Choosing the Right Graduate Program

You may be thinking, “I navigated the search for my undergraduate program”, why would searching for a graduate program be any different? For some, it may be a straightforward decision. For most, it’s among the toughest to make. Why is that? You should be able to find a school that has your program and apply, right? Wrong. Here are the key differences. First, you are a different person now. You have grown, discovered your passions, you know more about what you want, and are thinking and are concerned with more than the just the next year. Second, graduate work is about focusing on a particular discipline. The scope of the program is different, and the way in which you apply graduate programs is also very different. I could certainly keep going, but honing in on motivations and reasons for graduate school are at the heart of the rest of this article which seeks to answer the question “How do I find the right graduate program?”

Goals and Expectations

To ensure the best for yourself you’ll need to spend a considerable amount of time not even thinking about a program or school. That’s right! It’s time to do self-reflection and research. First, you will need to think about what YOUR expectations are as it relates to you. Consider the following:

1.    What’s your timeline? How do you define where you want to be in 1, 3, 5, 10 years from now?

2.    What do you value? What is important to you for learning, living, your graduate experience, and work/life balance. Do you want to work while going to school? What are the areas you MUST balance, and where can you make sacrifices?

3.    How do you learn? Can you think about who you are at your best? How do you process information in an academic or professional setting? Reflect on these things using assessment tools (e.g. StrengthsQuest), talking with friends, etc.

This is not an exhaustive list, but you get the idea. Don’t worry about the degree just yet. Know who you are, what your plans are and what you need to be your best.

Career Plans

It may be fun to think about particular careers, or perhaps you have thought to yourself “That seems like a good job”, but do you really know everything about that position? Career? Industry? The jobs of today may not exist in the near future, or there will be careers in a few years that don’t exist today. We have to be mindful of career planning as the precursor to graduate education. 

To that end, the second thing I recommend before launching into a graduate school search is to spend time evaluating your career interests, and understand specifically what positions are available within those careers. You may learn about opportunities you never even knew existed which are the perfect fit. There are many resources out there, but starting with the “Occupational Outlook Handbook”, produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is the perfect place to start. Not only will you truly know the specifics of the career path, but also what the educational requirements are for those positions.  You’ll be able to evaluate the forecasts for employment growth or decline in those fields as well. The information is there. It’s important for you to find it, digest it, and build a plan from it.

Degree Profile

You know what types of degrees are needed for your chosen fields. Now, it’s time to nail down the degree type, and degree focus. You will want to consider the type of degree. There are professional masters (e.g. JD, MBA, MPA), Master of Science degrees, Master of Arts, etc. As an example, while the discipline may be the same, and MS in Mathematics tends to be more applied, while the MA degree is more theoretical, which is perfect as a preparation for a doctoral program. Professional degrees are designed, largely, for entry into a specific industry, etc. Further, depending on the type of career goal, applying for a terminal degree (doctorate level) is something you will need to consider when planning out your graduate school plan. Many programs admit to the doctorate, where the master’s degree is obtained along the way.

With degree focus, you’ll want to know what specific type of program you are looking for. The focus, or academic orientation of the program may differ by the way in which courses are delivered, or the research of faculty members within the program. Using the math example again, perhaps one MA Math focuses on quadratic equations while the other on calculus.

Institutional differentiators

After career planning and reflection, you now know the degree type and focus you want, and have a sense your values and expectations. Now it’s time to work on identifying how these things align with what I like to call the “differentiators.” Simply put, this means how does a particular college with the degree you are seeking stack up? What are some of the aspects of the program and institution that fit who you are and what you need? Your interpretation of these things is inextricable to setting yourself up for a transformative experience.  While you may think of others, here are two categories of differentiators to consider:

Academics

·     Research opportunities: This may be very important for your discipline. Does the institution have a great track record for grants? What types of opportunities will you have to publish?

