I would definitely agree with Meryl that it's vital to talk to actual
students from the graduate program, not just faculty/administrators who of
course are trying to "sell" their program and will thus present it in the
rosiest light possible. (Or who honestly are unaware of some things that go
on right under their noses.) The only way to get a complete, accurate
picture of what your experience will be like as a student is to ask those
who have experienced it themselves. Ask students whether their classes are
appropriately challenging and useful, whether they are happy with the
quality of their instructors, how easy it was to actually find a decent
internship if that's one of the requirements, what kind of
internship-finding and/or career-counseling resources are made available to
students (and how useful they are). Maybe ask students how easy it is to get
scholarships/fellowships/grants for overseas study/etc. if any of that is of
interest. These considerations are important to get some sense of, ahead of
time, if you want to make an informed choice about a grad school - and/or if
you don't want to risk a rude awakening when you actually get there!

Hope this helps!

Jennifer Bach (current graduate student)


>From: Meryl Suzanne Beatri Zwanger <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: grad program questions/help
>Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 14:39:14 -0400
>
>hi-
>
>it sounds like you are already planning on asking where their graduates
>find jobs/what percentage find jobs in what areas and how long after they
>graduate...
>
>you might also try to talk to some of the students in the program - they
>often have really good stories about their experiences in the
>program.  but about that - when i was initially looking at graduate
>schools, some departments gave me names and numbers of students working on
>their phds or theses, and no longer in classes and necessarily in teh
>thick of things.  i'd try to get a sampling from those who just got out of
>the program, those just in, those in teh middle, etc.
>
>good luck-meryl zwanger


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