Career Services
Choosing a Graduate or Professional School
Plans for many of you after graduation will undoubtedly include gaining further education in particular academic, professional, and sometimes vocational fields. Before you begin applying to graduate schools, consider some points important about preparation.
Setting Goals
The first step in locating programs which might possibly match your educational objectives involves reviewing the general texts in career services in Greywood. Having identified possible programs, review school catalogus in the career services library in Greywood. After compiling a list of possibilities, you will want to send for additional information and applications (a post card will do).
You will also want to have a discussion with faculty, and especially your thesis advisor, who knows your interests, aptitudes, and abilities in a particular discipline. Faculty can be very useful in directing you to appropriate programs that will offer you the kind of advanced training and experience that will move you along towards your goals. Often faculty are informed on what departments are doing throughout the country and they can give your search an important early focus.
Campus Resources
In addition to the directories which include Peterson's Guides to Graduate Schools at career services, Peterson's has a Web site as do many of the graduate programs you will be looking at. A list of former students, who have attended a broad array of graduate programs, is available so you can contact these alumni/ae for a first-hand scope on a particular school. Test applications are available in career services. Finally, take advantage of the opportunity to meet representatives of graduate programs that visit Reed by scheduling an appointment in career services.
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Timelines
Ideally one should begin thinking about graduate school admission during the spring semester of the junior year, spending the summer researching schools and getting admission information. The first receipt date for Fall testing (GRE, LSAT, MCAT, etc) applications is in early September, and early application assures you a spot at the testing location closest to you. Take appropriate tests two to three months before graduate school deadline date and make application to the school 30 days in advance of that date. Application for financial assistance should be early as well.
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Visitation
The following questions and areas of exploration would best be answered by visiting a campus where there is a graduate program of interest to you. Since all programs attempt to sound good in a graduate catalog, talking to faculty and students will be much more beneficial to you. Use the following standard format of questions whenever you have the opportunity to talk with the faculty and students. If, for any reason, you cannot visit the campus, you should ask some of these questions in letter form or by Internet.
Availability of faculty. Research the current faculty and learn about their specialty areas; would you be studying directly with them and what do students have to say about their experience with the current faculty.
Attrition. Do students of this graduate department frequently fail to complete their degree programs? Once again, this is not something you will learn from the catalog or the department brochure. Visit the campus and ask both faculty and students.
Depth and diversity within the faculty. How many faculty members does the department have? Does the department's reputation rest heavily upon the shoulders of just one or two professors? What if they should go elsewhere? Is there a variety of points of view in the department, or are most of the faculty members' approach to the discipline rather single-minded? Would you rather be a disciple or develop your own approach to the field? The number of women in the department might be an important factor.
What will I be doing three to five years after I complete my graduate program? It pays to find out what kinds of employment are most frequently taken by graduates of the program you are considering. Ask some of the near-graduates what they expect to be doing after they graduate. What percentage of graduates and degree candidates in this department succeed in finding employment? To what extent is the department helpful in enabling the graduate to find suitable work?
Faculty publications. What have the faculty members published lately? This will give you an idea of whether the faculty's interests are similar to your own. In many cases, what the professor publishes is what he/she spends the most time thinking about, both in and out of the classroom.
Internships and assistantships. Does the program have any planned practical experiences? If so, where would you be likely to work and what would you do?
Fellowships and funds. How much fellowship money is available? How many students receive fellowships? Are you likely to be among the lucky few? Look carefully at the school's funding policies and the availability of financial aid. (Career Office has a growing collection of directories that list funding options.)
Ph.D. production. How many Ph.D.s has this department produced yearly? What is the average length of time it takes to complete the degree?
Admissions preferences. Does the department prefer to have their applicants fresh out of the undergraduate school? Or does it tend to prefer applicants having work experience relevant to their field?
Versatility. To what extent can you use the degree from this department to get into other kinds of work? Is there latitude for applying this degree to other fields?
Student life. What are some of the non-academic services available to graduate students? Is there high morale and esprit de corps among the students?
Resources. Learn about the library, laboratory equipment, and facilities as well as computer resources for graduate students.
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For additional advice, read this article by Philip Agre, an associate professor of information studies at UCLA.
Best Sources to Learn about Graduate Programs
Professors
Your best source. Professors know you and they know which programs favor students from your school. They know the relative quality of graduate programs in their fields, and they frquently have colleagues and friends at graduate programs where you might like to apply.
Other Students and Alumni
Students and alumni have similar information. Alumni at graduate programs typically provide candid information about the quality of the program and the faculty.
