Graduate Application Process
Choosing graduate programs
How do I choose graduate programs?
Applying to graduate school is quite different than applying to college. While most students apply to liberal arts colleges without knowing their focus, students applying to graduate programs must choose a specific subject to study. Thus before starting the application process, sit down and contemplate your personal goals and what research interests you the most.
- In order to figure out what field of science interests you the most, think about classes you enjoyed, scientific papers that caught your attention, and impressionable research experiences. Find programs that encompass these interests or in the case of scientific papers, look up the university of the authors who published the paper.
- Before choosing programs, talk to professors about what programs would fit you. They will know the top schools in your field of interest and might have contacts at some of them. Take advantage of this when requesting recommendations and when contacting people at your schools of interest!
- Surf the internet! Write down a list of schools that you are interested in applying to and explore each one’s website.
- Find out what programs are offered and research the faculty within those programs. Additionally, evaluate what factors are important to you such as funding, courses offered, faculty reputation, faculty/student relationships, length of Ph.D. etc. and then compare schools based on these factors.
- Graduate school rankings (internet, magazines) are somewhat useful, but you should be basing your decisions not only on the prestige of the school but on the faculty and their research. You could attend a top graduate school yet be unhappy because the projects going on do not interest you.
- If you are looking for a non-internet listing of graduate schools, then you can consult a graduate program guide book like Peterson's Guides. These guides are very detailed and can be helpful when comparing different schools and programs.
For links to graduate school ranking sites and other resources that will aid in your search for graudate programs visit the Useful Resources page.
How many programs should I apply to?
- Applying to graduate school is a time consuming process, and thus it is not feasible to apply to as many schools as possible unless you have nothing else on your plate. A good and manageable range is six to ten schools. This list should include safety schools as well reach schools.