Tips for Applying to Grad School from a Grad Student

So you’ve decided to apply to graduate school; congratulations! Continuing education post undergrad is an extremely rewarding experience that allows you to follow your passions, focus on a single aspect of your field, and opens countless professional doors. However, as in all things, the hardest part is the beginning. In order to get into a graduate program, you’ll have to manage the complicated application process. This involves deciding what you want to study, which university is best for your goals, and finally working on the actual application.

In this two-part post, we’ll talk about the graduate application process from start to finish, from finding your dream school to finally clicking ‘submit’ on your application. You’ll learn how to narrow down schools, some tips to strengthen your application, and how to communicate your passions to admissions committees.

PART 1—Finding Graduate Schools

 The first step of moving onto graduate school is finding the right program. Similar to undergrad, searching for the right schools relies on a balance of academics, and personal life. Graduate school is a huge time commitment, and to avoid wasting time or burning out it’s important to find a school that both ignites your passion, and supports you through difficult times. To find this, it’s important to think about your reasons for applying, and then use these to search for schools that align with your goals.

Decide On Your Passion

The most important part of your application is your purpose, your ‘why’: why are you applying? Graduate school is a time intensive, stressful endeavor, and the application process is rigorous to ensure the admissions committee you are a proper fit for their program. At the same time, you want to make sure you find a program that’s the right fit for you. Here are a few questions you can use to focus your thoughts, and to give you talking points for your personal statement or interviews:

• What are my goals for graduate school?
• What do I expect to get from graduate school, besides just a degree?
• What do I want to want my life too look like after I graduate?
• Am I passionate about this subject?
• How has my previous experience prepared me for this?
• Is this the right time for graduate school? Are my personal and financial commitments such that I can afford to spend a lot of time and money on furthering my education?

Taking the time to think through these questions will help you narrow down the program that aligns with your goals. Not only this, but knowing the answers to these questions will help in the application process and future interviews, and show admissions boards that you’re a good candidate for their school.

Find Your Dream School

Once you’ve thought about your academic goals and passions that are bringing you to graduate school, it’s time to begin researching programs that fit these goals. Two important aspects to look for in each school are the academics of the university, and the non-academic, external factors that will influence your experience for the next few years.

Looking at a school’s academics can be confusing, and it can be hard to make sense of the lists and ranking that make up today’s college searches. To filter out all this marketing, focus on your specific program or area of interest. What kind of research is being done at this school? What kind of classes would you take? Are there professors who are well known in their field? It’s also important to remember that the reputation of the school doesn’t necessarily correlate with the quality of the program you’re looking at. Instead of focusing on the surface presentation of the institution, look deeper at the faculty, courses, and research being done in your area of interest.

A great way of getting real information about a school is to reach out directly to professors to talk about their work- depending on how busy they are, many professors are more than happy to respond to an email or even hop on a zoom call. Speaking directly to the professors who you would be working with and learning from gives you an idea of what it would be like to study or research at that university. Make the most of your interviews by preparing questions in advance, and be sure to thank the professors for their time.

Outside of academics, you will also have to think about how your life will look like in graduate school. Where is this school located, and is it close to friends or family? Is the cost of living manageable for someone on a tight budget? What kind of services does the school have to support its graduate students, including graduate student communities designed to foster community? It’s common for graduate students in all fields to struggle creating a healthy school-life balance. Universities recognize this, and will often work to establish community and resources to help improve their student’s mental health. In your search process, look for these programs and the types of graduate communities at your school.

At this point, you’ve probably looked through many schools, and narrowed the list down to a select few. These are the ones with strong academics, classes that you’re excited to take, and that have resources available to support you through your graduate career. Once you’ve found a few schools that meet your academic and personal criteria, then it’s time to start the application process. This experience can be long, tiring, but ultimately enjoyable! In the next section we’ll discuss the typical graduate school application, and some tips to strengthen your application to put you in your dream school.

PART 2: The Graduate School Application

So you’ve decided on a program, and narrowed down your list of schools. Now, it’s time to start the graduate school application process. In this post, we'll walk you through the steps of the applications and give you some tricks to make your application the best it can be!

