Transcript No Slide Title

Grad School Stuff
for Undergrads
Dr. Alfred Dufty
Associate Dean of the Graduate College
Boise State University
September 20, 2011
Why?
1. Should you go to graduate school?
2. How do you get into the right graduate school?
My motivation
• Nobody else is likely to tell you these things
• Maybe you’ll attend graduate school at BSU
After Graduation
Your choices:
• Get a job
• Join the military
• Go to grad school
• Other
Types of Degrees
Master’s Degrees
(MS, MA, MEd, MBA, MM, MFA, MPA, MSW, etc.)
• Coursework only: students complete a required set of
courses (rare)
• Comprehensive exam: students complete coursework
followed by an examination
• Thesis: students complete coursework and must also
submit a thesis (an original piece of research)
• Proficiency requirements: many of the creative disciplines
(music, dance, theatre, art, film) require a demonstration of
proficiency in order to graduate
Types of Degrees
Doctoral Degrees
(PhD, EdD, DHA, DDS, MD, JD, etc.)
• Research doctorates: PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) students complete coursework and submit a dissertation
(original research; must make a significant contribution to
the discipline)
• Professional doctorates: students complete a required set
of courses and gain expertise in a profession, such as
dentistry (DDS); no research expectation
Some Things are Obvious
If you aren’t enjoying college, don’t go to grad school
MS == More of the same
PhD == Piled higher and deeper
If you aren’t doing well in college, don’t go to grad school
• You’ll have a hard time getting into a good one
• It’s more competitive than being an undergrad
• Grad school can be satisfying and a lot of fun
• But it’s not for everyone
Less Obvious…
Salary tradeoffs for an advanced degree are often good
Median income by education level
Data from 2003 on Salary.com
Median Lifetime Earnings by
Educational Attainment
2009 Dollars
$3,648k
$3,648,000
$3,252k
$3,252,000
$2,671k
$2,671,000
$2,268k
$2,268,000
$1,547,000
$1,547k
$1,727,000
$1,727k
$1,304k
$1,304,000
$973k
$973,000
Less
< H.S.
than High
School
Modified from Fig. 1 of Carnevale et al. (2011) The
College Payoff – Education, Occupations, Lifetime
Earnings. The Georgetown University Center on
Education and the Workforce.
High
H.S.
School
Diploma
Some
AssociBachelor’s
Assoc.
Bach.
Some
College/
ate’s
degree
coll.
No Degree
degree
Master’s
MS
degree
Doctoral
Doc.
degree
ProfesProf.
sional
degree
Lifetime Earning Trajectories
2009 Dollars
$150,000
$150k
H. S.
Master’s
Some College
Doctoral
Associate’s
Professional
$125,000
$125k
$100,000
$100k
Earnings
Earnings (median)
< H. S.
Bachelor’s
$75,000
$75k
$50,000
$50k
$20k
$20,000
25-29
Modified from Fig. 2 of Carnevale et al. (2011) The
College Payoff – Education, Occupations, Lifetime
Earnings. The Georgetown University Center on
Education and the Workforce.
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-29
Age
50-54
55-59
60-64
Less Obvious…
You will invest 2-3 (MS) or 4-7 (PhD) years of your life
• If PhD, often an additional 1-2 years as a
postdoc
In some disciplines you may have to write a thesis or
dissertation
• You MUST be able to write clearly
• MS – 50-100 pages
• PhD – 100-250 pages
Grad School Tradeoffs
Costs
• Time
• Effort
• Expense
• Opportunities
• Potential for failure
Benefits
• Enjoyment
• Intellectual stimulation
• Possible increased earning power
• Opens doors to different kinds of jobs
Essential Graduate Student
Information
Being a graduate student is very different from being an
undergrad:
As an undergrad your job is to get good grades
• As a graduate student your job is to learn your
specialty and (especially for a PhD student and some
master’s students) to do research and write papers
• Classes important, but may be less so than for
undergrads
• Often develop a much closer relationship with faculty
members in grad school
• your major advisor, maybe others
Parts of an Application
Grades
• Bad grades hurt but good grades don’t get you in
• Should have As and Bs in core courses
GRE/GMAT scores (Graduate Record Examination / Graduate
Management Admission Test)
• Bad scores hurt but good scores don’t get you in
Prior research experience
• Required at top graduate schools
• Makes any application (possibly much) stronger
Personal statement
Letters of recommendation
Personal Statement
Sometimes called a “research statement”
Include:
• What general areas of the discipline interest you and
why
• Experience in the field - research projects you have
worked on, job experience, volunteer work, etc.
