Many Middlebury alumni pursue advanced degrees, but only about 15 percent do so immediately after college. Most seniors work and explore their interests further before beginning graduate study. Graduate degrees can mean a significant commitment in time and resources, so you want to be ready to invest yourself in that degree. Talk with your faculty adviser and others who specialize in your areas of interest to determine whether or not graduate school is a good option for you at this time.
Why Graduate School?
In some careers, such as medicine, law, clinical psychology, or college/university teaching, it is a required qualification. In other career paths, such as business or public administration, it may be advantageous to your career goals.
Advising for health professions graduate degrees is provided through the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Research (CTLR). Contact Mary Lothrop or Hannah Benz to learn more about available resources, advising, and opportunities.
Academic degrees (MA, MS, PhD) are awarded in all liberal arts disciplines and typically involve original research. Master’s programs are typically two years. Doctoral programs (PhD) are longer; time to degree may be five to seven years, depending on the field of study.
These have a more career-specific focus, often combining clinical or professional internships with classes. Some examples include:
- Architecture (MArch)
- Business (MBA)
- Medicine (MD, DVM, DDS)
- Law (JD) Education (MEd)
- Fine Arts (MFA)
- Library Science (MLS)
- Social Work (MSW)
- Public Administration (MPA)
Deciding if and when to apply requires careful consideration and planning. Here are some suggestions to help you begin the process of making an educated decision:
- Evaluate your interests and goals and be clear about your reasons for pursuing a particular degree. Pursuing a graduate or professional program without a specific outcome in mind can be a costly decision that does not yield benefits. Graduate school should not be thought of as the option to take simply because you are unsure of what else to do; and remember, graduate school does not allow for the type of exploring that takes place in an undergraduate liberal arts curriculum.
- Identify the type of work you would like to do when you have completed your degree, and whether or not this degree helps you in that career path.
- Determine if you have the financial resources to cover the cost of graduate school and investigate alternative sources of funding such as financial aid, fellowships, and assistantships.
- Talk with your faculty adviser and others who specialize in your areas of interest to determine whether or not graduate school is a good option for you at this time.
As a Middlebury student, you have access to all of the institutions schools and programs, and in many cases funding and accelerated degree options may be available for Middlebury graduates.
Once you know that you want to go to graduate school, how do you find the right program?
Finding the best programs requires research. Know what you’re looking for in a program. Gather information about programs from your faculty, Middlebury alumni, and recent graduates. Look at the online information for the graduate program, and talk with current students, professors and program directors there. Consult guides—many of which are listed below. And finally, visit the program if you can. In-person conversations, exploring the campus, learning about resources at the university and in the community can be invaluable.
Occasionally, graduate schools visit Middlebury for on-campus information sessions and informal interviews. To find out about these on-campus visits, check the Handshake calendar.
Knowing the answers to these questions can help you decide what is important to you and narrow your search:
- Where would you like to be geographically? Would you prefer an urban, suburban, or rural setting? Are there particular cities or states you prefer, or where you’d like to work after graduate school?
- How strong is the reputation of the program? What is the size of the faculty and faculty/student ratio? Are the top faculty teaching and/or conducting research? What areas of research are the faculty engaged in?
- What areas of specialty or interest would you like to pursue? Does the curriculum offered reflect your interests? What characteristics distinguish this program from others in the same field? How much room for flexibility would you like? Is that flexibility available? Are there experiential components such as fieldwork or internships?
- What are graduates of this program doing? What do they say about the preparation for their field that the program offered? What is the level of attrition? How long did it take them to find a position in their field after graduation?
- What are the costs associated with the program? What are the tuition and fees? Are there opportunities for teaching, research, or program assistantships? If so, what are the stipends and/or benefits associated with them and how many students receive assistantships? Are there fellowships or other grant programs available?
- What are the admissions statistics? What application materials do they require? What is the average GPA and entrance exam scores of those admitted? How selective is the program?
