Preparing for Grad School
1. Identify the Career You Want to Pursue
--a. Personal factors to consider
----i. Talents
----ii. Interests
----iii. Skills
----iv. Needs
--b. Job factors to consider
----i. Availability
----ii. Hours
----iii. Job Culture
----iv. Salary
2. What Degree in What Discipline Does This Career Require?
--a. E.g., B.A. in psychology, M.A. in social work, J.D. in law
3. Characteristics Graduate Schools (Specifically for Psychology Programs) Look For
--a. Hard work
--b. Get along with peers
--c. Writing ability
--d. Clinical / counseling skills and experience
--e. Research done in field of interest
----i. Brownie points if your research is in a field that the grad school also researches
--f. How well a student handles stress
--g. Discipline
--h. Good grades
--i. Good score on grad school entrance exams (e.g. GRE)
----i. Graduate schools see ALL your GRE scores!
--j. High intelligence
--k. Empathy
--l. Establishing relationship with a mentor
--m. Broad knowledge of psychology
--n. Specific knowledge in one or two areas of psychology
--o. Reflect values of graduate program
--p. Match between your interests and program’s interests
--q. Explain what you want to do specifically and confidently