So you're thinking of North America for postgrad?

So you're thinking of North America to do postgrad?

You're coming towards the end of your undergraduate degree and you're wondering what you want to do after. People consider graduate school for different reasons, whether it's to kick start a career in academia or to enhance their qualifications for another line of work. This guide is for those who want to consider graduate school in either the USA or Canada and why it's an option to consider.

So why North America?

There are many reasons why people would consider America or Canada for graduate school. Sometimes it's the change of scenery that is seen as appealing with movies showing this image of "university" that people like. Other times it can be that they want to do a particular set of courses or specialise in an area where the relevant academics are abroad. Unlike in the UK, you may also find that if you are a member of graduate school within the USA or Canada there are more funding opportunities (which will be discussed in more depth). Another advantage is say that you are applying to do a full PhD. You may find that you can pick up a masters qualification along the way just by taking particular modules within the department.

However, there is a flip-side. On average, a masters is a year in the UK full time and a PhD would take 3-4 years. Whereas most people finish graduate school in the US and Canada minimum 5 years for a PhD (in most cases 6) so this is something that you should consider if you don't want to leave the UK for a long period of time. One of the causes for this is before you can start your research project, each school will have a set of core classes that you want to take so you can get "accepted" onto the research project. So if you want to specialise on your project straight away then this can be seen as an issue. On top of this, some schools want you to do a high level of teaching which isn't usually the case in the UK. So when considering graduate school, you should remember to take this into account.

The application process

You've now decided to apply. This is great! For most schools they usually require the following information:

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Transcripts - You have to have a transcript for every institute that you have attended and this can be requested from your university..

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Test Scores (from entrance exams) - This will be discussed in more detail later.

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CV - This is useful if you have previous research experience.

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Statement of Academic Purpose - One of the more important parts of your application. As you'll be doing a research programme, you need to have solid reasons as to why you should be given the place.

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Writing Sample - Depending on the department that you're applying to you will need to submit this. The best thing to do is check each schools site and look at their particular requirements.

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Letters of Recommendation - This is usually three letters explaining your suitability for the programme.

This is a similar process for both Canada and the USA. The only difference is that some schools in Canada require you to have a masters qualification before (unlike the USA which in most cases accept a bachelors degree). You can find this on the respective schools' website.

The good thing about the graduate school application system is because it's not one centralised system like UCAS you could in theory apply to as many schools as you want. However, you have to be careful about this for three reasons.

Although it doesn't look like many tasks to complete, each application will require a different statement of academic purpose as each programme will be slightly different (for example, you wouldn't send out the same personal statement to 10 different job companies). This means that it can be quite time consuming to do each application to the best standard that you would want it to be.

Each school has it's own application fee. This would range between $80-$100 where some schools can either be slightly less or more. Therefore, it can become quite expensive to apply to graduate school so apply carefully.

Each school usually wants three letters of recommendation. This means that your referees will need to submit each letter to each respective school. Although they will know the position you're in, they wouldn't be too happy to send it off to 20 different schools!

Let's discuss the letters of recommendation a bit more. Whilst it's good to have someone say how brilliant you were as president of the chess society, you should ideally pick people that know how you'd work as a researcher. This can range from your summer project supervisor right to your undergraduate dissertation supervisor. Also make sure you pick people that can put you in the best light as this can be seen as a very important part of the application. You can find more information here.

So what are these entrance exams you talk of?

Like the SATs are for undergraduate studies within North America, in terms of graduate school you are usually asked to sit the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). There are two versions: The general test and the subject test.

GRE General Test

This is the version which most schools will want to you take. This consists of three sections:

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Verbal Reasoning - Out of 170

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Quantitative Reasoning - Out of 170

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Analytical Writing - Out of 6

You will be given a score in each section depending on how you do in respects to everyone on that day. The good thing is that you don't do well on the day, you are able to retake the exam. However, be careful as some schools could ask to see your initial score. You can find more information about the GRE General Test here.

GRE Subject Test

For particular subjects, you will see that they will want to you take the GRE subject exam. This is to test more specialised knowledge that you have covered in your undergraduate degree. In regards to scoring, you will be given a standardised mark which has a total of 990. As there are fewer subjects that require this exam, there are less sittings that you can take and as a result you have less flexibility to take these exams. You can find more information here.

On each respective schools website, they will explain how they use these schools. Because you can apply after you have your score results this will allow you to make a wiser decision to ensure you apply to your strengths for your application.

Application fees and general financial worries

One factor that can deter people (as mentioned earlier) in respects to applying is the cost:

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Each school has an admin fee of $80-$100 for an application you make

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You then have to take the GRE for most schools. From the 1st July 2013 it's $185 for the general exam and $150 for the subject exam.

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Within your GRE entitlement you can send your score to four schools. Should you want to send it to more schools it would cost an additional $25 per school for each exam

Overall, you can see that it could prove to be quite expensive in terms of applying. However, some people argue that if you get an offer it can be seen as a wise investment.

Fees can be quite expensive in the US and Canada in comparison to the UK (Some going up to $35,000 per year). What makes the US and Canada appealing though are the funding opportunities.

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For a lot of the bigger schools (and some of the smaller schools), you will find that they will exempt you from tuition fees if you are applying to do a PhD. In exchange, they will want you do to some undergraduate teaching in most cases. For this part, the best thing to do is look at each schools' website. In addition, a lot of schools will also give you a stipend that will allow you to pay for accommodation and live a comfortable life.

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Whilst there was a cut to graduate funding, there are still a lot of scholarships that are available to UK students from both the universities and bigger funding organisations. An example is the Fullbright commission. They have been known to helping UK students with study in the US. You can find more information here.

As with finding funding for UK postgraduate study, make sure you get your research done well in advance as there will be a lot of opportunities that you can take advantage of. You just need to be fast!

So when is the deadline?

This probably deserves its own section. Unlike the UK where deadlines are a bit more flexible the US are extremely tight and most schools want applications in from the beginning of December. This means that if you want to apply, considering all the different factors that we've discussed you have to do your planning for quite a few months.

So after you've read this, you're probably thinking that it's a lot of information to take into. But with every application you make a lot of good planning can make the process much easier for both you and everyone else involved in the process. For general league tables, the US News have a good league table that also looks at subject tables. This can be found here.

You'll know that it was worth all of the effort when you get that letter in the post saying that you've been accepted into graduate school!

Best of luck!

(edited 10 years ago)