Hey, aspiring grad students. Here is a thread with some advice as you start to apply to programs. I hope it helps.

1/10. Contact the faculty members you want to work with. If you don't have someone on the inside looking for your application, it becomes a crapshoot.

2/10. Pick places you want to live as much as departments you want to be affiliated with. Your quality of life outside of school is crucial to the quality of your work inside of school. Wintery or small places work for some, whereas big or warm weather places work for others.

3/10. Don't worry about your grades (we don't... sort of). Relatedly, some places don't care if you have an undergrad degree in a different discipline. Find out. And GRE scores matter to some, but we, for example, don't even ask for them anymore. So check. These things vary.

4/10. Be yourself. We don't want clones & mini-me's of our favorit theorists. We want you. So tell us about your interests & proposed research. It will change, for sure, but we want to hear about where it is today. That says a lot about who you are and will become.

5/10. Don't drown us in academic speak, jargon, or articulations of socio-political virtue. Also stay away from buzz words of the day. It makes you seem preoccupied with your label rather than with what you have to offer as a person and a scholar. However...

... showing you know your way rhetorically around the discipline or, for example, articulations of critical theory (in my case) is good in doses. But I don't want to hear the talk, I want to see the walk, as they say. Be you and trust I will see and value you. Be yourself.

6/10. Don't fall for faculty "selling" you on anything. It should be a conversation, not a pitch. We need you more than you need us.

7/10. Don't shy away from asking questions. If a faculty member seems bothered about answering questions now, just imagine working with that person for years to come. This process is about you, so ask. (That said, if you find yourself being annoying, well, stop.)

8/10. A department's "ranking" matters... sort of. Being in a department that is well ranked is good for your career. But being unhappy in that department is terrible for your career. So remember, the highest ranked department is the one in which you are happy and can thrive.

9/10. Don't be so practical. Going to graduate school is full of folly and joy and fear and self-doubt and growth and frustration and elation. But if you are overly worried about bottom-line numbers and want to be savvy, then maybe an MBA or "real job" is more your speed.

10/10. Don't listen to too much advice. Grad school, like any endeavor, is personal and it will be you charting the course. Asking a bunch of sea sick captains, mates, and bosuns about the ocean swells will just make you want to jump ship. (Sorry for ending on a bad metaphor).

Lastly: go to graduate school for the love of the process as well as for the potential reward. There is nothing like it. We should honor that such endeavors (learning, reading, writing, teaching, advocating, collaborating) still exist. Do it because you feel you have to, inside.