-Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1993 19:39:03 -0700
-From: pagre@weber.ucsd.edu (Phil Agre)
-To: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)
-Subject: networking

ADVICE FOR UNDERGRADUATES CONSIDERING GRADUATE SCHOOL

   Phil Agre
   Department of Communication D-003
   University of California, San Diego
   La Jolla, California  92093-0503
   USA

   pagre@ucsd.edu

   Version of 11 June 1993.


Copyright 1993 by the author.  You may forward these notes electronically to
anyone for any non-commercial purpose.  Please send me any comments that might
help to improve future versions.


This document contains informal advice for undergraduates who are thinking
about graduate school.  Graduate school comes in three varieties: professional
schools (law, medicine, education, and so on), master's programs, and doctoral
programs.  I know very little about either professional schools or master's
programs, so I will concentrate on doctoral programs.  In particular, I will
use the term "graduate school" to refer to doctoral programs.  Much of my
advice, though, probably applies to the other options as well.  Please note,
too, that I originally wrote this document for students in my own field and
department.  Things might work differently where you are.  As with all advice,
only trust these notes to the extent they correspond to your own experience.


WHAT IS GRADUATE SCHOOL?

Graduate school is training in research.  It is for people who love research,
scholarship, and teaching for their own sake and for the difference they
can sometimes make in the world.  It is not for people who simply want more
undergraduate courses.  It is not for people who are in a hurry to get a real
job.  And it is definitely not for people who want to get rich.  (The really
famous professors, however, make tons of money.  They just don't want you
to know about it.)  The eventual goal of many doctoral students is to get a
job as a college professor, or perhaps in industrial or government research.
But many just do it because they like it.

More specifically, graduate school is typically a five to eight year program
of study and research organized by a single department of some university,
culminating in a doctoral degree (usually a PhD).  In the United States, as a
general rule, the term "university" refers to a college that grants doctoral
degrees.  Some individual departments in a university may not have graduate
programs.  But a research-oriented university will normally grant doctorates
in dozens of different fields.

Graduate school, as I mentioned, generally takes five to eight years.  That's
a long time.  The first year is often the worst.  It usually consists of an
overwhelming amount of structured reading, designed to give you a generalized
background in the basic texts of the particular field.  But the exact format
of the first few years of graduate school varies widely.  Typically one must
pass a set of "comprehensive exams" (usually called "comps") to continue
in the program past a certain point.  People do fail these exams.  And the
workload and the possibility of failure often cause a great deal of anxiety.
I have elaborate ideas about the causes and cures of this situation, but
I'll reserve them for another document.  My point here is simply that this
unhappy period passes, to be followed by much more interesting periods.  The
next few years of graduate school are usually focused on finding a topic and
advisor for one's dissertation, along with additional coursework and teaching
assistantships.  The best part of graduate school, the part that makes it
worthwhile, comes toward the end, when you begin to present your research in
public.  Suddenly you will begin to join the community of scholars who work
in your chosen area; they will take you seriously and you will begin to make
numerous professional acquaintances, some of whom you will probably keep for
the rest of your life.

Graduate school, then, is quite different from undergraduate school.  It takes
longer, it requires much more focused and sustained work, it involves much
more intensive relationships with faculty and other students, and it makes
considerably greater demands on your personal identity.  You can get through
your undergraduate education, if you care to, without ever really thinking
about who you are or what you want to accomplish in the world.  In graduate
school, though, your personal identity will almost certainly undergo great
change.  In particular, you will acquire a particular sort of identity: you
will become known as the person who wrote such-and-such a paper, who did
such-and-such research, who refuted such-and-such theory, or who initiated
such-and-such line of inquiry.  This process can be tremendously satisfying.
But it's definitely not for everyone.


DO I WANT TO GO TO GRADUATE SCHOOL?

Your basic undergraduate education will not enable you to decide whether to go
to graduate school.  You will need to ask for advice.  You should figure that
the decision will take about a year to make, so ask for a lot of advice over
a long period.  Start toward the middle of your junior year, if not before.
You should get advice from everyone you consider either knowledgeable or wise,
but particularly from professors.

Many people have difficulty asking for advice about such things, especially
from professors, because they are embarrassed at not already knowing all
the answers.  But you should understand that a large part of what professors
do all day is to give people advice.  And professors know a great deal about
graduate school.  In particular, a professor who does research in a given
area will probably know a large proportion of the other people who do research
in that area.  Indeed, he or she will probably have visited most of the
departments that have good graduate programs in the area.  On the other hand,
professors (like everyone else) see things from their own personal angle, so
you should expect to get different advice from different people.  That's life.

