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Article By: Andrea Jussim
Choosing a Graduate Program: Six Considerations
Introduction.
A well-thought-out decision to go to graduate school is one
based on intense soul-searching, rigorous academic training,
and careful research. Yet many undergraduates, eager to embrace
academia as their future career, don't prepare themselves
at all for graduate work. Often good or brilliant college
students, they are unaware of gaps in their academic and social
experience that may prove to be major obstacles in graduate
school. I was one of those students.
After living through my own difficult graduate experience,
I thought hard about why I had been so ill-suited to my particular
program. I came up with many "inappropriate" answers:
inappropriate study skills, inappropriate communication with
professors, inappropriate intellectual preparation, and other
problems. I had thought about none of these issues before
I applied to graduate school; they had never occurred to me.
If I had been told about them, or somehow figured them out
by myself, would I have made different career choices? I would
like to think so. In any case, what follows are six questions
I believe every student aspiring to graduate school should
ask himself or herself. I discuss each question in detail.
Six Important Questions.
1. Does the structure of this program fit my personal academic
style?
2. Do I have study skills appropriate to this program's level
of difficulty?
3. Do I have the appropriate level of social skills and self-confidence
needed to succeed in this program?
4. Is my state of intellectual development advanced enough
to succeed in this program?
5. When I met the professors, were there some that would be
good advisors?
6. Do I have a good knowledge of my strengths and weaknesses?
Discussion.
1. Does the structure of this program fit my personal academic
style?
Are you good at taking tests, or would you rather be graded
on papers? Do you like a lot of formal class time, or do you
prefer individualized tutorials? Do you want a structured
curiculum with lots of required classes, or do you want more
electives that fit your interests? Do you look forward to
student teaching, or do you want a research assistant post?
Do you want to choose a sub-specialization early on in the
program, or not? Check the prgram requirements carefully,
and ask lots of questions online. You want a graduate program
that is tailored to your needs. You should also be aware that
many programs expect you to write reasonably well, so brush
up on your expository writing skills before you start graduate
school.
2.
Do I have study skills appropriate to this program's level
of difficulty?
Most graduate programs require a massive amount of study.
So if you aren't good at hitting the books for several hours
each day, day after day for an extended period of time, you
might not be ready for this kind of pogram.
If you are the type of student who starts studying for a class
the night before the final exam, here is my suggestion: take
an intense self-study course and see how long you take to
complete it. Or enroll in a rigorous class that covers a lot
of material over a period of several months and see how well
you do. If you have enough motivation and self-discipline
to successfully finish one of these "programs,"
you might be able to succeed at gradaute school if you focus
on your studies.
3. Do I have the appropriate level of social skills and self-confidence
needed to succeed in this program?
Graduate school is not for the timid at heart. It is not a
remedial program where you are coddled and slowly taught step
by step in order to master any personal or professional deficiencies
you may have. The staff may not care if you succeed, or even
want you to succeed. So you must start from a position of
relative strength, exuding confidence and focused purpose
till you earn your degree.
Are you comfortable with your own personality and learning
style? Can you get along with many types of people? Can you
put on a professional, non-emotional façade even when
you are feeling upset? Are you able to project an air of confidence
in front of people who are critical of your efforts, or hostile,
or deprecatory? Are you able to keep your problems and concerns
to yourself, sharing them only with a few selected, preferably
non-departmental confidantes who are unable to hurt you professionally?
Professors do exist who are truly helpful, compassionate,
and desirous of their students' success. In fact, most departments
have at least a few of these. But most are also filled with
teachers who take a sink-or-swim attitude toward the success
of their students. And most graduate students have at least
one crisis of faith in their abilities. So if you aren't political,
if you aren't self-confident, if you can't put on an act when
necessary to hide your feelings, learn these skills or watch
out!
4.
Is my state of intellectual development advanced enough to
succeed in this program?
