While many college applicants are undecided about what they want to study and if they’ll later need a graduate degree, others want to make sure they get good preparation for graduate school.
It isn’t necessary for prospective students to know they’ll want a master’s or professional degree, but it can be helpful for those who realize this early on, college admissions experts say.
“It can help a student focus and engage in helpful activities a bit earlier, such as applicable volunteer work, internships, and research. The student will also have more time to connect with key professors who will provide helpful mentorship and recommendations,” Erin Hays, director of undergraduate admission at Gonzaga University in Washington, said in an email.
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College applicants can gauge if the undergraduate institutions they are considering will prepare them for graduate education by asking admissions experts these three questions.
1. What kind of advising programs do you have for students seeking graduate opportunities? “I think that it’s important to understand what kind of resources are accessible and available to students,” says Eva Blanco Masias, dean of undergraduate admission at Santa Clara University. The California university offers a range of graduate programs in law, business, engineering and other fields.
Masias says Santa Clara has a premed program, a preteaching program and similar resources for college students committed to attending graduate school. These programs, she says, are designed to guide students to graduate education.
When learning about a school’s advising program, college applicants should also inquire about the specific aspects of the program. Some may specialize in test preparation or have other strengths, Masias says.
2. Where do your students go to graduate school? Knowing where a college’s students go to graduate school says something about their pipeline, says Michael Walsh, dean of admissions at James Madison University in Virginia.
Walsh will sometimes put prospective students in touch with advisers who prepare undergrads for grad school. He encourages the soon-to-be college students to ask detailed questions about how many people who were once in their shoes actually make it to graduate school.
He says an aspiring lawyer, for example, should ask: “How many students start out as an undergraduate thinking they want to go to law school, and how many actually apply to law school in their senior year?”
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“And then,” he says, “how many get in and where do they go?”
It’s important to know the hard numbers because percentages can be misleading, he says. If a school says, for example, that 95 percent of students made it into medical school, it’s important to know what’s the numerical value of that 95 percent, Walsh says.
3. What learning opportunities do you offer outside of the classroom? “It is also helpful to ask about co-curricular programs and student clubs, or any supportive activity beyond academics and faculty advising,” Hays, from Gonzaga University, wrote in an email.
Hands-on learning activities, such as internships, can give students early exposure to their fields of interest, experts say.
“These opportunities will make, I think, a strong background for whatever field of study students pursue,” says Masias from Santa Clara. A lot of her students find connections to internships through professors or the school’s career center, she says.
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Masias also encourages prospective students to ask if there are networking opportunities with alumni.
“The alumni association will also put together things like panels for students to participate in,” she says.
In addition to speaking with admissions directors, prospective college students shouldn’t hesitate to contact other members of a campus’ community to get their questions answered.
“We encourage students to seek multiple perspectives by talking with current students, faculty, and alumni. By talking with multiple people, the student will obtain a broad picture of what the undergraduate and graduate experiences will be like,” Hays wrote.
They also shouldn’t worry about asking a question that may seem to have an obvious answer.
“There’s no such thing as a dumb question,” says Walsh.
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3 Questions to Ask College Admissions Officers About Graduate School originally appeared on usnews.com
