For each school to which you choose to apply, you may have to
select from several different grad programs — different
specializations and joint degrees. As a result, you may be faced
with hundreds of options. When you sit back and imagine your
ideal graduate program, what issues come into play? You need to
decide what is important to you. Do you need a program with a
flexible schedule? How big a workload do you think you can
handle? In what sort of learning environment do you thrive best?
You will need to take a number of factors into account when
assessing which grad programs fit your wants and needs. Some
aspects to consider are:
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Culture |
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Rankings |
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Average Starting Salary |
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Salaries at the 5-Year Mark |
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Placement Rate |
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Location |
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Campus |
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Class Profile |
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Cost |
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Specialized vs. General Curriculum |
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Class Size |
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Grading Policy
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Consider the Following...
There are many aspects to your choice of programs. Among the many
factors to consider, concentrate on the following:
Reputation
Which schools in your field have the best reputations? Will a
prestigious school really be the best one for you?
Curriculum
Which schools offer the specific programs in which you're
interested? What are the prerequisites?
Workload
There are often big differences between programs. What is
expected of the students in the programs you are considering?
Will you be able to keep up?
Location and size
Are you interested in moving to a new locale? If so, do you
prefer a school in a large city or in a rural area — or somewhere
in between? Which will serve your needs?
Cost
Should you consider public universities over private ones? What
are the differences in the cost of living at the schools that
interest you?
Academic Placement
If you're going into academia, find out if recent grads have
accepted academic positions, how long their searches took, and
where they're working. Are they getting tenure track positions or
one-year contracts? Are they working at prestigious schools or
are they taking virtually anything that comes along?
Job Placement
Find out if prospective employers visit the campus to recruit.
Major industries, for instance, will often visit a campus to
interview prospective science graduates about jobs. Are your
target employers visiting the campus? What sort of career and
job-finding help does your program or school offer its
graduates?
