Master the master's

I know it seems early, but I can't help but think about grad school lately. And really, it's not that early. In a year, I'll be done with my VISTA service (which means I need a plan). In five months or less, grad school applications will be due (which means I have to work on them.). In two months, I should have aced the GRE (which means one thing: studying). That puts me at today, which implies I should definitely be thinking.

Grad school is not a no-brainer for me. There's a chance I won't go now, or ever. You can easily work in the nonprofit industry without a master's, and you could very well do it for your whole life. But I don’t want to hit any walls, to really really really want to design or tweak or run a program and find myself unqualified…and cause a two-year delay in the process.

There are many master’s degrees applicable to nonprofits; it’s up to you what you want: general or specific, intense or a little more relaxed, business, management, programming, issues.

Check out some of your options at Idealist.org. Public affairs, public policy, international relations or development, urban planning, public health (where I’m leaning), social work, education? It’s up to you.