Finding the Program that’s Right for You
As it originally appeared in the 1994 edition of the Guide
Karen Kidd and Ande Spencer
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Any reference book is only as good as the use you make of it. Although the guide that follows is packed with information, we realize only too well that: (1) its list of programs is probably incomplete; (2) its information will be obsolescent before it leaves the printer’s office, and even more out-of-date by the time it reaches your hands; and (3) it supplies only the basic objective data, and leaves to you the more important task of evaluating the actual character and quality of the programs. We have gathered the information in this guide to help you get started, not to limit the scope of your inquiry.
As graduate students ourselves, we realize how daunting and mystifying the search for “the right program” can be. Although you learned a lot about the selection process when you chose your undergraduate institution/s, that knowledge will no longer suffice. You need to learn the new, and often unwritten, rules of graduate education.
The best source of information about graduate school is usually the Women’s Studies
faculty with whom you have already worked and developed rapport; seek them out, tell them what
you’re looking for, and ask their advice. Trips to the campus library and bookstore can also yield a
wealth of information. Beyond the standard reference books on graduate programs, you will also
find self-help books like Paula Caplan’s recent Lifting a Ton of Feathers: A Woman’s Guide to
Surviving in the Academic World (Toronto, 1993), which supply practical suggestions and point you
to other books and articles that can be helpful. Friends and friends-of-friends may also be a
valuable source of “inside information” about specific Women’s Studies programs and professors.
Still, there are a few things that everyone needs to know. When applying for undergraduate
study, you probably gave serious consideration to the academic reputations of the colleges or
universities you wanted to attend. But since graduate education tends to be focused at the
departmental or program level, you now need to give more weight to the strengths of individual
Women’s Studies programs and their faculties. Excellent programs can exist at fair-to-middling
schools and mediocre programs (or worse) can exist in some of the finest universities. When you
complete your degree, people in the field are likely to estimate its worth by the caliber of your
program, not simply by the name and reputation of the institution where it is located.
Also of paramount importance in graduate education is the working relationship between faculty and students, so before committing yourself to a program, you need to learn everything you can about the members of its faculty. Go to the library and find out what books and articles each has published, then read the book reviews and letters to the editor that followed publication. (If you don’t yet know how to do a thorough literature search, ask your reference librarian for help. Now is the time to learn!) Talk with people you know to see if any of your faculty or friends is personally acquainted with the scholars whose work most interests you.
Then, having done your homework, take the initiative to establish personal contact with the
professors with whom you might like to study. Write down a list of questions and pick up the
telephone. If possible, schedule an appointment to meet with the professor in person, but, at the
very least, talk with her/him by phone. Professors will probably be eager to give much more time
and attention to prospective students who have been accepted by a number of programs and need to
decide between them than they will be willing to give to individuals who have not yet applied
anywhere. So it is helpful to make contact at least twice---once before you apply and again after
you have been accepted, when you are making your final choice. Although department secretaries
can be enormously helpful and informative (building a good relationship with the secretary will
yield countless dividends in any program!), you should nonetheless be wary if professors are
inaccessible and you find yourself stonewalled at the secretary’s desk.
After you have established contact with a faculty member, your questions might include
some of the following: What does your program look for in prospective students? What does your
program offer its students? What do you think are its strongest and weakest points? Approximately
what percent of applicants are admitted? Of those, what percent are typically awarded fellowships
and/or assistantships? What percent of students who enter your program actually finish and how
long does it generally take them to complete their studies? What do you typically require of
students in your classes or seminars? Do your course requirements reflect the typical expectations
of your faculty colleagues? Do faculty tend to promote competition between students or are the
relationships between students relaxed and cooperative? How do you, personally, like to mentor
your students? How do the relationships between students and their academic advisers typically
develop? Do you feel pressured to work closely with more students than time allows, given the
demands of your teaching and research? Are you tenured and do you expect to stay in this program
indefinitely? Are you planning to be away on sabbatical in the foreseeable future? How successful
have you been in helping your students find funding for their research? and in helping them find
employment when they finish their studies? Can you arrange for me to talk with some current
students (or recent graduates) who have interests and/or backgrounds similar to mine? Is there
attention to issues of diversity and difference in your program and can students like me expect to
find networks for peer support? What are your current research projects? Would you be interested
in working with a student whose interests include [list your interests] or is there someone else in the
program that you could recommend I contact about work in these areas? How is Women’s Studies
situated within the larger university, i.e., does it have all the faculty, program funding, space, and
library resources that its students need? Is the university committed to Women’s Studies and to the
work of women students more generally, or is the program situated in the midst of a chilly climate?
In asking such questions, remember that you have the right to know, and that attracting and
advancing students is an important part of any professor’s job. Although the list of possible
inquiries is endless, by making them you will also gain substantive insights that can be discovered
in no other way. Pay attention to the quality of your interactions with prospective mentors and heed
your personal, intuitive reactions. We’ve all heard stories about superb scholars who are horrible as
teachers and downright abusive as mentors; and we’ve all seen situations in which a simple
mismatch of temperaments has made it difficult for a student to succeed. Ultimately, you are the
only person who can judge whether the programs and professors that look best on paper will really
be the best for you. Your choices and options are many and we wish you the best of luck!