree holders are struggling to appeal to employers even at entry level in certain industries – especially when up against candidates with PhDs.
2、注意当今的就业市场
时至今日，有比以往更多的人选择读研，正因为这样，有时候仅仅获得本科学位无法使你获得同样的注意或者成为更合格的候选人。大学教育在当代社会中越来越习以为常，英国11%的劳动力现在拥有研究生学位，学士学位持有者正在努力呼吁雇主放平某些行业的准入标准——特别是和博士学位候选人同时竞争的时候。
3. Get more than a qualification
Whereas much of the worth of an undergraduate degree is in the qualification itself, the most important reasons to go to grad school may be more for the professional skills you’ll gain, the personal development you’ll undergo and the valuable connections you’ll make with fellow graduate students, academics and industry experts.
It’s frequently said that grad school is about much more than obtaining a few letters behind your name and a fancy piece of paper; it’s about developing yourself professionally so that you’re ready to enter the world of work. If you act smart in grad school, by the time you graduate you’ll have built yourself a professional landing mat of contacts and relationships, which will serve to keep you in the field and, ultimately, employed.
3、收获的不仅仅是一个学历资格
很多本科学位的价值就是在那个学历资格本身，而攻读研究生的最重要原因是你将获得更多的专业技能，并且将经历个人的发展，此外你将与你的研究生同学、学者和行业专家建立更多、更密切的联系。
人们常说研究生院远远不止是在你名字后面加上后缀，或者得到几张学历的纸，而是让你自己变得更专业从而准备好进入职场。如果你在研究生院里充分学习、锻炼自己，当你毕业的时候你已经为自己进入社会做好了铺垫，建立了必要的联系以及关系网，这将能够帮助你在你的专业领域里继续发展，最终找到一份好工作。
4. Pursue your interests in more depth
Although most undergraduate degrees allow students the opportunity to study modules and classes of personal interest, a graduate degree does this to a much greater extent. In order to get the most out of your graduate degree, you will be expected to conduct personal research alongside set study topics, in order to develop your thoughts and ideas regarding something that deeply interests you.
Attending extracurricular activities and meetings, hearing from guest speakers and lecturers as well as full-time faculty members you find interesting, is what makes grad school so diverse and multidisciplinary. For students with passionate academic interests then, the answer to the question “why go to graduate school?” is obvious!
4、更深层次地追求你的兴趣
虽然大多数本科课程有机会学习自己感兴趣的模块和课程，但是研究生学位在这一点上延伸更广。为了最有效地利用你的研究生学位，在学习专业之外，你还需要进行个人研究，这是为了发展你对你感兴趣的东西产生自己的想法和意见。
参加课外活动和会议，听听嘉宾讲者和讲师说什么，还有你发现的你所就读全日制学院的感兴趣的教职员工，这些能够使得你的研究生院是多元化和多学科的。对于那些有学术激情的学生来说，“为什么去读研?”这个问题的答案是显而易见的。
5. Contribute to the world’s knowledge
If you’re someone who wants to contribute to the world within any field, professionally or academically, you’re going to have to know your subject inside-out. For STEM subjects or other highly specialized fields, grad school helps to make that happen. Kylie Rochford, a graduate student at Case Western Reserve University, explains that this was one of her main reasons to go to grad school: “Undergraduate study gave me the opportunity to understand existing knowledge in my field. Graduate school gives me the opportunity to contribute to that knowledge.”
5、对世界的知识作出贡献
如果你是一个想要在任何领域贡献世界的人，不管是专业上或者是学术上的贡献，你就必须彻底了解你的专业。对于STEM专业(科学Science，技术Technology，工程Engineering，数学Mathematics)或者其他高度专业化的领域，研究生院能够促使这种情况的发生。Kylie Rochford，凯斯西储大学研究生，解释说这是她去研究生院的主要原因之一：“本科阶段的学习给了我机会去了解我的专业领域里现有的知识。研究生院给了我机会去为这种知识作出贡献。”
6. Make connections
Grad school is different to undergraduate studies in a number of ways. One difference is that while undergraduate level student life is widely associated with socializing, sleeping late and cramming alone in the library, grad school is much more about connecting with people professionally – not just fellow graduate students but faculty members too.
So while you may have locked yourself away in the darkest corner of the campus library during your years as an undergraduate, as a graduate degree student you’ll need to learn how to network like a pro by honing your ‘people skills’. If that sounds scary, remember that networking doesn’t have to be a dirty word; networking is your friend! In the professional world, networking is something many of us must do to get our feet in the door, and simply means you’ll be connecting with like-minded people within a professional context in order to collaborate, discuss and further your own knowledge, skills and professional circle.
