Options after graduation

Graduation for many seniors is not the end of their academic career. Many choose to continue onto graduate school to pursue a career that requires more skills and potentially earn more money.

Other seniors might see graduation as the end of their academic path and the start of their desired career.

“This is the time for [graduates] to make a plan, make sure they are wrapping up loose ends for every single course,” said Juan Rodriguez-Nieto, director of the Career Center. “Visit the Career Center. … They need to make sure that they know what they want to do once they get their degree.”

The Career Center provides graduates with assistance that can be tailored to every student, depending on where they are at, Rodriguez-Nieto said.

The Graduate College at UTRGV can also be an option for any graduate seeking more skills.

“Most people should really be planning to go onto graduate school because of the current job environment where it’s required [to have] higher and higher skills to get into good jobs,” said Dave Jackson, dean of the Graduate College.

Although some graduates might want to take a break between undergraduate and graduate studies, it usually creates two problems.

“The first one is life happens. … You get involved in so many activities, careers, some students go on to start a family,” Jackson said. “What you find is that you continually delay the process, you know, you plan to take one year off or two years. The next thing you know, its five or more years.”

He said the second one is a module of opportunities cost. The quicker students get a graduate degree, the quicker they will find a better job and enhance their earning potential.

Students graduating with an undergraduate degree might find graduate studies difficult because they require a higher level of work.

“Graduate school is completely different from undergrad,” Jackson said. “One of the things that is significantly different is that you find that you have to do a lot more intensive work. Obviously, [it] includes a lot more research. … You may be required to do a lot more team-based work.”

After deciding to go to graduate school, there are several things students should do.

They should identify which programs in which they are interested and the deadlines for admission, plus all of the requirements, Rodriguez-Nieto said.

There are several requirements to apply to the UTRGV Graduate College and they vary by programs.

Jackson said the main requirements are an undergraduate degree, preferably with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.

“You can be considered with a lower GPA, but then you are not as an attractive candidate and depending on the program, you might not be able to get in because of the demand for that program,” Jackson said.

Depending on the program, test scores will be required. For example, students pursuing a master’s in business administration or accounting are required to take the Graduate Management Admission Test or the Graduate Record Examination

The minimum score for a GMAT is 400. For the GRE, students must earn a minimum score of 146 on the verbal section and 146 in the quantitative. There are several waivers for the test, such as an undergraduate GPA of 3.8 or higher on a 4-point scale, according to the Graduate College website.

Most graduate programs might need students to submit a résumé or curriculum vitae and two to three letters of recommendation. A lot of programs also require a personal statement, Jackson said.

“That’s where you clearly articulate what your goals are and how this grad program is going to help you to achieve those goals, those career objectives,” he said. “Show how you are an ideal candidate. … Again, these are the deal breakers. These are the things that can mean a difference between you getting in or you not getting in, especially if you are a weak candidate in terms of your academics, your GPA.”

Other students, such as Eduardo Galarza, a mathematics senior with a teacher’s certification for grades seven through 12, prefer to start their careers right after their undergraduate degree.

“I would like to start working as a teacher as soon as possible,” Galarza said.

He is considering going to graduate school, but in about one or two years, at most.

Jackson said not to pick a career because it looks exciting or it has tremendous earning potential.

“Talk to people in the field,” he said. “Your professors can be helpful, but it probably would be better to talk to practitioners in the field because they will be actually working in the field. They know what it is like.”

Students who have no plans to start a career after graduation or go to graduate school are encouraged to visit the Career Center.

“All of these students are going to realize very soon that they have to do something,” Rodriguez-Nieto said. “If they requested student loans, they are going to get a letter real soon stating that they have to start paying their loans and they need to have some income in order to pay those loans. We can coach them, we can guide them.”

Vicente Martinez, an accounting senior, said that after graduation, he plans to be more involved in the community as well as look for more jobs related to his field.

“I am going to acquire my CPA, which requires me to complete 150 hours,” Martinez said.

Martinez said he plans to attend graduate school.

“For my career, they are seeking people with a master’s degree,” he said. “So, I talked to my mentors and they told me, ‘If you don’t have a master’s, we are not going to hire you.’”

On the Brownsville campus, the Career Center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday in Cortez Hall 129. In Edinburg, the center is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday in the Student Services Building.

The Graduate College office is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday in Sabal Hall 1.202 on the Brownsville campus. In Edinburg, the office is open at the same times in Marialice Shary Shivers Building 1.158.