Thinking About Graduate School

Graduate study requires a significant commitment of time and money, along with rigorous academic demands. Deciding to go to graduate or professional school is a decision that should be made after research and reflection regarding your goals, strengths, and motivation.

Reasons to go include a compelling academic or career interest, the requirement of an advanced degree for your field, increased opportunities for advancement, and greater earning potential.

Reasons not to go include being uncertain about what career you want to pursue, wanting to please friends or family, not feeling ready to enter the workforce or not being able to find a job.

Career Services can assist you through the process of making decisions, creating a timeline, and researching and comparing schools. We will review your essays and personal statements and recommend that these also be critiqued by a professor in your field; it's also a good idea to have them reviewed at the Writing Resource Center.

The following links offer additional resources:

• Meet with a Career Services professional
• Grad School Timeline and Info (438k PDF*)
• Search for Schools and Programs 
  • gradschools.com
  • petersons.com
• Essay and Personal Statements
  • Career Center - Graduate School - Statement (from UC Berkeley)
  • Writing the Personal Statement - The OWL at Purdue (from Purdue)
  • Personal Statement, Application Essay Editing, Admission Advice (from Accepted.com)
  • Admission Essay and Personal Statement Drafting and Editing
  • The Writing Center (from RPI)
  • Personal Statements and Essays from WPI
  • Writing an Effective Personal Statement (from The New Social Worker)
• Test Preparation
  • Kaplan practice tests on campus
  • Internet resources
  • Additional testing resources in on-site library
• Additional Resources - links for searching and comparing schools/programs; financial aid; also specific resources for health/medical, business and law
• Featured Articles
  • Grad School – Things to Think About (from JobWeb)
  • Going on to Grad School (from JobWeb)
  • Grad School Tips (from Gradschools.com)

* Note: You will need the free Adobe Reader software to view/print PDF files. Click the “Get Adobe Reader” icon to begin the download process.