Preparing Your Applications

Applying to grad school takes a lot of time. It involves assessing yourself, writing personal statements, seeking recommendation letters, and trying to keep track of all the logistics and deadlines. All of this can feel overwhelming. But you can do this. The key strategies include starting early, maintaining your momentum, and organizing all of the logistics. With these strategies, you’ll also be able to anticipate and tackle problems as they appear along the way.

The overall application for most graduate programs generally includes the following:

  1. Personal statements
  2. GPA and transcripts
  3. Letters of recommendation
  4. Biographical information from your essays or résumé/curriculum vitae that describes your academic, research, and professional experiences
  5. GRE scores (check if the general and/or subject exams are required, recommended, optional, or not accepted)
  6. Writing sample (for some programs in the humanities and social sciences)
  7. Interview (for some graduate programs, often in the biosciences; can be virtual or in person)

In general, faculty and admissions committees use these components to determine if you are a suitable candidate for graduate school. In particular, they are trying to determine if you are a suitable candidate for their specific program.

1. GATHER INFORMATION ON EACH OF THE GRADUATE PROGRAM’S REQUIREMENTS

  • Get online applications started and create online accounts.
  • Find out about application fees and look into application fee waivers and their deadlines.
    • Many universities grant waivers for participants in grad school preparatory programs, for those in financial need, and for other eligibility requirements set by the university.
    • As an example, here is Stanford’s application fee waiver info and its graduate admissions website.
  • Check if there is a separate application for financial support.
  • Mark deadlines and take them seriously!
  • Find out about testing and course requirements for the programs.
    • GRE General or Subject Test (check if required, recommended, optional, or not accepted)
    • Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), Test of Spoken English (TSE)

You’ll likely need to create a spreadsheet with all the logistics and details so that you can be organized and keep track of your timeline. Some sample spreadsheets are offered here and here.

2. TAKING THE GREs

  • Check if graduate programs in your field require, recommend, or accept GRE exam scores for the general and subject tests. Recently programs have changed their policies regarding the GRE exam, so you’ll need to check. 
  • If you will take the GRE, start preparing early (junior year of college or about 1 year in advance of applying for grad school).
  • Take a practice exam to determine where you currently stand. Some free samples are available at www.kaplan.com or www.princetonreview.com. For an actual past exam, you can purchase the ETS Official Guide to the GRE General Test. Other resources (some free) are available from the ETS GRE website.
  • Take a GRE preparatory course. Or get both the Kaplan and Princeton Review GRE prep books. Each comes with 3-4 practice computer GREs.

  • Find out how far you are from the scores you need to be competitive.

    If you’re scoring pretty well, prioritize:

    • Getting more familiar with the computer-based exam and its format.
    • Learning the way the different question types work and the types of wrong answers associated with certain question types (Princeton Review, Kaplan, Manhattan Prep, and Magoosh books are very helpful here!)
    • Getting comfortable using educated guessing when stumped.
    • Increasing your focus and endurance.

    If you’re further away from good scores, take more time to study and:

    • Focus on replacing your current problem-solving approaches with Princeton Review/Kaplan methods.
    • Try not to worry so much about how you’re doing while studying.
    • Embrace your mistakes and errors: Learn from them so you don’t make the same errors on the exam.
    • Practice managing anxiety, tension, and attention for optimal performance.