Life After College—Graduate School

So this may be jumping the gun a little bit, but even in your first year of college, you’ll hear all sorts of plans for what happens after college—and for good reason! For those who are considering (or already know) that they want to pursue advanced education after their undergraduate degree, there is a lot of benefit of starting to plan out your strategy early. This can include making sure that you’re finishing all of your pre-requisites on time, that you’re strategically planning out your classes so that you have time to study for required standardized tests (MCAT, GMATs, etc.) and that you’re working with all the resources you need at school to set yourself up for success. It’s a lot. I know. But hopefully this post will get you started!

What Type of Grad Schools Are Out There?

“Graduate school” is a pretty general term, but all it means is any type of schooling that students can go to after their undergraduate degree to receive advanced degrees. Some advanced degrees are specialized in a specific career or industry (like medical or law school), some can allow entry into many different types of industry (business school) and if you decide to get a masters in a specific topic (like computer science) you can target that related career field after graduation.

For Medical School

This Might Interest You If… You want to be a doctor!

During School You Should... Focus on those required classes for a pre-med degree! Past students who were pre-med agree that the program is usually designed to have a “weed out” year, where there are many difficult classes that need to be taken simultaneously. This is designed to “weed out” students that either are not that passionate about this major, or don't have the aptitude or desire to perform this type of work in the future. The classes that students report having the most trouble with are organic chemistry and

Just FYI... Most students will have to declare pre-med as their major (it’s very rare that you would be accepted to medical school without a pre-med undergraduate degree). You will have to take the MCAT! Most students choose to take this during (if you want to go straight into med school) or right after their senior year (if you want to take a year off first). The test requires a lot of preparation, so know that this will be taking up a large portion of your senior year.

For Law School

This Might Interest You If… You want to be a lawyer!

During School You Should... Join clubs and affinity groups that would be helpful for a future law degree. Although not a requirement, many students that go on to law school get undergraduate degrees in political science, international relations or philosophy. Many students also opt to get double majors or a major and a minor in order to help guide the type of law they want to go into (political science with a minor in international relations for international law).

Just FYI... There is not a strict undergraduate major requirement to apply to most law schools. You will have to take the LSAT during or immediately after your senior year (similar to an MCAT) however, so please be aware that you will be preparing for that your senior year.

For Business School

This Might Interest You If… You know that you want to go into a business field (accounting, management, consulting)

During School You Should... Join clubs and affinity groups that will help you build your resume. There is no undergraduate major requirement to apply to business schools. There is a misconception that in order to go to a “good” business school, you have to also be a business major for your undergraduate degree (bachelors degree), however, this is not true. Business schools select candidates from a wide variety of undergraduate backgrounds and specifically try to build a class with variety. Additionally, they will prioritize interesting work experience over your undergraduate experience since they prefer candidates with experience (see more below).

Just FYI... Getting an MBA is very different than going to law school or medical school because successful candidates here will graduate from their undergraduate institution and take a few years to go into the workforce to gain experience before applying for an MBA program. MBA schools specifically look for the quality and duration of a candidate's work experience because they want to build a class that can have interesting class discussions—which is hard to do if you don’t have any work experience. 

This being said, many schools have something like a “2+2” program. These programs go by different names, but it generally means that your undergraduate institution allows high performers to apply to a program where you’re guaranteed admission to the business school two years after you graduate. University of Chicago, for example, has such a program where candidates apply their senior year, provide their scores and grades, and (if accepted) are guaranteed admission into University of Chicago Booth School of Business two years after their graduation date.

You will have to take the GMAT, which is the standardized test for business school. However, some business schools now also accept GRE scores instead (a different type of standardized test). 

Other Advanced Degree Programs

This Might Interest You If… You have a specific field you would like to get into.

During School You Should... Explore different majors and even look at your school to identify what types of advanced degrees your schools offer and in what fields.

Just FYI... There are some specific advanced degrees majors that go into specific fields after graduation. Some examples include masters in computer science going into the tech industry (specifically software development and machine learning related roles), mathematics (or any specific math types) for future math teachers or English going into publishing or copy editing careers.

For obvious reasons, requirements here vary wildly. It is best to check with your individual program and school for the best way to prepare for these.