If you're applying for graduate schools, let me give you some advice. Start early.
That seems to be a theme of my last two years in undergraduate. I never considered myself to be a procrastinator. It seems that the larger the tasks get, the more I procrastinate. I had the same issue when I applied for the GRFP. Unfortunately, the way things worked out, I applied for the GRFP and graduate schools at the same time. This excessive workload may also have contributed to my procrastination.
Hopefully, you can learn from what I did wrong and be better off because of it.
Here are the main things you need to keep in mind when applying to graduate schools for research.
1. Letters of Recommendation
2. Personal Statement
3. Talking about the specific school in your personal statement
4. Resume or CV
5. How many schools to apply to
Letters of Recommendation
I started my application process midway into the summer of 2019. In July of 2019, I reached out to the people who I wanted to write letters of recommendation for me. I chose the people who I thought knew me best and also who would provide different perspectives for my recommendation letters. These ended up being two of my closest professors and my employer at the College of Saint Scholastica.
My one caution when choosing recommenders is to make sure you and your recommenders are on the same page. I set up a google sheet that had all of the schools I was applying to and other important information I wanted to share with my recommenders. Two of my recommenders were very on top of their recommendations and completed them well ahead of time. I had one recommender who completed all of the recommendations but they were done very close to when the application was due. I also had a 4th recommender who was my backup in case one of the other three didn't work out. I would highly suggest having a backup recommender just incase.
Here is an image of my shared google sheet.
My biggest suggestions when it comes to recommenders are as follows:
1. Make sure that you tell your professors when you would like the recommendations submitted. Whether this is by the deadline or as soon as they have them finished is up to you. I wish that I had told my recommenders to submit earlier rather than later because they caused me a bit of stress with how long some of them waited to submit my recommendations.
2. Have a backup recommender in case one of them is flakey. In my case, my back up recommender ended up being the flakey one. This was good but also bad. If I had needed them to submit a recommendation I doubt they would have finished it on time. But it was a good thing that they weren't one of my primary recommenders.
Personal Statement
Another large part of the application process is writing your personal statement. This is what took me the longest time. A personal statement adequately shows what your goals are, why you've chosen to attend graduate school, the challenges you've faced, and it also sells you and your best qualities. When I say "sells" you, I mean that you have to convince them that you are one of the most qualified people for the position. If you are applying for P.h.D's or master's programs, research experience is a must. Take a long time to work on and perfect your personal statement. Then depending on the particular program, add and change things. Don't submit a blanket statement personal statement to each program.
At the end of your personal statement, leave room for the following things in a brief paragraph before your concluding paragraph.
1. Specifically, mention the program you are applying to and why you've chosen to apply. This could be why you find the area appealing or what interests you about the program itself.
2. Programs usually ask you to mention 2 to 3 professors which you would be interested in working with. Typically this means also mentioning what about their research you specifically find interesting.
Before you submit your personal statement, make sure you HAVE PEOPLE REVIEW IT.
I've attached 3 different copies of my personal statement below. Each one was sent to an institution that I then got an interview at.
The University of Connecticut: https://9f152b1b-861c-42f6-93c4-5c2f1b2d1aba.usrfiles.com/ugd/9f152b_ccd5177a713142fdadc0b86cd9f7b676.docx
Iowa State University: https://9f152b1b-861c-42f6-93c4-5c2f1b2d1aba.usrfiles.com/ugd/9f152b_5122e9edd7a94b3d9a058f4d9e79cdca.docx
The Mayo Clinic Graduate School: https://9f152b1b-861c-42f6-93c4-5c2f1b2d1aba.usrfiles.com/ugd/9f152b_9324099e63ae4e459f967c94dd646606.docx
Resume or CV
Many institutions will also have you submit a resume or CV. A resume should be professional but also have personal touches. For example, I wanted to include information about Teach Me to Science on my resume. However, it didn't really fit under any one category. So I created a new category in my resume called "Personal Endeavors", as Teach Me to Science is more of a hobby at this point than a job.
Some applications have other small questions they want to answer. For example, I had to write a diversity statement for the University of Minnesota.
How many should you apply to?
I applied to 10 different programs and only got interviews at three. Of the three I interviewed with, I got accepted to two programs and wait-listed at one. I would recommend applying to at least 7. However, I know people who have applied to 13 and people who have applied to only 1. It is a personal decision. However, if you really want to get into graduate school, more schools are better.
I hope you've found this post helpful. Go check out my other posts on my graduate school interviews for more information on the application process!
Saren
UCONN Visit:
Mayo Clinic Visit:
Iowa State Visit:
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