Advice for Graduate School

Should I sign up for a Master's or Ph.D.?

True story: Miguel applied for a masters in Data Science and he took all the same classes as his buddy Dave who was in the PhD program. Being in the Ph.D. program, Dave got all sorts of preferential treatment, teaching assistantships (i.e., tuition waived), and opportunities that Miguel never saw. After his 2nd year, Dave switched over and settled for a masters. They ended up with the same degree, but Dave ended up having heaps of opportunity that Miguel never had access to. Miguel paid thousands of dollars for his education while Dave taught intro courses and in return didn't pay a dime. In retrospect, Miguel wishes he had gone for a PhD, even though he didn't think it was likely he would stick with it.

Who knows? He might have fallen in love with something and stuck with the Ph.D. after having all that opportunity! But he never gave himself the chance by starting out in the Master's program.

**Some programs automatically enter you into the Master's program if you don't get into the PhD program. For those that don't, you need to weigh the risks: the PhD programs will likely be more competitive. See below about "casting a wide net."

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My tip: Even if you only want a masters, if the university has both, you should apply for a Ph.D. Why? Well, the Ph.D. students get priority for funding and more attention from professors. You can always shift to a masters later (lots of PhD students do.). But give yourself a leg up by applying for the Ph.D. program regardless.

I don't think it's unethical as long as there is not a 0% chance you will get a PhD.

*In some programs everyone starts out in the master's program. If that's the case at your university, then this point is moot; everyone starts off on the same page.

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If a professsor tells you to cast a wide net, don't let it hurt your feelings. It isn't an insult. The truth is that you and your advisers don't know what each program is really looking for this year. There are factors outside of your control:

your dream program just made faculty cuts and isn't taking more students.
a competing program nearby just closed so applications are insanely competitive.
your program is only taking students with students whose focus is in a specific area aligned with Professor Niche's research.

Everyone says to "cast a wide net."

...What does that mean?

What "cast a wide net" means for you depends:

If you were planning to only apply to the top 10 programs in your field, you should applying also to some lower-tier schools and some master's programs.
If you were planning to apply to only a few lower-tier programs, you should apply also to a couple higher-tier programs that you are interested in but perhaps feel are out of your league.

Casting a wide net reduces the two risks of not getting into any programs, and selling yourself short of programs you could get into.

How and who do I ask for letters of recommendation?

The first key is to ask early! Asking a professor for a letter at the last minute gives the professor a bad taste of your professionalism right at a time when you need them to think you'd be a great person to work with. Do yourself a favor and ask a few months before you need the letter. Then be sure to follow up as the deadline approaches (3 weeks; 2 weeks; etc.) until you receive confirmation they've submitted your letter.

Next, choose professors for whom you were a stood out. Here are ways students can stand out in my classes:

asked questions in class
shared your video (if online)
visited in office hours
submit high quality work on time.
showed leadership during group work time

The more engaged you were in the class the better! Nobody is perfect, but a communicative, active student leaves a great impression.

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Requesting the letter: SOME TIPS

Don't be afraid to tell the professor why you're asking them (specifically) for a letter. Profs might not remember something that you do or did for them, & it doesn't hurt to make it obvious. "I was hoping you'd be able to write a good letter for me because of the internship I did with you in the summer of 2021 and because I had a lot of improvement in my exam scores in your XYZ class in the Fall of 2021."
If there is some aspect of the letter you were hoping they could address, be sure to include that. "I was hoping you could speak to my ability to work on open-ended problems because of the way I tackled that challenge question you gave us on Exam 2 where I figured out that error in the book." - Things like that never hurt to throw in with your request.
If in doubt, you can ask directly, "Do you think you would be able to write a strong letter for me before the deadline in October?" If the professor isn't able to confidently answer, you might want to go a different route.

The most important thing to know about FUNDING yoru graduate school education is.... ... Teaching and Research Assistantships!

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An "assistantship" means that you work for the university in exchange for your tuition waived. That's right. 100% free tuition. Also, you are often paid a small stipend and sometimes health insurance is covered too.

Assistantships are available for teaching and research. A teaching assistantship means you will be either an instructor or an assistant to an instructor. Different programs have different assistantships and call them by different names (some use TA for assistants only, and "graduate instructor" for when you teach your own course).

A "research assistantship" means you help a professor on a research project instead of teaching (but still the same financial benefits).

If you want to be financially savvy with your graduate education, the important thing is to ask what kinds of funding opportunities are available in the program and what proportion of students are typically "fully funded". I didn't pay more than 5% of my graduate education tuition and you can be financially savvy too.

*Usually fees and books are not covered by assistanships, and often times the stipend isn't quite enough to cover living expenses. So although assistanships help, they might not mean you're loaded and living the big life.

Keep in mind:

In some programs, students struggle with TA-ships because the TAs are not given much support for teaching. You might be handed a book and told, "good luck!"— and that's it! At that point, you'll want to find peers you can share resources with, and you'll want to set boundaries for how much you work on your teaching. You want to do a good job but your students won't be well served by a teacher who is burnt out.

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BIGGER UNIVERSITIES THAT OFFER PH.D.'s: ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES.... If you go to a bigger program with lots of candidates, it can be competitive but nevertheless if you come out on top you might have opportunities with the most cutting-edge researchers in your field. However, that can come at a cost. Initially, you might not have much attention (they might sort of see who makes it past the qualifying exams, etc.) before investing in you.

Small School with A Masters (only) or Bigger school that has A Ph.D. Program?

If a school offers both, then sign up for the Ph.D. (see story about Miguel above).

WHERE MASTERS IS THE TOP DEGREE: ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES.... If you go to a smaller school with a masters (only), then you'll probably have more attention in the earlier stages of your education. In programs where masters is as far as they go, you'll find that professors pour into the masters students because they are the top students.

MY STORY: I did both and loved having both types of experiences. I earned my masters at a medium-sized school where the masters students were the top students. Professors poured into my teaching and research and I enjoyed the experience. For my Ph.D. I went to a larger university and was able to work with the top researchers in my field. I was well prepared and they also invested a lot of time in me. That said, my strategy took more time and was not as efficient as if I had gone straight into a Ph.D. program from the start.

Should I go to grad school now or should I wait?

That's a tricky question! What will you do with your one wild and wonderful life? If you enjoy learning and have an interest to pursue, then perhaps you'd like graduate school! Some students want to keep going to school while everything they have learned is fresh. For others, it is better to go explore first to really find your interests before investing more time in specializing.

My tip is to be honest with yourself about what is your passion and your calling. Be sure to distinguish these from others' expectations or hopes for your life. Graduate school can be really really hard, and you need to love the discipline to thrive through those difficult times.

PLU offers great resources for exploring your vocation. Check out the website at: https://www.plu.edu/vocation/

My story: I loved math but took a break to travel. I didn't discover statistics (my academic passion!) until after I came home and I'm glad I waited. But that came at a cost: Much of my most difficult professional life (pre-tenure in academia) is happening during some difficult years in my personal life (pregnancy & parenting young children).

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