Do Not Overlook Social Factors When Visiting Potential Graduate Schools
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Posted
May 10th, 2009
The best
way to get certain kinds of information about specific graduate schools
is to visit them. You should make every effort possible to pay a visit
to at least those that interest you the most. Find out who the Graduate
Program Director is for the programs you are interested in and contact
that person a couple of weeks in advance. Say who you are, what days you
expect to be visiting the campus, and ask to make an appointment in order
to find out more about their program.
Find out
as much as you can about what it is like to be a graduate student there.
Try to visit as many faculty members and students as you can. The graduate
students will be the best source of information about what it is like
to be in the program. You must be careful, however, not to put too much
stock into the reports of only a single graduate student. Talk to several
of them and look for points of general consensus. The danger in speaking
with only one or two is that their attitudes and opinions may not be representative
of the majority of students in that program. Some students fall into unhappy
circumstances for no reasons other than those of their own doing, yet
they blame their problems on others or on their environment.
When you
meet the graduate students, do you like them? This is important because
these students will be your compatriots for the next few years. You will
need to feel comfortable in their company. You may come to depend on them
for moral support and friendship. It is more difficult to succeed in graduate
school if you are alone, without a good social support group.
One of the
most common reasons that students drop out of graduate school prematurely
is because they feel out of place in their surroundings and among their
graduate-school peers. When such feelings of isolation are added to the
many new pressures that can be faced at the beginning of graduate school,
some people get depressed or simply quit in disappointment.
Keep in
mind that no matter how perfect the match is between your educational
and career goals and the strengths of the program, no matter how much
you like the campus, the city, and the climate, you are likely to experience
difficulties coping with the demands of graduate school if you are not
able to tolerate your peers. Of course, the idea here is not that you
need to like everyone you meet. But the group as a whole should be one
you can identify with and easily feel a part of.
Ask to see
where you will be doing most of your work, and check out other resources
such as the library, computing centers, etc. Find out what areas of town
the graduate students tend to live in and visit those neighborhoods. Take
some time to see the city and get a feel for what it would be like to
live there for a few years. An added advantage of making this trip is
that you will be much more prepared and adjust more quickly if you do
end up going there for graduate school.
Trust your
instincts when deciding whether a particular program is right for you.
If you do not like what you see or the people you meet, if you hear a
little voice telling you to stay away, then you should. Do not hesitate
to remove that school from your list. And lastly, whatever you do, do
not apply to places where you don’t want to go.
This article was provided by Dave G. Mumby, Ph.D. Author of the book:
Graduate School: Winning Strategies for Getting In With or Without Excellent Grades
Copyright ©1997-2004
For more information about applying to graduate or professional school, check out the eBook
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