Grad 101: What is Grad School all About?

Over the past year, a lot of people have asked me about graduate school.  Is it hard?  Do you have a life outside the library?  What do you have to do in terms of work?  These are just some of the questions that I have had to answer this past year.  I have really enjoyed graduate school– and sometimes I feel that it is easier than undergrad for several reasons.  First– you are doing something that you love, and second– it’s not busy work 24/7 like undergrad classes sometimes are.  It’s been really fun for me! 🙂

Growing up, my sisters and I were brought up with the clear message from our parents that education is a key to success.  My parents always said — well, of course you are going to get your bachelors degree– that’s a given!  But they always encouraged us to further our education by going to graduate school.  Kristin has her masters and I am going to be in my second year in my masters (Strategic PR) at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication.

 Here are some things to think about when applying to graduate school programs:

1.  Do your research early on.  It is important to find the right program for you that will not only help you in the future, but will give you the best education.  I recommend going online and searching on university web sites to see what the graduate program structure is and what classes they offer.  You have to see if you want just a one-year program or a two-year program.  It is also wise to find out where the leaders in your field went to college. 

2.  Take advantage of the Kaplan courses.  I highly recommend this.  I took the Kaplan course for the GRE back in 2005 and it really helped me a lot!  I know that the math section of the GRE was going to be really hard for me– and the difference from my pre-test math score to my GRE test math score was doubled!  Also, the GRE has their own web site in which you can get a CD with practice test questions on it– so it prepares you for taking the real thing! 

3.  Make a portfolio of your work.  It is important to include work that you have done in your field that will help those at the university determine if you fit into their graduate program.  You can include a variety of things– such as class projects, campaign visual materials you made, web site writings, etc.  This provides a taste of the work that you can do.  To include in your portfolio, you would need to have your resume and three references (professors, former employers, business associates, etc). 

4.  Make yourself stand out from the crowd.  This can be tricky, because you really have to show people that you are unique and could be an asset to their program.  You have to see what other students who are applying are doing and see if there is something that makes you different from others.  Today, it is important to be aware of the Internet and how it operates– so having a web site or blog could really be helpful in showcasing in your portfolio.  There are a lot of people that are making electronic portfolios of their work online.

I hope that this helps!  Make sure that you are aware of the deadlines too for the applications because some are due as early as January or as late in June.  Good luck! 😀