Certificates or Specializations?

[Dwar]

Hey all, 

I am wondering what your thoughts are on any "certificates" or "specializations" within graduate programs? I am referring to those additional credentials that one can add in addition to the graduate degree that they receive. 

Are they useful in either industry or academia? Or do either hiring committees disregard or not really care about them?

I am asking because during this nerve racking waiting time I've been scouring the program websites looking for additional information and have come across various certificates or specialization programs within schools, such as college teaching, conflict study, Middle East study, and countless others. They all look super interesting and for some a lot of work, so I am wondering if they actually bring in any real marketable skills or resume improvements, or if one should really only pursue them for intellectual fulfillment? 

[TheBunny]

I believe they are useful in both academia and industry. I can say that if you have track/certificate on a topic that is hot, you have more edge in the industry. I had a friend in graduate school, and she found a job for herself just only because she had a certificate on a topic which is trendy at that time. For academia, it shows that you took extra classes and passed them because generally speaking certificates and specializations offer different classes than the main program. In my opinion, it shows academic prowess, and in the future, it can give you a competitive edge for academia.

[Dwar]

Thanks for the reply!

So would you say that ability to receive a certificates or specializations at a certain school should go into one's admissions decisions? 

[TheBunny]

I am not sure about the admission decisions, but if I were on the admission committee, I would notice the certificates and specializations in a positive way. First of all, if you have any specialization in undergraduate and follow that into the Ph.D. program (such as you had specialization on EU politics and mentioned you wanna work on EU in your SOP to Ph.D. program), it shows that you are determined to follow the topic since undergraduate. Also, other tracks and certificates on related topics signal well, too as they show extra capabilities and abilities. For instance, if you have a track/certification on international business management and you want to work on EU Free Trade Deals with non-EU countries such as South Korea or Ukraine, it will be supportive of your application.

Edit: All examples are from my real life. I have certificates and specializations on several areas. 

Edited January 22, 2019 by TheBunny

[Dwar]

2 minutes ago, TheBunny said:

I am not sure about the admission decisions, but if I were on the admission committee, I would notice the certificates and specializations in a positive way. First of all, if you have any specialization in undergraduate and follow that into the Ph.D. program (such as you had specialization on EU politics and mentioned you wanna work on EU in your SOP to Ph.D. program), it shows that you are determined to follow the topic since undergraduate. Also, other tracks and certificates on related topics signal well, too as they show extra capabilities and abilities. For instance, if you have a track/certification on international business management and you want to work on EU Free Trade Deals with non-EU countries such as South Korea or Ukraine, it will be supportive of your application.

Edit: All examples are from my real life. I have certificates and specializations on several areas. 

Im sorry, I think you misunderstood my question, or I just didn't word it right. 

I am asking about it on the student end, should the ability to earn certificates or specialization factor into a students decision to attend one school over another?

Im sorry if my wording was crappy before. 

[eggsalad14]

3 minutes ago, Dwar said:

Im sorry, I think you misunderstood my question, or I just didn't word it right. 

I am asking about it on the student end, should the ability to earn certificates or specialization factor into a students decision to attend one school over another?

Im sorry if my wording was crappy before. 

Probably not too much. You want to go somewhere strong in the fields you're interested in, and those schools are more likely to offer that certificate. But you shouldn't necessarily choose the school with the certificate if you're choosing in between two approximately strong schools in your specialties. 

[TheBunny]

Oh, I am sorry. I think it should have an effect on the student's decision to attend universities at the same level. If you are admitted into two T20, equally ranked universities with at least a professor in each to work with, I believe being able to have a specialization opportunity, or a certificate opportunity should be considered. I know that I would consider it for myself. However, if the universities are very different than each other (such as one is T10 but other is T40, or in one of them there is a great professor to work with, but in the other, there is no one to work with), the certificate/specialization should not be a deciding factor. 

[eggsalad14]

Things like the ability to get a master's degree in xyz specialty (mostly quant things like statistics or data science but maybe also stuff like a comm master's) on the other hand, can really helping the non academic job market. 

[TheBunny]

I totally agree with @eggsalad14 on the last point. There are some hot topics currently which are very valuable in the industry such as machine learning, big data, data mining, AI, and other math/science related topics. They are valuable for consultancy companies which are dealing with big data or estimations. 

[Dwar]

Thanks so much for the replies! I really appreciate it and will definitely take it into account when the decisions start to roll in.