The first step is the hardest.  Start by making a guess at the field or topic
that you might want to study in graduate school.  Then pick a professor who
seems approachable and might know something about that topic, perhaps because
he or she teaches a course in that area.  Show up in that person's office
during scheduled office hours and say, "Hello.  I'd like to ask your advice.
I am thinking I might want to go to graduate school, but I'm still uncertain
about where I would go or what exactly I would study.  I do know that I'm
pretty interested in such-and-such.  How would I find out about graduate
schools in that area?"  Some common responses to this are as follows:

(1) "I don't actually know much about that area, but you should talk to
so-and-so who is really the expert on that."  Go talk to so-and-so.

(2) "I think you're going to have to define your interests a little better
before I can help you."  Ask for help in defining your interests better.

(3) The response you're looking for, namely a list of all the good graduate
programs in that area, with as much detailed description of them as you can
possibly digest.

What next?  Well, let's back up and talk about research.


RESEARCH

Graduate school, as I said, is training in research.  When a graduate school
looks at your application, their principal question is, "Is this person going
to be good at research?"  Indeed, that should be one of your own principal
questions as well.  How can you tell if you're going to be good at research?
Getting good grades in your undergraduate classes is important, but it's not
really the main thing.  The main thing is this: if you want to go to graduate
school, you should start getting involved in research as an undergraduate.
This fact is usually kept secret, but it's true.  And in retrospect it's
obvious why.  Graduate school is a big commitment, both for you and for the
department that accepts you into its graduate program.  You should try your
hand at research first so that everyone can make a well-informed decision.

How can an undergraduate get involved in research?  This question has two
answers, the official answer and the real answer.  The official answer will
take the form of administrative mechanisms (independent study courses, faculty
mentor programs, and so forth) that provide formal structures around a project
that you might be involved in.  Go talk to your department's undergraduate
coordinator and find out what these mechanisms are.  Then forget about them
for a while, because the real answer to the question lies in your professional
relationship to the faculty member who will supervise your research.  But who
will this person be?  That's the hard part.

As with all professional relationships, you're looking for a match between
your interests and abilities and those of a faculty member.  Finding this
match will take a little time, but like all hard projects it starts with
asking advice.  One way to start is by finding out which faculty members have
supervised undergraduate research in the past.  TA's are often a good source
for this sort of information (and much other information as well, though you
should realize that TA's, like everyone else, see the world from a particular
angle and often have differing opinions).  You can also start with someone
whose course you liked and did well in.  This approach has the advantage that
the professor in question already knows you.  Show up in that person's office
hours and say, "I'd like to ask your advice.  I really liked your course on
such-and-such and I'm thinking I might want to go to graduate school in that
area.  In particular I'd like to see if I can get involved in a research
project in the area starting maybe next term.  But I haven't got a precise
idea of how to go about it, or about how to define a good project.  What do
you think I should do?"  Maybe they'll just send you to someone else, but then
maybe they won't.

The ensuing conversation will be complicated but probably less painful than
you think.  Keep in mind that it is basically a negotiation.  It is your first
chance to practice a skill that you will need for the rest of your career as
a scholar: formulating and reformulating your research interests in language
that particular people can understand.  Listen to their language.  What do
they think a research topic is like?  How do they think a research project
should be conducted?  Do they see research as an individual activity or as
a collective one?  How enthusiastic do they really seem about the idea of
supervising undergraduate research?  Are you comfortable with the answers
to these questions?  No need to make a quick decision, though.  Most likely
your conversation will be inconclusive.  That's normal.  Sleep on it.  Ask
for things to read and then read them -- and then ask yourself if you want
to learn to write things like that.  Have the same sort of conversation with
other professors (don't forget other departments and even other universities).
Then compare and contrast the results.

Undergraduate research projects can take a wide variety of forms.  Sometimes
a professor will have a large research project that involves dozens of people.
Such projects frequently have niches for undergraduates.  This can be the
best kind of undergraduate research experience because it will give you the
opportunity to work with a group, observe the whole process of research, and
feel like you're contributing to something.  But maybe nobody has project of
this type in your area.

Another possibility is simply to set up a project of your own, with regular
meetings with a professor to discuss its progress.  Projects like this work
best if you have a good relationship with the professor and a strong feeling
for the topic.  Try to get to know other people with interests in that area,
both because it's interesting and to keep from getting isolated or dependent
on a particular professor.  Your project will make a good conversation topic.

Yet another possibility is to become a professor's assistant on some project.
This might involve anything: library work, data collection, putting together
complex research papers, etc.  The work might be tedious (or it might not),
but it can be a good way to learn about research through apprenticeship.
All such deals are unique and should be weighed on their particular merits
(e.g., whether you feel that you can work for this person), but you should
always give them serious consideration because they don't happen every day.

