Hi. In this module, I'm going to talk about how you can choose between PG programs, the sorts of things you should be looking for once you've decided what kind of PG program, research based taught etc., the kinds of things you should be looking for when you're comparing the possible programs to which you might apply. So, when you're looking at taught master's programs one of the most important things you'll want to look at carefully is - are the courses actually being taught by regular faculty. So, some institutions have a strong emphasis on trying to make sure that the quality of the instruction in their taught master's programs is on par with the quality of the instruction elsewhere at the university and that the courses are taught by actual, regular faculty as opposed to part timers or others who are, in fact, just brought in to teach individual courses and perhaps don't have much in the way of a research career. Do the faculty have relevant expertise? So hopefully the website or other material for the taught master's program will not only identify whether or not the faculty are regular faculty or, in some cases, part timers or others who are not permanent faculty but it will also give some sense of their expertise, their research records and so forth and you'll be able to determine for yourself whether the people that are listed as instructors really have the right kind of expertise to be teaching the courses that they're signed up to teach. Another thing you should look at is whether the curriculum has structure and it's relevant to your needs. So, you'll find that some taught master's programs may have very unstructured curriculums where people simply come in and take a mass of electives with no real coherence and which may not provide any focus training in a particular area. Other programs that have been taught about more carefully will have more structure and will lead to the student developing specific skills that will either help them transition to a research based program or perhaps transition their career. Are the courses relevant? Again, this relates to the idea that the curriculum has structure. So, you may find that in some programs the courses that are listed are simply ones that the faculty feel like teaching. And again, there may not be any overarching attempt to give structure and coherence to the courses and there may be courses that are listed as electives that really have little to do with the goals of the program. Other better designed, more thoughtful curricula will make sure that the courses are all relevant and would lead to the development of the skills that are important for that program. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, we want to look at the placement record of the program. What happens to the people after they graduate? So, a good program should brag about its accomplishments. They'll hopefully have a website where they'll talk about some of the outcomes of the graduates or perhaps by talking to current students or recent graduates you'll get some sense of whether people are going on to good jobs or going on to good research based programs or perhaps not really making much progress in their careers. I would argue that you should focus on placement more than anything else. It's more important than the overall fame and reputation of the university and possibly more important than the fame or reputation of the specific department within the university. In a very famous universities which neglect their taught master's programs or treat them as revenue generating operations without much attention to things like the curriculum and the placement and so students may spend a lot of money and yet not have much in the way of outcomes when they're all done. So look, more than anything else, at placement. Now, when it comes to research based programs then there's a slightly different set of considerations. One is do you have relevant training and background? As I mentioned, research based programs tend to look for people that at least have some exposure, some prior training relevant to the focus of the program. They're generally not set up to take people that are, come from completely different programs and then retool them from scratch. It can happen. I'm aware of situations where people, for example, from physics or engineering went to graduate school in sociology. But, even in those cases people had something in their undergraduate career that suggested some preparation for such a transition. Perhaps they were involved in research. Perhaps they took a minor or there were some other extenuating circumstances. Again, programs will tend to look for people with a relevant background. You have a sense of a topic or question that you want to pursue. So, in a research based program you are going to have to write a thesis and that's going to require some independent research. Now, it may be that whatever you're interested in where you start the program may change but you should be motivated by a sense of question, some curiosity about some topic that is driving your interest in the research based program. This is the sort of thing the program will look for in considering admissions. They'll be looking for people that seem motivated by some curiosity, some question about a particular topic. Are you ready to work independently? So, one of the biggest predictors of success in a research based program is, in fact, independence. So, it's no longer simply sufficient to do exactly as you're told and do it well. You'll have to think of questions yourself and think about how to pursue those questions through independent research. Again, I would argue a very central or important concern is - what is the placement record of the program. So, you may have universities that are very famous. You may have departments that are filled with famous faculty. But again, what really matters at the end of the day is whether the students they are producing in their research based program are actually making the kinds of transitions afterward that they really are looking for. So are they transitioning to research based Ph.D. programs, good ones, or are they finding positions that, in government or the nonprofit sector, that make use of their skills and their talents. Finally, are you ready for a research based career? So again, if you're looking for just a better job, then a research base master's program may not be ideal for you. You should be thinking