Did anyone go back for Grad School?

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In case you didn't understand the subject title...I am asking if there is anyone out there who graduated from college...took some years off...and then went back for graduate school? What was that like for you?

I am asking this because I graduated college in 2007 and I'm starting to really regret not going to graduate school. Aside from the job market being terrible, I'm coming to terms with the fact that I don't want to spend the rest of my life struggling from paycheck to paycheck. My social anxieties will make be 100% incapable of getting promoted in such a job (moving up the management ladder and so on). I dunno why people even would spend the rest of their lives in hourly wage jobs like this unless they're getting married and having kids and I plan to do neither. I want to do more advance things with my life and I think that graduate school will help get me these things even with my crippling mental and emotional problems that no one seems to give a s**t about treating.

My parents dont seem to approve of this. They say I have to find a job before the end of summer or else they will force me to go to technical school. That seems like an insult to my bachelor's degree. They're gonna force me to study something like nursing or IT. Neither of which I do not have any desire to do and will only waste my time.

I honestly dont know what to do with my life and the dreams that I do have are a bit too impossible to achieve (being a successful writer and such). I cant deal with unemployment and being on my ass and feeling my mind deteriorate (neither can my parents). I think graduate school will get my brain thinking again.

But then everything goes back to the bad things I've been hearing about Graduate School...the hard classes and papers, etc. I honestly wonder if these challenges are worth it as opposed to where I am at right now. I keep hearing people say that having a Master's doesn't really make a difference and all of that negative stuff. I'm not sure what program I want to pursue but I feel more comfortable being a challenged student more than I will ever be being a mindless hourly wage worker. Of course eventually I will have to be a worker but hopefully one of a great career.

So now I have several challenges to deal with. First, having been out of school for several years (If I apply now, I wont be able to start Grad School until Fall 2010) and feeling my brain has been fried from horrid failure in the job market. Will I be able to write papers like I used to? Will I be able to find school officials who will remember me so they can help me apply?

Second...what are the steps to applying? I have the CD I need to practice and eventually sign up for my GRE. But I am also still concerned about writing the submission papers and getting letters of recommendation when I've been out of the college paper experience for so long.
Also my poor social skills and poor ability to get in contact with people to help me reach the next step. I can drive up to my old college if necessary...it's only a 1.5 hr drive.

Third. Convincing my parents this will be a good thing for me. Far more than spending the rest of my life working in a store on an hourly wage. I hear that some graduate schools dont cost or take anymore time than a standard 2 year technical school.

Of course if it were up to me...I'd be in California right now writing for television and films but it doesn't seem to be likely happening and since I dont plan to have a family and I'm only 25...so...you think this is good for me? I am kinda scared about this but then I am even more scared about still remaining in the same position I am now after several years. In fact I expect way to much for me to go places in my life without doing anything but I'm starting to know better now.

I'm in a very similar situation.

I graduated last year, and with my lack of networking and lack of any real world experience combined with a degree that sort of requires a specialization to really apply it(mathematics) I'm looking down grad school too.

The job market sucks, but I have a job right now that could lead to something... but the place is horribly mismanaged, in an industry I hate... and it's just a soul sucking office job that doesn't really pay that great... basically an entry level IT position. But it took forever to even find this job, and my finances took quite the beating... so I'm kind of at a crossroads... maintain with the bad job/career in IT or pursue a graduate degree that can have me doing something much more suited to my abilities and temperament and interests.

1: I'm a bit weary about getting back into school like you, but I've seen what I can get into if I don't apply myself in school... and it's a black abyss... so I'll be working harder at grad school than ever before. But keep this in mind, you should be studying something you are interested in... so graduate school shouldn't be completely horrible... if you're obsessed about the topic it should just come naturally.

2: I'm having trouble getting organized about all the steps, but the university should have a listing of what you need. I've made a list of all these things, and I'll be working towards getting it all done over the summer and at least by the fall. Just do the list and focus on one thing at a time. Maybe contact your old college and see if they can help you...

3: I don't have parents telling me what to do, but I do have uncles and aunts who sort of consult me. My uncle is extremely pragmatic and he strongly pushes me to see what industries are hiring right at this moment and focus on one of those and just try to get a job right now. He thinks I'm going to school to pursue something I'm interested, with few employment options. But really that's your best bargaining chip, because graduate school is a time to focus and really get into something that land you a job. At least that's what I'm doing.

Plus at the very least you can teach some stuff at a college with a masters degree...

I'd say go for it, as long as you're pretty certain you can get a better paying job with the degree. If not, then it's a harder choice. I missed out on internships and opportunities during my undergrad experience, I'm not going to make the same mistake in grad school.

I wouldn't follow your parents and go to a tech school... it seems like such a downer after getting a bachelors degree... I was contemplating the same thing... I decided against it... because in the end I wasn't guaranteed a job... and it was in a field that required lots of networking and soft skills... although I probably could have done well at it...

Networking will most definitly be the thing that will do me in...regardless of what career path I take.

I am hoping since that graduate school will allow me to make more (if not better) network connections despite my weak social ability to do so.

The step by step thing sounds really great. I should probably start looking into possible programs first. I graduated from Creative Writing major but there are some other programs that are intriguing my interest too.

Creative Writing is cool degree, there's probably something you can do in the right cities/circumstances. But I can see it needed tons of networking to get started. What programs are you looking into.

I was interested in the technical/production side of music, but I was discouraged... I can see the same thing happening in the writing industry.

I've attempted to write comedy, and be part of a 'scene'... and I always felt like an outsider.