Why You Should or Shouldn't Go to Grad School

A few days ago I hopped on the phone with a friend who was in the thick of auditions for drama school. She’d been mulling over the idea of going to grad school when she called. “I want something to do,” she told me.

Like most actors she was frustrated with the lack of opportunities to work more and as a result had come to the conclusion, however flawed, that drama school would be a kind of antidote to her creative malaise.

“That’s not a good enough reason to go,” I told her.

For those on the fence about whether investing 3 or 4 years of your life is the right call here’s my take on whether or not grad school is a good idea.

What graduate school will do is push you beyond what you think you’re capable of. You’ll be stretched to limits that only like-minded colleagues could inspire you to reach. There is something compelling about a group of people working collectively to share the human condition and a deeply personal part of their own humanity. It’s enthralling, inspiring, and you miss it profoundly when it’s gone.

You will also learn the fundamentals of being a skilled storyteller. The tools to stand on a stage and truthfully speak the words of Shakespeare, Odets, and Brecht is not for the dilettante or dabbler. Like any honorable craft acting takes commitment and an almost unreasonable sense of fortitude. 

Perhaps most importantly, you’ll learn the art of collaboration. Specifically, the ability to work with other artists whose vision may or may not be in harmony with your own. True artistry evolves from infusing those very differences into the work. Creativity works because of, not in spite of, diverse world views.

But grad school will not necessarily land you a top agent, help you book more work, or mitigate that void that many artists search a lifetime to fill. It is not an alternative to solitude, confusion, or lack of community.

You invest the time, energy, and resources because you’re driven to get better, to be stretched, and perhaps discover a little more about why you feel the need to do what you do.