Choosing a Ph.D. Program

Questions to ask before you start the process of identifying schools

• Why do you want the degree?
• What are your career goals?
• What is the job market trends?
• What is doctoral study in your field like?

Resources that may help you answer these questions.

Researching Schools

Create a list of schools to research based on your interests, the school's specialty, and professors/advisors you would like to work with. Keeping an academic diary with a list of schools under consideration, the date, and perhaps the reasons for rejecting each program will be both informative and interesting to you as the time passes. 

Some sources to generate a list:

Consult faculty and advisors: Where did the people who are writing your references get their degrees? Admissions teams habitually evaluate the qualifications of reference writers. Alternatively, ask your references if they know anyone at the other programs to which you are applying, or if they recommend any particular programs for your interests and background.

Specialized reports can be found in most journal subscriptions or association reports within your field. Since these sources reflect the ideas of working professionals, they hold special weight.

Ph.D. candidates can find information by reviewing the list of doctorates awarded by particular departments or by consulting Dissertation Abstracts, published monthly by University Microfilms International.

          School Rankings: USNews.com

Research will involve a combination of methods

• Read the school and department web pages and catalogs
• Make contact with professors you are interested in working with
• Talk to current students about the program, the school, their advisors etc.
• Plan a visit

Considerations while assessing a school

Research Interests:

What subjects have been featured in previous candidates' dissertations?

Faculty:

The opportunity to work under the academic "giants" in your field of interest is one of the most exciting prospects about graduate study. Ensure that the faculty you are interested in working with is not about to leave, take a sabbatical, retire, etc.

Academic Resources:

Library size, science labs, computer centers, departmental fellowship funds, and archival holdings in your field of interest represent the institution's dedication to providing resources for its graduate population.

Curriculum Choices:

• What range of courses and faculty are available to you?
• Is interdisciplinary research encouraged?
• What is the structure of the program?
• What are the requirements? How flexible are they?

Funding:

• Does the institutions have large endowments?
• What kind of tuition and research packages do they offer?
• Is funding available to students after finishing the comprehensives?
• How successful are students in receiving competitive research grants?
• Are TA positions available? What are the expectations for, training in, and opportunities to take increasing responsibility in teaching?

Reputation:

• What is the reputation of the department?
• How will the department’s reputation affect your experience?
• Does the department agree on its mission?
• Although doctoral education is primarily located in the department and program, you might also consider the institution as a whole. What is the institutional mission? Is the emphasis on graduate or undergraduate students?
• Does the institution have a religious affiliation? Is it specialized in other ways that matter to you?

• How supportive and cohesive is the student community?
• Are study groups and writing groups common?
• Do students make friends across the sub-fields of the department?
• Are most students full time? Is there an active student association? Do students have a voice in departmental governance?
• What is the nature of the intellectual and social community in the department? Are there Brown Bags, Colloquia and other opportunities to share ideas? Does the school organize conferences and other intellectually stimulating and creative forums?
• Do faculty and students socialize together? What is the intellectual life in the department like?
• What kind of orientation program can you expect?
• What is the climate of support for students of color, women, gay students, and international students in the department and on campus?

Career Prospects:

• What are the career prospects, both in and outside of academia?
• What careers have graduates of this program entered?
• What resources can help you explore possible careers?
• How supportive are faculty of those who pursue non-academic careers?

Rate Of Attrition:

Check the size of the entering classes versus those graduating. Query the admissions staff, and ask students currently enrolled for the real story.

Competition:

• What are the other comparable institutions?
• What kind of students apply to the program?

Geographic Location:

• Can you envision yourself living in the area for an extended period of time?
• Is it an urban or rural campus?
• What is the cost of living in the area?
• Do you have dependents who will be with you? What are some of their needs and how will these needs be met in this area.
• What is the student composition in the graduate program. What is the composition of the university – undergraduates and graduates, international, GLBT, etc.

Social Life:

A school's social life will be reflected partly by the strength of the graduate community, partly by the scope of public attractions available, and partly by the atmosphere within the department itself.