Peterson's Guides
Peterson's guides have every accredited program in the United States. They're a little dense and a bit dry, and if you want to learn about programs there's no more complete resource. The Reed College library offers a full set of Peterson's guides, and the Career Services office reuses the previous year's set in our library. Or, try their website at www.petersons.com
Specialty Guides
Consult your faculty for specialty guides in your field, for example, Graduate Programs in Neurosciences. Or, use the subject search engine at amazon.com, or the subject search engine on CD from Books in Print, available from your university bookstore. Some associations also print guides to graduate programs. Find out about them by looking up the association's HQ phone number in the Encyclopedia of Associations; then just call them and ask.
Academic Journals in Your Field
Top students should get grad school ideas directly from the academic journals. The best programs generate the best and the most articles, so look in the journals for writing and/or research that interest you. Then find out where the article writer teaches.
Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States
This is the best source for unbiased, multivariable analysis of graduate programs. It is the result of a National Research Council-funded study, limited to the top programs in 41 major subject areas. This is a much more sophisticated resource than the "beauty pageant" unilinear rankings of business magazines (see below).
Educational Rankings Annual
A compendium of data from other sources. Expensive, but can be very useful. Check your library.
The Gourman Report
Another "ranking" book, with methodologies that are never fully explicated. Can be useful.
The Business Magazine Rankings
Business magazines are in the business of selling business magazines. Their editors usually know less about higher education than they know about automobiles, which is not a lot. These "rankings" are not useful per se, but you can get ideas to investigate further.
World Wide Web
Online data are voluminous but shallow, and can be downright misleading (for example, some sites list schools in order of having paid a subscription fee). Use the Web to investigate schools you're already interested in, in this order: university-department-faculty-specific faculty members' research interests-his or her advisees (i.e., currently enrolled graduate students). Also, watch carefully for information on related labs and institutes that interest you more than the main department. Try www.gradschools.com for some basic information on which schools offer what graduate programs.
Adapted from Graduate Admissions Essays by Donald Asher (Ten Speed Press, 2000)
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Questions to Ask Any Graduate Program
- What do you teach here?
- What is the largest and the most typical class size for a graduate class? Are classes restricted to graduate students or are undergraduates common in your graduate classes?
- What would be the advantages and disadvantages of going to grad school immediately after completing the undergraduate program? The advantages and disadvantages of waiting a few years? The best use of the interim time?
- What are the criteria and process for selecting teaching assistants, research assistants, and fellows?
- I will probably need financial assistance. Can you tell me how most students fund their studies here?
- Will I get to develop my own topics, or will I be expected to work on a professor's ongoing research?
- What is the mean time to complete (a) class work, (b) research, (c) dissertation? (I.e., what is the mean time to complete the Ph.D.? Ask about the program as a whole, but perhaps more importantly, by professor.)
- What is your attrition rate? Of those who don't finish, what are their reasons?
- What kind of student thrives in your program?
- How reliable is your financial support year to year? Is the first-year offer always sustained given attainment of academic goals?
- What is the age, race, gender balance, ratio of married/single, and geographical origin of graduate students in the program? (In other words: Are there any other people like me?)
- May I have some bibliographies of recent publications by faculty? Which professors have won awards and grants lately (and presumably need graduate assistants)?
- Can you tell me about your placement rates and types of jobs obtained by recent graduates? (Avoid relying on testimonials and anecdotal evidence.)
- May I meet some currently enrolled students (in person or via phone or email)? (Be sure to ask about their research topics and be sure to take notes on specific profs mentioned.)
- How can I be a strong candidate for a program like this?
Adapted from Graduate Admissions Essays
by Donald Asher (Ten Speed Press, 2000)
1-800-841-BOOK or www.amazon.com
Donald Asher, Asher Associates, San Francisco, 415-543-7130,
donasher@ix.netcom.com
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Ten Things to Do if You Don't Get In
- Apply earlier (avoid the last six weeks before the deadline).
- Apply to more schools (six is usually considered a prudent minimum: two safe schools, two middle of the road schools, two reach schools).
- Apply to more safe schools (even 4.0 students can and do get rejected).
- Visit and wow 'em (be sure to follow Asher's Law).
- Go to summer school in the targeted subject and wow 'em (it's easy to get into summer school, even at Harvard).
- Take one class at a time in the targeted subject and wow 'em (remember: your most recent grades count the most).
- Get volunteer or internship experiences in the targeted field (even part-time, even unpaid).
- Work in a "real job" in the targeted field (there's no substitute for actual experience, and recommendations from supervisors in the profession).
- Get an intermediate degree (such as a master's or even just a credential).
- Get older and try again (many times, that's all it takes).
Don't forget that the best time to apply is early in the fall to start graduate school the following fall, so be sure to plan ahead!
Adapted from Graduate Admissions Essays
by Donald Asher (Ten Speed Press, 2000), 1-800-841-BOOK or http://www.amazon.com.
Donald Asher, Asher Associates, San Francisco, 415-543-7130 or donasher@ix.netcom.com
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