Guide to Graduate & Professional School

Go to a school that offers the kind of degree program that will get you the career you want. A close look at the curriculum may also reveal a particular school of thought, philosophical basis or specialty strength in a given program.

Determine if the professors are well known in their disciplines. Find out where they earned their degrees and what your current professors think about them. Does the graduate faculty concentrate on research and publishing? Are they concerned about and accessible to students? Have they written textbooks or are they nationally recognized in their discipline?

Who attends this graduate school? From what undergraduate schools did they come and what do alums do when they finish the program? Look at the drop out rate. i.e. how many students who start also finish.

Consider size, location, class size, housing, facilities, cost of living and proximity to related career environment (eg: oceanography program located near a body of water)

Ask about tuition and financial aid. Explore availability of grants, loans, scholarships, assistantships and off-campus jobs.

Talk to professors who teach related undergraduate courses. Ask where they went to school and what programs they recommend (and why). If possible, visit the campus; talk to graduate students currently enrolled.

A word of caution: reputations can often be built on the presence and/or achievements of one or two people. If those "heavyweights" are no longer there, the reputation may no longer be valid. Reputation is only one piece of your research information.