Things to think about when applying to graduate programs

Applying to grad school is sooo much different than applying to an undergraduate program. For undergraduate degrees most people are told to look at the rankings of the institution and that the better the rankings the more valuable your degree. This is not exactly the case for graduate school. Ranking of the institution plays a small role, but there are much more significant things to consider when applying.

1. Research areas you’re interested in
2. Faculty you’d like to work with
3. Program requirements (classes, teaching, exams)
4. Stipend and expenses
5. Institution/City

Research areas you’re interested in:
The cool thing about graduate school is that you have the freedom to branch out. Many people think you have to stay in the same department you did your undergrad degree in, but that’s not true! I know so many people who did their undergrad degree in one field and then went on to do their graduate degree in a semi-related (or even completely unrelated) field. The way to make it work is to read papers from the field and find people you’d be interested in working with. The actual application process may be a little more difficult, but make sure in your personal statement you’re explaining why you want to make the subject switch.

For myself it was a smaller switch, but I went from physical chemistry to biomolecular chemistry. In my applications I wrote that during undergrad I wasn’t happy with the cool stuff (the application of our nanoparticles) being done at the med school. I would much rather be trying to figure things out in living organisms than working on proof of principle and characterization projects for the next 4 years. This was something that faculty then asked me about while I was at recruitment weekends and so I was able to explain in more detail what research I’m actually interested in and why I want to make that switch.

Faculty you’d like to work with:
This is a big one. The person you work with, becomes a close colleague for a while (for the most part). For every school you choose you want to have 2, ideally 3, faculty members whose research sounds interesting. The reason you want multiple faculty choices is because your first choice may not be an option. For a lot of programs (especially in the hard sciences), funding comes from the faculty member so faculty who are in between grants may not be actively recruiting. Also there are other issues that stop faculty from taking on more students that are out of your control. For instance, the lab space may be too full, the faculty member is getting more involved with other projects, or is close to retirement. None of these issues mean that the faculty member doesn’t think you’re a good student, in reality they are looking out for your best interest because they know they wouldn’t be able to be a good mentor at the moment.

The reason why choosing a faculty member is so high up on the list is two fold. This person will play a big role in advancing your career since they will be writing letters of recommendation for you. Also they help expand your career network. They can reach out to people you can talk to for advice whether it be research, professional, or personal matters.

Furthermore, you want someone who is good to work with. While it’s important to have an idea of what type of research you’re interested in, that can change and that’s okay. While your advisor can also change during grad school (more on this later) ideally you want someone who at the end of the day supports and prioritizes you and your wellbeing. Even with the world’s best advisor there are going to be long days and times where you are in a slump. Having a bad advisor just makes those days infinitely worse and can lead to a faster onset of burnout.

I can go on for DAYS on how important it is to pick a good faculty member, but for now I’ll stop here.

Program requirements (classes, teaching, exams)
Every program is structured differently. Yes even the same degree in two different institutions can be vastly different. It’s super annoying. So when you’re applying it’s a good thing to consider what this program will require from you during your degree. Let’s break it down a bit:
Classes: Your program may require you to take a set number of classes before you can get your degree. Some programs require you to take very specific classes to fulfill this requirement while others offer more freedom. For instance, at Emory I had to pick two 3-credit classes a semester from the biomolecular chemistry division. At Penn State, students first take a placement exam and then need to take classes based on the results from the placement.
Number of credits required can also vary and some programs don’t let you transfer credits from your Masters degree while others do. Usually these requirements are clearly stated on the program’s website but if you have trouble finding it or have questions the best people to reach out to are either the Graduate Student Coordinator or the Department Head for Graduate Education.