Not only will you be making professional connections, as a graduate student you’ll be making good friendships as well. The very nature of graduate school makes finding friends who are motivated, focused and mature just that little bit easier; your grad school friends could be the ones you end up sticking to for longest.
6、建立联系
在许多方面，研究生学习和本科学习是不同的。一个区别是，虽然本科生的生活与社交广泛相关，睡得晚，独自一人在图书馆临时抱佛脚，但是研究生院则是更多的与专业的人联系在一起——不仅仅是你研究生的同学，教职员工也是。
所以当你作为一名本科生时，你可能在就读本科的几年里都将自己封闭在校园图书馆的某个黑暗的角落里，但是作为一名研究生，你需要学会如何建立你的关系网，锻炼你的人际交往能力。如果这听起来吓人，请记住“网”不一定非得是一个肮脏的词汇;各种网络是你的朋友!在专业的世界中，网络是我们很多人必须做的，这可以让你迈进第一道门槛，并且这就意味着你将与志同道合的人在专业范畴内建立联系，为了协作、讨论以及进一步扩大自己的知识、技能和专业的圈子。
你不仅是建立专业的联系，作为一名研究生你也需要建立良好的友谊。研究生院的特性决定你找的朋友都是很积极、专注以及成熟的;你在研究生院交到的朋友可能到头来是你最长久的朋友。
7. Increase your financial prospects
Bettered financial prospects is a popular answer to the question “Why go to graduate school?” – though it may not necessarily be the most important factor. Even so, a graduate degree has been found to improve the financial prospects of UK workers by over UK£5,000 (US$8,200) more each year, compared to someone holding just a bachelor’s degree. Although this may not seem like a life-changing amount, the additional money accumulated in a working lifetime works out at around UK£200,000 (US$328,700). And that’s just the extra!
7、增加你的财政前景
更好财政前景也是对“为什么攻读研究生”这个问题非常流行的回答——尽管它不一定是最重要的因素。即便如此，与学士学位持有人相比，研究生学位持有人在英国每年可以多挣5,000 欧元(约合8,200美元)。虽然这可能不是一个足以改变你生活的数额，但是在你的职业生涯中你会多获得大约200,000欧元(约合328,700美元)。而且这还只是额外的金额哦!
8. Get academic recognition
Grad school provides a stable forum to research and explore theories and ideas. If during your degree you conduct any research that is particularly exceptional, the chances are you’ll be recognized for that achievement by the academic community – perhaps by being invited to present your paper at a conference, contribute to a research project, and even receive accreditation in a piece of work published in a journal. International recognition is also a prospect for those who continue their research after graduation, and one day, who knows, you may well become a prominent expert in your field.
8、得到学术认可
研究生院提供一个稳定的平台让你去研究和探讨理论和思想。如果在你攻读学位期间，你进行了任何别人未进行过的研究，你可能会被某个学术团体认可这一成就——也许是被邀请在某个会议上呈现你的论文，为某个研究项目作出贡献，甚至能够将这个作品发表在期刊上。在毕业后也继续你的研究也有可能得到国际上的认可，也许有一天你会成为一个在你领域的著名专家，谁知道呢，是吗。
9. Work with the best
At grad school you’ll be surrounded by leading thinkers in your field – including both the faculty members and guest experts at the front of the lecture hall, and the fellow graduate students around you. When working with people we’re inspired by and look up to, staying motivated and working hard is much, much easier.
In addition to all these talented people, you should also have access to excellent material resources, potentially including the latest technologies and high-end equipment being used within your field, such as spectral imaging scanners or nanotechnology systems.
9、与最好的人一起工作
在研究生院你会被在你领域的顶尖人才包围——包括你教学楼里的教职员和客座专家，还有你周围的研究生同学。当跟我们仰望和能够鼓舞我们的人合作时，保持动力和努力工作将要容易得多。
除了这些有才华的人之外，你还可以获得极好的物质资源，可能包括在你的领域的最新技术和高端设备，如光谱成像扫描仪或纳米技术系统。
10. Gain an internationally recognizable qualification
Although last in this list of reasons to go to grad school, gaining a qualification which is recognized by employers around the world is incredibly important to many prospective graduate students. This is particularly the case for international students and students wishing to work abroad.
10、获得国际认可的学历资格
虽然这是在这篇文章中最后一个去研究生院的原因，获得被世界各地的雇主认可的学历资格对于许多未来的研究生来说非常重要。这对国际学生以及想要出国工作的学生来说尤其如此。
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