The Grad School Guide

It’s grad school application season! Are you ready?

If you’re not don’t worry, I’m here to help! Applying to grad school can be 10x more stressful than it was applying for undergrad. There’s a lot more at stake now and it’s really time to focus on the major opportunities. Success after grad school depends mostly upon whether a person picks the right school and/or program based on specific needs. Here are five things to keep in mind when applying to grad school:

1) Location

Do you want to be closer to home or a little further away? Do you need to be in a certain area for your dream career? Paying attention to a detail like location is imperative because 9/10 if everything works out after you finish your program requirements, you’ll be working close by. 

2) Program Quality

How good the cafe food isn’t really important anymore, it’s all about the academics now. Choosing a program that will benefit your future career is a must. Therefore, choosing a school with the best quality for that specific program is super important. What do you want/ need to specialize in? What kind of career options are available? What type of training will this school offer? You don’t want to end up feeling like this: 

3) Potential Supervisors

Supervisors are faculty members who mentors graduate students in their future research. Picking the right supervisor and success rates in graduate school definitely goes hand and hand. When looking into different schools, it’s especially important to look into potential supervisors. You can find out a lot about faculty and staff just by googling them. Look for past research they’ve participated in, the success of their past students and their overall experience. 

4) Success Rates of Graduates

Looking into the success rates of past students school be number one priority when applying to grad school. This can tell you all you need to know when it comes to the overall quality of the school/program. Try and reach out to recent grads and see what they have to say about their own experience. 

5) Financial Costs 

Here’s the biggie, financial costs. Not only school you be paying attention to the cost to make sure your money is being spent wisely, but it’s also super important to pay attention to the funding for your program area. Make sure you won’t be getting cheated and getting all the bang for your buck. All it takes is a few minutes of research and you should be good to go. 

Happy Hunting future grads!!

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