·     Program makeup and delivery format: What is the setup of the program? If online, what’s the track record? Can you learn or wish to learn in that format? What about hybrid and/or residencies?

·     Admissions: What type of prerequisite courses might you need to take to be eligible for admission? Do they offer them? Is there a way to gain conditional admission and still start the program?

·     Accreditation and rigor: Outside of regional accreditation, are there program or discipline specific accreditations to enhance your stamp of quality? 

·     Ranking/Prestige: For many programs, ranking may play a big role in your decision and determination of quality.

·     Class size: How big is the program? Do you learn better in small classes or large? What outcomes do you identify with as it relates to the number of classmates with you for learning?

 The Experience

·     Culture: Just like corporations have cultures, so do graduate programs and institutions. Think of it as “that’s how we do things here.” Visit an institution and talk with various stakeholders to help understand what their philosophy on education really is.

·     Outcomes (job placement, ROI): Pretty straight forward. What is the track record related to outcomes, and what resources are in place to secure employment and assess ROI on their programs?

·     Living/Learning: What’s the living situation? Is there housing for graduate students? Is it on/off campus? What’s available to support your lifestyle while in school?

·     Support Services: What’s in place to support your persistence and provide you with assistance when you need it most. It’s not just that they have it, but what it is and how it applies to you.

·     Community: What’s in the area around the college? How does the college engage with the community it’s located and what are some things you can expect in the area?

·     Professional Development & Engagement: Are there supplemental programs, networking and other activities that would enhance your experiences in the program?

·     Connection to Industry & Alumni: How accessible are these two groups to you as a student? Does the college engage in conversations with them to ensure curriculum is current/relevant?

 Financing Your Degree

Another important element to finding the best fit is a financial one. You may identify two programs of equal value to you, but financial support adds another crucial element to your success.  

Ask, identify and understand what’s available, and the likelihood of awards for someone with your profile. Determine what’s available for all of the following categories: Scholarships, Grants/Fellowships, Teaching, Research or Graduate Assistantships, and other funding that you don’t have to pay back. 

Research the true cost of education. Your overall investment extends beyond the tuition you pay. Part of finding a program is ensuring it fits your budget. That analysis includes such things as the cost of living in a particular location. Using sites like “GradSense.org” will help you understand the overall investment.

The Search (Where to look and who to ask)

This may seem like the hardest piece to identifying a graduate program/school, but if you’ve considered everything above, you have all the tools you need! Now you can take everything you know about your goals and yourself combined with the institutional differentiators to make an informed decision. 

Here are the key elements for your search:

·     College search directories – Sites like CollegeExpress, StudyPortals, GradSchools.com and others give you opportunities to search by many different variables and filtering and prioritizing your search.

·     College/University and program – Talk to current students, recent graduates, and faculty. Visit the colleges (online and in person) and test out the differentiators that matter to you most.

·     Utilize external assessments (e.g. rankings, etc.) as a tool but do not base your selection entirely on this.

·     Surrounding Community – Research the area the college is located assessing your living priorities.

 Final Thoughts

I can’t stress enough the importance of individual research and planning as it relates to who you are and what you need to be at your best and to be a competitive candidate when you are ready to launch, relaunch, or continue in your career. Here are a few closing tips:

·     Staying organized. Find a way to organize your criteria by creating charts and assigning point values to some of your differentiators. Do the same for evaluating admissions requirements and financial opportunities.

·     Ask questions and talk to different perspectives. Look for consistent messages to validate the way the institution, program, and the overall experience is presented.

·     Only you can ultimately determine what’s important. Fit is different for everyone. What a differentiator may be for you may not be for the person next to you. Gather information, but don’t be influenced by others. They don’t live your life!

·     Organize your plan of attack. Preparing for a grad school search and managing multiple requirements and timelines is good prep for the organization and time management you’ll need in grad school.

·     Start early. Graduate school search and the application process should begin 10-15 months prior to desired term of entry.

Good luck!