Graduate School at a University

Answer 1

There are many things a person needs to know when considering attending a graduate school at a university in the United States. First, in order to be a qualified candidate for a Master's degree level graduate program, you must obtain a bachelor's degree from an accredited four year program at a college or university. In order to be accepted into a quality graduate level program, your bachelor's degree must be completed in good standing. Most universities look for a quality Grade Point Average (GPA) in considering a graduate school applicant. A student hoping to attend graduate school should have a B average (3.0) GPA or higher. Another item virtually all graduate programs consider is the GRE. The GRE (Graduate Record Exam) is an examination aimed at testing a student's verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and analytical writing skills. The test is scored on a scale from 0 to 800 and most respectable graduate programs require a score of at least 500, while higher ranked programs often require a minimum score of 600 or even 700. This test can be taken prior to graduation or after graduation. In reviewing applicants most graduate programs will also look at a student's extracirricular activities and acheivements as well as letters of recommendation. It is often important to have several of these letters and usually who they are from is just as important as the content.

Once you have been accepted to a graduate school and you begin classes, you will probably find that graduate classes are very different than undergraduate. One of the main differences is class size. Even at very large universities, the graduate programs will often have classes of less than ten people. This gives students much more one on one time with professors and allows for greater detail in study. Depending on the major, many graduate programs consist more of independent research in a lab or in the field than lectures in a classroom. This is usually true of the hard sciences such as chemistry, Biology, physics, and even engineering. Students attending graduate programs in Liberal Arts will often find that reading assignments are much longer and more difficult, and class time is spent more on discussion than explanation of the material.

Obtaining a graduate degree from a university may be a lot of work but it is an invaluable experience that will better prepare you to face the world.