Graduate Student Job Search Panel

Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree, Ph. D...What's Next for me? 

You spent all of that time getting your degrees...now what? Learn about useful resources, job search strategies and opportunities to fit your higher level education achievements. Join us at: 

The Center for Career Development

2nd Floor Student Union 

Room 225

Wednesday, February 24th from 3:30-5:00PM

Hear from top-notch panelists with Academia, Oak Ridge National Lab and Inventory. Don't miss out on this awesome opportunity!

See you there! 

By: Corrin Phillips

Graduate Admissions 101

Planning on attending grad school, but don't know where to begin? Don't worry, you are definitely not alone. Many students feel overwhelmed at the application process for graduate school. There are many valuable resources to help though! Career Services is hosting a workshop called Graduate Admissions 101 on April 16th from 4-5 in the UC. In this workshop, they will cover all types of information from entrance exams, application components, types of degrees, and even a timeline of when to complete each of these aspects! Don't miss out on this valuable information!!

Helpful Cites

http://career.utk.edu/students/graduate-school/

http://www.gradschools.com/

http://www.petersons.com/graduate-schools.aspx

What's the Grad School Timeline?

Follow this general timeline to keep yourself on track. Time frames are approximate: Check the deadlines for your schools of interest and adjust accordingly.

Junior Year (Fall)

Many graduate schools look at applicants’ grades from the last two years of undergraduate courses. If your GPA is an issue, it’s time to pull your grades up.

Junior Year (Spring)

Decide which fields interest you, then start looking for programs and schools that match your interests.

As part of your research, investigate what kind of financial aid options will be available to you at the various institutions, including grants, loans, fellowships, and assistantships. This will help you weed out programs that you can’t pursue because they don’t offer the level of support you need.

Schedule your entrance exams. You may want to take these exams in the spring of your junior year so you get them out of the way (and have time to retake them if necessary) and can spend the fall filling out your applications and working on your writing samples.

Summer Before Senior Year

Most graduate schools look for well-rounded individuals with good grades and some relevant work experience on their resumes. An internship can be an excellent way to gain some professional experience in your chosen field. In some fields, volunteer experiences are also helpful—provided they give you relevant experience and are not simply “envelope stuffing” exercises. Stop in at your college’s career center for help in identifying internship and volunteer opportunities.

Senior Year (Fall)

Get your transcripts from all your post-secondary education, including an up-to-date transcript for your current institution. Be prepared to have transcripts from study-abroad and other institutions that transferred credits.

Line up references and provide them with the information they need to write a complete reference.

Schedule your entrance exams. If you weren’t happy with your scores or decided to give yourself more time to prepare, you can take your entrance exams in the fall. (Some exams offer multiple test dates in the fall, enabling you to retake your exams again if necessary.)

Fill out your applications. Take your time, read directions carefully, and check and re-check your applications to ensure they are complete and error-free. Have someone proofread your applications.

Senior Year (Mid-Term Break/January)

Submit your applications.

Senior Year (Spring)

This is when acceptance letters begin to arrive. If you have applied to and been accepted at multiple schools, you may want to pay another visit to your top choices. Talk about your plans with a trusted faculty member or a career counselor at your undergraduate institution.

Fill out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) if you plan to apply for financial aid. (You’ll need your prior year’s income tax return to complete this form.)

Once you make your decision, notify the school of your acceptance. As a courtesy, tell the other schools that you are declining their offers.

If you’ll be relocating for graduate school, start researching housing options in your new location. Can you afford to live alone, or will you need to find a roommate? Does the school offer assistance with housing or pairing graduate students as roommates? If so, call on those resources.

Courtesy of the National Association of Colleges and Employers. 

Grad School Bound?

If you’re a senior, there’s a good chance you’ve considered going to graduate school. You might have friends who are going and wondered if you should as well. Or maybe somebody has told you that a bachelor’s degree is what a high school diploma used to be and you need an advanced degree to get ahead.  Here are some good reasons to go to graduate school along with not so good reasons.

• Your career goals require graduate degree.  Some fields absolutely require graduate school, for example, speech pathologist, lawyer or counselor.  In this case, your decision is easy because you have to go to graduate school to achieve your goal.  But remember to have a backup plan in case you don’t get admitted.

• A graduate degree will offer more career opportunities, advancement, and higher salaries.  In many areas, like psychology, biology or public administration, you will have more career options with an advanced degree. In this case, you could likely find work with your bachelor’s degree, but it might not be the kind of work you want to do long term.  Continuing your education will often provide the skills and experiences needed for higher level positions in the field.

• You hold a true passion for a subject area or desire to conduct research.  If you love your major, whether it’s philosophy or physics or anything in between, and want to take your knowledge to the next level, graduate school could be the way to go.  Often people who have interests such as these want to teach or research and share their knowledge with others, much as a university professor would do. 

• Graduate school provides an opportunity to change fields.  At some point during your undergraduate education, you may decide that you don’t like your major any more or you discover a new interest after it’s too late to change majors.  Graduate school is a good way to redirect your career goals.  In many cases, graduate programs will accept students from a wide variety of backgrounds. I majored in business as an undergrad but studied counseling in a master’s program without taking any additional prerequisite courses.

And the not so good reasons… Don’t go to graduate school to avoid a full-time job or because you don’t really know what you want to do in life.  Graduate school is a big investment of your time and money. It’s not ok to be an undecided grad student!  At this point in your education, you should have a somewhat specific career goal in mind and know that the degree you’re pursuing will prepare you for that field. If you don’t, look for an alternative experience for one to two years while you figure it out.

Once you’ve decided to pursue graduate school, utilize Career Services to help you navigate the admissions process. We have many resources (http://career.utk.edu/graduate.php)  on our website to help you get started and College Consultants on staff available to assist you.  You won’t want to miss this week’s presentation, Gaining Admission to Highly Competitive Graduate Programs featuring Donald Asher.  See our events calendar for details.  

Author: Stephanie Kit - Associate Director, Career Planning