Talk to people.

Rule number one: never take just one person's full advice. Everyone is different, and everyone approaches a situation differently, and most of the time, pieces of advice will conflict with one another. Parents, grandparents, professors, and other authority figures should be the first people you turn to, but even your mom doesn't know every solution to every problem. Take collective advice from those you trust and respect the most and then try to subtract your fears from the situation. This will allow you to reassess which option is "best" for you and not which option is most "logical."

For example, if most advice is leaning toward you getting your MBA instead of taking that high-paying accounting job in town, it's probably because you are worried about money, and your mentors are not. They don't have the same fears that you do about the problem and, therefore, you can't see what they see. Take a step back from your fears, and you might see a better way of going.

Do your research!

Do your research! You need to become well-informed of what your desired career requires of you. This will help you decide whether you need a master's or whether it would just be a waste of your time. Research online. Ask professors, friends, or family for advice on what other options are available besides grad school. Careers like real estate, journalism, law enforcement, customs brokers, and many others don't require a master's degree or even a bachelor's degree. So before you consider grad school, consider what field you want to go into.

Do you even need a master's?

Sometimes God opens doors not so we can walk through them, but so we can see what's behind it and know "that's definitely not for me." Before choosing to do professional writing at Liberty University, I had another option of getting a master's in journalism at the University of Alabama. I was almost certain this was the path I was going to choose until I did my research. The information I found online was accounts of actual journalists, most of whom advised fresh college graduates not to attend graduate school if they were looking to become a journalist because most newspapers care more about work experience than education.

Eventually, I realized I didn't want to make a career out of journalism, but if I had, I might have wasted an entire year and a lot of money on a master's degree I didn't even need. Although I eventually picked a career field that requires furthering my education over work experience, doing my research saved my life!

Apply, apply, apply.

So, you want to go to grad school? START. APPLYING. NOW.

So, you want to start a career and skip the master's? START. APPLYING. NOW.

Whether you've made your decision early, or you've already got your diploma, now is the time for action.

GRAD SCHOOL PATH: Be aware of deadlines. I made the mistake of waiting to take my GRE, collect references, and send in my applications WAY too late in the game. Thankfully, I chose a university that didn't have any crazy deadlines and didn't require a GRE (four hours of my life I'll never get back). I was also interested in the University of Kentucky, which required applicants to apply almost a year in advance! Most graduate programs don't let students start in the spring semester, meaning you might have to wait a while for the school you want.

Also, be prepared to face professors who will give horribly honest references of you. I had one professor who warned me she was going to have to "be transparent in her review of my work" as some of my papers were "poorly written." I guess that's the last time I ever drink tea with her at English Club meetings. Also, be prepared to pester the crap out of your professors to get a copy of their reference sent to every university you apply to. I applied to about eight or nine different programs before I settled on the right one. If even one of those professors liked me before, I guarantee they weren't a big fan of me after that experience.

CAREER PATH: Even if you're not 100% completely sold on grad school, start applying to jobs anyway. You might need to work your way through your master's degree anyway, so come prepared. Whenever I sent in an application to a university, I started applying for jobs in the area immediately afterward on LinkedIn, Indeed, and other websites. I actually got offers later on from places I'd already ruled out as a potential university town, but every time I got an offer or a nibble, my confidence was boosted.

Degrees aren't always better than real-world experience.

Despite the fact that a large percentage of jobs look more positively on applicants with higher-level degrees, in a lot of cases, academic experience absolutely cannot be a substitute for real-world work experience. You always run the risk of being "over-qualified." Sometimes, having an internship versus a master's degree looks better to an employer because you've actually been exercising the skills you acquired in college. This is especially true in marketing, media, and public relations jobs.

Is grad school worth the cost?

One of the primary reasons most people attend grad school is financial. If you have a master's degree, you are likely to increase your annual income by about 15 percent. However, getting your master's doesn't guarantee better pay. You have to take into consideration the cost of actually paying for the degree itself, which can run anywhere from $20,000-$70,000 depending on the university, the financial aid, and the cost of living while you're working on your degree if you're not working in the meantime. That can run up a pretty steep debt.

Thankfully, I've had the opportunity to stay temporarily with family members and work part-time to help pay for living expenses, which has kept my financial situation very well-balanced. In the long run, grad school is worth the cost if you have the means to support yourself while you work through it.

Pray.

This should always be number one on every list, but it's been listed last to remind us all how often we forget to ask for God's opinion and guidance in our lives. God holds our fate, and He has our whole lives laid out before us. My favorite verse, Jeremiah 29:11, says it all:

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

God's plan is the only plan that matters. Before making any decision, always consult God's advice through prayer and wait for Him to reveal to you the best advice anyone can offer.