How do I research Graduate schools?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Can anyone recommend a place to research different Grad School programs? I could go to each university’s website, of course, but that seems a very poor place to get unbiased information. I really have no idea how to find out who has the “best” program. Not that I could get into the best program. Heck, I’d be lucky if anyone accepts me at all with my background.

Here’s a bit of background, in random sentence form: I have a bachelors in Criminal Justice and Sociology from Western Michigan University. I’ve found I’m way too much of an understanding passive guy to become a police officer, which pretty much puts my employment opportunities with this degree to zero. I love taking disorganized things and making them organized, and this was the profession/major that my high school career advisor pointed me toward. Well, those aptitude tests lied. I also don’t like children, so social work is out.

I am under the impression that you can only get a Masters if your Bachelors is in a related field. Is this true? I’d much prefer a masters in Computer Science to go with my BA in Criminal Justice. My dream job would be in information gathering. You know, the guy who works in the basement of the Police Department/FBI/whatever searching databases and video footage for crimes/whatever. Digital Detective? I have no idea what the job title would even be, but you get the idea.

I miss acadamia, too many people out here in the real world can’t hold a decent conversation about anything above the mental threshold of American Idol. I enjoy learning, and want to continue to do so.

My grades for my first undergrad were terrible. I think i graduated with a 2.97 GPA. I didn’t want to be there, and I didn’t appreciate the opportunity. This is due to me not having ever been out in the real world. It is amazing what a year of actual work does for for your motivation to study. I really wish I had gotten a job after High School instead of starting college directly, but I digress.

I don’t know any of my previous professors who would write me a recommendation letter. How much will this cripple my chances of getting in? I barely attended class before, and I doubt anyone remembers me back there anyway.

I am currently signed up for some undergrad computer science courses (my other interest) at Michigan State University, but the financial aid I qualify for is terrible (actually, it’s $0. 100% loans for me and my 23 year old self. Yay!). I notice that I could get much better financial aid if I were working on a Masters.
Also, I am feeling very disheartened after a meeting I had with my undergrad advisor. I tried to convey to her that I was ready to bust my ass, do whatever it took to get my dream job. I’d spend hours in the library, study constantly. I wanted to be able to work with professors on research projects. I’d love internships, work study, anything that would give me the edge over other students. I tried to explain to her what kind of skills I hoped to have upon the completion of the program, and what my long-term goals were for the future. I tried to question her as to if her department could help me reach these goals. I was earnest, blatant, and excited. She kept glancing at the clock and hoping I’d quit talking so much so she could go on lunch. If that university cares about their students as much as she does, well, I’d rather get go to a place that actually cares about my future a bit.
Where was I going with this? Oh right, help me get into Grad school Straight Dope!

2

Head down to any large chain type bookstore. There’s plenty of books about various types of programs. I used Baron’s Guide to Law Schools for general info on costs, admissions requirements/deadlines, contact info, etc. Might find similar stuff available at the local library, or career services office of your undergrad school…

3

Here’s the link to USNews’ rankings of universities
http://www.usnews.com/sections/rankings

Here’s a site to search for subjects and schools
http://www.gradschools.com/search_all.html

Go to item 4 at this site for a list of other good resources
http://www.foothill.edu/transfer/howtochoose.html

Good luck!

4

Thank you to both posters. Those links are exactly what I had in mind.

And don’t mind the half-hearted rant. It was very cathartic to type out.

5

The university websites are actually very helpful. Check out the course listings and the professors’ profiles - it’s very important that there is at least one professor there whose research interests are related to your own. Course offerings also vary widely depending on the school, so you’ll want to see if the school’s academic interests line up with your own as well.

Your MA doesn’t necessarily have to be directly related to your BA, but most grad schools will require you take the subject GRE or submit something that proves your competence in that fields (like a writing sample for English students).

Recommendation letters are usually required for grad school applications. Three is the standard number. One of my professors asked me to write my own rec. letter, after which he cheerfully signed it without a second glance. Whatever works, I say. Most of the time, I feel rec. letters are more of a formality, unless you have one from a very famous person in the field you’re getting an MA in.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

6

Head to the library reference department and see if they have the Peterson’s graduate programs series (they’re blue books, a set of about 5 of them, for various disciplines and come out annually). You probably want the one on engineering & applied sciences, but I’m not sure. If the library uses LC call numbers, they’re likely around L901 .P4462.

These will let you look at a variety of programs and their admission requirements.

7

Check out The Princeton Review also, a sometimes-free and sometimes-pay web site that’s thorough and current. (Whenever looking at U.S. News & World Report be sure to note the date of the review: sometimes a program they’ll be reviewing is based on information from this year and sometimes it will be literally based on information from 1994.)

Also do an Amazon search of your degree field and grad degree (e.g. *S Computer Science programs * ) as often there’s a definitive book on the subject that does profiles and tells [very important here] WHY a program is so well rated. Often a program that’s rated number 1 or number 3 in the nation may be rated that way for something that has nothing to do with what you’re wanting to study (business systems design or whatever) while a program that’s only rated number 43 in the nation may in fact be one of the top five programs in your particular interest (forensic computer science).

Also, every more-than-tiny academic or public library is going to have a reference work called The College Blue Book. It’s actually many books- about 6 or 7 if I’m not mistaken- that has profiles of every college in the nation and goes into stats on acceptance, funding (SUPER IMPORTANT if you’re not wealthy) and descriptions of the campus, etc… Ask at any reference desk for the college blue book and they’ll know what you’re talking about.

8

Since you are taking undergrad computer science courses now, you can do really well in them and ask those professors for recommendation letters. Also you might be able to take a grad class as an undergraduate, thereby proving you can do graduate work in your field. If you do really well now, it won’t matter so much that you didn’t do so great previously. Just make sure you highlight the difference in writing your statement of purpose. Good luck!

Also about the princeton review site, I never noticed anything I had to pay for but they do require free registration.

9

This is really good advice. It’s how I got into my BA program; I took several courses that I knew I could transfer to a credit program and then used them to prove that I belonged in my program of choice. Lots of profs understand that people can get much more motivated as they get older and wiser.