Applying to Graduate School
Should I attend Graduate School?
Before you launch an all out effort to get in to graduate school, take the time to ask yourself the following very important questions.
- Why do you want to go to graduate school?
- Who wants you to go to graduate school - is the interest coming primarily from you, or are you being strongly influenced by family members, mentors, peers, others?
- Why do others think you should go
- Are some people discouraging you from going? Why?
- What do you think about their opinions?
- What do you think you will do with your degree once you are finished? If you are not clear
about this, what are your images or visions of what you might do?
- If you have fairly clear ideas about what you would like to do, is it necessary to obtain a graduate degree in order to do what you would like to do?
- What other routes can take you to where you want to do?
- If you need graduate training, what is the best degree to get?
- If you are not sure what you might do with the degree once you are finished, do some research! Talk to people in the field. Talk to career counselors. Find out what some of your career options really are.
- Is the graduate school lifestyle for you?
- Do you love the field? Graduate school requires several years of focused work in that field.
- Do you genuinely enjoy studying? Do you like thinking critically about ideas? Reading scholarly journals?
- Do you enjoy doing research? Thinking critically about others' research?
- Are you good at working independently? Do you have good time management skills, good self-discipline?
- Do you have the financial resources to finance your graduate school years?
- Do you want to go full time or part-time?
- Have you considered and explored other options?
- What are your other options?
- Are you making a decision based on good information and careful consideration of the alternatives?
- Are you postponing grappling with some tough decisions by continuing on with school? (If your answer is yes, it may not mean that graduate school is a bad idea, but start to confront those questions directly and carefully right now).
- Have you considered taking time off between undergraduate and graduate school?
- Do you understand the pros and cons of working for a while before attending/applying to graduate school?
- What is the best time, the optimal time, for you to attend graduate school?
- Most importantly, have you talked to others who have chosen to pursue graduate degrees and
asked them about their experience?
- How did they make their decision to attend graduate school?
- How is it going?
- What can they tell you about career options and opportunities?
- What advice do they have for you?
- Talk to several people, not just one!
- Should I go to graduate school straight from undergrad, or should I work for a few years first?
- This depends not only on what you prefer, but also on whether the field you want to work in requires an advanced degree to get a job or whether the graduate program requires a certain number of years working before accepting you.
Last updated on Tuesday, November 15, 05 at 02:16:50 PM EST.
