What a Journey! Part II

Before we proceed, let's de-stress with a cute bunny photo...

courtesy of http://cuteoverload.com

I highly recommend this site if you need a little procrastination time...not that I ever do that :)

Adorable!  I feel so much better!

Let's get down to business

So in review, around October of my senior year I decided to definitely apply to graduate school.  I knew that I would have to speed through the process because most people were way ahead of me in the game.  Looking back on the experience, I made a list to tips and things not to do:

1) Talk to professors, work colleagues, and anyone else that you can track down.  Ask: 1) Did you continue to graduate school right after college?  2) If yes, are you happy with the choice and what were the pros/cons of your decision? OR If no, do you wish that you would have?

I was incredibly lucky to not only have the opportunity to talk with several co-workers about my decision, but also several professors.  Simply talking with others is a great way to receive advice, and to distill your own purpose and motivation for continuing to graduate school (PS - write these down, they will be very useful for Tip #5).

2) Evaluate: do you know exactly what you want to study?  I knew that I was passionate about environmental policy and economics, and completely committed to devoting two more years of study to that area.  If you are unsure about your focus area and/or burnt out on school in general, it may be a good idea to hold off on pursuing an advanced degree.  Graduate school is major investment!

3) Take the GRE the summer before you plan to apply.  I found out the hard way that it's impossible to learn 500+ vocabulary words two days before taking the GRE in addition to completing a final exam for school.  The GRE is not necessarily a hard test, but it forces you to unearth random pieces of knowledge that you learned in high school and become best friends with the dictionary.  If you already missed the summer deadline like I did, opt to take the test over winter break, if possible, to give yourself time to study without the distractions of classwork.  I took the test for a second time in January (not completely necessary, but I knew that my first score was not my personal best).  I reviewed math extensively, even though it was sort of a lost cause for me because math is definitely not my strong point.  To strengthen my vocabulary, I made hundreds of flash cards and flipped through them while walking on a treadmill at the gym.  The most important part of my round two success was taking practice tests.  The GRE requires you to complete problems very quickly and does not allow you to go back and correct answers - there is little room for error.  Practicing the exam ahead of time reduced my stress level for the actual exam dramatically.

4) Give the people that you would like to write you recommendations as much notice as possible.  Typically, graduate programs ask for two to four recommendations.  Professors tend to receive a ton of requests for recommendations, so give your professors as much advance notice as possible.  Help your recommenders as much as you possibly can - they are doing you a huge favor!  I made each of my professors a folder (with the recommendation due date displayed prominently on the front) with my resume, my CV, descriptions of the programs that I was planning to apply to, and the mailing address and web address for submitting the recommendation.  I requested that the recommendation be sent in a week before the deadline to account for any last minute issues.

I think that it is helpful to diversify the types of recommendations that you receive.  When my Plan A of two professors and a previous employer fell through, I resorted to Plan B of three professors.  In order to stick with my goal of a varied set of recommendations, I chose professors from different disciplines: economics, political science, and environmental science/policy.

The bottom line on recommendations: it is important that you know your recommender well and that they know you well.  Otherwise, you will end up with a 'canned' recommendation or no recommendation at all (yes, I know professors that are unwilling to write recommendations for students that they do not know well).

5) Writing personal statements is much harder than it seems.  I expected this part of the application process to take a Saturday, at most.  I was so wrong!  It is incredibly difficult to narrow your qualifications, reasons for pursuing the school and programs that you are applying to, and passion for the subject area down to 500 to 1000 words.  Be prepared to spend days writing several drafts before you find something that you are happy with. Ask many friends, family members, and colleagues to read it and give you their opinions - this feedback is invaluable.

6) Follow up.  Thank You notes are essential (and especially effective with the addition of cookies)!  You should send a note to every person that wrote you a recommendation, edited your personal statement, quizzed you during GRE preparation, and provided you with moral support.  The application process is not easy, which makes the support even more valuable.  Also, let everyone know what the outcome is - what programs were you accepted to?  What program did you end up choosing?

What a list!  I hope that this is helpful for potential graduate students out there!  Until next time...