I graduated with honors from UIUC, and I'm working a hazardous job for shit pay and living with my mom, and I can't get into grad school because Trump defunded all the research programs. If I had known that going into science would be this difficult, maybe I would have chosen to make music my career.

How are the other recent grads doing?

wolfpbh wrote: Sun Sep 28, 2025 5:56 pm I graduated with honors from UIUC, and I'm working a hazardous job for shit pay and living with my mom, and I can't get into grad school because Trump defunded all the research programs. If I had known that going into science would be this difficult, maybe I would have chosen to make music my career.

How are the other recent grads doing?

This sounds like the new American nightmare.

Is it possible to work overseas?

Sorry you were lied to. My physics degree is worthless too. A College degree is just a signal that you are capable of finishing what you started. And that is worth something. Steve Jobs always wished he’d done it.
It used to be a good way to meet people, but society is changing in that regard.
Who here actually does what they went to school for?
Don’t go into debt for grad school is pretty much what everyone is saying.

- signed, non recent grad

I agree with the sentiment that you were duped. However, just to give this a positive spin, and as hinted by a few on here, what you need is to get into that entry level position in your field. Once you get there your chances for internal and external promotion definitely get easier as you start to make connections in your field. All my jobs came from ex-coworkers until I had enough EXP to self-promote. You can always check out our "Finding a job sucks thread" if you're looking for more misery and self-flagellation.

To put a more positive spin on it:

When the job market is tough (like right now), NOT having a degree can be an automatic disqualifier even if you have experience and/or the ability to ace an entry exam. At least you'll have that leg up.

Also, if you do decide to ditch this authoritarian hellhole and teach English abroad for a while, most other countries are even more strict about having the 4 year degree. May not have always been that way but other countries have done a better job at educating their masses and things are just more competitive now.

hbiden@onlyfans.com wrote: Sun Sep 28, 2025 6:30 pm Who here actually does what they went to school for?

Me. And I started in my engineering discipline before I graduated, but I graduated in 1989 and those were very different times. Next August is my 40th anniversary working for my employer

hbiden@onlyfans.com wrote: Sun Sep 28, 2025 6:30 pm Who here actually does what they went to school for?

I work a very technical job, with high stakes. I am a technical leader and a mentor. I went to school for something different.

For my kids, I would like to see them go to a technical college. Liberal arts is good and all, but the price of college isn't worth the debt you get saddled with to have a well-rounded idea of the world. You can spend that money on travel and get an equal or even better experience.

Some things require and should always require education, like the medical and law fields. Shit, we need more education on civics now more than ever.

wolfpbh wrote: Sun Sep 28, 2025 5:56 pm I graduated with honors from UIUC, and I'm working a hazardous job for shit pay and living with my mom, and I can't get into grad school because Trump defunded all the research programs. If I had known that going into science would be this difficult, maybe I would have chosen to make music my career.

How are the other recent grads doing?

Congrats on your degree.

Maybe cold comfort, but building a career straight out of undergrad with a hard science (bio/chem/physics) degree wasn't realistic in the 90s either. If you want to do private sector, government or nonprofit science work for your livelihood, a graduate degree is basically required.

It is an especially bad time to need to go to grad school in the sciences, but this will pass. Unless your job is truly life-threatening, I might grind it out for a couple years while you start to develop more grad school options then take that leap. You may find you get more out of grad school having spent a few years working than if you went straight through. It helps you learn to ask the right questions and make better choices about how to focus your time.

I think the inflated hiring standards that big business employs are the result of collusion with big academia.

I wanted to say that I appreciate everyone's advice and encouragement. There have been a lot of helpful things said in response to my post that are nice to hear from people besides my parents and close friends, especially people who have been through something similar and came out on the other side okay.

Following the guidance of one professor I spoke to, I have been looking for opportunities abroad. I will also be investigating the finding a job sucks thread on this forum to indulge in some self-pity.