


Beyond Undergrad
Trying to decide on your next step or know that graduate school is in your future but aren't quite sure how to navigate it? Down below are resources designed to help you plan your future and help you prepare for it!
graduate School, Yes or no?
Trying to determine if graduate school is the right choice for you can be time consuming and at times, confusing. We have provided a brief flow chart to help guide if graduate school is the right choice or not. However, there are many things to consider and we have provided other resources and tips on this page to help you even further.
Tips
Start your search for a potential professor as early as you can
​If you want to start graduate school the following school year (no gap year), at the latest, start looking before the Fall term of your last year in school so you can…
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Give yourself time to determine if your potential mentor and university are the right fit for you
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Check if they have funding or taking in new students for the year/term you would like to start
Applications for Graduate Schools are Typically due in December, so it’s Important to know…
Who you would like to work with
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Reach out to them as soon as you know you would like to know more about their research
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Have meetings with them, get to know them, and check the vibes out!
Where you would like to go to school
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Can you imagine yourself living there?
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Given that tuition is covered and a livable stipend is provided, can you afford to live where the university is located?
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Rent will most likely be the biggest aspect of it
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​Ex: google “corvallis oregon apartments for rent” => look through listings, and consider costs for utilities and basic necessities => Would you use all of your stipend each month? Or would you be able to save some each month?
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What you would like to study (i.e., subject, master’s or PhD)
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Knowing what you like to do can make it easier to search for a potential advisor/mentor
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It also helps the potential mentor determine if what they do can be a right fit for you
What your goals are
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Do you want to learn more about a subject? Techniques? Modeling? This also helps your mentor have a better idea of what type of projects they have where you can reach your goals. But it also can help you in your search for a potential mentor
If you haven’t found a professor to work with, that’s okay, not all schools require you to have something lined up with a professor before you apply
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Most schools on their website will state what they suggest, some, however, will require you to have already contacted a professor and/or list potential faculty mentors
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Applications have a fee, so really consider if the program is the right fit even if you haven’t contacted someone
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A non-thesis program will most likely not require you to have a potential mentor, so it’s also good to have an understanding of what type of program you want (certificate, non-thesis or thesis master’s or phd)
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​OSU does offer a graduate school preparation course (GRAD 420)
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Master's first then PhD or skip the master's?
Some programs do not require you to have a masters degree before starting a Phd; however, some strongly suggest you do a masters first before going on to a PhD for various reasons
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Look at what career you want and look into the requirements; don’t do more work than what’s necessary to do what you want to do for a career
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​Talk to someone like the CEOAS Director of Graduate School Services, Robert Allan, or a professor where you can discuss what routes and options you have
If you like your potential mentor, reach out to their other students to see how they’ve found working with said mentor
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If you know graduate school is in the works for you, but you don’t know what you exactly want to do, it is completely okay to take a gap year or however much time to figure out what you want to do
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There’s a lot of things to consider, but most importantly, go with your gut!
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Questions to Consider for a Potential Mentor
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Do you have any projects that you’re looking to bring a student on?
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What type of work do you do? (i.e., coastal or open ocean, method of data collection or analysis)
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Do you use coding? What coding source do you use?
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​What funding is available?
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When could I start?
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​Sometimes professors will say that they’re not taking students for the upcoming academic year. For example, they could say that they’re not accepting students for Fall 2024, but are looking for students to start in Fall 2025
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Are there papers that you can read?
How to...
Email a Professor about Graduate School
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https://clasticdetritus.com/2015/08/21/how-to-correspond-with-potential-graduate-school-advisers/
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A good subject line => Inquiry: Graduate School F2024
Check if Graduate School is Right for You
Trying to determine if graduate school is the right path for you can be tricky, but knowing what you want to do in the future can help a lot in that decision making​. To help with that...
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Know what fields you potentially would want to work in
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Look at job listings in those fields and see what speaks to you, then check what they require
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If they require a master's but you have the experience and a very closely related bachelors, you may not need to go to graduate school (sometimes experience is more important than the degree)​
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If they're requiring a PhD, you will most likely want to go to graduate school, but depending on the subject and your comfortability, you might be able to go straight to a PhD program
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Figure Out What You Want to Do
There's many steps you can take to discover what you want to do in the future
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Informational Interviews - find someone in the field that you're interested in and reach out to them about meeting. Ask them questions about their path, how they've enjoyed their career, about the industry or anything else that helps you understand better if the career you're interested in, is actually option for you!
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Look at opportunities even if you're not eligible, these opportunities can give insights at to what type of skills, degrees or certification you would need
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Career Development Center - they're here to help you find the right resources to help you find the right path that you're after
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Academic Advisor / Program Head / Professors - CEOAS is a giant networking system, everyone knows some body either at OSU or somewhere else, they'll know who to point you towards or get you where you need to be
Graduate school funding
NSF Graduate Research and Fellowship Program (GRFP)
This is one of the biggest and commonly applied to funding programs for those going into graduate school in a STEM related field (https://nsfgrfp.org/). Students in CEOAS Oceanography program or anyone required to take Polar Oceanography will get practice at creating a GRFP proposal
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Resources:
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NSF Program Solicitation - this is updated yearly and can be found on NSF’s website
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https://futurerockdoc.com/blog/2020/6/19/the-nsf-grfp-advice-from-a-panel-of-awardees
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https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xoezGhbtcpg3BvNdag2F5dTQM-Xl2EELUgAfG1eUg0s/edit#gid=0
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Note: Students are able to apply before the start of their graduate studies (Undergraduate seniors) and as an early graduate student. Those that have their bachelor’s degree but no graduate study (i.e. those in a gap year) can apply until they enroll in a graduate degree program. As an applicant in a graduate degree program, you are allowed to apply once. The program solicitation highlights who are eligible to apply
Graduate Research and Travel Support
The Department of Geological Science at UF offers a good list of other programs that you can apply to for funding opportunities like Geological Society of America (GSA), American Geophysical Union (AGU) and many more
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Note...
These opportunities allow you to potentially bring in your own funding. Meaning if there’s a mentor you really wanna work with but they don’t have the funding to bring you on, these programs could potentially allow them to
Other Resources
CVs and Resumes
Creating CVs and resumes can be stressful and time consuming, especially if you don't have too much expereince with creating them. CVs are essentially a giant document that highlights everything you've ever done in a professional and academic setting. We reccomend starting with a CV as these can be quite large, but you can create a copy of it and create a resume that caters to the job you are applying to
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We are currently creating a folder that contains examples of CVs and resumes to better show how you can take your CV and narrow it down to a resume
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CEOAS Resume Samples
Potential Universities
The following document contains potential universities that have programs that may be of interest. It also includes some opportunities, like programs to become a marine technician, that are potential career paths
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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kt0FnGmKEt1FJhyI0ocRztSKjbcZv-RFkXNH9plCkcs/edit?usp=sharing
Possible Career Paths
The following document contains a list of possible career paths one can take within the oceanographic world. There are many career paths one can take beyond that of research.
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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EglZXqSl5iwsgVu5UpWPGND7AnCnubKiEIQG0nym8zc/edit?usp=sharing
The GradCafe
A site similar to Reddit where you can ask questions regarding applications​, graduate school and more. This website has forums for specific topics
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Academia Stack Exchange
A site similar to Reddit where you can ask question related graduate school, applications, internships and more​