It's not clear if you're considering a masters or a doctorate, so I'll answer with both. First, though, your father is absolutely not correct that you need to do grad school RIGHT NAO or be forever lost. If you want an academic career there are some advantages starting early, but from every other perspective it's totally OK to stop and take a look around, have a bit of experience, and think through what you really want to do past grad school and how you can get there. I will say, most of the more successful people I've been in grad school with for a couple years now have been older and have had some experience and some handle on what they're actually doing there, instead of just moving on because that's what you do. That's not to say you can't be successful with an immediate move, but it's not necessary by any means. I would suggest taking steps to stay up to date with the academic literature in your area of interest, though. That said and moving on
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The international thing is kind of iffy because things vary so widely, but unless you go for one of the few remaining social democracies that still heavily subsidize education, money's always going to be a problem :(
Thanks so much for the quick reply! I'd like to stick it out another year too, especially because my work visa goes up to a year and I'd also like to get my feet wet professionally in Tasmania, so to speak, and I feel like 6 months just isn't enough time, especially because for the first couple months, my boyfriend and I will be visiting his folks and doing outdoorsy things. I'm considering a master's program at the moment. I don't really see myself getting a PHD, but you never know. Right now, I'm just looking at master's opportunities.
That really seems like a good idea. My one bit of advice there is check and make sure you can easily switch visa categories, and don't have to do some sort of fucking about and returning to the US to receive your new visa etc. That can make it much more complicated.
Yeah, I know Australia can be a bit weird about that, but I think it may be different if, say, I do end up going to graduate school there and just switch from a work visa to a study visa. I'm not 100% sure though.
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