Have you begun the agonizing and seemingly never-ending search for the perfect graduate school? Are you avoiding this journey until the very last second? Whichever category you’re in, there’s no need to panic.

If you’re like many others who get overwhelmed with looking at the big picture, head over to graduate-school.phds.org. This great resource allows you to narrow down the location, program, and degree of your choice (among other specifications). After refining your search, the website then ranks the top schools that adhere to your conditions. Then you are able to research each college that interests you. I would suggest graduate-school.phds.org to everyone, even if you like to look at the whole picture before beginning any project.

Another way you can become more comfortable with narrowing down your graduate school choices is to reach out to current students who participate in your desired program. The best students to contact are those who are active members of their graduate community because you want to make sure that you receive accurate and helpful information. You can find contact information for active graduate students by visiting the program’s website. If you visit sections of the website, such as graduate student organizations or places where graduate students work, you should find what you’re looking for: a graduate student’s contact information. Then, you could call or email the student and ask if you could sit down and speak with him/her about his/her time in graduate school. To guide you in the right direction when you meet with the graduate student, I’ve included a few questions for you:

• How long have you been in the graduate program?
• Did you attend this school for your undergraduate program?
• Why did you apply to this particular school/program?
• Who are your favorite professors and why?
• How would you describe your overall time here?

Also, think about making a profile for yourself here on PhDStudent.com so you can collaborate with other graduate students. You never know – you could find a graduate student to talk to about their program and school!