Tips for Graduate School Application Season
I’m sitting here, having finished my first year of grad school.
I did it! Coronavirus be damned. I did my best to keep it together those last few months. The journey was what I expected and more.
After this first year, I started thinking about the steps I took (and wish I took) to make sure the path grad school worked for me. I applied to grad school twice, so I improved my process the second time around. Here are just a few tips for applying to graduate school.
Start early!
The one tip that I heard consistently was, “start your applications as soon as possible!” Most applications will open sometime around August/September. I started writing my generic personal statement around May/June. I knew what my research interests were, so I wanted to have something to get me started when I tailored them for each program. Once you have your list of schools (or while you’re building that list), open the applications and see what they expect you to submit. Some programs require a statement of purpose and personal statement and diversity statement and blah blah blah. These words are sometimes used interchangeably, and you must understand what each school is asking from you.
Request transcripts early
Requesting my transcripts was such a headache for me. I had to request transcripts from more than one university, and their processes for requesting were obnoxious. Look at the schools you’re applying to and see if they require unofficial or official transcripts. Ideally, programs would ask for unofficial transcripts with the application and require the official ones after admission. This is usually not the case. Some want you to upload a PDF with your application, and some will have you mail them through the previous university directly to the requesting school.
I had an issue with one school that received electronic transcripts from my former university, but their spam filters deny my transcripts. This ended up delaying the completion of my application for several schools. Once you know where you’re applying, just get your transcripts over to them as soon as possible.
Reach out to old professors/bosses for LOR
Letters of recommendation are SO crucial to the process. The people you choose to write these letters can really make or break your application. I reached out to these people in early August, in case they weren’t able to write. This gave me more time to reach out to other people if needed. Allow the recommenders two weeks at minimum to write these letters. Choose 4-5 people you will reach out to, who can speak to your ability, qualification, and potential to succeed in your chosen field. Personally, I chose to have LOR from my boss at the time (from a research lab), a former PI from undergrad, and a former professor in a class that I actively engaged in and did well.
The people you’re reaching out to will have received tons of these requests over the years and within weeks of you reaching out. Don’t be discouraged if they decline. You want someone who has the time to write an excellent letter for you.
*Note: If someone sounds a little wishy-washy about writing you a letter, it may be time to move onto someone else. You want people who are confident in your abilities to write on your behalf.
Find fee waivers!!
It’s no secret that the grad application process is expensive! Some universities will offer waivers for students who fit specific criteria. Other outside programs partner with universities to provide fee waivers to applicants. I waived a couple of my fees through the Big Ten Academic Alliance. It may seem tedious because you have to contact specific people within the university, but you’ll be happy when you’re able to shave a few of those $60-$150 fees from your overall costs.
*McNair Scholars are often eligible for fee waivers!
Search for funding
I didn’t do this, but I wish I had. I didn’t know that you could apply to fellowships before being admitted to programs. Who knew?? Apparently, a lot of people do, but they won’t tell you. Look for fellowships within your field and find the ones that are for incoming first-year graduate students. If the programs you’re applying to have funding, that’s great, but do your research to see what that looks like!
Talk with current students
If you can contact students in the program, do it! These students will be able to give you personal experience related to the program outside of the program website’s picture-perfect information. If you’re invited to interviews, you’ll likely have time to speak with them, but it wouldn’t hurt to talk to someone beforehand if their insight influences you to scratch this program off your list ultimately.
Email your faculty of interest
Emailing professors ahead of completing your application can be beneficial for so many reasons. Plenty of applicants are admitted without doing this, but I would highly recommend it. Some programs will list which faculty are planning to accept students the following year, and others may be harder to find. Email the faculty you are interested in working with to determine if it’s even worth submitting an application. The general consensus is that emailing these professors before applying with put you on their “radar.” Some people deny this, BUT if you have some sort of exchange with faculty before they have your application, you may stick out more and get some key information just from your short communication.
I emailed my current advisor mid-September, and we set up a phone call in October. We talked about my research interests and my current work and how that connected to the work he does. He connected me with one of his students, who talked to me about the program and working with him, and it was great. Unbeknownst to me, he had been waiting for me to submit my application to nominate me for a fellowship within the university. I now have a fellowship, with guaranteed funding for the duration of my program. You never know what can happen.
The application process for graduate school can be so daunting and confusing.