in terms of wanting a career that involves research in some aspect. Perhaps not an academic career but then perhaps working for a government agency or a nonprofit or perhaps a research organization where you're going to make use of the additional skills that you'll gain in a research based program. Finally, when it comes to research based programs, there's the Ph.D. and the most important question, of course, is whether or not you have the sufficient and relevant background and training. It's very unusual to go into a Ph.D. program if you have no prior experience in terms of course work or other training that connects you to the theme of the Ph.D. program. Are you committed to an academic or research career? I would suggest that unless you really want an academic or a research career probably not worthwhile pursuing the Ph.D. The Ph.D. will not lead to economic benefits. Most studies show that, if anything, people probably over the course of their lifetime lose money by earning a Ph.D. even if they become professors at decent universities. If you're going for the Ph.D. it should be because you want an academic or a research career and you understand what that means and you're prepared to make some sacrifices for it. If that's not what you're looking for, you should probably just stick to a research based master's program or perhaps a taught program. Don't go into getting a Ph.D. just for the prestige because you think it's what smart people do or because you don't have anything better to do. The other issue is - do you have a clear idea, a topic on which you would like to conduct research? Again, people's interests often change once they start a Ph.D. program but it's important to go in at least with some idea of a topic or a question that is motivating you. If you go in with no real interests in terms of a topic or question you may have a hard time. Again are you able to work independently? The biggest single predictor of success or failure, not just in research based master's programs but in the Ph.D. program, is ability to work independently. And finally, and I can't emphasize this enough - what is the placement record of the program? Are the graduates going on to academic or research positions at good universities or, at least, second tier universities or are they ending up in jobs that really have nothing to do with what they've just spent the last five or six years of their life doing? Now, when it comes to funding, there's a few things that you need to keep in mind. Again, as I emphasized before, you probably shouldn't expect funding from taught programs. For the most part taught programs are there to generate revenue for the university. They're really not typically offering much in the way of financial aid. They may offer some but it's not going to be very generous. Conversely, most but not all research based programs will offer or should offer some kind of funding. Be wary about going to a research based program if there's no funding associated with it. So, the funding may be in the form of scholarships, fellowships, teaching, or research assistantships but there should be something. Again, and I'll emphasize this or reiterate it - you really should think very carefully about using your own money to pursue a research based master's or especially a Ph.D. The research based programs are typically making investments financial aid in the students that they think are going to do the best, that are going to bring glory to their program by going on and having successful careers. If they're not willing to offer funding to you, then that probably means they've made an assessment and they may not be thinking of you as a likely success for their program. So take that into account. And again, another reason not to go under a research based program if you have to pay for it yourself, is that quite simply the salary that you'll make with a Ph.D. is probably not going to make up for what you have given up by taking five or six years out of your life to get the Ph.D. So if you do the Ph.D. it should be because you love research, you want to be an academic or you want to be a professor, but not because you think it will make you rich over the long term. Now, in terms of comparing or assessing programs, I want to reiterate a few themes that I just talked about. One of the most important, as I harped on earlier, is placement. So whatever program you're looking at, try to find out how they're placing their graduates. What's happening to their graduates after they finish? Are they getting the kinds of jobs, positions, or acceptances to taught programs that you are looking for? Does the program identify the actual instructors who are going to be there teaching and are they regular faculty? What are the publication records of the instructors and are they relevant to the topic, the focus of the program? And then, what do enrolled students and graduates say about the program? Enrolled students and recent graduates may be the best source of information about what really goes on in a particular program. Sometimes famous universities or famous departments may have programs that, because of their management and other factors, are actually not very successful and really producing students who go on to successful careers. And then for taught programs, you want to try to figure out for yourself - how desperate is the university for money. Some universities now, because of various kinds of funding cutbacks, are very dependent on their taught programs to generate revenues that are used to support the rest of the university. They are in a situation where they can't afford to turn people down and because they need the tuition money. And they may be accepting people who they even think are probably not qualified and are probably not likely to benefit from actually completing the program. So, be very wary and try to figure out what is the situation of the university. Some universities apply very high standards to their taught based programs and they watch over them very carefully to look for signs of abuse, to look for signs that they are being turned into revenue generating diploma mills. Whereas, other universities, perhaps because of their desperation, lack of funding may have a more relax or more lenient attitude to what the taught programs are doing. So, look into this very carefully before you invest a very substantial amount of money that may be required for a taught program.