And the world is full of other possibilities.  Maybe you will become involved
with an off-campus project of some sort -- a company, a community group, an
alternative media project -- that you can integrate with a university research
project.  Maybe you will have an outside job that you want to use as a field
site for ethnographic research.  Who knows.

Once you have defined a project and found a supervisor, go ahead and
figure out the paperwork.  Maybe you'll arrange for independent study credit.
Maybe you'll sign up for some official program in the university.  Maybe
you'll even get a research grant.  (If you need some money for your research,
perhaps to take a trip or operate a photocopier, ask.  It may exist.  Writing
a grant proposal may be the single most valuable experience of your project.)
Just keep in mind that professional relationships are the real substance
of research.  Administrative details are secondary.  Maybe you won't even
formalize the arrangement at all.  The important things, after all, are the
experience you'll get, the relationships you'll develop, and the research
paper that you can include in graduate school applications.

In particular, it is not all that important how well your research project
turns out.  It will be okay in any event; and everyone understands that
research is hard and that undergraduate projects regularly fail to work out
completely for reasons that are not your fault.  On the other hand, if your
project works out well enough to produce a publishable paper, by all means go
for it.  But this is not necessary.


APPLYING TO GRADUATE SCHOOL

If you have been getting advice and doing research then you will have figured
out where the good graduate programs for your interests are.  You might even
have an idea of which professors you want to study with.  (If you really liked
someone's book, maybe you should become that person's student.  It's worth a
try.)  Apply to as many good graduate programs in your area as you can.  When
in doubt, apply.  You can always turn down offers you don't want later on.

Applications for graduate school are typically due in December or January.
You should start writing away for the application forms in September --
that is, September of your senior year, unless you are planning to take a
year off (often a good idea).  I want to make a special point of this because
it is common to forget about next year until the spring, when it is too late.
Getting the application forms is easy.  Write a letter to "Graduate Program /
Department of Whatever / University of Whatever / City, State, ZIP" (you can
get the addresses from reference books; ask at the library reference desk)
and say "I am interested in applying to graduate school in your department.
Please send me some detailed information on the department, the necessary
application forms, and information about financial aid.  Thank you very much."

You should expect to apply to five or six schools and maybe more, depending on
the level of competition in your area.  Filling out the application forms is
tedious, but it will get easier once you've done a couple.  The most important
part of the application form will be a blank page headed something like
"Statement of Purpose".  On this page you will be asked to explain why you
want to go to graduate school, including some idea about what sort of research
you would like to conduct.  You need to take this seriously.  Write about a
page and a half on the subject, single-spaced, and take it to the professors
you've been getting advice from.  They will almost certainly tell you to
rewrite it, and you should definitely do so.  Don't be surprised if it takes
three or four tries to get it right.

Your statement should demonstrate that you know what research is, that you
have had at least one idea in your life, and that you have an interesting and
tractable idea about your research for the future.  The problem, of course,
is that you probably have only the sketchiest idea of what your research
in graduate school will be about.  That doesn't matter.  You are definitely
not promising to do the research you describe in your statement; you are
only spelling out a single plausible scenario, one that fairly reflects
your interests.  Try to be concrete, but also include a few hedges such as
"perhaps" and "these possibilities include".  Project sobriety and maturity.
Omit all frivolity, boasting, and self-deprecation.  Go easy on academic
jargon.  Avoid the words "interesting" and "important", which say little.
And make sure that you are not simply describing the year's most fashionable
cliche of a research project -- ask for advice about this issue specifically.
Put yourself in the shoes of the graduate admissions committee: they're
looking at literally hundreds of applications and they're only going to take
a second look at the ones that stand out.  If you follow the above advice then
your application will make the first cut and receive the serious consideration
it deserves.

It is also a good idea, if you have the energy, to tailor your statement
to fit the particular departments you're applying to.  You might write a
generic statement and then edit in some passages that fit each department,
for example mentioning one of the professors there whose work is relevant to
your interests, just to show that you know what you're doing.  If you have
your heart set on a particular department (say because you want to work with a
particular professor whose work you admire) then write a customized statement
for that department.  Find people who are well acquainted with that department
and ask their guidance.  In short, show the admissions committee that you've
done your homework.  It makes a difference.

Make sure your graduate application includes the research papers you wrote
as an undergraduate, and be sure that your statement explains the connection
between these papers and the graduate research you are envisioning.

