9: Demystifying Grad School Myths

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Hi everyone. Today's topic is on demystifying grad school myths. So what I'm going to do today is I'm going to cover seven different myths that are really common among folks who may not know as much about graduate school. I'm going to be debunking them or demystifying them in hopes that it will help you clarify any concerns that you may have with regard to applying to grad school.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Okay, so the first myth is: I have to get a master's degree before applying for a PhD program. This is not necessarily true. There are certainly many programs that do and don't require a master's degree to apply. But for that, you do have to do a little bit of research to find out. But it's definitely possible to start a PhD program where you don't necessarily have to have a master's degree. In fact, I went straight into a Ph. D program out of undergrad, and I technically never got a master's degree because that was a degree that didn't offer a Master's. So in my case, I have a PhD, but I don't have a master's degree. And that was okay. So definitely check out the programs. And you'll see that there will be several programs that are just masters, some that will be master's/PhD programs, which means that you're going to get your masters along the way as you get your PhD. And then there are some that are just PhD only programs. So definitely check them out in your discipline to find out whether or not it's required, optional or not needed at all, for you to get a master's degree before starting a Ph. D. program. That was myth number one.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

All right, the next myth, myth number two: is I don't have a perfect GPA, or I don't have a perfect GRE score. I'm not going to get into graduate school. I hear this a lot from my students, because of course, none of us are perfect. Some students have low GPAs, or have GRE scores that they don't think are strong enough for their programs. And I just want to say that, yes, those things are important, but only to an extent. The admissions committees are looking at your application holistically. They're not just looking at grades. They're not just looking at GRE scores. They are looking at all components of your application. And so that's why I emphasize a lot with my students that they need to focus on strengthening their personal statement, their statement of purpose. They need to make sure that they get recommenders who agree to write them not just a letter of rec, but a strong letter of rec. They want to have some research experience, especially for PhD programs. For master's programs, you can certainly get into master's programs without as much research experience, especially if you have some work or life experience to compensate for that. But in any case, even if you have a low GRE score or a low GPA, there are ways in which you can actually address that in your statements. There are ways that you can actually ask your recommenders to address that in their letters. And so I would say don't let your GPA or your GRE score get in the way of you applying to graduate school. If it's not perfect, if it's not great, you know, it's okay. You can still certainly apply and get in somewhere.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Alright, so myth number three: it's too expensive for me to go to graduate school and I can't afford it. I hear this all the time from the students that I work with who are low income, students that come from working class backgrounds. There's this impression that getting a PhD is going to cost you, you know, hundreds of thousdands of dollars. And while admittedly, it can cost up to that much, it can cost you six figures to get an advanced degree. There are lots of opportunities for funding in graduate school. Especially for a PhD program, you shouldn't have to be paying a single cent.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

I would definitely have you consider internal and external opportunities to get your studies funded. I know that I've mentioned this before in a previous podcast episode with regard to funding packages for PhD programs, where you can get funding in the form of fellowships, in the form of TA ships, in the form of part- time employment. A lot of times, these opportunities pay for your tuition and your fees. So you shouldn't be having to pay out of pocket. Yes, admittedly, you get less funding oftentimes for master's programs. But there are still ways to get the bulk of your funding covered without having to take out loans. Don't let that be the reason why you don't apply to graduate school, because you think it's too expensive. There are ways you can afford it.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Okay, myth number four: I didn't do any research during my undergrad, so that means I definitely can't go to graduate school. I hear this less often because I work with McNair Scholars who are required to conduct research in undergrad. But I've actually seen this happen even among a friend. I had a friend who was interested in going into, I believe it was a Labor Studies master's degree program and she didn't have any research experience. She thought: there's no way I'm gonna go to graduate school and do this, because what can I show for what I've done? At that point, I was a first or second year in graduate school when I was giving her advice. What I told her was to take a look at her different set of experiences and see in what ways she's gained experience that could be an asset to that program. Yes, admittedly, if you have research experience, it does make you a more competitive applicant. But you really have to take a look at the programs that you're interested in because it's not a requirement for all programs. Some master's degrees are very applied. Some of them are technical, or the whole point of the master's degree is to get you a job right out of the master's degree. They may not necessarily want research experience. Maybe they want some work experience and that's something that you have. Also a lot of master's programs, and also other programs called post baccalaureate programs, "post baccs," those are there to intentionally help you fill this gap for PhD programs. If you know:I don't have a lot of research, I want to get a PhD. Maybe it's a good idea to consider master's programs and post- bacc programs that are going to help you fill that gap.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