Many graduate programs demand a higher intellectual level
from their students than undergraduate programs do. You will
be asked to master the material you learn on a deeper level
than you are accustomed to. Your professors will expect you
to understand the implications of complicated problems in
your field, synthesize other people's work to solve those
problems or offer new solutions of your own, and ask new questions.
You will thus need not only to acquire higher-level knowledge,
but also to attain an advanced understanding of your coursework
as you progress through your years as a graduate student.
You can prepare somewhat for this academic culture shock by
taking undergraduate classes that demand higher-level thinking.
Take courses that teach you how to do research in your field,
that ask you to summarize and synthesize advanced or theoretical
material. If you can, do some original research at whatever
level you have obtained. The object here is to learn to think
for yourself while you are an undergraduate; if you do so,
you will have a much easier time of it in graduates school.
Graduate school professors want your creative analysis and
argument, not your regurgitation.
5. When I met the professors, were there some that would be
good advisors?
You probably won't be able to deal with this question until
after you start the program. What it boils down to is this:
Choose your advisors carefully! They may make or break you.
It's best to find someone in your specialization who you both
personally like and professionally admire; if you can't, choose
someone who you have high regard for professionally, and who
you can tolerate personally. You don't have to be, and probably
shouldn't be best friends with your advisor. Mutual respect
and civility are what's necessary.
As
you choose an advisor for that all-important master's thesis
or the like, ask yourself the following questions about each
professor you are interested in: Do you and other students
whose judgment you trust believe this person to be professionally
competent and knowledgeable in the field? Do you and the others
believe him/her to be a good teacher, able to explain problems
well and help students improve their work? Your choice may
decide the course of your academic career.
6. Do I have a good knowledge of my strengths and weaknesses?
This question is implied in most of the questions above. It
is really the most crucial. Without a good knowledge of self,
you will probably not succeed in graduate school. Indeed,
you may not realize your own potential in your life generally.
And if you do succeed in your coursework without this kind
of wisdom, any happiness you attain is more a matter of undeserved
good fortune than a result of thought-out, focused effort.
What subject areas are you deeply interested in? What kinds
of problems are you good at solving (Numerical? Symbolic?
Literary? Artistic?) How well do you handle social interaction?
How much do you rely on your teachers? Do you like to do original
research? Do you learn slowly and methodically, or quickly
by leaps of intuition? Do you want to specialize in a narrow
sub-field of your specialty or do you want to have general
knowledge of your field? Do you like the subject matter to
be black-and-white or do you delight in debating the gray
areas? Are you detail-oriented? Do you like to learn by yourself,
with a partner, or in a group setting? Do you prefer deadlines,
or do you work best with no time pressure?
Ask yourself these questions and others. Look at the hobbies
you most enjoy, the types of work and work settings that you
like the best, the types of life experiences that you gravitate
towards. Take an aptitude test and study the results. No answer
is wrong; you want to understand yourself in order to make
the decisions that are most appropriate for you. In summary,
first look for patterns of behavior and thought that are intrinsic
to your own personal style. Then match that style to the styles
of the graduate programs you are interested in, and ask yourself
if they fit. If they don't, choose another program.
Conclusion.
Many students choose graduate programs based on physical proximity
or their professors' recommendations. These are wise considerations,
but they shouldn't be your only ones. This paper has addressed
some of the other issues pertinent to your choice which I
hope you will consider as well. I strongly believe that the
questions above are essential because they focus on YOU as
the starting point. Choosing the right graduate school should
not be a haphazard decision; you should come out of the application
process knowing more about yourself and what you expect out
of the programs you selected. Then you will be able to fill
out your applications with confidence, drop them into the
mailbox, and congratulate yourself on a job well done.
About the Author
Andrea Jussim is an experienced writer with experience in
teaching and research. She entered a prestigious 5-year Ph.D.
program immediately after completing her undergraduate studies,
but left with an M.A. and her sanity two years later.
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