What are the paths to grad school?

Graduate School
1

Sorry to others that I posted in another thread. Didn’t know it would be so disruptive – I apologize.

This is really just out of curiosity because my parents did grad school in the US after coming from overseas, and I am still in high school so obviously my peers have no experience.

I always just assumed most people go straight from undergrad to grad, and maybe a minority worked/volunteered in between. So I was reading online that many MPP/MPA programs “strongly prefer” work/volunteer experience before applying. Does that usually apply to everyone pursuing a masters? What about a plain ol’ MA? I’m interested in international relations/political science but again I’m just curious.

Oh, and thanks to juliette and xray for their response on the other thread. Didn’t want to thank them there!

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In some fields, it’s standard to go straight from undergrad. In others, it’s assumed you should have some work/research experience in between. In other fields, it can go either way.

In math, you normally go straight from undergrad. There are also not that many Master’s only programs (I’m excluding stuff like biostats, applied math, etc.). In CS, lots of folks come from undergrad, but there are also many who have years of software engineer type experience. There’s also the option to do a Ph.D. or Master’s at most schools.

Don’t know about your field.