Northeast Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation

Graduate Students

Making it Through Graduate School

by Dr. Edray H. Goins *

Being a graduate student in math, science or engineering can be a confusing experience. You have to worry about taking classes, passing exams, and choosing an advisor. However, it can be a rewarding experience because it will help in preparing you for the next stage of your career. We've compiled some information which can assist in making sense of it all.

Courtship in Academe: Choosing an Advisor

It's best to think of choosing an advisor like choosing someone to date. There are three key points you'll want to remember.

Look for a Potential Life Partner

Your advisor will determine your career as a graduate student: (s)he'll help you secure funding, write letters of recommendation, and assist you in finding a job upon graduation. Can you work with this person for several years? Will you be able to trust this person when things get rough? This professor may be conducting interesting research at the moment, but will (s)he be sympathetic to unforeseen problems in the future? Try to speak with the professor's current students to get a feeling of what the professor is really like as an advisor. The more candid the discussion, the better.

Make a Good First Impression

When you're ready to approach a potential advisor, be aware that your reputation precedes you. It's not just about you approaching the faculty member for the first time and asking him/her to be your advisor, but it's also about what the faculty member will find out about you from his/her peers. You know that class you're taking right now? You'll want to get good grades and excel on exams so that your potential advisor will hear from your current instructor that you're a great student to have.

Always Have an Alternate Plan in Case the Relationship Fails

Even after you've chosen your advisor, things might not work out. If the professor doesn't have tenure (s)he may not be around the university for long; the professor might switch to a new university even if (s)he does have tenure. Would you be willing to follow the professor? There may eventually be a personality conflict. Have at least one other faculty member you'd be willing to work with.

Funding Your Education: The ABCs of Graduate Fellowships

Just because you're in graduate school doesn't mean you can't apply for graduate fellowships. If you're in your first or second year of graduate school, you can always apply for those fellowships everyone told you to apply for when you were an undergraduate, whereas if you've been in school longer there are other types of fellowships you may qualify for. The former are known as predoctoral fellowships, while the latter are dissertation fellowships. (We'll discuss postdoctoral fellowships later; they involve employment after students finish their degree.)

There are many fellowships which are geared specifically for women and minorities beginning a graduate program, working towards a doctorate degree. The National Physical Science Consortium has a fellowship which offers between $12,500 and $15,000 per year. The Ford Foundation has a fellowship which offers $17,000 per year. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has a fellowship which offers $27,500 per year. These are stipends which you place in your pocket; the fellowship programs themselves cover the full cost of tuition.

If you don't fit neatly into the category above, don't fear. There are other types of fellowships which can help. While most of the money available is for students working towards their doctorates, there is money available for students working on a master's degree. The National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science (GEM), for example, has a fellowship for master's degree students which offers $10,000 (whereas the fellowship for doctoral students is $14,000). On the other hand, if you're working on your doctorate and are close to finishing, but have run out of departmental funding, you can apply for dissertation fellowships that help to pay for the final two years of your program. The Ford Foundation, for instance, has one which offers $21,000 per year.

Life After Graduation: Securing Employment

Just because you have a graduate degree doesn't necessarily mean you'll get a job. You should have a plan of action upon completion of graduate school, just as you had a plan of action upon completion of college. Such plans work best if you think a year in advance.

Typically with a master's degree, students look for corporate employment. You don't have to apply for a job a year in advance, but you can look into which companies are hiring, and even start to talk with potential employers about opportunities. Keep an eye out for departmental seminars featuring a speaker from a company you may have an interest in; you may want to contact that person when you're ready to apply. Attend conferences and spend some time meeting the recruiters even if you're not applying for a position; typically the same people recruit year-round, so when it comes time to apply they'll remember who you are. Get a summer internship; not only will this give you an advantage in the hiring process, but you'll have extra income as well!

Typically with a doctorate degree, students look for employment with a college or university. Colleges are more likely to hire students directly upon graduation, whereas universities are more likely to hire students with more experience in research. If you wish to work for a research-oriented university you may wish to consider first working for a research institute; such positions are known as postdoctoral fellowships. If you're in biology, you may wish to consider the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California. If you're in chemistry, there is National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, MD. If you're in mathematics, there is the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) in Berkeley, California; and the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. If you're in physics, there is Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Batavia, Illinois; and European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland.

* Dr. Edray Herber Goins is an instructor of mathematics at the California Institute of Technology located in Pasadena, California. While a graduate student at Stanford University, Dr. Goins was an active member of both the Black Graduate Students Association and the Chicano/Latino Graduate Students Association, organizations with more than 150 members across various disciplines, where he served in positions such as Treasurer, Secretary, Vice-President, and President. Dr. Goins is currently an advisor to the Black Graduate Students Association at Caltech.