Do graduate students overshadow the undergrads?

xraymancs
Sun, 13 Mar 2016 01:07:09 +0000

The ratio of graduate students to undergraduates is actually about 70/30 not 50/50. Most of the graduate students are Professional Masters students, however. These students take graduate courses but are not involved in research. The number of Ph.D. students is significantly smaller than the number of undergraduates and these are the ones involved in research.

Having been on the faculty for over 30 years, I don’t think that graduate students dominate. In fact a lot of the focus is on undergraduates. With regards to research I have always thought that being at a research university, like Illinois Tech, where as an undergraduate you can work on funded research projects alongside Ph.D. students is a big plus for undergraduates. This, of course is possible at a big state flagship too but the smaller student body also provides benefits in the students getting to know the faculty very well. Small schools which are not research universities have undergraduate research as well but it is certainly a different feel than being in a lab with Ph.D. students. Overall, I think the balance we have at Illinois Tech offers students a very good opportunity to get involved in research and to get to know faculty. They can take a 5 year B.S/.M.S. program, they have access to graduate courses that can be taken for electives if they want to have the most rigorous academic preparation for a Ph.D., and they are exposed to a significant international population which can only be a plus in the future.