In my last post, I discussed how to write a Personal Statement. Knowing that many of you are currently facing the choice of which graduate school to attend, I want to focus today’s post on how to choose your graduate school.
I spent last weekend with bright-eyed admitted students visiting Harvard Law School, each grasping tightly onto their red folders and bursting with smiles. Amidst the variety of questions circulating the conversations, one remained most salient: why did you choose to go to Harvard?
I wanted to give the simplest—and perhaps most honest—answer of “It just felt right,” but I knew that would be unsatisfying to the inquisitive students facing such tough decisions. Let me start with this:
You are in a great position to have options and you can—and will—be successful regardless of which school you choose.
With that in mind, there are several factors I considered in making my decision that may be worth contemplating.
1. Location
Do you prefer cities or suburbs? Mom-and-pop or chain stores? These questions may seem superficial at first, but they are crucial in shaping your graduate school experience. For example, Stanford is in beautiful, sunny Palo Alto, away from the city and full of spacious roads to drive through. Harvard, on the other hand, is in the vibrant city of Cambridge and a short subway-ride from Boston, one of the U.S.’s largest and most historic cities. Ultimately, consider the impact of location on everything from jobs prospects in that area to even food and weather. As one of my Californian classmates jokes, “Go to where the weather sucks the most – you’ll study more.” (Julia Choe, HLS ’12)
2. Size
Size matters! You may want to have a tight, close-knit community, or you may want to have the opportunity to meet new people everyday. In considering small class sizes, for example, picture yourself in your third or fourth year of graduate school. Would you be tired of knowing everyone’s business or would you feel fortunate to have the support of your entire class? With large class sizes, you may fear being lost in the crowd, or you may relish the opportunity to find friends form a greater pool of diverse students.
3. Student Life
Location and size impact student life more generally. You should notice the atmosphere of the school both inside and outside the classroom. Are students generally more collaborative or independent? Friendly or aggressive? What environment would suit your personality and bring out your best? How diverse is the student body? To be honest, you’ll face all types of personalities wherever you decide to go, so this may not necessarily be the dispositive factor. Lastly, look to the types of student groups and activities available outside of the curriculum, making sure to find those with interests you share.
4. Curriculum
Do the schools differ much in terms of curriculum, especially the variety of courses or style of teaching? What is the grading system? Would you prefer a quarter or semester system? Although most schools probably offer the same “foundation” courses, some have more developed programs in certain areas of interest. For example, one reason I chose Harvard was for its Program on Negotiation, which none of the other schools I considered offered. Stanford, on the other hand, was quite appealing for its focus on a variety of law clinics. 5. Faculty
I assume that most schools have outstanding faculty, so similar to curriculum considerations, faculty should factor into your decision if there are outstanding professors in particular areas in which you have a strong interest. This may be especially important if you want to pursue academia. More generally, you may want to consider faculty diversity and accessibility.
6. Financial Aid
My advice with financial aid is simple: unless you are facing serious financial concerns or you are considering a full ride scholarship, discrepancies with financial aid should not make or break your decision. You can always try to negotiate with a comparable school that gives you less financial aid. More importantly, what may seem to be a noticeable discrepancy in money now is actually not much of a difference when paying back loans over an extended period of time.
To Conclude:
With so many issues to consider, I understand that the decision you face may seem quite daunting. However, I’m simply going to repeat myself: You are in a great position to have options and you can—and will—be successful regardless of which school you choose.
At the end of the day, do what feels right. Your intuition, above all else, may be the best advice to follow.
Love this article, Jeremy!
Thanks for this article. However, I think that Finance should be considered at first for Vietnamese students who want to go abroad for studying. As my friend’s experiment, you should prepare enough money to study in first year. And after that, you can apply for scholarship if your grade is good or you can do part-time job.
I have a question whether International Student Fund is in United State or not. If have, you can loan money from that .