Customer Reviews

The Grad School Handbook

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This book is perfect to give you a first glance of what is grad school like, how the admission process works and which are or are not good reasons to seek a higher degree. There is information, specifically about the admission process, which does not exist anywhere else. The only problem with this book (and others of this kind) is that it intends to cover too much and does not go deep into any topic. For example, it goes through Med school admissions, for which there is better information on many other specialized books. On the other hand, if what you're looking for is a true overview, this might be perfect for you.

If you're looking for the real thing in Ph.D.'s and M.S.'s the book you need is Robert L. Peter's "Getting what you came for". It is even recommended by the authors of the Grad School Handbook.

I was disappointed to find this book geared more towards students who were returning to school rather than to the undergraduate seeking a higher degree. There were certain areas that were extremely helpful, while other sections were almost discouraging to the prospective student. There were sections that provided some insight into writing the statement of purpose and financial aid sources, but still seemed to be geared towards either students seeking Ph.D's or students returning to school after a period of time. I have to say I was a disappointed.

It goes without saying that deciding to take graduate course is one of the most serious decisions in your life. It means you decide the path the rest o life will follow. For such a critical matter, any amount of information shouldn¡¯t be enough. You should do your best in collecting information to decide whether to enter the graduate program, which school you would enroll, how you could get into that school. It¡¯s not easy task at all and demands your time and money. This book is written to help you in that process. This book opens with recommending reconsidering whether the graduate program is the right one you should choose Once you are determined, you should think what will lie in your way such as how to fund your course, how to choose the right school. And then you should prepare to documents such as application form, the statement of purpose (SOP) or essay, transcript, recommendation and GRE or GMAT score. These papers are decisive in whether you could get into wanted school and there are some rules you should keep.
This book offers you how to start the process. Yep other similar material would help you get through it. But the beauty of this book is this: this book show you how those papers would be considered in the department. In other word, this book illustrates the process from the insider¡¯s view: who read the papers and how they evaluate them. Knowing the criteria of your reader is definitely helpful to win the admission notice. And that, authors took interviews of professors and students to depict the real process.
This is a small book and you need other books to win the process. For example, you¡¯d better read some other book on writing SOP. But this is ultimately the right place to begin with.

The Grad School Handbook covers it all, from the application process to getting funded. I was very impressed with the author's practical knowledge; their behind-the-scenes explanation of how the applications are truly processed and evaluated is indispensible. They also do a very good job covering ways to get funded through school. If you only buy one graduate school quidebook I'd recommend this one. Their advice definitely helped get me into graduate school.

I think this book still makes much sense when you come to the fork of your studies though it was published one decade ago!

This book regurgitates information that can be found in most undergrad books. There is very little information that is specific to grad school. If you have applied to undergraduate school, you already know most of what you need to do to apply for grad school. And unfortunately the things you may not know will not be found in this book. The book offers no help for people applying to PhD programs. PhD programs are very specialized. Most require interviews and an essay that is very specific to your possible dissertation topic. I was hoping the book would give me advice for how to write such a complex essay, the application process, and interviews. Nothing. very basic. My previous professors were more helpful in this department than any book I have bought or checked out. After some research and asking several people, I realized that I would need to submit my entire 80 page Master's thesis, not just a small writing sample. Wish this book stated that somewhere!!! Also, a key component to applying to Masters programs, especially PhD programs, is not just picking a program because a program sounds good, or is Ivy league, but rather there is a professor or professors you want to study with, as well as many classes and professors in your specialization (for instance, an art history major who wants to study installation art would look for a program that has many classes and professors in modern and contemporary art history). This book does not point these things out.

Definitely not for someone applying to a PhD program, and not even that helpful for Master's programs.

I just happened to find this very book written by such a very experienced educator and professor. I have not yet got a chance to read this book, but I know the authors so well that I believe this book must be great! The authors had extensive experience in grad school education and had recruited and taught many bright, outstanding students, some of whom are among the best of our days now. I was lucky to be the one he picked up among hundreds of candidates and he had unfailing confidence on me so that I could perform exceptionally well, partly due to his far-sightedness in recruiting and continual support and partly due to my advisor's strong support. I am so glad to know the author could share his experience with us and I believe his book should be a must read! I will definitely read it and provide more comments later. Please feel free to write to me if you have any questions about the authors.

I just happened to find this very book written by such a very experienced educator and professor. I have not yet got a chance to read this book, but I know the authors so well that I believe this book must be great! The authors had extensive experience in grad school education and had recruited and taught many bright, outstanding students, some of whom are among the best of our days now. I was lucky to be the one he picked up among hundreds of candidates and he had unfailing confidence on me so that I could perform exceptionally well, partly due to his far-sightedness in recruiting and continual support and partly due to my advisor's strong support. I am so glad to know the author could share his experience with us and I believe his book should be a must read! I will definitely read it and provide more comments later. Please feel free to write to me if you have any questions about the authors.