Is Graduate School Really for You?: The Whos, Whats, Hows, and Whys of Pursuing a Master's or Ph.D.

1. So You Want to Go to Graduate School

1 It seems like a miracle that I have survived academic life for twenty years. When I applied to graduate school, I made so many naïve mistakes that it is a wonder that I was accepted into any doctoral program. Despite having grown up in an academic family, I failed to seek advice on a whole host of matters, including what programs I should apply to. I was changing fields from classics to history and probably should have pursued an M.A. before seeking admission to a doctoral program. I thought I wanted to be a professor one day, but mostly I just wanted to know more about history. Before I left my undergraduate campus, I did not ask my instructors in history classes for letters of recommendation, which made tracking them down and reminding them of my existence a real burden (this was before e-mail accounts were widespread). I did not research the faculty of the programs I was applying to; nor did I read any of their scholarship. I did somehow know enough to send in a writing sample from a class I had taken in my new field instead of my old field. In retrospect, I can see why most of the programs I applied to rejected me. I was just lucky to get into a great program and find the perfect advisor. Fortunately, I was a quick study, and from that shaky foundation I learned my way around my new discipline and academic life. But my story could have turned out quite differently. This chapter provides an overview of what prospective graduate students need to consider about their individual situations and Chapter 1 So You Want to Go to Graduate School 2 IS GRAduAte School ReAllY foR You? about how the admissions process works. There is little about graduate education that is universal, but it is always the department and faculty, not the larger university, that decide whom to admit. As a consequence, there is no single guide to the minimum standards that indicate a student can get into graduate school, while even the most qualified on paper may not be admitted to her choice of programs. Researching a potential program can pay great dividends in ascertaining a fit between an applicant and the people who decide who gets in. What motivates people to pursue graduate study? Earning a professional graduate degree such as an M.D. is a perfectly rational choice for prospective doctors: the degree is a prerequisite to having a career as a physician, and most people who earn M.D.s attain jobs in the field. But a graduate degree in the liberal arts does not offer such a straightforward deal. On one level, pursuing a master’s degree and then a Ph.D. makes the same kind of sense for someone who aspires to be a college professor: it is increasingly difficult, almost unheard of, to be hired as a full-time, permanent member of a college or university faculty without a Ph.D. In the twenty-first century, even community colleges can take their pick of highly qualified candidates and they routinely hire Ph.D.s for their tenure-track positions. Because an earned doctorate does not guarantee winning a job, the benefits of going to graduate school are less obvious. Nonetheless, there are some pragmatic and career-advancing reasons for going to graduate school. Some professions, such as teaching, industrial research, and curating museum exhibits, require postbachelor’s degree credits, value the content and skills acquired by students with advanced degrees, or offer greater pay to people with master’s and Ph.D. degrees. Going to graduate school in an academic discipline can also sharpen the analytic skills that will be employed in later professional studies such as law or business. So You WAnt to Go to GRAduAte School 3 Sometimes graduating seniors decide to go to graduate school because they have not found work in their chosen professional field. It is a commonplace observation that graduate school applications rise in bad economic times and fall when entry-level jobs are plentiful and well-paying. By riding out a recession in graduate school, students prepare themselves to be productive members of society while exploring a field of potential interest. The best and most idealistic reason for going to graduate school is to learn in a relatively systematic fashion about a discipline one simply wants to...