SELECTING A GRADUATE SCHOOL

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Selecting 3-6 graduate schools that have the characteristics you are seeking requires that you begin with some self reflection.  What are your motivations for attending graduate school?  There indeed are some compelling reasons to pursue a master's or doctoral program:  a career in academia, professional licensing (social workers, psychologists, therapists), for a career change, to switch from practitioner to administrator, or for career or salary advancement.  For some the reason to continue their studies is simply a love of the field and for intellectual stimulation!

Researching graduate programs is no small job – there are over 400 psychology and English programs and nearly as many in chemistry, just to mention a few.  The first step is to determine in which field you plan to specialize.  Your internship or volunteer experiences in the field and job market projections will help you here, as well as, conversations with professors, your advisor, and with us in Counseling and Placement.  Other considerations that will help you narrow your list include:

LOCATION
If your program involves a practical dimension (psychology, social work, education) you may want to concentrate your school search in the area in which you hope to live and work, at least initially.  Your fieldwork will give you a terrific opportunity to make contacts in the community-contacts that may be the lead to your first job.  Cost of living (including typical rents) and the availability of work will have a great impact on both your total expenses and your ability to earn some money.

YOUR ADVISOR
Contact each graduate school on your short list to interview (even it is only by telephone) with the professor who may be your advisor.  It is crucial that you can establish a working relationship that is productive, respectful, and happy.

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
The program catalog will list requirements:  course work, research, or clinical/field work.  One requirement that you may want to look at carefully is the foreign language requirement.  Some require only reading ability in another language, although some doctorate program requirements are more stringent.

PROGRAM COST
Financing your graduate studies is an important issue for all graduate students.  Law and business school students are looking at relatively short programs (3 years for JD, 2 years for MBA), and although the tuition bills are high, the potential for a lucrative career will make paying off those bills a lot easier.  Tuition remission programs, grants, stipends, and assistantships coupled with the cost of living will also impact your choice of schools.

QUALITY OF LIFE
You must also consider the community in which you (your spouse, partner and/or children) will be joining.  In selecting a school consider the lifestyle which best suits you and your family:  child care, school system, on or off campus housing, family housing, activities to join, medical coverage, transportation to fieldwork, and safety.  Do the weather, cultural life, the people, and the local forms of recreation appeal to you?  Is this a place where you can have some fun?

With the above factors in mind, run one of the following graduate school search program to help you develop the list of schools that best matches you.

GRADUATE SCHOOL SEARCH PROGRAMS

*College Board – College search program with a data base of more than 3,200 undergraduate program.  A good program to use to narrow your list of graduate schools based solely on discipline.  This search includes other important factors (campus atmosphere, activities available, housing options, etc.)
http://cbweb9p.collegeboard.org/career/html/searchQues.html

*Graduate Schools.com – comprehensive search of graduate schools by program
http://www.gradschools.com/search.html

*Peterson’s Education Center
http://iiswinprd01.petersons.com/GradChannel/

*Graduate School Guide
http://www.graduateguide.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/index.html

*US News and World Report – a ranking of graduate schools by program
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/beyond/bchome.htm