Graduate School -What You Need to Know Before Applying - Guide

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by Ivy

A practical guide to deciding whether graduate school is right, outlining reasons, personal fit, and financial and schedule considerations. It details how to search for and evaluate graduate programs and schools through accreditation, admission standards, campus size and location, faculty research alignment, current-student feedback, costs, graduation requirements, and reputation. It also introduces common graduate-school jargon and the typical application components such as forms, fees, resumes/CVs, statements of purpose, transcripts, letters of recommendation, and entrance exams.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Reasons to Attend Graduate School

Questions You Should Ask Yourself

Best Reasons vs Worst Reasons

Searching for the Right Program/School

Accreditation

Admission Standards

Size/Location and Faculty

Current Students and Finances

Graduation Requirements and Reputation/Rankings

Once You Find the Schools

Graduate School Jargon

Graduate School Applications

Typical Required Materials

Resume vs. CV

Graduate School -What you need to know before applying! Samford University Career Development Center Reasons to Attend Graduate School Graduate programs are designed to focus on a specialized field, discipline or profession. Students are expected to complete research, internships, fieldwork, and/or comprehensive exams. Faculty will count on more from the graduate students in terms of class participation, attendance, and quality of work that is completed. Questions you should ask yourself: • Is an advance degree required for my career field? • Do I enjoy my career field enough to attend graduate school for an advance degree? • Am I able to finance graduate school? • Should I go full-time or part-time? • What different programs are offered in my field of interest? • Will my personality and skills be successful in graduate/doctoral programs? • Am I burned out academically or should I take a break? | Best Reasons to Attend Graduate School | Worst Reasons to Attend Graduate School | | --- | --- | | Your career goal requires an advanced degree: for example, counselor, lawyer, medical profession, etc. | You want to don’t want to pay back your student loans immediately. | | You want to develop in your career or change career directions. | You don’t want to get a job or believe that you can’t get a job. | | You want/need to gain certification or licensure in a career field. | You believe graduate school will be just as fun as undergraduate school. | | You want/need to specialize in a topic that is important to you. | You are unsure on what you want to do for the rest of your life. | Searching for the Right Program/ School When searching for the right program or school, you will need to keep in mind: • Accreditation-Is the program accredited institutional or program specific? Accreditation is not always a sign of quality of a program; however, you may come across some negative consequences if it is not accredited. • Admission Standards-If a school distributes this information, look at the number of applicants versus the number accepted. Pay attention to the GPA requirements, along with the graduate school exam scores. If the information is not available, ask an Admissions Counselor for this data. • Size/Location-What is the size of the campus? What is the size of the program? Are you going to be comfortable living in this area? Where is the school located? What is the climate of the region? • Faculty-Are they published? Does their research interest you and your career goals? Are they active within their professional community? • Current Students-Communicate with current students to learn the pros and cons of the program and school. • Finances-How much would the tuition, books and fees cost you? Is there any financial assistance available? Do they have assistantships, fellowships, grants and/or loans available to you? • Does it fit your career interests? - If you are interested in a career field, research the graduate programs that will offer specialized courses, research, [etc. in](etc. in) that particular career field. For example, if you are interested in Addictions Counseling, find a program that will offer those opportunities. • Graduation Requirements-What is required to graduate from the program? An exit project, thesis, comprehensive exam-make sure you understand what will be required of you. • Reputation/Rankings-The reputation/rankings of the school can determine the quality of the school; however, do not let this be the only deciding factor. Once You Find the Schools… • Attend the Graduate School Expo held in the fall in the Birmingham area to speak to recruiters. • Visit the school-You want to make sure that you can see yourself at the school for the next few years. • Talk to an Admissions Counselor-Admissions counselors would be able to answer any questions that you may have regarding the school and programs, specifically regarding admission requirements • Familiarize y

FAQs

What are common reasons to attend graduate school?

A graduate degree is often required for specific career paths and licenses, helps develop or change careers, and enables specialization in a topic that matters to you. Many programs also support certification or licensure needs.

How should you evaluate a graduate program or school?

Review accreditation status, admission standards (applicant/acceptance ratios, GPA requirements, and exam scores), campus and program size, faculty research interests, and feedback from current students. Also assess total costs, graduation requirements, and school reputation as part of your decision.

What does graduate school jargon like GA, TA, cohort, and comprehensive exam mean?

GA refers to Graduate Assistant and TA to Teaching Assistant. A cohort is a group of students who share something in common and often take courses together, while a comprehensive exam consists of written or oral exams at mid-course or course end.

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by Ivy