It’s a commonly held belief that being single equals being more productive.
But Matt Diaz, a fourth-year mathematics and applied science student, doesn’t seem to think so.
He credits his fiancee of six years, Stephanie Gutierrez, with giving him the much-needed stability and motivation necessary to overcome the trials and tribulations that he faced while being a premedical student.
It’s precisely that sense of purpose that recent studies have pinpointed to be the cause of increased productivity and earlier graduation for married students.
In a recent study by Joseph Price, an assistant professor at Brigham Young University who performed research while he was a graduate student at Cornell University, statistics show that married men are 75 percent more likely to complete their degrees by their fourth year, with married women being 25 percent more likely.
“Marriage provides the kind of social support that people need to get through the more challenging aspects of graduate school,” Price said.
Now, Diaz will face medical school in Las Vegas with a newlywed on his arm ““ and a newfound sense of purpose.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to go to medical school,” said Diaz, who hopes to become a pediatrician.
Though Diaz said he’s aware of the challenges that will face him as a newlywed in medical school ““ admissions committees have made that clear ““ he can’t help but feel optimistic about his future.
“I feel that I’ve grown from those experiences that not everybody else has had. (The relationship) has made me stronger and actually provides me with more advantages than people who haven’t had them.” Diaz said.
But he added that he believes a commonly held practice among admissions in top graduate schools is a bias against married couples.
“The belief is often that marriage takes a lot of extra time, and is going to take you away from your studies … in particular, that a married woman is more likely to have a child while she’s in graduate school. There’s a belief that a woman who has a child is more likely to drop out of school,” Price said.
For Diaz, that bias came through while interviewing for top M.D. programs throughout California.
“I won’t name the institutions, but with a couple of them … when I brought up the fact that I had a fiancee, I got a weird look.” Diaz said.
He mentioned that some of the institutions grilled him about his priorities, and he perceived many to have the implied concern that he would be irresponsible with his studies if his married life became difficult.
“One of the questions was, “˜How will you balance your priorities with your wife and medical school?’… They were trying to make sure that I would be able to handle the curveballs that life throws at you when you’re married and in school,” Diaz said. “Medical school is four years, with three years of residency, at least.”
Though Diaz maintained that both he and his fiancee were waiting to have children, he added that it was often a topic frequently brought up by admissions officers when discussing his upcoming marriage.
“We’re not going to be the typical married couple. We’re going to wait at least three or four years ““ when I’m done with school ““ to have kids. … That was another question that was brought up.” Diaz said. “That and the living situation.”
Price mentioned that a common misconception of married life is that it takes up more time than being single.
“The thing is, it takes just as much to be single and on the dating scene.” Price said.
Tatiana Vardanyan, a fourth-year psychology student who plans on applying to a graduate program in education this fall, said that her relationship with her fiance motivated her to excel.
“This is the first quarter that I’ve got 10 straight A’s. … There’s a more personal motivation for it ““ there’s a sense of just wanting to be better for that person,” Vardanyan said.
She added that when she met her fiance, he had dropped out of DeVry Technical University.
But shortly after dating her, he sold his business and enrolled in community college with plans to transfer to the University of California.
“He had lost momentum. … He said that I was his motivation for returning to school.” Vardanyan said.
She added that though he originally went back to school to please her, he’s finally gained the motivation he’s needed to finish his degree.
“He’s 23, and he’s just starting school. He knows that there’s a long way to go, but he knows that he’s going to finish it.” Vardanyan said.