Navigating the graduate school application process involves strategic planning and decision-making, particularly when searching for programs tailored to unique academic interests. Drawing upon my comprehensive research and experience within a burgeoning field, I have compiled my most valuable insights into achieving success and efficiency in the graduate application process.
The Search
Depending on the rarity of your major, especially if it’s not exactly what you studied in undergrad, it can be challenging to find the right programs to apply to. At the University of Connecticut, I double majored in sociology and statistics in an attempt to study demography, quantitative methods, and social data analytics, so I searched for graduate programs based on those key terms. While you can find many great options from a simple Google search, I also looked through prospective schools’ websites to see if they offered anything else that fit my interests. This can be a tedious process, so I recommend making a list of schools that you can genuinely see yourself at before doing so. If location is a key factor for you, your options will likely be narrowed greatly by this, so factor location in first. I only applied to programs where I would have the option to live at home, narrowing my options down to two: Northeastern University and Brown University. For safety, I applied to some programs in statistics that I wasn’t as excited about, but I cannot recommend enough considering every program you are excited about, even if you oppositely have too many. Barriers like supplemental essays and $80-$100 fees dispel many, but you can reuse essays and fee waivers are much easier to acquire than you’d think. Once you’ve found all the schools you could see yourself applying to, join their email chains for prospective students and email their application offices asking if there are extra application waivers or upcoming events at which application waivers will be provided. Through online webinars and events, I was able to find application fee waivers for half of the schools I ended up applying to, and admissions workers are there to help you, not judge, so save your $80-$100!
Letters of Recommendation
Most programs require two or three letters of recommendation from professionals who know you well academically. While this can include advisors and instructors, these letters hold the most weight when written by professors, so you should start as early as possible to try to identify professors who seem willing to help. If you’re an undergrad during the application process, you can do this in one of two ways. First, you can email every professor conducting research or signed up for independent study in your major/field of interest at your university, asking for opportunities to work below them. This allows an established professional to get to know you on a career level beyond academics and will make them the easiest person to ask for a letter of recommendation when the time comes. The second method, which is easier if you’re shorter on time, is to identify smaller, more interactive courses you’ve taken and their professors. Professors often remember active participation even after the course ends, so there’s no harm in asking if they feel they have enough to attest in a letter. If you have a few (ideally at least four) weeks before your applications are due, you can also target your current professors and go really hard in their classes in the weeks leading up to asking. While it can be humbling to receive rejections from professors who don’t write many letters, these methods were the only way I acquired not only three letters but research experience on my resume.
GRE (Graduate Record Examination)
Though fewer programs require the GRE than in previous years, requirements can vary by program even within schools, so it’s important to check each. In my case, only Brown University, an Ivy, required the GRE, so I assume it’s not common. However, if it is required for you, my best advice is to not overthink it. Familiarizing oneself with the layout of the exam and wording of the questions is imperative, but I didn’t study for nearly as long as any website or column recommends and received average scores. In my (driven by senioritis) opinion, my GRE was meant to assess the critical thinking skills I had spent my entire undergraduate studies and research applying, so I was going to perform how I performed regardless. This may hold some truth, as I scored highest in the “analytical writing” section, which is what my majors, research, and work have mainly entailed.
Personal Essay
The personal and supplemental essays are undoubtedly the most tedious process of any higher education application process, but they can also help you legitimize your goals to yourself before the admission staff. As you remember if you applied to undergraduate studies, the personal essay centered around personality beyond academic and professional success. While I don’t want to dismiss character altogether, the role it plays in graduate applications depends more on its interaction with personal goals and achievements. It’s important to show in your personal essay why you as an individual were meant for your major or field, based on your passions, traits, and values. Your personal essay can actually be a very therapeutic methodology for understanding your goals and what you truly want out of your graduate studies, so use it as a journal first before trying to make it sound professional. As for finding subject matter, there are countless past applicants to take inspiration or advice from. I highly recommend this TikTok as a starting point, as many mentioned strategies can quickly prompt 500-1000 words.
Writing Sample
While letters of recommendation, supplemental essays, and even the GRE may be expected, less mentioned in graduate application discourse is the academic writing sample. This, like other requirements, is variable between schools and their individual programs and is oftentimes optional. However, if one of your programs requires this, or if you’re unsure during the semester, it’s best to save all your well-performing essays and skilled writings in their own folder. The writing sample doesn’t have a specific topic or prompt, so any academic, formal writing, such as that required for many undergraduate college courses, is accepted. These samples are generally expected to be between three and five pages, though this can be subjective as all other measures of the requirement.
Conclusion
Assembling a strong application portfolio for graduate school entails more than just meeting basic requirements, especially if your program is niche or competitive. By leveraging insights into the nuances of each application component, from standardized testing to supplemental essays, aspiring graduate students can enhance their chances of securing admission to programs well aligned with their academic and career aspirations.