Here’s the thing, I really like school. I really like learning, and I really like college. I enjoy constantly feeling like I am smarter today than I was yesterday. So what does one do when they never want to leave school and senior year is already flying by? They apply to graduate school.
Come to find out, applying to graduate school is extremely expensive–more expensive than it should be. Let me break it down for you. First, there’s the Graduate Requirement Exam. That’s the exam you have to take in order to be considered when applying to graduate schools. Consider it the “SAT of higher learning” of sorts. It’s a basic knowledge test, one that you apparently should be able to pass after four years of college study. That test is $115. One hundred and fifteen dollars. And boy, is it a test.
According to ets.org, the company that oversees general tests such as the SAT, PRAXIS, and TOEFL, “The GRE revised General Test is the only admissions test for graduate or business school that lets you skip questions, change your answers and have control to tackle the questions you want to answer first.” Wow, I think, this sounds great! A four-hour general knowledge test in which I have the ability to do something that I feel should be an educational right. Ladd Raine, the Training Coordinator for Residential Life at Plymouth State says that the GRE isn’t so bad. “I think the biggest thing is that the preparation for it is awful, but it’s pretty redeeming when do you well. And most people do,” he claims. Let’s hope I do well enough the first time to not have to pay $115 twofold.
The following hurdle that prospective graduate school students have to tackle is the infamous application fees. The application fee to Harvard University, which happens to be my top choice, is $85. When I was combing through the “Click Here for more Info” pages on the Harvard Graduate School’s website, that $85 fee was hidden in the fine print, clouded by prestigious namedrops and promises of higher academia.
According to US News, the average application fee for the 28 most expensive colleges in the United States is $77. The University with the highest application fee in the nation is Stanford University, clocking in with a $90 application fee with not even a discount for online applications. If we’re going to talk about averages, the average amount of money in my bank account on a weekly basis is just embarrassing in comparison.
For the sake of examples, say that you’re going to ace that GRE on the first try, then send out applications to your top five graduate schools. What’s that cost going to look like? Let’s do the math:
$115 GRE test + the application fees for your top five graduate schools, (which will average out to around $385)=$500.
Brenda Shively, a Plymouth State University senior, is in the process of applying to graduate school. After four years of education at PSU, she wants to branch out and apply to schools outside of New Hampshire. Her top choice is Tufts University. The graduate application fee to Tufts is $75. “It sucks,” Shively begins, “That’s the word. Absolute, complete, and total suckage–financial, emotional, and stress inducing suckage.”
Graduate School is expensive. And any of you PSU seniors out there considering it are probably thinking the same thing. There’s got be a way to do this without breaking the bank though, right? Well, with a little creativity and a lot of sweet solicitation, I think I’ve found a way. More on that next time.
Here’s the thing, I really like school. I really like learning, and I really like college. I enjoy constantly feeling like I am smarter today than I was yesterday. So what does one do when they never want to leave school and senior year is already flying by? They apply to graduate school.
Come to find out, applying to graduate school is extremely expensive–more expensive than it should be. Let me break it down for you. First, there’s the Graduate Requirement Exam. That’s the exam you have to take in order to be considered when applying to graduate schools. Consider it the “SAT of higher learning” of sorts. It’s a basic knowledge test, one that you apparently should be able to pass after four years of college study. That test is $115. One hundred and fifteen dollars. And boy, is it a test.
According to ets.org, the company that oversees general tests such as the SAT, PRAXIS, and TOEFL, “The GRE revised General Test is the only admissions test for graduate or business school that lets you skip questions, change your answers and have control to tackle the questions you want to answer first.” Wow, I think, this sounds great! A four-hour general knowledge test in which I have the ability to do something that I feel should be an educational right. Ladd Raine, the Training Coordinator for Residential Life at Plymouth State says that the GRE isn’t so bad. “I think the biggest thing is that the preparation for it is awful, but it’s pretty redeeming when do you well. And most people do,” he claims. Let’s hope I do well enough the first time to not have to pay $115 twofold.
The following hurdle that prospective graduate school students have to tackle is the infamous application fees. The application fee to Harvard University, which happens to be my top choice, is $85. When I was combing through the “Click Here for more Info” pages on the Harvard Graduate School’s website, that $85 fee was hidden in the fine print, clouded by prestigious namedrops and promises of higher academia.
According to US News, the average application fee for the 28 most expensive colleges in the United States is $77. The University with the highest application fee in the nation is Stanford University, clocking in with a $90 application fee with not even a discount for online applications. If we’re going to talk about averages, the average amount of money in my bank account on a weekly basis is just embarrassing in comparison.
For the sake of examples, say that you’re going to ace that GRE on the first try, then send out applications to your top five graduate schools. What’s that cost going to look like? Let’s do the math:
$115 GRE test + the application fees for your top five graduate schools, (which will average out to around $385)=$500.
Brenda Shively, a Plymouth State University senior, is in the process of applying to graduate school. After four years of education at PSU, she wants to branch out and apply to schools outside of New Hampshire. Her top choice is Tufts University. The graduate application fee to Tufts is $75. “It sucks,” Shively begins, “That’s the word. Absolute, complete, and total suckage–financial, emotional, and stress inducing suckage.”
Graduate School is expensive. And any of you PSU seniors out there considering it are probably thinking the same thing. There’s got be a way to do this without breaking the bank though, right? Well, with a little creativity and a lot of sweet solicitation, I think I’ve found a way. More on that next time.