How to Start Your Grad School Search With Confidence
by Donald C. Martin
Finding the right graduate program is a comprehensive process. Start on the right foot with these tips to help you search for schools and apply with confidence.
G
oing to grad school involves a major investment personally, intellectually, socially, emotionally, and financially. But sometimes the process of finding
the right program of study is taken less seriously. You need to give yourself enough time to do your due diligence and get all the information you want and need during your grad school search. It’s wise to take about a year to do your re- search. If you’re considering starting your program of study in the fall, ideally, you’ll want to start your search two years ahead of time. Why two years, you may ask? Typically, grad schools
start accepting applications just under a year before the in- tended start date. In order for you to have time to thoroughly evaluate all the information you’ll receive and read, you’ll need at least a year before applying to gather that informa- tion and thoroughly review it. Here are some tips to help you conduct good research on all your grad program options.
Start your search online Begin by conducting an initial web-based search regarding the field of study in which you’re interested. For example, if you’ve decided on a part-time program and know the region where you’d like to study, do a search of educational institutions that offer a part-time program in the area and the degree classification you desire. You can also do a search by program, such as Psychology, Law, Humanities, Advertising, Finance, etc. Conduct more than one search so you can find as many institutions matching your search criteria as possible.
Get organized Once you’ve done a thorough search, make an alphabetical list of all your options, regardless of what you presently know or have heard about them. Then create a graduate school spreadsheet (kind of like this college search spreadsheet),
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placing your schools at the top and criteria categories in the left-hand column.
Focus on you Be careful about accepting word-of-mouth or what you think you know about a program as final fact at this point in the search process. We are all individuals and as such have different needs, expectations, and experiences. This is your educational experience, not someone else’s. Start by gath- ering a list of options. Don’t eliminate any of them at this point—you want to get as much information as possible so you can decide what options are most appealing to you. Remember: Perception isn’t reality, and it's where you end up, not where you start.
Keep researching Once you have your spreadsheet set up, go back online
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