Graduate School: What Most of Us Don't Know, Part 1

As a First-Year student, I have heard of Grad school in passing. "Wish him luck," my advisor once said, "he's taking the GRE today." I thought "Okay. Whatever that's about."

As it turns out, Grad school is a tricky business. The application process is far more elaborate than I realized. The pitfalls of doing X,Y, and potentially even Z can keep an applicant from being admitted. Not only that, but many students lose motivation and focus within a few years and drop out of their programs.

I have learned that Grad schools love to see students who either apply fresh from an Undergraduate program or after no more than three years on the job market. Another selling point for admissions is a collection of publications- the more you have published within your field, the more marketable you become. An applicant should stay as close to his field as possible while considering job offers, lest he have a job that he cannot defend as preparation for his Ph.D.

Graduate school applicants should take care when choosing their advisors. One's advisor has the power to make or break a bid for a Ph.D. The ideal advisor will not only be able to provide professional contacts and connections, but will be supportive personally during what sounds like a particularly stressful time. Other qualities to look for in an advisor are tenured status and stamina- advisors should be able to keep up with advisees and yet be secure enough to maintain the integrity of student research. A good rule of thumb for selecting the best possible advisor is to begin scouting advisors at various Graduate schools during the Junior year of Undergraduate study. This allows applicants to narrow the list of prospective thesis advisors before it can become a problem.

Scouting advisors at the Graduate level can be tricky. One needs to make contact with potential advisors, while being mindful of status and respectful of the advisor's time. A great way to learn about professors who would be great thesis advisors is to ask undergraduate professors within the field. An undergraduate professor may know of another professor whose work matches the interests most likely to be addressed in the doctoral thesis, thus providing a connection to an advisor who would support your work.

And that is part I of what you need to know about Graduate school.