Articles, advertisements, and crime reports in the school newspaper are all time-tested methods of judging the tenor of social activities; talking to current students is another.

Language Requirement: What are the language requirements for the course? Do you need to have proficiency in foreign languages? What degree of proficiency?

Special concerns

Add these personal requirements to your list. Any means of making your choice more informed will lead to a more fruitful application process.

Reference:

David T. Burrell  http://www.gettingintogradschool.com

Putting together the application packet

• Application
• Standardized tests
• Language Requirements
• Transcripts
• References/Letters of recommendation
• Writing sample

Funding the degree 

Reference:

Chris Golde http://www.phd-survey.org/

Funding for the student (tuition, fees, and stipend for living expenses) is different from funding for research (travel, supplies). Often funding for summer months is not part of standard funding. In some cases, particularly in the sciences, funding is tied to the advisor, and both student and research funding are related to working in that advisor’s lab and on their research projects.

Typically a student is supported by a variety of sources over the course of their program. The common methods are:

Fellowships: This is a stipend that allows you to do your own research and coursework without any specific work (teaching or research assistantship) obligations. This gives students freedom, but may not give them collegial connections or community. Many are competitive, and will involve writing applications and proposals.

Traineeship: These are most common in the biological sciences. Like a fellowship, there are few explicit work obligations, although you may be working in various labs on "rotations."

Research assistantship: This is pay for work done on a research project. These are common in science fields, where most students are funded on RAships for most of their time in school. An RAship implies some work obligation – which may or may not be work directly related to the student’s dissertation. RAships are an excellent mechanism for learning how to do good research.

Teaching assistantship: Like an RAship this is pay for work assisting in an undergraduate course. These can be excellent for developing knowledge and skills for teaching, particularly if formal teaching instruction is provided.

Loans and personal assets: Often students find themselves without funding (this is particularly true in humanities fields) and must rely on personal assets (savings, family, partners) or student loans.

When considering a school’s funding opportunities you need to understand how doctoral students are funded in the department.

• What is the level of financial support for tuition, fees, stipend, and research funding?
• What is the mix of funding (traineeships, fellowships, RA and TA ships)? Is it competitive or assured?
• How many years are students funded? Is funding guaranteed or competitive?
• What opportunities for summer funding are there?
• How are student’s research expenses paid for? Does the advisor’s research grant cover the expenses? If so, do the funders constrain the choice of topics? If not, what other resources are there to fund research? Do students often pay the expenses themselves?
• How successful are department members at winning fellowships for dissertation support?
• If your degree takes longer than average, can you find financial support?
• What are expenses (housing, health care, child care, cost of living)? The cost of living varies dramatically from place to place. Understand what you can expect to pay for rent, parking, food, vacation travel, computers, books and the like. How many years will you be in graduate school, and what financial resources do you have for dealing with minor (books, car repair, clothes, dental care) and major (unexpected illness of self or family member, pregnancy) financial emergencies?

http://www.phd-survey.org/advice/Advice%20-%20section%20two.htm

Web Resources:

Questions to ask to help select an advisor
http://www.phd-survey.org/advice/Advice%20-%20section%20three.htm

Graduate School (Northwestern University)
http://www.stuaff.northwestern.edu/ucs/students/graduateschool.htm Offers information about deciding whether or not to go to graduate school, the application process and timeline, interviewing with schools, and developing a backup plan.

Professional/Graduate School Information (UC San Diego)
http://career.ucsd.edu/sa/AlumnPage.shtml Offers "Professional/Graduate School Information" about application essays, admission tests, schools, the nature of graduate study in specific fields, and links to more information about specific fields.

20 Relevant Questions to Ask Graduate Schools, Programs, and Departments (Re-envisioning)
http://www.grad.washington.edu/envision/phd/obtaining_phd/program_questions.html  Re-envisioning offers its own list of questions prospective doctoral students could ask the schools, programs, or departments to which they're considering applying.