In the US, the best graduate schools are very competitive and tend to admit only the cream of the crop. Usually, these institutions only get the cream of the crop, so they have a very small graduate student population. Still, many students want to apply to these institutions because they believe they will get the best kind of instruction there is for their chosen field.
Health
In 2008, the University of Washington was commended for its excellent nursing program. At rank three, The University of Pennsylvania, another competitive graduate institution, has an acceptance rate of 21%. And in the case of Washington University, acceptance rate is at 67%.
Education
Graduate degrees are very specialized. One of the most specialized graduate programs is in the area of education. Advanced education degrees focus on different aspects of education such as educational theories, educational administration, and educational psychology. As of 2008, the Teacher’s College of Columbia University has the most competitive teacher’s program. Its acceptance rate is only about 48%.
Social science
The Social sciences are broad by convention therefore varying universities excel for a particular graduate program. However, some top-ranking universities are noted for their very selective admission standards. For example, Stanford tops the Psychology program and holds an acceptance record of 11%. Harvard, which also has one of the country’s most competitive political science program, presents a lower acceptance rate at 9%.
Engineering and the natural sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) offers some of the country’s best graduate programs, so MIT receives hundreds of applications every year. To maintain a low student-teacher ratio, MIT overall acceptance rate is only 14%, which ranks it as the most difficult university to enter with respect to the fields of engineering and the natural sciences. To ensure that it only gets students who are capable of coping with the rigorous academic demands of its programs, MIT looks for applicants with SAT math scores above 700.
Humanities
According to experts in the field, Harvard University has one of the best graduate programs in English. Yale offers the best History program according to a huge number of respondents. Princeton, the University of California – Berkeley, and Stanford also have competitive graduate programs in the Humanities.
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Becoming a professor’s research assistant certainly has its perks. Earning an advanced degree can be costly and taking a full-time job is sometimes not an option especially if you have decided on a much heavier load for a certain term. Being a student assistant or a research assistant gives a degree earner more time to focus on his or her studies while earning a bit more cash to pay for some of the miscellaneous expenses. Here are some of the advantages of being a research assistant:
Gaining relevant experience
A research assistant allows one to have relevant work experience on the career path that he or she will soon have. Being exposed to actual research makes one check his or her compatibility to the chosen field.
Research work also provides hands-on experience, which is essential if one wants to become a productive academic. With this hands-on learning, you can put into practice all the theories and facts you have learned in your classes. Translating the technical stuff to real work will definitely be beneficial on the part of the RA.
Financial rewards
Although it is a fact that being a research assistant does not earn one a hefty amount of money, it still allows a person to earn by doing actual work while learning at the same time.
Enriched learning
Acting as a professor’s research assistant, one gets the opportunity to read original manuscripts or materials which are not usually open to the public. Having read information from the original source provides better insight on a particular field or subject.
Other benefits
Studying in a different state may cost more compared to state locals. Non-locals working as research assistants may be granted reduced rates in return for their services.
Well-performing research assistants may eventually receive scholarship proposals from professors or universities in honor of the services and hard work that had been duly given for a particular work. This is not rarely practiced as universities and those from the academe recognizes true potential in students.
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