Consider Graduate School
Why consider graduate school?
Graduate school can be academically, personally and financially rigorous; however, graduate school also can make a substantive difference in your career and earning potential, for many good reasons, including:
Personal growth:
Greater employment opportunities:
Greater career advancement:
Financial reward:
Sense of accomplishment:
The feeling of personal satisfaction from walking across the platform to receive a master's or doctoral degree is overwhelming. The effort put forth to complete your studies, despite moments of doubt and uncertainty, will stand as a central character-building life experience.
Greater recognition and credibility:
Countless numbers of graduate degree holders have gone on to accomplish great things, and are afforded the respect and recognition they deserve and have earned. Unquestionably, an advanced degree makes a difference on a résumé. It says something about who you are and the dedication you have to your chosen field.
(Source: U.S. News & World Report)
How to get started
To make certain that you have a clear sense of how you want to proceed once you've completed your undergraduate work in sociology, check into the appropriate preparation work now. Talk to professors and graduate students about graduate school possibilities. Excellent pre-graduate advising services are available through the UC Davis Student Academic Success Center's Pre-Graduate/Professional School Advising program as well. You also can investigate various graduate programs on your own.
Department of Sociology faculty members serve as an invaluable resource when preparing for graduate work, so talk with them. Faculty members are well versed in how to proceed with preparation for graduate work, they can make recommendations about which institutions to consider and they can serve as a sounding board for your ideas and plans. Furthermore, faculty members may write letters of recommendation for students with whom they have developed a rapport.
Connect with sociology graduate students. After all, they recently went through the graduate school admissions process and can describe their experiences thus far in graduate school.
Be sure to use all available resources in your deliberations about an advanced degree program. If you need help choosing the master's program best suited to your goals, or, if you are interested in Ph.D. programs, talk to a Department of Sociology faculty member.