Unlike undergraduate applications, there is often no centralized portal for graduate school applications, although some areas of study do. Instead, it’s common for each school to have it’s own individual portal with the forms and requirements for that program. Make sure you’re applying to the right program- often schools will have multiple graduate programs affiliated with different areas of the school which have their own faculty, research, and classes.

Once you’ve found the correct portal, make an account on the website and prepare your application materials. Below we’ll talk about some of the most common required materials for grad applications:

Statement of Purpose, and other writing samples

Most graduate programs will ask you to write a statement of purpose (SOP), or an essay describing your motivations to go to graduate school. This is the most important part of your application, the place where you can convey your passions and experience to the admissions board. The best SOPs tell a story, not just of what you’re interested in, but who you are. In this way, you can show the admissions team a little bit of your personality, why you’re a strong fit for their program and someone they would want to work with. Lastly, designate a section of your SOP to talk about your motivations coming to this specific program. If applying to different schools, be sure this section is specific to each university. Utilize the research you did while selecting schools to talk about the professors, projects, and classes that drew you to the university, and talk about the kind of work you would like to do there.

Some programs will also have additional writing prompts alongside the main statement of purpose, such as a diversity statement or research statement. These give you even more chances to convey your personality, and lets you be more specific about your goals. Answer these prompts the best you can, but also craft them to fit into the story painted by your statement of purpose.

Letters of Recommendation

Besides the statement of purpose, asking for letters of recommendation can be the most nerve-wracking part of the application. However, asking can be easy, as long as you ask the right people. Pick people you have a good relationship with, whether a professor from class, a research professor you’ve worked with, faculty advisor for a student organization, or employer in the field. When asking, talk about why you’re looking for their recommendation, and mention the times when you and this person built your relationship. For example if you’re asking a professor that you connected with during class, you could discuss a particular moment that stood out to you. Not only does this remind them of your relationship, but gives them good anecdotes to mention in their letter. Finally, when asking for letters of recommendation be sure to ask far in advance. Letters are usually due a few weeks after the main application, but recommenders can be notorious for waiting until the last minute. To avoid a missed deadline, be sure to ask with plenty of time and send reminders when deadlines are approaching.

Resume/CV

If you’ve applied for a job or internship before, chances are you have a resume somewhere that you update depending on the application. If not, there are countless resources to help write a resume or a CV, depending on where you’re going. Make sure everything on your resume or CV is relevant- high school GPAs are not needed, nor your elementary school band classes. Focus more on the things you did in college or beyond that you think is important to your professional character, even if it’s not directly associated with the program you’re applying to. Volunteer opportunities, leadership roles, and involvement in student organizations show you to be a well-rounded applicant. The language in your resume should be direct, with most sentences starting with action verbs. Most resumes only get a few seconds in the spotlight, so make sure the admissions board can pick out the highlights in a short amount of time.

Transcripts and Standardized Tests

Alongside the writing portions of your application, schools will ask for records of your academic ability. If you’re a senior in undergrad applying in the fall, you may only have three years of grades to send; however depending on the program you may be expected to send the fall and spring grades of your last year even after you’re accepted. Alongside your transcript some schools require standardized tests such as the GRE. These are being slowly phased out as a requirement, although it should be noted that many schools do still require test scores. The best thing is to carefully read the requirements for your program, take any required tests, and decide which optional tests are worth taking to strengthen your application.

Application fees

Lastly, most schools will charge a fee for submitting your application, due at the time that you submit the application. Depending on your financial situation, some schools provide waivers for the application fee to help students who aren’t able to afford it. There are often instructions on how to apply for these on the program website, or you can write to program administrators to inquire about the process.

Finally…good luck!

Applying for graduate school is a long, emotional process. However, it can also be exciting as you get the chance to communicate your passions, sell yourself as an applicant, and shape your own future! Use this time to discover your professional identity, and even brag about your achievements as you convince schools that you are prepared to pursue further education. Before you know it, you’ll be on the road to following your passions and furthering your career!