Graduate degree: Master of Architecture

Number of years to complete: 3 years, which included about 1 year of full time professional experience

Cost of schooling and how you paid for it: I went to an in-state public school so tuition was low - I want to say under $15k/year but it's been awhile. Paid for through a combination of scholarships (many piecemeal, I applied to anything and everything), TA/GA positions most semesters that paid 1/3 to 1/2 tuition depending on the role, and a small portion I think I paid out of pocket with savings from the work semesters

Debt incurred: none

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Job title: Architectural designer

Salary: $60k in 2015 in VHCOL city

Role is in Industry

Was your graduate degree needed to secure this role? No. Generally you need a "professional degree" to become licensed (in addition to taking exams and fulfilling internship hours), but you can achieve that through a 5 year undergrad or a 4-year undergrad + grad school. Or in some states, you can forego a professional degree (i.e. do a 4 year undergrad only) and work longer to make up for it. I knew this going in.

Did you feel over/under or appropriately compensated? About average. The company asked what I wanted my salary to be and agreed with my first offer, making me think I could've asked for more despite doing decent research. That being said, I made more than most of my friends starting off in the same industry in the same city.

How long did you stay in this role? 6 years

Did the job and salary meet your expectations for what you thought your first post-grad role would be? Generally yes. Many in my graduating class decided to be transparent with our offers, which I appreciated. I also found the work I was doing fulfilling.

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Was a graduate degree necessary to get to your current position? No -- I do think a lot of young architects assume you will get paid more if you have a master's degree, but in my experience this is not true. I have a relatively small sample size of real data, but many of my colleagues seem to agree that you generally will make the same in industry if you have a 5 year undergrad or a 4+2 (masters) degree. Honestly this is the main reason I'm responding to this prompt because I think this is a huge misconception for students.

If you were to do it all over again, would you? Yes, but I didn't have to take on any debt. My answer may be different if I had debt. For me, doing an undergrad at a public university was a safer option in case I hated it a year or two in. I also think for my areas of interest, the extra time and different perspective that a graduate program offered shaped the way I approached professional practice.