It may not have the excitement of March Madness, but when U.S. News & World Report announced its annual graduate school rankings a few weeks ago, many prospective applicants (and anxious graduate school deans) began to digest every word and data point to help them make important decisions. But should they?
Our take on the rankings: The U.S. News rankings have long been a part of the graduate school search process and can be helpful as an aggregate source of data around student population, academic life, job placement and other considerations. But the actual rank ordering of schools is a debatable measure that’s often more important to schools and their alumni than it should be for applicants. Whether a school ranks 11th or 30th in the rankings won’t matter in the long run. Ultimately, students should apply to programs that are the best overall “fit” for their academic, career, financial, and lifestyle goals and needs.
That’s not to say that highly ranked programs aren’t exceptionally good and won’t produce exceptionally good outcomes for its graduates. Certainly Vanderbilt University’s Peabody education school, Stanford’s psychology program, and MIT’s engineering program are anything to turn your nose at. But we are saying is that a program’s ranking should not be the be all, end all of the graduate school search.
What we tell students is this: Beyond the rankings, to find a competitive graduate program that has the academic program, and to a much smaller extent, the social atmosphere you want, you have to do some in person research and look at some statistics, not always focused on. Some things to consider:
-Research Your “Must-Haves”: What are the most important criteria for you? For some, location is paramount. Does the school have a strong internship program? How is the alumni network? Keep in mind that a strong alumni network can help you land a job after graduation, so think ahead.
-Determine Your Budget for Tuition: At first glance, one program may seem to cost less than another. However the reality is that often, the higher a graduate school ranks,the higher your starting salary will be. But also keep in mind that housing in San Francisco will be a lot more expensive than studying in Pittsburgh, for example.
-Talk to current students: Find out what their experiences are. Do they regret their choice or are they satisfied with their decision?
-Talk to Alumni: How helpful did they find the program? Did they land the job they wanted? was the school helpful in their job search efforts?
-Learn about the professors: Are they esteemed leaders in their fields? Accessible?
-Visit Your Target Programs: Are the classrooms clean? Do they have a good library? Do students seem friendly? If you don’t think you’d be able to be there every day, it’s probably not a good fit. Don’t force it.
Ultimately the graduate school your students attend should be based on the strengths of the individual program in which they are interested, its campus and learning environment’ and what they see as the best overall “fit” between their needs and the benefits of the particular program to help them reach their professional goal.
