Considering Graduate school
Last week, a student sent me an email: “I will graduate soon and consider to go to graduate school but I still not sure about what to study or whether graduate school is a right decision or not. I also not sure whether I should go to local school or study oversea for my advanced degree. Please advise.”
Answer: There are several reasons to pursue a graduate degree. For people who want to work in academia, a master's degree or a doctorate is required to teach at college level. If this is what you like than you should go to graduate school. For people who after working for a while and develop a good understanding on how a company operates, how a certain areas could be improved, and want to specialize in certain area then return to school to get better training and advance degree on that particular area is a good choice. For people who would like to change career, graduate school is also a good choice. I have seen many people after working for a while, return to school to learn new skill to apply for different jobs. Last year, many people who had degrees in business, finance, banking went back to graduate school to learn about computer and software because they could get better job opportunities in these areas. However, there are graduates who have difficult time finding jobs (Maybe the economy is still bad) so they decide to go to graduate school and hope for better chance for employment.
Deciding when to go to get the graduate degree or where to go is a big decision to make. First, you must be sure that graduate school is the right decision for you. If you spend two years for a master degree in a field and get a job in a company. After few months, you find out that this is NOT a good career, and you are NOT happy in this field then you just waste two years of your life, as well as the financial support from your family. In this case, graduate school is nothing but just a mistake. A faint hope for something better but also a risky investment, an expensive program in which you place your time to school for a dream that you are not even know it would be better.
Once you are sure about your decision and have decided to attend graduate school, the next challenge is applying. At this time, you should be sure to know about the program in which you are applying. Do NOT apply to an area that you do NOT know much about it. Even it may sound very good on paper. Read about it, research on it, go to the internet and study more about it, and talk to someone who are working on that field to learn more about it. Make sure that the program that you are applying is what you are passionate about it and you do have the knowledge and the skills to pursue it. There are three important factors that determine your acceptance to graduate school: Your grades in school (GPA or Grade Point Average), your graduate entrance examination test score (GRE or Graduate Record Examination) and the letter of recommendations (Mostly three letters from someone who know you well). Some schools also require an essay explain the reason why you want to attend graduate program in their school. A student who has strong commitment to the field of study, and show enthusiasm for the academic challenges of graduate program will always stand out from many other applicants.
There are different reasons whether to study at local school or study oversea. It is a personal choice and financial affordability. However, if you apply to study oversea, you should never apply to just one school with the hope of getting in. Competition is very tough so my advice is to apply at least five or more schools. You are required to demonstrate foreign language skill by passing a language test (For example TOEFL for English language).
There is another issue that you should be very careful: Every country has “Phony schools” or school that sell fake degrees or “NOT accredited” and you should avoid them. If you graduate from a “Non-accredited” school, your degree is worthless and you can NOT get job in any company, anywhere. Most companies do check for your degree and the school, even after they hire you so you should avoid those schools. Do NOT let anybody to convince you otherwise. There are many salespersons who work on commission for each applicant (They receive a percentage of your fees to put you in a “Phony school”) and they are very good. I have received several emails from students asked me about some schools that have NOT been accredited yet but are in the progress of receiving them soon. Please do NOT believe that kind of information. What they want is your money and there is very little chance that those schools are legitimated. Every few months, the government has to shut down several “Fake schools” like that and there are many students suddenly have no place to go. Please be careful on this kind of “scam”.
Depends on your qualifications (GPA, GRE score, Better recommendations and TOEFL scores) you may select the school that fits you most. If your GPA, GRE or TOEFL is average, you will have better chance of getting accepted at an average schools or state schools than the top schools. You should spend more time to research, to investigate, and review the school that you are planning to apply because your future depends on it.
If you want to attend school in the U.S there are several sources that you should check to find the school that best suits you. Following are some websites that you may start:
http://www.usnews.com/sections/rankings
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
