Sheryl Swingley
Ball State University
Question
How do I go about looking at graduate schools? What is different about the application process for graduate school compared to undergrad? When should I start applying and what should I be ready to do in the application process? Do you suggest to go and get experience after you get your bachelor's degree or go straight to graduate school?
Answer
Your questions are great, but graduate school is a huge topic. Let me take one question at a time.
How do I go about looking for graduate schools?
What schools you apply to will depend on what you want to study and where you can go geographically. Do you want a Masters in Business Administration? Do you want a master's degree in public relations to complement your marketing and advertising knowledge? Do you want a master's degree in integrated marketing communications? Whatever you decide, you might google the content area and the words master's degree to find leads on schools. If you're looking for top graduate schools in the country, consult the rankings U.S. News and World Report publishes annually. Google U.S. News and World Report graduate school rankings.
Once you know which schools offer what you want, then you need to decide where you are willing to go geographically.
Knowing what you want to study in graduate school and where you want to live during that time are two of the main questions to answer, but I have one more angle you might want to consider as you consider pursuing an advanced degree.
You also should know what your overall educational goals are before you start a master's degree. Do you want to stop with a master's degree, or do you want to continue your education and earn a Ph.D.? If you want to stop with a master's degree, you might want a graduate program that offers a professional track. Oftentimes you only take classes for a professional-track master's degree. Sometimes you might have to take oral exams and/or write a research paper or do a creative project. Overall, professional programs are not viewed as rigorous as academic-track programs.
If you think you might like to teach at the college level someday or work on the research side of marketing and advertising, you probably should go on for a Ph.D. A Ph.D. is considered a terminal degree and the highest degree you can earn in your field. If this is the case, then you will want an academic master's degree program. In such a master's degree program, you will find the words theory, pedagogy and statistics in the names of their courses. You'll be required to write a thesis, which involves having a committee of at least three professors who evaluate the quality of your research and hold you to the highest academic standards.
If you are going from undergraduate school to graduate school, I'd encourage you to seek an academic master's degree program because you never know when you might change your mind about teaching at the college level. Also, if you are interested in the research side of marketing and advertising, a significant number of the research practitioners have a Ph.D. Ph.D.s are trained to be researchers.
What is different about the application process for graduate school compared to undergrad? When should I start applying and what should I be ready to do in the application process?
Let me address these two questions together.
You should probably start searching for graduate schools no later than September or October of your senior year. Of course, starting the search earlier would be better. Application deadlines range from January through March.
When you apply for graduate school, here's a checklist of what you'll need.
–GRE or GMAT exam scores. Different schools require different entrance exams. Plan accordingly. You might need some time to study for the exam before you take it. There are usually minimum scores required for admittance to graduate school.
–GPA. The minimum grade point average for admittance into graduate school is usually in the 3.0/4.0 or higher range.
–Admission forms. You'll have forms to complete just as you had for undergraduate school.
–References. You'll need references from probably three professors. The references will involve the professor filling out a form or writing a letter. No matter the format, your professors will assess your aptitude for graduate work and your personal character.
–Personal statement. Some graduate schools might require a personal statement where you'll describe why you want to earn a master's degree.
–Financial aid. How do you plan to pay for a graduate degree? Mom and Dad? Loans? Scholarships? Graduate assistantship?
To help pay for graduate school, a number of graduate students apply for a graduate assistantship that pays part or all of your college tuition and pays you a weekly/monthly stipend. Applying for an assistantship will probably involve more paperwork and an earlier application deadline. Some deadlines for assistantships can be as early as Nov. 1.
If you earn a graduate assistantship, you'll be required to take so many hours of courses each semester and will be assigned to work and/or teach about 20 hours a week with one or more professors. Your responsibilities during an assistantship will vary depending on where you go to graduate school. Earning a graduate assistantship is a great way to pay for a master's degree and helps to keep loans and debt to a minimum.
Do you suggest to go and get experience after you get your bachelor's degree or go straight to graduate school?
Well, that's a million dollar question. I'm from the school of thought that you should have some experience before you go to graduate school. Having experience gives you something to talk about in your grad classes. Graduate courses full of recent college graduates usually means the professor does most of the talking. Grad school isn't supposed to be lecture, though. You're supposed to discuss and analyze the materials you read and study and contribute to a discussion.
You also need to note that some graduate programs, especially in business, require that you have at least three years of experience before they will admit you to their graduate programs.
If you are working when you start a master's degree program, the company you're working for oftentimes will pay for you to take so many classes a year. Such an employee benefit can help you earn your master's degree at no expense to you.
But there are reasons to go right to graduate school, too. Maybe it's just the right time to earn a graduate degree. Perhaps you're concerned that, if you don't do it now, you won't do it, and you really want a graduate degree.
A master's degree might be required for the job you want so you need to continue your education. I encounter a number of undergraduate students who want to go into student affairs at the university level, and a master's degree is required for most of those positions. If you want to go to law school, which requires taking the LSAT entrance exam, the best time to go is probably immediately after undergraduate school.
The major point I guess I'm making about pursuing a graduate degree immediately after undergraduate school is that you must have a reason for doing so.
If you want to go to grad school because you haven't decided what you want to do yet or because you don't feel ready to go to work, these are two of the worst reasons for going to grad school. Students who are looking to prolong the college experience will probably be disappointed in grad school. Grad school isn't the place to develop skills or discover confidence. Grad school is more theoretical than practical. While in grad school, students without experience also might learn that they are pricing themselves out of career opportunities because they don't really need another degree for what it is that they want to do. Finally, students usually leave grad school with considerably more debt.
Now if you choose to go to graduate school immediately after undergraduate school for whatever reason, make sure you try to do an internship as part of your graduate program. Doing an internship will help you gain some professional experience and make you more appealing to employers when you start your career.
For more guidance on going to graduate school and selecting graduate schools, I encourage you to check with professionals in your school's Career Center.