One Tip for Choosing the Right Graduate Program

Towards the end of the Fall semester every year, faculty in my program review applications for entry into our doctoral program in counseling psychology. It’s a fun experience – on our end at least – because we see so many aspiring psychologists who are talented and poised to do great things. As an applicant, each stage of the process is filled with doubt. Where should I apply? Will I get interviews? Will I get an offer? Will I get more than one offer? Will I be able to succeed wherever it is I end up?

Regardless of the specific program, good applicants have several things in common: good marks (e.g., GPA, GRE scores), research experience, good recommendation letters, an identified area of research interest that matches with a particular advisor, and interview well (e.g. mature, conscientious, etc.). These applicants usually get several offers if they apply to a variety of programs. Assuming for a moment you are an applicant like this, the question then becomes where should you go?

There are probably hundreds of different pieces of advice someone could give to this answer. In fact, because academic psychologists are annually reviewing applicants they think about this question a lot and most will have their own unique philosophies of making the best decisions. But in my mind there is one piece of advice – advice I have heard from many wise people before me – that should serve as the main guiding principle.  And it is answering this question: What program will give me the best chance of getting the job I want when graduate?

The reason I love this advice so much is that it treats graduate school for what it really is, a temporary stop in a hopefully long and fulfilling career. Students should view graduate school ultimately as a tool for meeting their longer term goals. In this sense, clarifying one’s longer term goals then becomes the priority, and fortunately this is something students can do by self-exploration, informational interviews, and developing an understanding of the types of career paths that are possible.

Clarifying this ultimate job goal can help applicants decide on what really matter versus what seems important at the time but won’t be long term. The practical side of this clarification is actually taking the goal into interviews and using it to frame questions to faculty there. For instance, if I were an applicant who wanted to immediately become a private practice psychologist, I would ask everyone how frequently that occurs with graduates of the program and what kinds of support are in place for students to reach that goal

Ultimately, although it might be very appealing to say spend 5 years of graduate school in Miami versus Maine, if Maine gives you the better chance of getting the job you want – a job you could be in for the next 40 years – is 5 years of cold weather really that bad?