ONCE YOU HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED

You should confer with your faculty mentors and the Departmental Graduate Study Advisor as you decide which graduate school's offer you should accept. Ideally your decision should be based on the overall quality of the faculty, programs, and research facilities. Be aware that a graduate school with a more established reputation for excellence may improve your chances of being hired afterward in whatever field you enter. Check the placement listing in Lingua Franca or other sources to get a general picture of the kinds of institutions where recent graduates from the programs on your acceptance list have found jobs. Check the catalogues of Holy Cross and other college and universities to see where faculty in your field did their graduate work. You will also have to weigh financial considerations. For example, you may have to choose between a more prestigious graduate school, that offered you little or no financial aid, and a somewhat less competitive school that gave you more funds or a teaching assistantship. For personal reasons the location of a school may also affect your decision.

Be rather cautious about selecting a graduate school on account of one or two distinguished faculty members in a certain field with whom you would like to study. They may be away on leave or otherwise unable to work with you, or you may become more interested in another specialty. Many factors may have to be weighed, and you should confer with several faculty mentors before deciding which is the best school for your particular needs, interests, and career plans. The faculty you consult may not agree--finally it is your decision.

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