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In graduate school, you'll immerse yourself in the process
of becoming a scientist, engineer, or professional in
another field who is capable of independent research,
development, and application activities of high quality.
Your progress will be achieved with the guidance of
an advisory committee of faculty drawn from the university
department(s) in which you are pursuing your degree,
but you are ultimately responsible for your success.
Because your career path is unique, you need to be proactively
seeking counsel from faculty advisors that is tailored
to fit your unique set of developing skills, abilities,
personality characteristics, and career aspirations.
Your challenge is to know yourself well enough to:
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Understand
your particular strengths and weaknesses as an aspiring
scientist, engineer, or other professional |
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Wisely
select your major professor and other members of
the advisory committee who can help you realize
as much as possible of your potent |
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Be
persistent in seeking to maximize your progress
in realizing as much as possible of your potential |
Deciding Where to Go Once You've Been Accepted
There isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to making the
final selection of a graduate school. Your strategy
should depend upon how the institutions to which you
applied respond to your application and what's most
important to you. There will be differences in financial
packages, the quality of the programs and geographical
locations. Some programs require a thesis for the master's
degree, others don't. Some programs take twice as long
to finish as others. Some programs allow you to apply
directly for the doctrate degree after the bachelor's
degree, enhancing your chance for financial support.
Your top choice might offer you admission but not financial
aid; your bottom choice might offer you an attractive
financial package, but you may have doubts about the
educational opportunities there. Some places offer financial
aid for the first year while others offer financial
aid for the duration of your studies. Your own undergraduate
institution might seem like a safe haven, but many would
advise you to broaden your horizons and go somewhere
else. This depends, of course, on the reputation of
your undergraduate school and the availability of an
advisor at your instution that you know well, want to
do research with, and who will support you. If possible,
visit each school before you select the one where you
will do your graduate work. After a visit, you will
probably know which one "feels right."
One of your most important considerations when deciding
where to go once you've been accepted is financial aid.
Comparing financial packages can be tricky, though;
differences in cost of living often exceed the apparent
differences in financial offers. Ideally, you'll receive
an offer that includes guaranteed tuition and a stipend
for enough time that you can complete your degree. If
you are offered admission but not financial support,
strongly consider a personal visit. When looking through
the offers, there is one guiding principle that you
should never abandon: if the choice is between a better
education or a better financial package, take the better
education.
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you reach the point of making the final decision
on which graduate school to attend, you will realize
that there is no single best way to make this decision.
The outcome of your graduate education depends upon
many things that you cannot control. Like many of
the most important decisions in life, this one must
finally be made with insufficient data. As I reflect
back on my own decisions about graduate school,
it is clear that I was not equipped to see or evaluate
most of what eventually made my graduate education
a good one. I knew little about my profession. I
had no idea what I might need to know. I certainly
knew little about research. To tell you the truth,
the descriptions in the course catalog didn't make
much sense. My undergraduate perspective and my
undergraduate experiences limited my vision of my
future. Because we often do not have the proper
context to make sound judgments of graduate programs,
we tend to focus on peripheral issues like the details
of the financial packages. Or, we tend to give too
much weight to small issues. Some of the qualities
of a program that will eventually make the most
difference to you might not be evident during your
search. You really have to attend a graduate school
to see clearly what it has to offer. Your career
- particularly the early part - will be defined
by your choice of graduate school, and there is
no perfect choice. In the end, there is only the
choice that you make and what you make of that choice.
Do your research and find out what you can about
your prospective schools. Then open your mind to
opportunity and education. Keith D. Hjelmstad,
Ph.D., is a professor and the associate head of
the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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