Donald Asher, author of nine books on career development who regularly gives presentations at more than 100 major universities around the U.S. each year, shared strategies with BYU-Hawaii students in the September 25 Career Services forum on how to land scholarships, take standardized tests, stand out from the crowd and write amazing essays to gain admission to highly competitive graduate school programs.
Asher, making his first appearance at BYU-Hawaii, started out by saying, "Let's face it: a bachelor's degree today is what a high school diploma was 25 years ago." Though a bachelor's marks an accomplishment for the recipient, he described it as an "entry-level ticket" in today's competitive global economy. "So graduate school is necessary for continued career advancement to the professional level," he said, adding that specialized areas of study and careers such as doctors, lawyers and social workers require graduate education.
"If you know what you want to study, then you're ready to go. You do not need perfect certainty," Asher continued. He also encouraged those interested in doctorate degrees to "just go for the Ph.D. Forget about the master's. The reason for that is about the money," he said, emphasizing that more financial support is available for doctoral than master's programs.
Another reason, he added, is that according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLC) figures, people with a master's degree earn about $400,000 more than those who did not. "That's your return on a master's degree. The return on a Ph.D. is $1.3 million," while the BLS category of doctors, lawyers, dentists and veterinarians "will earn $2.3 million more than people who stopped at the bachelor's degree."
Asher recommended making the decision to go to graduate school as early as possible, and suggested using Petersons.com for a list of every accredited program in the U.S., then narrowing the search into a "list of possible schools" and getting faculty advice on them. "Don't be so geographically determined," he advised. "Look at the faculty [at those schools]. If you're not impressed by that faculty, don't go there. Fit and match becomes very important."
He also pointed out that programs and departments have reputations, not universities, at the graduate level. For example, "the writing program at the University of Arkansas is better than the writing program at Harvard," he said.
Asher said the concept of admissibility is important. While top law and business schools routinely admit only about 10% of applicants, "nationwide on average about half of the people who apply to a graduate program are going to get admitted to the typical school. I want to stress something, that admissibility is not directly related to quality." He also suggested the students submit at least six applications divided equally among three categories of graduate programs in:
- "Safe" schools that want you to stay and will give you financial assistance.
- "Maybe" schools that fall in the middle.
- "Reach schools...where it would be a miracle if you are admitted. The thing of it is, I've worked at this long enough to know that miracles happen."
"For most of you, this will get the job done," Asher said, but for medical school he added that 12 is median number of applications hopeful candidates send, which should be submitted on the first day, and no later than the first half, of the deadline month — usually June. For top law and business schools, he said "you want to apply in the first third" of the time window." He also stressed that financial assistance dates often fall in advance of application deadlines;
Other advice Asher offered:
- Correspond with faculty in the target school, and be familiar with their work and publications.
- Visit the graduate program.
- Submit a work sample.
- Even if a student's grades are not the best, or test scores fall below the minimum, apply anyhow. "They always admit students with scores below what they say. Never self-select out." He noted, however, this point doesn't usually apply to law schools.
- Give a copy of your portfolio to faculty members who are writing you a letter of recommendation.
In reference to finances, Asher pointed out that "private schools are frequently cheaper than public schools"; and though it can be nerve-wracking, students do not need "to know how to finance graduate school at the point of applying. You'll find the money," he said, suggesting for example that research, teaching or graduate assistantships are often based on "faculty relationships" and include full waiver of tuition plus a stipend.
Focusing on loans, Asher said, "It does pay to borrow money to go to graduate school. It is a prudent decision," but he suggested "borrowing the minimum to meet your needs. Loan officers will push money at you that you don't need."
Later in the afternoon, Asher also gave a presentation on "career launch," based on his book, How to Get a Job with Any Major.