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I keep getting asked how I went about applying for grad school, so I’ll make a thread
1) Applying to grad school can be a very long process. There is no such thing as starting too early. Of course the first thing you gotta do is decide what field you wanna go in to. Once that’s done begins the first (and only) fun part: The Search
2) I started my official grad program search in June of 2019 with the plan to enroll for FA2020. This was perfect timing for me since I had the entire summer to finalize my plans before applications open in September.
3) It’s important to note that I took a gap year. This is probably the most important advice I have: TAKE A GAP YEAR 
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😭" title="Loudly crying face" aria-label="Emoji: Loudly crying face">. Take 2 if needed. Work. Gain experience. Save money. I could not imagine studying for the GRE and applying for school during my senior year.
4) I took the month of May off (except for securing a summer job) from any responsibilities to relax. I was a new grad & deserved it. I hope new grads are doing the same. When June hit I was still on my undergraduate campus, so I set up 4 different Informational Interviews
5) Informational Interviews are interviews you set up with people who have already made it in the field you desire to pursue or even better, have the job you want. Typically people you know/trust. You take them out for coffee or something and ask them about their experiences
6a) I took this time to ask my village what schools I should look into or what should I look for in a program. From there I made a “Guide to Grad School” google sheet. In it I broke down the schools i researched into categories that were important to me:
6b) Location/Avg Cost of Living, Curriculum, Assistantships, Program Length, Rankings, Tuition, Avg GRE Scores (for my knowledge), Black Population, Community Organizations, and Volunteer Opportunities.
7) After the initial search I had my top 8 schools. This took TIME, I think almost 2 months. In the end I applied to 5 of the programs. During this time (July-ish) I also started my summer position as a CA & studying for the GRE, while looking for a job for my gap year
8a) Now that your top programs have been selected, here’s comes the next biggest piece of advice: MAKE THEM KNOW YOUR NAME!
8b) Look up the program coordinator & faculty members for EACH SCHOOL to contact via email. You can DM me for a template. For the coordinator, set up a phone call to ask questions about the program. Program coordinator tend to be very friendly & love talking to potential students
8c) With faculty members, read their bios to find ones with a background in your research interest. Email them asking about how you can get involved with said research on campus. If they teach an interesting class, ask them about that too! They may or may not respond
9) This step is important because you want the program to a) remember you and b) feel as if want to join them before they even see your application. You wanna do this before the department get busy with the fall, so June/July is perfect. August might be too late
- At this time I was STILL studying for the GRE https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😭" title="Loudly crying face" aria-label="Emoji: Loudly crying face"> and applying for jobs. Fun fact: I applied to about 10 different positions, got 2 interviews, and 1 offer. Almost every position I found required a masters .
So if you are taking a gap year or going straight into the work force, don’t get discourage if the job search is a struggle. It will work out. -
10) At this point summer is ending and applications are close to opening up. Start as soon as they open! Ask for your letters of recs immediately. Procrastinators will procrastinate no matter how much they love you
11a) It’s personal statement time! When is comes to your personal statement the formula I used was 1) my journey towards my field. 2) my career and academic goals. 3) why I’m attracted to the program (mention some courses if you need to fill space).
11b) .....4) the faculty I spoke to/I’m interested in working with (yes name drop!) 5) how I plan to be apart of the greater campus community.
12) Have several people look over your personal statement. Revert back to either those you had informational interviews with or those who wrote your letters of rec. One of my people did all 3 https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😂" title="Face with tears of joy" aria-label="Emoji: Face with tears of joy"> (https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤍" title="White heart" aria-label="Emoji: White heart"> u Julio)
13) Ok so it’s like October now. I have my personal statement template ready to be personalized for each school and I know who’s writing my letter of recs. Time to actually fill out those apps.
14a) Now my pockets weren’t what they are now, so when it came to dropping $75 per app and $27 pre GRE score (send them in at the testing site!! Don’t get scammed like me!!) I had to space out hitting submit with my paychecks.
14b) A part of me even forgot that applications cost money- so even though I had all the materials I needed, it took a total of 6 weeks to submit every one.
And that’s how I handled applying for grad school!
P.S my GRE Score SUCKED. Like they were horrible and it really discouraged me. But I got into every program I applied for. All top ranked and one Ivy. They are looking for more than a test score, don’t stress about it.
/fin
P.S my GRE Score SUCKED. Like they were horrible and it really discouraged me. But I got into every program I applied for. All top ranked and one Ivy. They are looking for more than a test score, don’t stress about it.
/fin
Oh - I am a step by step person and something as big as this gets overwhelming FAST. You have break up this process into small steps similar to how I did above.
