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Who are all the graduate students?
Reading this as a prospective graduate student, you will know exactly who you are. But what about the other half a million or more new graduate students considering studying internationally this year?
Some will already be known to you – you may work with them, have studied with them for your undergraduate degree or they may be friends from other aspects of your life. You may have met some of your more serious future graduate colleagues at one of the QS World Grad School Tour events last year.
The QS Applicant Research 2007 gives some clear indications as to who the new batch of graduate students might be and knowing this will help you prepare for your life as an international graduate student.
For those hoping to meet a life partner during the course of your study abroad, the QS Research presents some good news for you – slightly better news if you’re a woman looking for a man! 58% of respondents to the survey were male, while 42% were female. On top of that, 81% of respondents are single and only 17% have children. As to the age profile of the future graduate class, there were more respondents to the survey above the age of 30 (20.%) than below the age of 23 (11%). The vast majority of prospective students are between the ages of 23 and 27 (42%), with the youngest respondent in this year’s research being 19 and the oldest, 81.
It is likely that when you arrive at your chosen graduate program you will also discover that most of your fellow students, irrespective of the degree that they are pursuing, have worked before embarking on their period of study abroad. The majority of applicants responding to the survey have between one and three years work experience (44%). A further 21% of the survey have between four and six years work experience and 13% have between seven and ten years. Only 15% of all respondents have no work experience at the time of making their graduate application.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the distance of travel and the costs involved, your classmates will also be seeking international graduate opportunities on a full-time basis. Of those surveyed, the majority (76%) indicated they wish to pursue their future graduate program in the traditional way, on campus and full-time; only a very small number (12%) considered that a part-time basis was their first choice. Significantly, perhaps, despite the recent growth in the number of distance and online programs, only tiny numbers (4% and 3% respectively) were interested in studying graduate programs offered using either of these modes of delivery.
Finally, how long might you and your fellow students want to study for? The preferred period of study is largely concentrated into two main lengths, one and two years. According to the survey, a slight majority of candidates (42% of respondents) want to follow programs between 10 and 18 months in length, whereas a slight minority (36% of respondents) prefer to aim for programs between 19 and 24 months. Both timeframes indicate the predominance of interest for the Masters qualification, either on the Australian, Dutch or UK model of a year in length or the longer equivalent available in many countries in Europe and the USA. An encouraging number (14%) of you, however, indicate an interest in graduate programs longer than two years in duration, tending towards the more research-based degrees such as MPhil and PhD programs.
Just some of these top-line findings from the world of prospective graduate students indicate that, though there is an amazing breadth of interest in different academic subjects and study destinations, many of you have a great deal in common – perhaps even more than you might have thought. Of course, there’s only one real way to find out and that’s by actually studying!
