This is a major question that many chemistry majors grapple with. In fact, according to a recent ACS survey, 47 percent of chemistry bachelor's graduates say they will continue with full-time post baccalaureate study. Close to 50 percent of those say it will be in chemistry or a chemistry-related field. For another 30 percent it's on for a medical or dentistry degree, and for another 7 percent, pharmacology. That's a lot of students going on for grad or professional school. But is it for everyone?

Not so, according to John P. Ranck, a professor of chemistry at Elizabethtown College, in Elizabethtown, Pa. and an undergraduate advisor. "I'm a little bit old-fashioned in this," he says. "I know the world today is very much career-oriented. We see it in the students here and especially their parents. My advice for years has been if you are happy performing and knowing your chemistry at the bachelor's level then go and be happy. But if when you sit alone late at night you have this desire to know and understand [chemistry] at a deeper level, then you must go to graduate school. Graduate study is an arduous task and if you're there for the wrong reasons, you're going to hate it. It's going to be distasteful and you're not going to do very well. It requires a great deal of compulsion on the students' part to stick it out."

Morton Z. Hoffman, a professor of chemistry at Boston University and an ACS workshop panelist, asks of his students contemplating graduate school: "Do you enjoy being in school? Do you like taking courses and exams, both oral and written, doing research, reading chemistry papers, and spending lots of time without lots of income?" And if the answer is "yes" to all or most of the questions, he says, "Go for it if you want a career in industry, academia, or government that requires an advanced degree."

For those who do go one, there are few different directions one can take. For example, at Elizabethtown the chemistry department is combined with biochemistry, with three to four tracks, including basic chemistry, from which most of their students go to grad school. Thirty to fifty percent are in the biochemistry track and many of them know very early on they're headed to medical school. They also have a chemistry management track in coordination with the business department. About one student every three years opts for that track. This track includes 18 hours, six courses in finance to management and marketing. "This is for the student who wants to work at the bachelor's level for a few years, but who sees their advancement through the management chain rather than the lab bench chain, explains Ranck.

The Application

The ACS statistics bear out that there are plenty of undergraduates who think they have the passion to sustain them through graduate school. What is needed to get accepted? Sure we all know about transcripts, GPAs, GREs, letters of recommendations, and the dreaded application essay, but how much emphasis is placed on each? Says Hoffman of the mix: "GPAs and GREs are indicators of past performance, which is no guarantee of the future. Letters are very important, especially from the research supervisor if the student has done undergraduate research. Perhaps the most important is the essay, in which the research experience, goals and aspirations, and the maturity of the student are best revealed."

Ranck says that he and his colleagues strive to "create well-rounded individuals" of their advisees. "We encourage them to be good solid students." He thinks letters of recommendation are far more important than standardized measures like GREs and GPAs, but that's not to say students should ignore these. It's just that a group of well-crafted letters can say a whole lot more about a person than numbers. In his experience letters for application packages come from mostly chemistry faculty, but for students in the biochemistry track, one may also come from biology. "If they have a minor or know someone outside the department, say in humanities, we encourage them to get one letter out of three or four from another faculty in another area."

And just how important are those written essays? "We're trying to figure that out, too," admits Ranck. "My sense is that these essays give the graduate school some overall sense of who the student is, but I think the graduate committee would rely pretty heavily on the totality of evidence which does include all the scores, the GPA, and the letters."

Visiting the Campus

More important than an application package in some ways, say Ranck and his students, is an actual visit to campuses and chemistry departments. In the past year Ranck has taken a small group of upperclassmen to three colleges—Harvard, Cornell, and Pennsylvania State University, so far—and plans a few more visits. These students have all expressed an interest in the research side of their studies, taking a problem and solving it, but they still want to know more about the realities of graduate school.

Hoffman agrees. He mentions that funds from individual chemistry departments are usually available for visits to those undergraduates who have been accepted by the department. Attending national and regional ACS meetings is another way to find out about a particular department's research emphasis as well as talk to faculty and especially graduate students

Shaun Rinehimer, a junior in chemistry at Elizabethtown says that these visits are indispensable, especially talking to faculty and more so the students. He asks them how they balance class work and research; what their responsibilities are, like teaching and how that fits into their overall schedule, as well as how grad school is paid for. Michael Santillo, another junior in chemistry, adds that you can also get a better feel for a department's strengths and weaknesses by subfield by talking with faculty face-to-face rather than relying solely on brochures and the like. Also, advises Matthew Levengood, another junior in chemistry, ask about the workload in graduate school compared to undergrad, so you're not taken by surprise. Ask about their typical day, and how much research they do compared to teaching and class time.

Specifically Rinehimer is looking for a program where he can get the same close and ready interaction from faculty that he now gets at small-sized Elizabethtown College. Don't worry so much about rankings when comparing possible departments, says Levengood, just find a place you're comfortable with. "A place you feel you can be at for five or six years," he says.

Karen Young Kreeger is a freelance science writer based in Ridley Park, PA.