Applying To Graduate School
Some Do's And Don'ts

 

I. Getting Started Identifying your Interests & Selecting your Niche

Don't choose the school, choose the program and the potential mentor. Apply to schools that fit the purposes you have set for your graduate education. The most prestigious (the "best") school may not have the best program for your interests and needs. You need to investigate schools carefully to find a program that reflects your interests. Try to identify these interests as well as you can, while recognizing that they are not set in stone, and they may shift once you're in graduate school. Talk with your professors to get their suggestions for appropriate schools. Survey the offerings described in Peterson's Guide to Graduate Programs. Go to the library to read papers to see where the type of work that most interests you is being done and by whom. Investigate potential mentors before you apply. Read their papers. Communicate with them. Plan to visit them after you apply. Finding the right niche takes work!

II. The Application Procedure

1. The Graduate Record Examination. If required (typically the case in sciences), take the exam early. Take the exam seriously, these numbers can count for a lot. If you score really highly, your GRE scores can make up somewhat for modest grades. However, a poor performance on the GRE often doesn't jeopardize your chances, if your file is strong otherwise. People reviewing files know that everyone can have a bad day. Be sure to have the scores sent to all of the schools you're interested in applying to.

2. Contacting potential mentors. Write, email, call, stop by to visit them. Let them know you're interested in their research. Ask them if they have space available for a new student. Give them a short history of your education and interests. Tell them you'd like to visit their laboratories. Ask for reprints of recent papers.

3. Complete your application on time. Mail your application early to guarantee that it gets there. Late applications are often at a disadvantage, e.g., if available slots are already taken and funding is limited.

4. Take the essay very seriously. A key component of the application is the personal essay, in which you say where you're coming from, what your interests are, why you want to get a graduate degree, etc. The essay should be of reasonable length, e.g., one to two pages, but not a lengthy biography that runs on and on, for many pages. People screening these essays may have hundreds to read, so keep the length down. State your motivations for wanting to do graduate work. Indicate any particularly formative experiences, e.g., an undergraduate research project, that helped you decide to enter graduate school. Indicate what your career goals are. Check spelling and grammar carefully. An essay that is full of grammatical and spelling errors can automatically doom your application, because such an essay denotes carelessness and lack of a commitment to doing things well. Identify faculty members with whom you would consider working. This gives your essay focus and will target your application to appropriate faculty members. Be sure to contact those you've mentioned in your essay.

5. Letters of reference. It is critical to select your references carefully. If possible, have at least one letter from someone who has interacted with you in an academic context, e g . an advisor for an undergraduate research project. Letters that say, "Ms. (Mr.) X was one of 535 students in my introductory class, and she (he) ranked in the upper third of the students in the class, etc." is of absolutely no help at all in most instances. Character reference letters that say, "Ms. (Mr.) X was one of the fastest working staff members our McDonalds' ever hired..." wont help you much.

III. Apply for Fellowships!!!

A shockingly small percentage of students applying to graduate school apply for fellowships, e.g., graduate fellowships awarded by the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes, etc. If one is awarded a fellowship, acceptance to a school of your choice is almost automatic, for at least two reasons. One is that a fellow is obviously apt to be a good student. The second is that university funding to support students is often limited, so a fellowship may allow your acceptance into a program which otherwise could not offer you support. Investigate all relevant fellowships that are available. Look carefully at "obscure" fellowships that may describe you in terms of interests, gender, choice of university, etc. Your college or university should have a central clearing house for this information. Visit the financial aid office website to explore other funding options. Start your investigations early, because the application deadlines have a way of sneaking up on people. You will need to arrange for letters of reference from several people, and this is another reason to get rolling on applications as early as you can.

IV. Visiting Schools of Interest/Meeting Potential Mentors

Contact potential mentor(s) on the campus to arrange the visit. During your visit, talk with several faculty members who share your research interests. Do some homework before you visit, so that you are familiar with their recent work and can discuss it. Find out if their recent publications accurately reflect the direction of their current and future research. People may change fields, and past publications are not always a reliable guide of what is, or will soon be, going on in a lab. Find out what the working conditions in the laboratory are like. Are students allowed a high degree of independence in selecting projects? Is the mentor helpful in obtaining research support? Is the mentor generally on campus and available to the student? What has the mentor's track record been in terms of helping students find good postdoctoral opportunities and jobs? Get a feel for the size of the laboratory. Many laboratories are huge, and the chain of command may leave graduate students with only minimal contact with the putative mentor. This does not mean that you will not receive good training, but it may be under the guidance of a postdoctoral worker or technician. Learn about the community at large. Does the campus have all of the facilities you need? How good is the library? What are living conditions (rents, commuting distances, etc.) like? Find out what the requirements are for teaching or research assistant work

Contacting potential mentors: Write them. Let them know you're interested in their research. Ask them if they have space available for a new student. Give them a short history of your education and interests. Tell them you'd like to visit their laboratories. Ask for reprints of recent papers.

V. Making your Decision

Let's assume that several of the schools you applied to have said "yes." What criteria are most important in deciding among the possibilities? Roughly in order of importance, the following factors should be considered. First, having seen the schools close-up, which of the mentors/laboratories seems most attractive to you? (Remember, when it comes to this stage of making your decision, the rating of the school takes on less importance than the suitability of the laboratory in which you will work.). Second, if several mentors on different campuses seem about equally satisfactory, which overall program (coursework, seminar programs, opportunities for field study, teaching experience, etc. ) seems best. Third, consider important personal factors. Did you feel comfortable on the campus and in the surrounding community? Ultimately, you must base your decision on how well the school/program/mentor can meet your needs in terms of allowing you to study what you want to study, and giving you the opportunity to do the independent work that signifies the graduate stage of education.

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