Decisions to Start Thinking About Before You Graduate

By Sam Casteris on June 27, 2018

What will you do after you finish your undergraduate degree?

Will you follow in the footsteps of adventurous friends who’ve dipped out for overseas travel? Maybe you’re ready to pack up and move across the country? Thinking about continuing your education? Fortunate enough to have worked hard and landed your first real job?

Whatever you decide to do, you’ll need to start planning well in advance if you want to accomplish your goals without undergoing any unnecessary sacrifices. Start your post-undergrad life off strong by following this advice on how to prepare yourself for the future.

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Moving to a New City

Few things are as anxiety producing as moving to a new city. From forming new social connections to find new insurance options, you’ll have to contend with a whole host of pitfalls. Fortunately for you, there are just as many opportunities for success and improvement along the way.

To start with, where are you moving and why? If you’re looking to start over, cities offer an array of options, both career-wise and socially – just make sure you’re moving with at least three months of savings to live off of in case it takes a few weeks to land a job. It also wouldn’t hurt for you to take a bus tour of your prospective new home; while that might seem like an entirely touristy thing to do, it’s one of the best ways to learn about a place in real time. In addition, city tour guides are locals who can provide you with valuable insight and advice prior to your move.

Financing Your First Car

Buying a car and liberating yourself from the rigidity of public transportation lines is an alluring prospect for anyone, whether you’ve lived in a city for your whole life or you’re a transplant from the suburbs. You should, however, make sure you’re making the purchase for the right reasons; buying a car isn’t just an ordinary purchase. It’s a large purchase that almost immediately depreciates in value once you drive it off the lot.

Think you’ve settled on a vehicle? Use a website resource like Carmax to make sure you’re paying a fair price and buying a car that suits your lifestyle. They have great research articles on different makes and models, and you’re sure to find something there you like. Once you know around how much money you’ll need, you’ll need to start the auto financing process. Check your credit report and credit score. Your credit score determines the interest rate you’ll pay. The lower your credit score, the higher the interest rates you’ll be encouraged to pay. High-interest rates mean you’ll pay more money per month.

You should put as much money down as possible and try to shorten the term of your loan. While this might mean paying more per month, you’ll be thanking yourself when you pay off your car loan two years before your peers.

Finding Your First Apartment

Generally speaking, your first residence away from your family or college dorm won’t be a house, so don’t think too heavily about mortgages and homeowner insurance just yet. Homes, unlike a car, are an investment that you can actually make money on if you play your cards right. Apartments are an affordable, less stressful alternative that eases you into the complexities of homeownership.

When searching for an apartment, you should put the primary focus on location: finding a cheap place is meaningless if you’re spending half your day commuting. Similarly, the further into a city you look, the more expensive apartment prices tend to be. You’ll need to find that perfect Goldilocks’ zone of not too far and not too expensive.

After you narrow down on a location, start looking for something in your budget range. Teaming up on rent by getting a roommate isn’t a bad idea when you’re just starting out, and it’s often a necessity in some more expensive cities. If it’s your first time living in this sort of setting, your first apartment will teach you a lot about who you are as a roommate, even if you decide to live alone, because you’ll learn your natural tendencies, what you’d like in a cohabiter, and how annoying cleaning up after yourself can be.

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Going Back to School

It’s a sentence you’ll hear from every direction when the words “I don’t know” begin to tumble out of your mouth: “A graduate school is always an option.”

And it’s true. Some people thrive in graduate school in ways they didn’t during their undergrad year. Class sizes are smaller, professors are more hands-on, and your program is specialized. Classes are also longer, professors will be more difficult, and your program will definitely have higher expectations of you.

Before deciding to go back to school for a graduate-level degree, consider first why you want to. It’s an expensive, arduous process and the admissions office will want to know you’re invested emotionally. Don’t forget that there are scholarships available to help you pay for your additional schooling. Employers are also a fan of go-getters, so if you’re working while getting your degree, keep that in mind when it comes time for your annual review.

Know Before You Go

It’s a trite cliché, but knowing really is half the battle. By doing your research on matters like this before you walk to accept your diploma gives you a leg up on all your peers competing for jobs, hoping to make a name for themselves, and start the process of adulting.

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