Graduate School 101

[amonkie]

I thought it might be helpful or useful to shed some light on the nuances that exist in applying/completing some, if not most graduate and higher level programs.

Every field will be different, and my experience will come from applying/being accepted to 3 seperate graduate schools, and currently in the process of attending grad school for a second time. My undergraduate and first 2 graduate experiences were for Applied Psychology, and my current graduate enrollment is for Urban Planning.

*Variety adds flavor to your resume - if you can afford it and there's a good program somewhere else, attending a school different from your undergraduate program adds diversity to your student experience, and exposes you to more mindsets and approaches than if you are taught by the same faculty for essentially 6-10 years of your life. My undergraduate department told me that while they would have accepted my application to their MS program, I would be doing myself a huge disservice if I was truly serious about my academic career.

*Know where you need your degree to get you - are you going into Research? Teaching? Industry? Do you need just a Masters, or will a PhD be required as well? If Industry, are there other skills outside your degree that you need to have - ie Management skills, specialization, etc

*Take the right entrance exams - Some require GRE, some LSAT, some GMAT - know what's the standard for you field, and do well.

*Do your homework - I was wisely informed by my undergraduate mentor to seek out faculty in the programs I was interested in, and contact them for information about the programs, and even go as far to meet them before actually applying for the program. I am SOOO glad I did this for the University of Rochester. I actually made 2 seperate trips, and sat down and talked with 8 different faculty members, all in various fields that I was semi interested in. Because of that trip, I learned that U of R was NOT the place for me.

*if it sounds too good to be true, it is - Some departments are so desperate for students that they will say anything to get you in their program - some of which may not be truly. This also applies to Do your Homework. There is nothing like pouring all your energy into a program only to find out it was not what you were told, and now you've got a big bag of nothing and are still being expected to "do research".