Many people look at college as a 4-year job requirement. Others, however, choose to enroll in graduate school after they get their bachelor's degree.
Auburn University offers graduate degrees in more than 100 areas.
Chris Anthony, the graduate school's communications and marketing specialist, said graduate programs are more intense than undergraduate programs.
"You delve even deeper into the subject matter," Anthony said. "Really, it is for students who are really adept at critical thinking and problem solving. Those are the kind of students we encourage to apply to graduate school."
Recently, many of Auburn's graduate programs ranked high on U.S. News and World Report's list of best graduate programs.
Online graduate programs in Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, Auburn University's College of Education and Samuel Ginn College of Engineering were among the top programs.
According to Theresa Morgan, director of graduate admissions, criteria for admissions depend on the school.
"It varies by program," Morgan said. "The graduate school looks at your GPA, and if you're an international student, your English proficiency scores. For departments, however, it varies by program and they have a wide array of criteria. They can look at your grades, your prior research, letters of recommendation, if there is a professor in the same area of research, things like that."
George Flowers, dean of the graduate school and professor of mechanical engineering, said the graduate program application process differs from the undergraduate application process.
"Graduate applications are processed at two levels," Flowers said. "The way undergraduate applications are processed, they are really processed centrally, independent of the colleges and schools. A student applies to graduate schools, and we receive those applications. But the individual departments first review those applications."
According to Flowers, Auburn's graduate programs stand out.
"Auburn has outstanding graduate programs in education, English, the sciences, business, the humanities and the social sciences," Flowers said. "They are really good across the board. The goal of those programs is to provide a positive experience to the students and you can receive a very good grad education."
Even though they are based on the same campus, Auburn's undergraduate and graduate programs are different in a lot of ways.
Kara White, graduate student ambassador for pharmacy, said graduate school is slightly more difficult.
"You have to meet the requirements and you're held to a higher standard," White said. "It's more of a relaxed setting, but it requires more of you than undergrad does."
White said she has advice for people who are starting out in graduate school.
"Get to know your professors," White said. "Your classes are small enough so you can meet them. Also, get to know your colleagues. They probably have a lot of valuable insight for you."
Tausif Muzaffar, graduate student ambassador for computer science and software engineering, said it is important for graduate students to balance their social life with their education.
"Make sure you keep a good balance," Muzaffar said. "I know it's easy with grad school to get caught up in your research or your projects. Luckily, I went to undergrad at Auburn, too, so I knew people, and I knew what everything was like. Of course, it's important to stay involved and to stay on top of things, but it's easy to get fatigued from working so hard."
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