It is more common now than before for undergraduate students to consider graduate studies after their graduation. For a long time, a bachelors degree was enough to make people ready for the job market. But now, a bachelor’s degree is only an entry ticket, so to speak, to the playing field of work. In other words, as the education standard of the society goes up, competition has also become keener. Nowadays for many professions, you may only be able to enter if you have a graduate degree.
If you just want to earn a graduate degree to advance your career regardless of what it is, then your best bet is to simply research the possible degrees you can earn in all the field that interest you and apply. If, however, you want to do more than just that, or, if you want to do graduate studies because of your passion in research and further studies other than just better career prospects, then you may want to consider the following:
Field of study : The specific aspect of a field that interests you most.
Place or location: The place you want to go for graduate studies.
As the number of graduate schools out there and the number of programs offered by them are seemingly inexhaustible, tackling these three factors will help you to narrowing down your options to a manageable pool. And the way in which you answer them will provide you with just the guidance you need to really start making some good decisions about your future.
What do you want to specialise in? Your undergraduate studies will usually provide some clue. Do you do better in certain subject areas than others? Do they Interest you? A positive answer to these questions will point roughly the direction you want to go to as they indicate your ability and your interest, which will be greatly useful in helping you pin point future specialisation's.
Prospective grad students usually have some idea of what aspect of the field they would like to pursue although they still do no t possess enough information to pin point the specifc field of study that would suit them most. At this point, you may want to talk to a student counsellor or a professor in that area at your school. These are the people with the right expertise to help you. But before you go to talk to them, make sure you do some research online or through the library. Books on graduates will provide you with the basic information you need when you begin to narrow down your options.
The world is a big place, and there are many good graduate schools around. It may help you to narrow down your choices if you have certain places in mind. When you are considering graduate schools outside your home country, be sure to check how well your programs receive local recognition by public, private or professional bodies.
Another issue regarding place is geographical location. Consider questions like: Is it so far that it would affect your home visits? What is the climate like? Will it affect your routine habits?
You should also take into account the culture and language of the place that you want to go. As you will be living in that place for a while in your course of study, all these factors will affect you in one way or the other and if handled properly may have a negative impact on your studies. Think advance in terms of the diet, living conditions, and language, particularly the latter. A good mastery of the common language used at your place of study will not only facilitate your effort in academic work but will also save you a lot of time in whatever you do.
Different countries and places charge different program fees. You need to find that out too. Some programs offer studentships and teaching assistantships or lab assistantships. Find out about these job opportunities as they will help you to pay your bills along the way. Further, they offer good opportunities to extend your social network which will tend to be restricted as you are foreign to the place.