Meanwhile, apply for fellowships.  Ask someone in your department which are
the major fellowships in your area and apply for them all.  Also, at each
university it is usually somebody's job to keep a list of obscure graduate
fellowships.  Find such lists and write away for applications forms for all
of the fellowships that seem relevant.  Get advice about which ones are worth
applying for.

You are probably appalled at how many applications you are filling out.  Rest
assured, though, that filling out applications is a major part of a career in
research.  Look on the bright side: applying for things is an opportunity to
assess your career and to articulate it in the best and most sincere light for
other people.  You will be doing a great deal of this in the future.


LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

Your application to graduate school will also involve some letters of
recommendation, usually three or four.  Most of these letters will probably
(but not necessarily) be from professors in the department where you got your
undergraduate degree.  It helps, other things being equal, if you get letters
from famous professors as opposed to junior ones.  But the important thing is
to get letters from people who know you and who can say things about you that
make you sound like you belong in graduate school.

But there's a problem.  Most letters that professors write for undergraduates
are not very impressive because most professors do not know the undergraduates
in their department very well.  If you want good letters then you need to do
something about this.  The best thing is to get involved in research, as I've
described above.  The person who supervises your research will then be able to
write you a helpful letter that doesn't sound like a computer wrote it.

The other way to get good letters of recommendation is to get to know the
professors who teach the classes that you particularly like.  This is a
remarkably difficult matter.  Doing really good work in the class definitely
helps, but this in itself needn't entail any actual acquaintance with the
professor who taught it.  So how do you do this?

The wrong way to go about it is to show up in the professor's office to
chat randomly, hoping that you'll make a good impression along the way.  This
strategy almost always makes a dreadful impression, for the simple reason that
professors are busy people who hate it when you waste their time.

Think about it like this.  Your relationship with a professor will be defined
by a set of ideas -- the ideas that the professor is trying to teach in the
classes you're taking.  Either you find those ideas compelling and interesting
or you don't.  If you don't get a genuine thrill out of the ideas then you're
better off investing your energies elsewhere in the first place.  But if you
actually do find the ideas interesting then you are going to have questions
about them, questions that go beyond the course.  Maybe your term papers
will address those questions.  Or whatever.  In any event, don't keep your
questions a secret.  Go ask them.  And, again, ask them because you want to
know the answers.  Only a real jerk considers it a waste of time to answer
genuine questions.  Letters of recommendation will take care of themselves.


GETTING ACCEPTED TO GRADUATE SCHOOL

In March or April you will start getting letters of acceptance or rejection
from graduate schools.  When you are accepted, the main thing you want to
know is how much money they are offering you.  Graduate school is expensive
and you absolutely want to avoid paying the fees yourself.  The most common
arrangement is for you to be offered a teaching assistantship, a nominally
half-time teaching job.  A better arrangement, though, is to get a fellowship.
Maybe you will win a fellowship through your own efforts.  Another possibility
is that the department that accepts you can provide its own fellowship money.
Whatever you do, don't accept the department's offer right away.  Reply to the
offer with a polite acknowledgement and then stall them for a couple of weeks
while you wait for other acceptances to arrive.  Meanwhile, think much more
seriously about the offer.  Do you really want to move to that city?  What is
that university really like?  What is that department really like?

The important thing here is that you are about to be treated with more respect
than you might be accustomed to.  Take advantage of this.  In particular, get
more advice.  The faculty in your department will celebrate your acceptance
to graduate school, and unless they are complete jerks they will happily help
you decide what to do.  Ask them about reputations and rumors.  Ask them if
anybody else in town graduated from that same department or a closely related
department at the same school.  Find out if the people in that department care
about their graduate students; some don't.  Make lists of questions and then
call the department on the phone and ask them.  Try to get a course catalog
(but be sure to ask whether it corresponds to reality; many don't).  If you
can visit the department, definitely do so.  Sometimes you can even get the
department (or even your own) to pay for a trip.  The department will be
waiting anxiously for your decision; if you turn them down they will offer
your space to someone else who seems promising.  They may even try to pressure
you into making a decision.  If this happens, get more advice.

Unless the department has offered you a good fellowship, one of your main
goals will be to extract more money from them.  Plead poverty.  Explain that
you find the offer exciting but that you still need to eat.  If you have kids
to feed, tell them that.  If you have a good offer from another school, tell
them that too (but don't tell them the details of that offer, just that it's
attractive and perhaps more financially feasible).  Your basic stance is that
you simply need enough money to do your graduate work without having to take
outside jobs, at least for the first few years.  Often some additional money
will materialize as other people turn down offers from the same place.  After
a couple of weeks, though, you will have to decide.  No general-purpose advice
like this will help you now.  Congratulations and good luck.
