Making Good Use of Junior and Senior Year

Most good graduate programs will expect applicants to have taken certain courses or developed particular skills prior to admission. For this reason, it is important to take upper-level courses that will lay a firm foundation for graduate study. This means choosing your major with care and, in some circumstances, devoting some of your electives to rounding out your background in the field. The exact nature of these prerequisites will vary according to the subject and the institution. For example, virtually all graduate programs in economics require a minimum of four semesters of college-level mathematics (Calculus I, Calculus II, Multivariable Calculus, and Linear Algebra). If you want to get a graduate degree in economics and you have not yet taken some of these courses, make sure that you fit them into your junior or senior year. Likewise, students interested in philosophy or literature or history or political science must have acquired a critical mass of knowledge that will support advanced study in the field.

Graduate programs in many subjects from history to political science to area studies require at least a reading knowledge of one or two modern languages appropriate to the field. Although students are usually allowed to take some language courses during graduate study, these are often in addition to the regular courses required for the program. Even if you have already passed your proficiency exam, you would be well advised to continue work in your first foreign language or to begin studying another to prepare for graduate work.

No matter what specialization you plan to pursue in graduate school, you should go out of your way to hone your writing and research skills during your undergraduate career. The best way to learn to write better is to write a lot. If you have a chance to write a senior thesis for your concentration or an area studies program, take it. When choosing classes, look for those that require one or more papers. Make it a rule to do one or more drafts of a paper before turning in a final version. Use the Writing Center. Ask your teachers for critical feedback. You may need a polished, finished writing sample to turn in with your application, and one of your class papers (or a thesis written in connection with the Krogh Scholars Program, an honors program in your major, or an area studies certificate) might serve as the basis for this.

For more information about graduate school, please see your dean or your faculty advisor.