Nov 05, 2008

Applying to Graduate School

Before I start, note that you will probably find much more of the same or similar information that is in this post on the web via a simple Google search, but hey, you stumbled on this page, so here’s my two cents on applying to graduate school.  Plus, maybe some current graduate students who happen upon this post can add their helpful comments.

Last Tuesday, I was asked to be on a panel for current MIT undergraduates interested in applying to graduate school.  I remember the crazy process my senior year, and along with the other panelists, I hope that we were able to answer some questions about the process.  I actually learned a bit myself since Prof Terry Orlando (EECS Graduate Officer) was also on hand to offer a faculty perspective, as well as Janet Fischer and Anne Hunter, the EECS Graduate and Undergraduate Administrators.  Since there are hopefully some prospective graduate school students out there reading this post, allow me to share some highlights.

Applications always remind me of a running joke at my high school regarding getting into college: we (and the teachers) always thought that the admissions choices of a particular selective university were so impossible to understand that they must toss all the applications up in the air and accept those that land face up.  And I will admit, after numerous applications for undergrad, graduate school, and financial aid, it does sometimes seem that way. But most of this was due to lack of experience with the application process.  The graduate school application is better than undergraduate and fellowship applications in many ways however since it has one and only one focus: your ability to do research.

According to Prof Orlando, the three key aspects of any application are grades, the personal statement, and the letters of recommendation.

1) Grades: Most students interested in graduate school will have the grades to back them up, mostly A’s with a few B’s.  A bad start is okay if you have shown improvement.  In my opinion, grades can hurt you, they cannot help you.  Graduate schools care about classes only so far as they provide information about your technical background.  Oh, and do not forget to take the GREs.  MIT EECS is kind of the odd duck since it does not require GRE scores, but almost every other school, not to mention most graduate fellowships, will require the GRE.  So go grab a GRE book, take some practice tests, and like any standardized test, just get it out of the way.  Like everybody else applying, you will probably do well on the math and so-so on the verbal.

2) Personal Statement: This is the only chance you have for the admissions committee to hear your voice, so make it count. Do not start off with “ever since I was a child”.  Show maturity and explain why you want to go to graduate school.  Also describe previous research if you have some and tell the committee why this particular graduate school is a good choice for you.  Be careful not to get too specific - it is better to name a field than a narrow research topic, and if you list professors/groups, list a couple (otherwise you run the risk of being a good match to only a single group, and that professor may not be looking or new students or may be on sabbatical).  Do not give a list of all your extracurriculars, unless they have some relevance to your field.  Remember, you want to show that you can do research, and too many extracurriculars might even be bad since you may give the impression that you will not devote much time to research.  According to Prof Orlando, do not try to explain bad semesters beyond a single sentence.  Leave that to your recommendation letter writers (typically the one written by your academic advisor). Use humor sparingly, if at all. Be concise - around two pages, more and the reader might lost interest (they do have to read a lot of them).

People tend to put off writing their personal statement, and in my experience, you just kind of have to force yourself to sit down and write something.  The first draft will likely be terrible, but at least it gets your ideas down on paper.  Get your friends, or current graduate students or professors if they are willing, to read it over and help you since they have much more experience with this type of writing. The personal statement serves a double role since most recommendation letter writers will typically ask that you provide a personal statement (as well as a CV, transcripts, and other relevant materials).

3) Letters of Recommendation: Three is the number to shoot for.  Do four if you must, but never more.  Pick letter writers who can attest to your research potential, and follow up.  Your thesis advisor, if you have one, should definitely be a letter writer; it will be hard to explain his absence otherwise.  Letters from people in industry are fine, too.  Also, professors are busy people, so make things as easy for them as possible.  Give them a month or so heads up, check back near the deadline, but do not pester them.  If you are worried about asking people, do so in person without the materials, making sure to ask if they will write a supportive letter, then gauge their reaction before making the decision. As for the deadline, straight from Prof Orlando: remember that most graduate schools will be reviewing applications starting from the deadline, and they have tons of applications, so a few late recommendations are typically okay (though this would break down if everybody was late).

*) Financial Aid: Nobody, I repeat, nobody should have to pay for graduate school.  Hey, you already spent all that cash on your undergraduate education, let the current undergraduates (or rather, your professor, department, external fellowships, etc) pay for your graduate education.  On this note, apply for external fellowships, many which have deadlines much earlier than school deadlines.  Also note that much of the statements above do NOT apply to fellowships (specifically, there is typically more focus on extracurriculars/leadership, and deadlines are absolutely final).

Some additional points:

1) Be reasonable about the number of schools you apply to.  Six to eight is probably a good number to go for.  Yes, the applications are probably just copies of one another except for <school> and <research group>, but applying to lots of schools is not a good way to approach this regardless.  It is that much more paperwork/documents/applications to keep track of, and the application/GRE reporting/transcript fees start to add up if you apply, like a panelist did, to fourteen school.  Do some research on which schools/research groups match your interests, and ask alumni (typically professors) for the inside scoop if you can.

2) If you can, go to a different graduate school than your undergraduate. Maybe this is just a personal preference, but all of the other panelists agreed that you really should go somewhere different.  You get to form a new network, and you just get a different experience at somewhere new.  Plus, it is unlikely that the topic that you choose going into graduate school will be the topic that you work on for the next 5-6 years, and going to a new school just opens up this new set of opportunities.

3) This is way early, and I can probably write a separate post on how I chose among the graduate schools that accepted me.  But, really, the biggest advice here is just to attend the school’s visit day/prospectives weekend. Nothing beats getting to know the school first-hand (and talking with the current graduate students).

That’s about it then.  By the way, phdcomics had a good comic recently on graduate school enrollment vs unemployment.  Good luck to all those applying, and of course, feel free to ask any questions through the comments or email.

4 Responses To This Entry:

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What about oddballs? My first go-round in college I was a mess and did very, very poorly. 6 years later I went back and did very well. I have a high gpa (my school changed my previous grades to pass/fail), good gre’s, and very supportive letter-writers. I got a job (and full funding for my doctorate) and am now again looking at a ph.d. program.

I applied to three programs out of my undergrad - my alma mater jumped on me, got wait-listed on another, and outright passed over on the third. I visited the wait list school, explained my circumstances and left with an admission offer and 2 different funding offers. I eventually passed and went into industry - my youngest daughter was born with a health issue and I was concerned about income and insurance.

So what can I do now to NOT get rejected out of hand? Any suggestions?

Posted by: Steve on November 12th, 2008 at 2:41 pm

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hi,
Thanks a lot for giving this information about admissions.I am persuing my engineering in Electrical(in INDIA) and i am writing GRE in the the month of june(09).So it would be verygreatful if u can guide me.
U have mentioned about the undergraduate research work, but i have done any kind of reasearch work so can u please suggest me on this reagard.
Please,please,please help me I will do anything u suggest I want to make it to TOP 10 GRADUATE schools
please reply

Posted by: krishna on November 20th, 2008 at 1:34 pm

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Hi

Thanks a lot for the information. Can you please tell me how crucial is GRE score for PhD application. My GRE score that I received when I was applying for MS, is terrible (around 1200). Now I am already in US, have good grades in MS, good recommendation, and I am planning to apply for PhD with same score. Do you think it is good idea to apply with same score. Is it given so much importance? Please reply.

Posted by: Abhinandan on November 21st, 2008 at 12:43 pm

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Thanks for the very helpful post. I’m curious about your process of how to pick which grad school to attend, since it’s now *almost* that time. I’d love to hear your thoughts on that!

Posted by: modularblues on February 1st, 2009 at 8:09 pm

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