Doing Graduate studies?

Factual Questions
1

General question in three parts:

1)I’m seriously considering going back to school to do a graduate degree (poli sci), and am seeking information over the pro/cons of doing them in the US vs. Canada. (good friend hopped the border to do his in Buffalo, and Im seeking a broader information source. :slight_smile: ) - keeping in mind that my marks are not going to get me in to a top tier uni as they stand. (graduated with b average).

  1. Who should I try to contact for more specific advice, (I’ve been out of school for a while), my original University or the universities I’ve been looking at?

3)Probably no “factual” answer, but is it better to get a grad degree at the same place as your undergrad or a different uni?

2

  1. Specific advice about what?

  2. In my experience (in the US), it is unusual for someone to go to grad school at the same university from which they received their undergrad degree. Of the 15 or so students in my MA program, none had been there as an undergrad. Students just use different criteria when choosing a grad program.

3

  1. I cannot help you there

  2. I would contact the universities I am going to, rather than the one I am coming from. You will get your information “straight from the horse’s mouth” that way.

  3. I don’t think that this is ever a make-or-break point with regard to job hiring, etc. However, I think that the university where you got your undergrad is more likely to take you for graduate school, but having degrees from different places looks better on your CV. It suggests that you have been exposed to different research environments, academic cliques, and instructional approaches. This is a little more important if you are going into a highly factional field.

4

Also, if for some reason you want a graduate degree with the goal of working for Specific University–go somewhere else, preferrably far, far away for grad school*. While it is possible to get a job, especially a part time or temporary position in one’s own backyard, universities looking for full time faculty often want to hire people from far away, different backgrounds.

*Of course, if you do go too far away, you then have the other problem–persuading them that you will be happy in this location where you wish to settle and you will be there for a long time, and you don’t just plan to pick up stakes again soon.