What are your plans after graduation? Many students have no idea what they will be doing after they graduate from college with a bachelor’s degree and feel they are stuck in a rut.
“Six months before I graduated North Central with my bachelor of arts in journalism, I started searching for full-time employment,” said Stephanie Snyder, NCC graduate student.
“Nothing came of it until two months before graduation when Professor O’Donnell sent an email with a description about a graduate assistant opportunity in the Office of Marketing and Communications at North Central. When I looked up the description it said that I had to be enrolled in grad school in order to apply, so I applied.”
North Central offers graduate programs in Business Administration (MBA), International Business Administration, Education, Leadership Studies, Liberal Studies and Web and Internet Applications. They also offer an opportunity called the integrated program for students who are still completing their undergraduate courses, but want to get a head start on their graduate degree.
“It’s individuals like Kay O’Donnell, who is phenomenal as an academic advisor, who recognize a student that fits that profile (early on) and know they need to work towards a master’s degree,” said Frank Johnson, director of Graduate and Continuing Education.
The integrated program is available to any student who is a sophomore or junior and who is interested in obtaining their master’s degree. All the graduate programs, with the exception of the education program, are eligible for the integrated program.
“In an ideal world, as somebody is finishing their sophomore year, that’s when they need to start thinking about the (integrated program) as they create their schedule for the next year,” said Wendy Pochocki, director of Graduate Admission.
In order to be considered for the program, the student must have a GPA of 3.3 or higher. Once the student qualifies for the program, the student will then chose their classes for their junior and senior years with the ability to take classes that count toward their undergraduate degree, as well as their graduate degree. The remaining classes that would only count towards a graduate degree would be taken during the fifth year of the student’s schooling after they have received a bachelor’s degree.
Pochocki added “Those classes that count towards both the bachelor’s degree and master’s degree can fit easier into the puzzle during the junior year and then it’s just thinking strategically where to fit the other classes for the senior year. It becomes challenging when someone is already in their junior year and has their schedule set for the year.”
Having the option to take graduate level classes as an undergraduate student allows the student to avoid paying graduate-level tuition, because they would be paying the undergraduate tuition and still be receiving credit towards a master’s degree. The students also still have the opportunity to study abroad, complete internships and be involved athletically by being accepted into the integrated program.
“The integrated program is really a benefit,” Pochocki said.
The integrated program is something the department wants to highlight to the students on campus, but also the graduate programs as a whole.
“It’s an amazing opportunity for our undergrads, I mean two degrees in five years, that’s pretty impressive,” said Nicole Arient, assistant director of Graduate Admission.
“We find that we are attracting many more of what we consider our ‘traditional’ age graduate students of 22 or 23-year-olds,” Johnson said. “There is that comfort zone and ability to navigate the institution.”
Graduate students also have the option to continue to live on campus, if they choose to. The only requirement is that the student must be full-time and to be a full-time graduate student the student must be scheduled for two classes a term.
“Most of the classes are scheduled to meet in the evenings, that way the student can continue to work their part-time job during the day,” Pochocki said. “Working a part-time job and going to graduate school is very doable.”
After many hours spent in the classroom as an undergraduate student, the thought of going through more schooling may steer students away from graduate school and continuing their education, but there are benefits.
“There are so many benefits to attending grad school at North Central, but the few core ones are the flexibility, the content and the personal challenge,” Snyder said. “If I had to give advice to someone about grad school, I would say that if the opportunity is there, take it. Getting more education is ultimately going to benefit your future career and your life in general.”
Click here for more information about North Central College’s Graduate programs or visit their office located on the first floor of Old Main.
