Some of these I learned shortly before graduate school myself, from reading the best guide ever: Getting What
You Came For : The Smart Student's Guide to Earning an M.A. or a Ph.D. by Robert Peters. The rest I learned
the hard way. It's just advice, and it's free, so take it for what it's worth.
1. Be sure you need to go.
Are you sure? Not a hundred percent, right? Read
Getting What You Came For : The Smart Student's
Guide to Earning an M.A. or a Ph.D. by Robert Peters. It's a life-changer. For philosophy students in
particular, who are interested in doing this despite my excellent advice that they should go to law school instead, see the
highly informative blog
here.
2. You can get in.
It just takes longer for some of us than others, especially if you've had poor grades in the past, or if you're changing
fields. The back-door method was extremely good to me. I chose a program I really wanted to get in to,
then moved there for a year to get in-state tuition, then attended another year taking upper-level undergraduate classes as
a non-degree student, working very hard, then asked the professors there to write me letters to their own programs.
Yes, this adds two years to your graduate career, but if you're not prepared to spend 5-7 years on this, why are you even
considering graduate school? (See #1 above.)
3. You need to have an advisor there.
Financial aid packages and prestige or ranking of the institution mean nothing, nothing, unless you can work with someone
there. I'll never forget the prospective student who visited Wisconsin and mentioned she wanted to do French Feminism
and Postmodern Theory! I think my response was, "With who?!" Thankfully, she went to a different program with
appropriate faculty, and today she's a happy professor. (If you're specifically looking for feminist philosophy, see
the
wiki.)
4. Letters mean a lot (but see #2).
5. Your GRE score can mean fellowship $$$.
Who knew? I took the GRE on a whim because I kinda thought I might want to eventually go to grad school, maybe.
I did fine, and my analytic score was tops, but if I'd actually taken a prep class for a couple thousand, I could have had
many, many thousands in fellowships, rather than the heavy student loan debt I bear now.
6. Apply to nine schools.
I've read this advice several places: three safeties, three in your range, and three wish-schools. I'm one of the
few people I know who bothered to do this. Worried about the expense? If you're not prepared to spend massive
amounts of money on this, why are you even considering graduate school? (See #1 above.)
7. The money is out there.
The more schools you apply to, the more options you'll have for financial aid. (See #6.) Money can make the
difference between finishing and not finishing a graduate program, and it has for many people I know. There are always
loans. Do I regret taking loans out, myself? Eh, a little, but I finished the Ph.D., and fortunately got
a steady job, so not a lot, no.
8. Take a year off.
Doing nothing but cleaning, cooking and truck-driving for a year or two between the B.A. and graduate school was one
of the smartest things I ever did. It was a good way to find out if I really wanted to go to grad school, rested
my academic (and taxed) bits of brain, and talk about motivation!
9. It takes at least five years in the Humanities. (See
#1)
Finishing in five years, in my graduate program, was considered quite good of me. Plan to finish, plan how
to finish, which brings me to my last point:
10. Remember Princess Leia.
I'm ever surprised how many people go to graduate school as a way to spend thousands of dollars "while deciding
what else to do." As Princess Leia says in the first Star Wars movie (you know, the good one), "You had
a plan for getting in here, didn't you have a plan for getting out?" Plan how to get out; familiarize yourself with
the program requirements, the student handbook (almost every program has one), and plot out what you'll do and when to finish
in a timely manner.
