SYMBOLS & SUBSTANCE :: Difference Between Graduate and Professional School

A reader asked a great question...What's the difference between graduate school and professional school?

Graduate School is advanced academic training that prepares students for careers as faculty, researchers, or other scholarly endeavors. Graduate school allows a student to focus on one academic area of interest in the humanities, sciences, or social sciences and receive a masters or doctoral degree in that specific area. Professional school prepares students for careers in specialized fields that require licensing or other advanced certification like law, medicine, dentistry, business, etc.

Standardized test scores are a part of the application process for any advanced degree program. The test you take is determined by the program to which you are applying: The Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) for Law, The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) for the MBA, The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) for Medicine, The Dental Aptitude Test (DAT) for Dentistry, The Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) for Pharmacy, and The Optometry Admission Test (OAT) for Optometry.