Guide to Getting Into Graduate School > Researching Graduate Schools

• First, visit the website of the school to which you are interested in applying. Find the graduate catalog, size and makeup of the school, and information about facilities, labs, libraries, health services, and housing.
• Verify that the program you are interested in is APA accredited. If it's not, contact your advisor for help. In some situations, the APA will not offer accreditation to a program on a technicality, even though the program is still well-respected. If the program is APA accredited, then you're in good shape. If it's not, your advisor will help you sort out whether or not this is a program to which you should apply.
• Read the publications by the professors at a school. If their research interests match yours, it's probably a good school to apply to.
• Via Facebook or e-mail, talk with graduate students at the school. Do they like the program? What are their career plans? Some schools are even setting up student blogs where students share their experiences and will even answer questions.
• Investigate the school's reputation. Find out where they rank.
• Talk with the faculty at the school. Visit the campus if possible.
• Talk with alumni from the school. Where are they now? Talk with employers who hire people with the degree you are interested in obtaining.
• And of course, use the AlleyDog.com Graduate School Search Engine to gather information about graduate schools.

Find out what your chances are of getting accepted. In particular, answer the following questions:

• How many were accepted last year? How many applied?
• What is the lowest G.P.A. that is considered for acceptance?
• Does the school look closely at a single score, such as the GRE Quantitative section?
• What is the lowest GRE score that is considered for acceptance?