How to find the ideal graduate school
Choosing a graduate school and program of study should not be
taken lightly. The area of interest and faculty expertise should
guide the choice of schools, rather than the school itself
(location, prestige, basketball team, etc.) driving the
choice.
Begin thinking about programs by considering whether the M.S. or
Ph.D. is the better choice for you. Eventual goals are the real
point of this analysis. If you have goals more suited for an M.S.
degree, yet apply for the Ph.D., you decrease the likelihood of
acceptance. Think about what the different degrees mean in your
field of study and how those degrees fit into various career goals.
You may need to view ads for jobs you would eventually be
interested in to determine which program is the best fit for your
goals.
| Why choose a master's degree? | Why choose a doctoral degree? |
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Starting the search process
There are a variety of tools that exist to support the basic
grad school search. PhDs.org is an excellent site you can use to
review ranking criteria for schools and programs focusing on
science, math and engineering. Two other reputable sites that can
help you locate programs are The
Princeton Review and US News & World Report. Peterson's.com
is another online resource for finding good graduate school
options.
You maximize your likelihood of acceptance by applying to an
appropriate program. For example, if your class rank is 50th
percentile, you have no chance of acceptance at Harvard or MIT
except in very extenuating circumstances like you have 10
publications. If your class rank is 99th percentile, you have three
summers of research experience, a publication, and have a
presentation at a regional or national conference, Harvard and MIT
are appropriate places to apply.
Try to be focused when choosing and applying to schools. Budget
your time, energy and resources on the schools and programs that
you are most serious about. Choose appropriate schools to apply to,
based on a personal assessment of academic credentials,
characteristics of the current student population, reading between
the lines of a recommendation request, and what you can offer.
Refining the search process
True research into the grad school programs of interest begins with excellent literature searching or requesting references from faculty who work in the field. You must do a lot of reading to identify a few people to contact regarding their research and the program with which they are affiliated. Feel free to ask whether you would be a competitive applicant. It is maximizing your time and their time if only appropriate applications are submitted.
Some other things to consider when looking at a program/school:
| Do you want a public or private school? Large or small? | How do students pay? |
| Do you have a geographic interest? | How selective is the program? |
| How large is the class you would be entering? | What sort of concentrations are you thinking of? |
| What is the length of the program? | What opportunities are there for research? |
| What do other people think of the scholarly work? | How are faculty advisors chosen? |
| Research the projects. Is your interest there? | Research the well-known names. Often less-famous schools have famous people. |
| Research your own passion and target what you want out of a graduate school. | Will particular student bodies make a difference? |