Teaching: This is another area that differs VASTLY from program to program (and advisor to advisor). But in general most programs require some sort of teaching experience. Usually you would be a teaching assistant for a lecture or lab segment. Most programs require you to spend a year (or two semesters) teaching but some require just one semester, it really depends. After you’ve met the teaching requirements from the program you can either continue teaching (and then your salary comes from the department) or switch to research assistant position (and then your salary is covered by your advisor). This isn’t really something you need to concern yourself with right now, but what you do need to think about is what the teaching commitment would look like.
For instance, Penn State is much much larger than Emory. At both schools I would have had to TA general chemistry (luckily I was able to transfer the teaching requirement from Emory to PSU). As a genchem TA at Penn State I would have easily dedicated 30+ hours to teaching because the sheer number of students taking genchem requires more time in grading and I would have to manage 60ish kids. On the other hand, at Emory I only had to manage one section of 30 students which meant that teaching responsibilities took about 10 hours a week with some weeks having more work.
Again this changes program to program and usually isn’t readily available information on the program’s website but you can usually find this info through some quick internet sleuthing and just thinking about the types of undergraduate courses offered by the program.

Exams: LOL this is another one that varies WIDELY from program to program. It’s actually wild how different they can be. Here is some of the key terminology (please note, I’m defining these terms as used in physical science programs so if you’re in a different program you may want to do your own research to double check terminology).
Placement exam: This exam is taken at the very start of the program. Usually during recruitment weekend and is used to analyze your strengths and weaknesses in the subfields of your program.
Qualifying exam: Usually a written and oral test to see how well you know the subject material. Sometimes you will get to choose which faculty members “grade” your exam other times the department may choose for you.
Cumulatives: These seem to be falling out of practice but some programs still have them. These are exams written by faculty members used to test your knowledge about very specific subject areas. Usually graded on a scale or as pass fail and you have to take a certain number before the end of your second or third year.
Candidacy exam: Usually includes a written and oral portion. At this point you should have a committee of faculty who will oversee your exam. When you pass candidacy you become a PhD candidate which generally means you’ve finished all the program requirements and the only thing between you and a PhD is your defense.
Yearly exams: Some programs have additional exams in between these key ones so that the department can keep track of your progress your entire time in the program rather than you “disappearing” between your candidacy and defense. This seems annoying, but its actually beneficial in some ways because it prevents faculty from keeping students from graduating.

So yeah, this was a lengthy section but hopefully you get a sense of some of the things programs require from their graduate students.

Stipend and expenses:
This is a big one and the reason it’s nut higher up is because this is totally person dependent. Some people are coming from jobs to grad school while for others graduate school is their first full-time paid position. There’s nothing I can do to give you an answer on what’s right for you, but I can leave you with some things to think about.

A lot of programs don’t make the stipend publicly available and the first time you’ll see it is with the offer letter. An amazing person created the following site to get around this: http://www.phdstipends.com/. Since the data comes from user input take it with a grain of salt, the info could be outdated.
Check to see if your stipend covers healthcare or if you will need to pay a percentage out of pocket (At Emory insurance was 100% covered while at Penn State I had to pay a portion of my monthly salary to cover insurance premiums). Does your stipend align with the cost of living? What is rent like in the city the school is located in? Will you need to find roommates? Are there other fees you’ll need to pay like parking or student fees (at Emory student fees were ~$300-400/semester, while at Penn State it is covered). Will you need to take the bus or are you going to drive? In which case you’ll need to look at the bus fees as well as cost of gas, car maintenance, etc.
What is food like in the area, there are multiple sites online that will break down the cost of living for you so take a look at those and see if living there would be doable on your stipend or would you need to take out loans or something. Most graduate contracts prevent you from getting a (official) second job so also keep that in mind.

Institution/City
Now we’re finally looking at the institution and city. And honestly, this might not be the lowest thing on the list for you. You might want to live in a certain state, or move with a partner, or even want to live in certain climates. You prioritize your own needs 💜 The reason I put this last was because while each institute has it’s own benefits, you will find your community wherever you go. There are some programs that are only offered at very specific institutes. If you’re looking at instruments, it is important to note that you can generally travel to other institutes to use their instrumentation. If you want to be an expert with a specific instrument then you want to find an institute with that instrument. But otherwise, personally I think if you prioritize finding research that’s interesting and an advisor that cares about you, that contributes more to a positive mental health than where you live. And you might not think that, in which case consider the city more heavily.
In some cases using this as a first filter helps narrow down which programs you can apply to, but in other cases the program availability is so limited that you kind of don’t have a choice where you go.

I hope this helps when you start looking at graduate schools! Is there something else you considered when applying or something you think I missed? Please comment below and I’ll add it (with credit of course).