How-to find the best master’s program for you
Leah Williamson, Contributing Writer
Jane Smith is a college junior and she has to decide which master’s degree program to choose. Many of her peers have known, from childhood, exactly what they want to do and where they want to go. For Jane, however, the decision is more difficult. With hundreds of degree programs to choose from, Jane has been reduced to an anxious puddle of tears over which program to pursue and millions of other college students are in her shoes.
The path to finding a fulfilling career might be difficult and with hundreds of degree programs to choose from, the decision can be daunting. However, it doesn’t have to be that painful. If you think logically and know your interests, the decision can be exciting and fulfilling.
Each student will take a different path to determining which master’s program is worth his pursuit. However, here are a few simple steps to choosing the right master’s degree program for those who don’t know where to begin.
First, pray and ask the Lord for guidance. This is not a one-time thing. Commit a certain amount of time to seek guidance from the Lord whether it is a week, a month, or longer.
Next think about your passions and look for career paths that coincide with them. Ask yourself “can I see myself doing this job for the long term and will it make me happy?” Hannah Brokaw asked herself this question when deciding on whether or not to pursue a degree in Clinical Social Work. She determined that the answer was “yes” and has been happily serving in Eastern Tennessee ever since.
Keep in mind, your master’s degree can be a deviation from your undergraduate. While it is good to have a solid foundation from a bachelor’s before pursuing a master’s, it is not always imperative for that bachelor’s degree to be in the same field as your master’s. Stuart Floyd MBA, who is the Director of Campus Ministries and Student Engagement at North Greenville University, said that degree diversification can, in some instances, be a positive benefit.
If your undergraduate degree is in education but you like working with children 1-on-1 then you can pursue a Master’s degree in Psychology and work as a school psychologist. While your master’s will not fully align with your undergraduate degree, it will compliment that degree and give you a well-rounded basis of experience.
Also, you can have an undergraduate degree in nursing and want to pursue more learning about nursing and healthcare. This means you may want to pursue an advanced degree in nursing to become a nurse practitioner or nurse manager or get a master’s in another health science field.
Either way, it is imperative to know what your passions are in order to find a program that is best suited for you. If you struggle with this, ask someone you trust to tell you things that they have noticed you take an interest in. This will give you a starting point to determining your interests but understanding your true passions will come with more self-reflection.
Second, make a list of priorities that you want in your degree program from most important to least. This list will vary from person to person and will help you determine what is nonnegotiable in a program. Some things to consider for this list are items like finances, location, prestige of the program, and timeframe.
If you know what master’s degree you want to pursue early in your undergraduate career then it is possible to obtain your bachelor’s and master’s in 5 years via a dual-degree program. This, also, applies to dual master’s degree programs. Journalism students can pursue a joint masters where they will graduate in four years with a master’s in mass communication and a law degree.
Another item that might be high on your list is finances. Many master’s students take a break between their undergrad and master’s because they have other obligations like jobs and families to consider. This would make programs with scholarships and graduate assistant jobs stand out since there are less opportunities for financial aid offered to master’s students.
A quick warning for this step is to not make your list too exhaustive. Consider things like location but don’t make the list so detailed that you refuse to go to a school unless it has it’s classrooms painted blue. Making the list too exhaustive will decrease your chances of finding a good school and increase your anxiety levels.
Third, now that you have a tangible list you can filter through programs and find the ones that best fit your criteria. Start with the most important point on your list and work your way through until you have schools that meet every, or almost every, criteria.
Hannah Brokaw, a Clinical Social Work Master’s student at East Tennessee State University, said “The biggest factor was location for me. I liked east Tennessee and wanted to stay here.” Therefore, in making her decision, she started with schools that were located in that area and then moved on to schools that had her specific program.
Next, she looked at the schools with the best financial opportunities. As she went through her points, her pool of schools significantly decreased until she had the program that best suited her specific needs.
Follow this same thought process and it will make the weeding out process much more simplified. This takes a lot of stress out of staring at a screen full of thousands of potential schools and instead transforms it into a simple, easy to manage checklist.
Fourth, now it’s time for the hard part. You are left with, hopefully, a handful of programs that check the boxes off your list and you have to choose the one you want to attend. If you have one school that fits everything, that’s great. On the other hand, if you have a couple of schools to pick from, this is where you can get picky.
Weigh the pros and cons of each school. Does a school not have the nice blue painted classrooms? No. Then take it off the list. If you’re lucky, you won’t have to get this picky to see which school is the best fit.
Once you’ve looked at every little detail, you can decide which one is the best fit for you and apply. Make sure that you check the application requirements, though. Some master’s programs require you to take a standardized exam to make sure you are qualified to make it into the program. Mr. Floyd tells students who are looking into master’s programs to take the GMAT or GRE exams before applying to their desired program.
See? That wasn’t so bad. It’s all about the details (literally). If you know that you would like to pursue a master’s degree then you’re halfway there already. Make sure you’re pursuing your passions and stay organized. This will help you in the decision-making process as well as help you when you are actually in the program.
Take the time to make the lists and compare each program to it. One program will shine through the rest. Mr. Floyd said that “if you can do an undergraduate degree, you can do a master’s degree”. So don’t let the fear of the unknown hold you back and take the joy out of pursuing your master’s like it did for Jane. Good luck to you all as you decide which path is the right one for you.
