This is the time of year when many grad school hopefuls begin their search for the perfect program. And no matter why they want to go back to school, whether it's for astrophysics or a master's in fine arts, the number of programs out there is nothing short of dizzying. Which is why it's so important to go about the process of considering all your options carefully and with a solid plan in mind. It may seem like a lot of work in the beginning, but in the long term, you'll not only make the most out of your searching, but you'll also likely end up saving time and making the best decision possible. It's worth the effort.
Know Thyself
If you want to go back to school just to get your graduate degree, you aren't the only one. While it's true that most people know what they want to go back to school for before they begin their search for the right program, there are people out there who begin their search for no other reason than the nebulous yearning they have to go back to school to earn a graduate degree in something. This is more common now than it ever has been before. For years, a bachelors degree was enough to make people stand out from the crowd; now, however, a bachelors is often seen merely as a stepping stone along a much longer path that includes graduate school. In other words, as more and more people go to college, a graduate degree is increasingly necessary for professional advancement in certain fields.
If you are member of the second group, then your best bet is to simply research the possible degrees you can earn in all the field that interest you. Then compare them with the list you've made (you have made a list, right?) of all the possible careers you would be happy to go into. Beyond this, however, it's really up to you to figure out what you want to do. If, however, you are a member of the first group, then your first step should be to ask yourself the following three questions:
These three questions will afford you the opportunity to begin 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.
Where do I want to go to school?
America is a big country, and there are graduate schools from coast to coast. So before you do anything else, you should decide how important geographical considerations are to your future plans. After all, there may be a wonderful program in California in your field, but if you're not willing to move away from the east coast, then it doesn't really pay to look into it.
This issue also forces you to deal with how serious you are about pursuing a graduate degree. After all, college was the time to dabble in a number of different areas of study. Grad school is when you focus on one specific area and make the most of your education in it. And the truth is that, in many fields, from law to medicine to academics, you may have to move to a city or town that you're not in love with in order to take the first step along the road to professional success. So if you are unwilling to move for school, then you may want to reconsider how serious you are about pursuing your goals.
Of course, sometimes it is just not possible to move terribly far away: Family obligations, professional necessities, all kinds of factors can affect your ability to move. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. Either way, if you can narrow down your geographic preferences, then you will have a much smaller pool of schools form which to choose. And that, after all, is the goal of this process.
Is there a specific aspect of the field that interests me most?
Graduate students, unlike undergrads, generally become experts in a specific aspect of their chosen field. So though you may earn a degree in political science, for example, you will have focused on and become an expert in a very specific aspect of that field, whether it's the political history of the Middle East or the post-Soviet economic development of the Baltic Republics, or something entirely different.
Generally, prospective grad students have an idea of what aspect of the field they would like to pursue before they enroll in their program. Of course, the specific nature of what they will study is often a bit fuzzy, but they still have an idea that they want to study, say, the Middle East or post-Soviet Russia. So even knowing what general aspect of the field you would like to study will make it much easier when the time comes to find a program that offers - and hopefully excels in - the area that interests you most.
Many schools, for example, offer graduate degrees in political science, but only a few of them specialize in the specific aspects of the field that interest you most. Compile a comprehensive list of schools that fit the academic bill (as well as the geographic one), and proceed from there.
What degree do I want to earn?
There are two basic graduate degrees you can pursue outside of attending professional schools for medicine and law and the like: A masters and a doctorate. Make sure you know which one is right for you before you start looking for a program.
A masters degree is often more practical in nature than a doctorate. Many teachers, for example, earn masters degrees, and as a result, they are better practitioners in the classroom. They gain an understanding of the philosophy behind certain aspects of teaching, and they work to become as accomplished as possible in the area of classroom performance.
A doctorate, on the other hand, is often much more intellectual in nature, and also more specific. It affords the students the opportunity to delve to the deepest levels of research and study in a specific aspect of the field. So while it may not make you a better teacher in the classroom per se, it will nonetheless afford you the opportunity to truly understand the nature of teaching, and of the various educational and philosophical underpinnings of it.
These two degrees also result in different career opportunities, and depending on the field in which you ultimately want to work, one may be better suited than another. A masters in business administration, for example, is all you ever really need in the corporate world, and a doctorate may be considered superfluous. But in order to work at the highest levels of the field of astrophysics, you may need to possess a doctorate in order to succeed.
Really, the process of narrowing down your options is not as painful as it may initially seem. And all the effort you put into it in the beginning will result in a much easier time in the end. Essentially, it's front-loading all the hardest work. That way, in the end, you'll be able to concentrate on what's really important: Applying to the best, most appropriate school you can find.