# Evaluating Degrees at college



## O'GodHowGreatThouArt (Feb 1, 2012)

Hey all.

For those of you who had several colleges to choose from for a Master's or Doctorate degree, what were you looking for when selecting degree programs?

Example: Let's say you were going for a Master's degree in English, and you had your pick of Harvard and Yale (using Ivy league to keep the ground as even as possible). Assume all other outside factors are equal and the tiebreaker has to be at the quality of the English program at the schools. What traits would you look for within those programs to help decide which way to go?


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## Ask Mr. Religion (Feb 1, 2012)

"Quality" MS degree tie-breakers:

- Well-known professors
- Thesis/non-thesis based
- Scheduled availability of courses required to complete degree in your personal time-frame (Not really "quality" per se but important to quality if you have to take other courses just to meet requirements that would not be of interest to you.)
- Practicum type courses required/optional

AMR


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## Scottish Lass (Feb 1, 2012)

I would add what sort of visiting professors they attract, availability of professors/mentors (helpful come dissertation time), maybe even job placement rates.


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## CharlieJ (Feb 1, 2012)

#1. FUNDING - It does not matter how good a school you go to if you're working full time, hedging on your classes, and falling into debt. Go to a cheaper school or go to one with more accessible scholarships.

#2. JOB PLACEMENT - This is the most practical indicator of excellence. There are some excellent schools that don't work hard at placing their grads, but any school that does consistently place its grads will be excellent.

#3. FACULTY - On a master's level, the precise people who will be teaching you are somewhat less important, since good schools will generally have good teachers. On the doctoral level, you want to choose a school for a specific person or group of persons whom you want to mentor you. PhD programs can take 4-9 years, so pick someone you want to be around that whole time.


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