All right, we're getting closer to the end. This is myth number five out of seven. This myth says: it's actually best if I go to grad school right after undergrad. This may or may not be the case. So I will admit, I work with McNair Scholars. We are grant funded, and we're required to get a certain number of our students- in fact, it's 85% of them- to go into graduate school right out of undergrad, go into a post baccalaureate program right out of undergrad. And so of course, we strongly encourage them to go, and we've been preparing them all along. However, this is not everyone's scenario. Not everyone gets to do this two year grad school preparation program. Depending on your situation, maybe you need a break. Maybe you're burnt out. Or maybe you know that in your field, you need a certain number of years of work experience before you can even consider applying. Or maybe you're the type of student- maybe you were like me- who needed that academic push, the momentum, the accountability of being a student to apply to graduate school. For those students, it's really good for them to apply to grad school while they're still in undergrad and go straight in. I knew in my situation, I didn't have a job that I could just fall back on if I didn't go to graduate school. I knew I couldn't move back in with my mom, with my parents. And so for me graduate school was my only option because I couldn't see myself doing anything else. But again, for you maybe having a few gap years for work experience might be a good thing. Just take a look at your circumstances to truly determine what would be best for you.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Alright, myth number six: I have to choose a graduate program that is in the same field as my undergraduate major. I think this is a really silly myth, because a lot of people make this assumption that oh, whatever I am going to major in, that's going to be the end all thing. That's gonna tell me exactly what I'm going to do in terms of graduate school and my job. But in actuality, I remember reading something and I'm probably not remembering the statistic exactly, but something along the lines of, I think it might have been 75%, but don't quote me on this. A good majority of people end up with their jobs and careers that have nothing to do with what they majored in, in undergrad. That's true for me. I majored in English literature. And now it's like, if you tell me to quote any of them, I probably wouldn't be able to quote, you know, these dead white men that I studied in undergrad. Then in graduate school, I studied theater and performance studies. And what do I do now? I help run a McNair program, and I conduct research on mothers of color in academia. Very different from what I studied in undergrad and in grad school. Going back to the myth: I have to choose a grad program in the same field as my major. No, you don't. I know, it can be a little tricky when you're writing your essays trying to justify why you're jumping from one field to another. But it definitely can be done. I did it, and I'm constantly advising students on how to do it if they're definitely interested in making the switch. It's all about framing it in the right way, where you're being honest about how you got from this one discipline to the next, and how you've prepared - or plan to prepare- for that next discipline. So yes, definitely, you can switch fields from undergrad to grad school.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

All right, the last myth. This one, it has to be a myth, because, okay, I'll just say what the myth is. The myth is: all graduate students are highly intelligent. I'll just tell you this: one, I personally don't feel like I'm the most intelligent person. I think that the reason why I say this is one, I'm very forgetful. I have a very bad memory. But two, not only am I forgetful, but I have always associated myself as someone who's very hard working. And you know, of course, there's a part of it that has to do with imposter syndrome, which kicks in every now and then. But I didn't realize that growing up that hard work, the work ethic in me, was my way of continuing to develop almost like a growth mindset, like oh, if I keep working hard, I'm going to keep getting better at something. And that was true for academics, at least for me. But I never felt like I was intelligent, even though people would tell me: oh, you know, Yvette you're so smart. I never felt that way. But maybe you are smart. Maybe you feel like me. But you don't have to be a genius. You don't have to be someone who's had this calling ever since you were a baby to do what you're doing. All you have to do is be willing to put in the hard work. Be willing to remain resilient, to keep your motivation. These are the characteristics that are going to get you through graduate school. Graduate school is really challenging, and you need to be diligent. You need to be able to just see through the course. To see failure as something that happens, but quitting shouldn't be an option. I guess, yeah, it really is about at the end of the day, about dedication, about perseverance about hard work. It's not about how smart you are, because yes, you will have a couple of exams in graduate school, but you will have more than enough time to prepare for it. Again, it goes back to all of your hard work and not so much how much you can memorize in a short period of time. So I suppose those are the seven myths that I wanted to share today.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Actually, those myths I'll share a little bit more. I didn't come up with them. It was part of a handout that I helped to create and to edit as part of an event that I organized at UCSB last year and the year before. This event was called "Thriving, Not Surviving: Navigating Higher Education as a First Generation College Student." This was a panel and mixer aimed to bring together undergrads and grad students to have them talk about their shared experiences as first generation students. We thought that, aside from having a set of grad student panelists, and aside from having a mixer where everybody could do a speed networking session and have multiple rounds of meeting new people and getting advice from them, it would also be helpful to share this handout with these myths. And so these are the myths that we came up with. I'm sure there are plenty more, but these are the seven that we can come up with at that point. If you know of any myths, or if there are some things that you're thinking about with regard to graduate school that you think may be a myth, definitely let me know and I'd be happy to add it to this handout. All right. Thanks so much for listening, and I'll see you next time.