Part 1 Beyond The GRE: Graduate School and More

Graduate schools continue to draw more applicants, more enrollees, and more graduates in almost every field, with a few exceptions. The most important thing for a prospective graduate student to know is that there really is no simple, cookie-cutter way to describe graduate school. While many elements from program to program are similar, like taking classes, writing papers, conducting lab or field work, studying advanced theory and sitting for exams, the category is so broad that until now, we have not found a graduate school guide that does it justice. The goal of this GRE Insider is to pull back the covers on specific graduate program areas, examine the data and trends in each area (as well as associated careers), and highlight opportunities or things to think about before making this critical life choice.

One of the best ways we’ve found to describe graduate school is as a critical stage of career development. In fact for many careers discussed in this guide, an advanced degree is a requirement in order to get a job in that field. While some might joke that getting an advanced degree is a great way to put off getting a “real job”, the reality is that graduate school programs are designed by professionals and researchers in each field to prepare students for the day-to-day demands and challenges of that specific profession.

For example, there are many master’s programs considered to be “professional” because they are designed not to prepare graduates for further study necessarily, but to step right into a recognized profession. These jobs typically require some kind of certification or licensure that is regulated by state law, as is commonly the case for counselors, engineers, librarians, social workers, teachers, and therapists. In such cases, master’s programs are often geared toward and will include elements that specifically prepare students for state-regulated exams.

Other master’s programs are also considered professional, not because they launch students into careers in regulated professions, but because they prepare students for jobs that require a high level of proficiency in a field that has a fairly well-defined range of accepted practices. Examples of these fields include business management, government, information management, journalism, and museum curation. There are still other master’s programs designed to prepare students for either further study in the same field or for careers in which their general skills (though perhaps not their full range of content knowledge) are applicable. Examples of these programs can be found in the liberal arts disciplines, such as humanities and social sciences.

Doctoral programs prepare individuals to become experts in a particular field but also prepare graduates for specific career paths. Most PhD programs, for example, are designed explicitly to prepare students for careers as professors in higher education institutions or as researchers in the private, public, or nonprofit sectors. Other doctoral programs, such as those granting a Doctor of Psychology and Doctor of Education, are designed to produce practitioners in selected professions, such as counseling or education. Given that the typical length of a doctoral program is in the range of five to eight years (depending on the discipline), it’s even more important for prospective doctoral students to understand what kind of career they’re preparing for than it is for prospective master’s students.

Whatever your reasons for reading this guide, we hope it gives you a better sense of which path to take for success in your future career. Good luck!