Preparing for Graduate School

1
Preparing for Graduate School

• Geneviève Nesslage
• Clarion University of Pennsylvania

2
How is graduate school different?

• You (usually) get paid to go to school!!
• Teaching assistantships
• Research assistantships
• Fellowships
• Work closely with an advisor
• Classwork not very important - research is your
  main focus
• Work independently, very unstructured
• Takes anywhere from 2-8 years (or longer) to
  complete

3
Why stay in school?

• Need grad degree to get the job you want
• But
• Not necessarily more pay
• Sometimes limited job opportunities with higher
  degree

4
What does graduate school involve?

• Coursework
• Comprehensive exams
• Qualifying and final exams
• Terminal vs. planned MS
• Graduate Committee Meetings
• Research (field or lab work)
• Conference presentations
• Write up of thesis/dissertation
• Defense
• Oral exam
• Seminar
• Publications

5
How long does it take?

• Depends on
• Degree sought
• Discipline
• Funding
• Success of your project
• Your motivation
• Your advisor/committee
• Benefits of getting an MS first

6
Admissions process

• Find potential advisors
• Contact those people (email of interest, resume)
• Visit, if possible
• Talk with grad students alone
• Talk with potential committee members
• Compare cost of living vs. stipend
• Take GREs and apply
• Evaluate offer

7
Ways to identify an advisor

• Internet
• Ask faculty, grad students
• Skim journals and look at authors doing
  interesting work
• Attend professional meetings and network
• Look in professional pubs and websites for grad
  assistantship postings

8
Applications typically include

• Formal application
• Official transcripts
• GRE reports
• Letters of recommendation
• Letter of intent
• Resume/Curriculum vitae

9
Letters of recommendation

• Interact with faculty in and outside classroom
• Get involved in research, other activities
• Stay in contact with faculty
• Give them enough time (especially first letter)
• Its a small world

10
The letter of intent

• Follow any specific guidelines supplied
• Discuss
• Your area of interest and type of work you would
  like to do
• How you came to realize that
• Relate to relevant experience
• Any major changes/deficiencies
• Your long-term career goals why grad school?
• How you can work toward achieving those goals in
  their program (be specific)
• Potential advisor and why you would like to work
  with them

11
The CV

• Academic resume curriculum vitae or CV
• Longer than resume (more than 1 page OK)
• Tips
• Dont include irrelevant work experience (e.g.
  burger flipper at McDonalds)
• Emphasize research/internship experiences and
  coursework

12
General timeline for admissions

• Freshman Sophomore years
• Explore different areas of biology and think
  about what interests you
• Work on research with faculty
• Find a summer internship
• Junior year
• Think about taking or at least studying for GREs
• Start to identify potential advisors/schools
• Sub discipline-specific internship or research
• Senior year
• Ask for recommendation letters early
• Finish GREs
• Get confirmation from potential advisor
• Submit application

13
Information sources

• Listing of some grad schools by discipline
• http//www.gradschools.com/
• General tips
• http//admissionsuccess.endlex.com/Types/othergrad
  /ecology.htm
• http//www.wsu.edu/mcnair/tips/