So you’ve decided to go to grad school. Hopefully you have some sort of idea of what program you want/need for you career plans. If you don’t know what program to choose, talk to someone at the Center for Career Development, or look on their website. There are a lot of resources online (HERE) available to help you figure that out. If you already know what program you want to do then there are a few things you should keep in mind when you look different schools:
What schools offer the program you want?
Not every school will have the program that you want. The Center for Career Development has a list of grad school search engines HERE. Once you know what program, use one of the search engines to determine what schools offer it. This is hopefully one of your first steps when searching for grad schools.
Accreditation:
When you look at universities, make sure that the university is accredited. There are national and regional levels of accreditation, there are also national accreditation for specific programs. You don’t want finish a program only to learn that your degree isn’t worth the money and time you spent. For example, the American Psychological Association accredits doctoral programs, internships, and postdoctoral residency programs in the US and Canada.
Location:
Just like with your undergrad college search the location of the schools is also something for you to consider. If you don’t like the city, don’t apply a school in New York.
Program setup:
There are some programs that have online classes, traditional classroom courses or a mix of the two. Don’t apply to an online program if you don’t like taking classes online. You can also look into options to complete the program abroad.
Don’t be afraid to reach out and speak to your advisor and professors if you need help or want to talk over your options.
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