Graduate school breaks the bank

By Nicole Rodriguez

My favorite moment of my senior year of high school was when I sealed the envelope on the last of my college applications. It was such a relief knowing that, no matter what the outcome, I was never going to have to go through such a ridiculous frenzy again.

Or so I thought. Just 10 units shy of completing my bachelor's degree, I have found myself back in that same application-crazy boat we all faced in high school. Except now it is safe to say that this frustrating process is twice as expensive.

While most grad school programs usually cost as much, if not more, than your undergraduate education, it has become evident through my recent application experiences that this isn't even the beginning of your worries. Before you're even accepted, you have to deal with the application fee (the average runs between $60-$75, whereas undergrad application fee averages were around $40), and then there is the ominous Graduate Record Exam.

For my field of study, I am required to pay $105 for each crack I take at the GRE, but I suppose I should consider myself lucky, seeing as the GMAT required of potential MBA students runs $200 a pop and the LSAT ranges from $108 to $170, depending on when the potential law student registers.

And, of course, this doesn't include the money you're bound to spend on prep courses and books trying to ensure that you get a decent score the first time around. Because, after all, an impressive score is important, given the competitive nature of most worthwhile graduate programs.

Although it is understandable that tuition for some graduate programs is going to be expensive, it seems unnecessary that the application process should be as well. U.S. News reports that the average graduate student applies to sixto seven programs, meaning that already they are spending an average of $400 on application fees alone, not to mention the added costs of the standardized test required of their field.

This is an incredibly unfair demand of students, especially given the fact that many of these students will be investing all of this money only to be rejected by their school of choice.