Grad School Made Easy; Three Strategies For a Painless Application Process

Applying for graduate school can seem like a daunting task. After a long day of work (or class) the thought of writing essays, filling out applications and studying for the GMAT seems much less attractive than the alternative plan of having a beer while watching an episode of 'Archer'. Having had some time to reflect on my experience applying to MSF programs this winter, I wanted to share a few strategies that I found useful in keeping the applications process as pain-free as possible. This advice combines the lessons learned from my experience (and my mistakes) with the instruction I received from two graduate students that were kind enough to help guide me through the process.

• Get Organized

  Graduate school applications have a lot of moving parts. You will have to track recommendations, essays, transcripts and a plethora of other materials. In order to simplify the process, build an excel sheet that tracks each part of the application and holds key information such as due dates, the number of necessary recommenders and the status of each component. This will simplify the process of sending documents and will ensure that the right information ends up in the right place—it will also save you from tearing up your room in an attempt to find your passport number the night before an application is due.

• Get Your Recommendations Early

  Many graduate schools require either two or three letters of recommendation, often with a minimum of one coming from an academic source. One of the huge mistakes I made in my applications was reaching out to my former professors (and recommenders) only a little bit over a month before the applications were due. My recommenders were extremely kind to be accommodating of my quick time table, but if they were not, I would have had to delay my apps and apply in a later stage of the admissions process. Connecting with professors a month and a half in advance of the due dates will minimize the impact of delays on either end and allow your recommenders plenty of time to write.

  Planning ahead will give you the time to not only carefully choose your recommenders but also build your relationships with those individuals. A little time spent in office hours discussing your interests in the more intricate theoretical aspects of a discipline can go a long way in elevating your professors opinion of you and help ensure an excellent recommendation. The advice I received from my professors was to choose recommenders that truly know you well and can speak to your abilities—it is better to ask the young professor thinks you could be a future Nobel prize winner than the Nobel prize winner who does not know your name.

• Get To Know The Programs

  Writing personal statements for each campus is one of the most difficult parts of the application process. If you are anything like me, writing about your experiences can be a frustrating and lengthy undertaking. After a slow start to my writing, I found more success after deeply researching each program in detail and trying to pinpoint their unique and exciting aspects. Reading about the opportunities available at each school served as a great motivational force for my writing and helped me connect my experiences and interests to the each programs strong suits.