Is Graduate School for you? 2014 Senior week

1. Is Graduate School for you?2014 Senior week Margaret Diddams Ph.D. Director, Center for Scholarship and Faculty Development

2. Our Time Together • Why grad school? • Types of Grad School • When to apply? • How to prepare? • Where? • Basics of the application • Preparing for the GRE /GMAT • Obtaining recommendations • Writing your personal statements. • Financial Considerations

3. Why Are you interested in Grad School?

4. Types of Graduate Schools • Professional / Practitioner training • Specific skills and knowledge • Healthcare, Engineering, Management, Education, the Arts • Mostly Masters but some doctorate degrees: • MFA, MBA, MA, MS, MSN, MAT, MSW, Mdiv, JD, EdD, Ddiv, PsyD. • Terminal masters • Research/academic training • MFA, Ph.D. • Enroute masters

5. Professional training • Often one or two year programs • Geared for working adults. • 15 – 30 / 100 students accepted each year • Certifications • Often evening classes • Not a lot of scholarships available. • Universities will work with you if you need loans.

6. Academic Training • Doctorate training • Commonly provide full scholarship and stipend • Usually very competitive • Selective • Assigned to an advisor • Classes but much more time spent in advisor’s lab or with advisor. • Much like British tutorial system. • May feel like indentured servitude.

7. Where? • Talk with your advisor • What does she or he think? • Research Schools in the discipline that you are interested in. • Gradschools.com. • Look at the Professional organization of the industry that you are interested in • http://www.schoolcounselor.org/school-counselors-members/careers-roles • http://www.siop.org/studentdefault.aspx • Undergraduate reputation does not necessarily reflect on the graduate program that you are interested in. • University of Nebraska to study leadership. • Can they help you with job placement? Where are their graduates? • May not need to visit ahead of time or you youmay be invited to interview.

8. On-line programs • Why not??? • Check accreditation body • NWCCU • On-line or blended / some residency requirement. • Like any other program – check graduate outcomes. • Placement and salary after completion.

9. SPU for grad school?? • Stay in Seattle! • Over 30 programs! • http://www.spu.edu/prospects/grad/ • Very different from UG programs

10. Who to talk to find out more about the program? • Professional programs: Usually have someone to tell you about program. • PhD: Not such a great idea for you to cold call or e-mail out of the blue professors • Your advisor may know someone at the school.

11. When to apply? • Professional training • Schools may wish to see work experience to have some sense of what you are getting yourself into. • Work – related Internships • Work in industry that you are interested in pursuing • Not uncommon to delay applying for a couple of years until after graduation. • Volunteer!!! • Academic training • Schools may wish to see that you have research / scholarship experience. • Work with your advisor • Summer internship incorporating research or some sort of data based project • Opportunity to present or publish scholarship with faculty member or as first author yourself.

12. When to apply • Masters – rolling admissions or in the Feb / spring. • Some have cohort model • PhD. – Check with program – Usually Jan or Feb date.

13. Obtaining Recommendations • Strong recommendations come from faculty or other professionals with whom you have worked. • Stay away from only asking professors who only know you from a class that you took. • Give them plenty of time. • Full and associate professors have more clout than newer assistant professors. • Give them your vitae, transcript and a summary of your career goals. • Remind them as the due date draws near.

14. Writing Personal Statements • Make your essay stand out! Tell a vivid narrative. • Why this field is a good fit for your goals. • How you came to that conclusion. • What experience you have that is aligned with what you want out of the program. • Be very experience / behaviorally oriented. • For PhD’s -- Who you think you would want to work with. • What do you want to do after you graduate? • Stay away from telling schools that the reputation of the program will benefit immensely if they take you.

15. Financial Considerations • MA Graduate programs are less likely to offer financial aid or have opportunities for TA / Teaching. • Mostly designed so you can work and go to school. • Know starting salaries / how much debt can you take on given starting salaries.

16. Financial Considerations • Career information and starting salaries • School counselor • O’NetOnline • http://www.onetonline.org/ • Career onestop • http://www.careeronestop.org/ • Job openings in the state -- 200 • School Counselor Seattle area – lowest 10% • $19.70 or $41,000 • Debt repayment is no more than 10% to 15% of your income. • Borrow between $ 14,743.54to $ 22,115.30per year • http://www.finaid.org/calculators/mastersadvisor.phtm

17. Can you make it through Graduate School? • Probably! • Study habits you have now will be put to the test. • How are you with humiliating feedback? • What other commitments will you have? • Who is your support group? • What are expectations of others? • Probably headed for divorce • Probably heavily in debt • Parents have doubts

18. Final Thoughts • Know where you want to end up • Plan ahead. • Allow yourself plenty of time to put together stellar applications that have been vetted by you and others. • Seek help. • Ask questions and get feedback • Follow up. • Make sure that you submit materials on time and follow up with others to ensure that everything has been submitted.