What should I do after I have been accepted?

Success! You have received a letter from at least one school offering you admission into a graduate program. What do you need to do now? It is quite acceptable, even expected, that you will contact the graduate program director either by e-mail or by telephone to ask questions about your offer. If you have been accepted at more than one school, you will need to look carefully at the different schools to see which one will be the best fit for you.

Investigate the financial aspects of the offer

The basic issue is the take home pay after tuition and taxes have been paid. So you will need to know whether the stipend offered has tuition and/or fees subtracted and if taxes have been paid; if you have to pay some tuition and/or taxes, you will need to consider this in terms of what the stipend offers for your living expenses. The cost of living (housing costs, transportation costs) can vary substantially from place to place. It generally costs more to live in a big city than a small university town. You may especially want to explore the cost of renting an apartment (local newspapers are good sources and may be available on the web) or if there is university housing available (the university web page should include a link to housing information). Medical insurance is important and can cost over $1,000 per year for a single person, more for a married couple and even more if you have children. So you should ask whether medical insurance is covered in the offer and, if not, how much it will cost you per year to obtain medical insurance offered through the university. There may be other aspects of the financial offer that you want to ask about.

What are the work load expectations

It is common for new students to be offered a teaching or research assistantship. Such assistantships have work associated with them - either teaching class or working in a research laboratory. Make sure you check on the time expected for these activities. Commonly an assistantship requires about 20 hours of work per week averaged over a semester or term. However, a research assistantship that involves your own thesis work normally carries an expectation that you work on your research when you are not taking classes or studying for exams. In this case, the expectation can be much higher than the 20 hours per week.

Overall success of the program in graduating students

It is good practice for a graduate program to provide prospective students with information that will be helpful in deciding whether to accept an offer of admission. Unless provided, you should request information concerning: the number of full time graduate students currently enrolled; the average time for students to complete their degree; the fraction of the students who enroll that complete the Ph.D.; and the types of jobs obtained by recent graduates of the program. And don't be hesitant to ask about other program outcomes that are important to you in making your admissions decision.

The record of success with minority students

Whether or not you are a student from a group underrepresented in graduate education, you may want to investigate the number of such students currently enrolled in the program and the history of success of these students in this program. Such information reflects the program environment, the opportunity to work with a diverse group that broadens and enriches the experience of all students in the program, and the help provided to students to be successful.

Visiting the institution

If possible, you should visit as many as possible of the institutions that have made you an offer of admission before making a decision to accept an offer. Inquire whether the school will pay at least some of the costs of a visit, many will, especially if asked. Make sure during your visit to speak to as many graduate students in the program as possible. Ask them how they are enjoying their graduate experience. They can give you very useful hints about costs, quality of instruction, work expectations, and program environment.

Choosing a mentor

This will be one of the most important early decisions that you will have to make. Check the program web site or catalogue to make sure you know all the areas of scholarly and research interests of the program faculty, and which ones are available to serve as mentors. Faculty listed who may have retired or may retire soon will likely no longer be accepting graduate students to mentor. Find out which faculty members have external grant funding; these are more likely to be able to support graduate students as research assistants, which can often shorten the time to complete the degree.

You probably will be assigned a faculty advisor to help you as you begin graduate school. This will likely not be the person who will supervise your thesis work and serve as your primary mentor throughout most of your program. Therefore, you should get to know as many faculty as possible soon after you arrive , which may be the first time you will need to show initiative and responsibility for your own program, but it will not be the last. Some departments have a formal program that allows or requires students to interview or to work with more than one faculty member before selecting one as a mentor.

You can find additional advice about choosing a mentor and similar useful information at the following web site: http://smi.stanford.edu/people/pratt/smi/advice.html

Preparing in the summer

After attending an undergraduate institution and mastering its academic culture, you will now be attending a new (or in some cases the same) institution that very likely has different expectations of graduate students. In general, graduate programs are more demanding academically than undergraduate ones. You will be expected to be more independent and to work harder. It is useful to spend some time in the summer reviewing your undergraduate work, especially that related to your graduate discipline. Some programs will allow you to start your graduate work or to take some courses in the summer and may provide a summer stipend. Generally this is very helpful as it provides an opportunity to learn about the school and the program in a somewhat more relaxed atmosphere.

Other useful advice about finding your way in graduate school and beyond is contained on the following web site: http://eaton.math.rpi.edu/Graduate/guide.html

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