Psychology at Sweet Briar

 

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DO YOU PREPARE FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL
AND A JOB IN THE SAME WAY?

The two most common options available to college graduates are finding a job or going to graduate school. Therefore, a question they often ask their academic advisers is: "How do I get into graduate school?" or "How do I get a job?" These questions should be addressed early in an undergraduate's college career because the answers are often very unpleasant if the student has not engaged in appropriate career-planning activities during the first and sophomore years and carried through on these plans as a junior and senior. The first step in this process involves the student's decision to pursue (1) a career that requires a graduate degree or (2) a job in a field for which graduate education is unnecessary. The second step is to determine the set of factors that will increase the probability of success in that career plan. The third step is to maximize these factors. To assist academic advisers in their attempt to help students answer these questions and maximize their chances of post-graduate success, Milton, Pollio, & Eison (1986) performed a survey of "362 representatives of business and industry who were actively involved in interviewing and hiring college graduates" and 500 college faculty from the areas of natural science, social science, the humanities, and pre-professional programs. The task of the members of these samples was to rate the importance of each of the factors in the following 15 item lists on a 1 to 7 scale depending upon "the value or degree of importance they placed on each of the 15 possible pieces of information when reviewing the materials submitted by recent college graduates for either employment in their firm or for admission to graduate school." The two following lists are arranged in descending order of these ratings.

Business Representatives College Faculty
1. Personality of student 1. Grades in major courses
2. Grades in major courses 2. Number of difficult courses
3. Nature of noncollege jobs 3. Samples of student writing
4. Overall grade point average 4. Letters of recommendation
5. Breadth of courses taken 5. Publications, honors, awards
6. School/Recommender reputation 6. Breadth of courses taken
7. Breadth of life experiences 7. School/Recommender reputation
8. Extracurricular activities 8. Standardized test scores
9. Publications, awards, honors 9. Overall grade point average
10. Number of difficult courses 10. Breadth of life experiences
11. Samples of student writing 11. Personality of student
12. Affirmative action needs 12. Contributions to the school
13. Contributions to the school 13. Extracurricular activities
14. Letters of recommendation 14. Nature of noncollege jobs
15. Standardized test scores 15. Affirmative action needs

It appears from these lists that employers and graduate schools put emphasis on very different factors when they weigh the qualifications of newly graduated college students. A quick check of the top five factors indicates that employers appear to be most impressed with job applicants who possess a good personality, earn high grades in both their majors and a wide variety of other courses, and have relevant employment experience outside the college environment. Graduate schools are most impressed with undergraduates who earn high grades in their majors, take difficult courses, are good writers, earn high recommendations, and have publications, honors, or awards to their credit. Undergraduates should study these lists very carefully during the early stages of their college careers when they are engaged in initial career-planning activities. Their willingness and ability to successfully attain these factors will have a profound effect upon their chances of post-graduate success.