• Approaches that you tried
• What worked, what didn’t; what did you learn?
• Why do you want an MS / PhD?
• Why do you want to attend the particular school?
• What professors might you want to work with?
Personal Statement
Take this seriously
• Get people to read over it, especially professors
• Point out your strengths, but bragging, exaggerating,
or cheesy stories do not help
• Will be used as a gauge of how well you write
Letters of Recommendation
Perhaps the most important part of your application
• Everyone will have decent grades and GRE/GMAT scores
• Often the difference between two good students is in their
letters
Letters from professors count the most
• Letters from lecturers, employers, etc. are a distant second
• Letters about your grades and exam scores are of little use
• If someone wants to know how you did in class, they’ll
look at your transcripts
Letters of Recommendation
If a professor doesn’t know you well, he/she cannot write you a
strong letter
• A good letter says things like:
“independent thinker”
“motivated and driven”
“strong research potential”
• Personal anecdotes are useful because they show the
professor really knows you
This is one reason why research or
independent study experience at the
undergraduate level is so important!
How to Ask for Letters
Ask in person
• Be specific: “Can you write me a strong letter?”
Provide each letter writer with a packet containing:
• Your resumé
• Your personal statement
• As much paperwork filled out as possible
• Anything else that may be helpful
• Specific instructions – Which letters are due when?
• Addressed, stamped envelopes, email address, or URL
• Request for email confirmation when letters are sent
Assume professors are overworked and forgetful (they are!)
• Give them at least three weeks to write and send letters
• Check to see if schools have gotten your letters
Getting Into a Good School
Basic problem:
Acceptance decisions are not entirely objective
• Professors are committing 2-7 years of their time, too
• They want to make sure a student is a “good fit” for
themselves and their lab or graduate program
• Getting into grad school is a much more personal
endeavor than getting into undergrad school
• You may be looking at an individual faculty member
as much as the school itself
Getting Into a Good School
Solution:
• Identify potential programs or thesis/dissertation
advisors early
• Ask current professors to recommend good
advisors/schools
• Visit the school’s/advisor’s website
• There is a lot of information there
• You’ll be perceived as a serious applicant the
more you know about a graduate program or a
professor’s work
• And you’ll be able to ask better questions
Getting Into a Good School
Solution (cont.):
• Let potential advisors know you’re interested in their
work and ask if they are taking on new students
• Meet them, or at least talk with them on the phone
• It’s nice to be able to put a face to a name
• Talk with their current grad students
• How do they enjoy the experience?
• Are students finishing? Getting jobs?
• Follow-up calls never hurt
Yahoo! You’ve Been
Accepted!
Um, Now What…?
Financial Support
There is more money available to support graduate students
than you may think
• TA – Teaching Assistantship
• You help teach a course, usually the labs
• about 20 hr/wk
• 9 months; you’re on your own in summer
• RA – Research Assistantship
• Paid from your advisor’s grant
• You contribute to the goal of the grant
• May dictate the topic of your thesis/dissertation work
Financial Support
• Fellowships – rare; some offered by school, some applied for
• Grants
• Lots of sources, depending on your discipline
• Usually to support your work, not yourself
• Student loans (representatives of the BSU Financial Aid
Office will be available later)
Application Timeline
Freshman, sophomore, junior year:
• Get good grades
• Get research experience
• Find an academic area that excites you
enough to devote 2-7 years of your life to it
Early Fall of your senior year (at the latest):
• Decide where to apply
• Do lots of web surfing
• Take GRE/GMAT, if necessary
Late Fall of your senior year:
• Fill out applications
• Request letters of recommendation
Undergrad Research at Boise State
Check university websites for opportunities
• STEM Station http://stem.boisestate.edu/UngResearchConnections.html
• Individual departments http://biology.boisestate.edu/advising/undergraduateresearch/
Ask a professor who is doing work that interests you
• You can get college credits (Independent Study)
It does pay dividends:
From the BSU Materials Science & Engineering website (March
5, 2011):
“Lead Undergraduate Research Assistant Stephanie Barnes
has been accepted into Caltech’s Bioengineering Graduate
Program. Congratulations to Stephanie!”