Where to go for graduate school
Apply to graduate school: key points, tips, and suggestions
[Music]
hi there I'm Amanda Bittner a professor
in the Department of Political Science
I'm here to talk to you today about how
to get into grad school just a few
things to think about one of the things
you might want to think about first when
you're thinking about applying to grad
school is thinking about what it is that
you actually want to do when you're done
why might you want to do a graduate
degree over something else
why not work why not come back and do a
bit more undergraduate work why not
think about law school why not think
about other kinds of things all of these
are viable options and it's important to
think about this and to think about what
it is that you want when you're thinking
about what comes next there are a few
things that you should think about when
you're thinking about why you would want
to go to grad school and there's also
reasons not to go to grad school you
should absolutely not consider grad
school in order to please your parents
or because you think it'll bring you
money fame and glory you should not
consider graduate school just because
you don't know what to do with your life
be aware grad school is hard work
it'll be very different for your
undergraduate program and it may not be
for you and that is okay there are
reasons though that you should consider
grad school you should consider grad
school if you enjoy being engaged in and
challenged by intellectual and practical
problems it is a deeply enriching
intellectual experience and can often be
an excellent and necessary preparation
for professional career so if you've
decided on grad school and you're
thinking about where to go there's lots
of ways and lots of factors that you can
consider when you're deciding where it
is that you want to go you'd want to
consider the kind of program is it a
course pace program is it a thesis brace
program what exactly is involved in the
program itself where is it where might
you want to live where might you not
want to live these are all important
things to think about what are the
program requirements do you have the GPA
to get in does it require a standardized
test in order for you to get in what are
the language requirements and then also
you want to think about who it is that
you might work with at this school who
are the professors who are the possible
supervisors do they do what you want to
do is this a good fit and finally of
course you should always think about the
cost of the program as well as financial
aid school costs a lot and so the more
you think about these kinds of things
the better off you're going to be there
are also things that you can do when
you're planning to and beginning the
process of applying to grad school you
want to make sure that
you visit the website of the programs
that interest you along with the website
of the faculty or School of Graduate
Studies at that school you can email the
program coordinator of the program that
you want to obtain additional from
information that you might need and that
you don't have one thing to keep in mind
here is that you never want to ask
questions where there are easy answers
available online this will just annoy
the person who is receiving your email
and they're often the ones who are
deciding the status of your program
applications you want to make sure that
you present as good a foot forward as
possible also a good idea if you can is
to visit the department talk to
professor's and talk to students who are
currently in the program you'll get a
better feel for what's involved in that
school and what being in the program
might actually feel like once you're
there finally you want to make sure that
you also assess the credibility of the
program especially if it's a foreign
based program that you've never heard of
you want to make sure that it's a real
program and not something strange or
unusual or out there to kind of get you
and steal your money when you're
thinking about grad school and programs
in particular it's one thing to take a
look at you know the web and see what's
out there and think about grad programs
in general but you also want to remember
that at the end of the day you're the
one that's gonna be in that grad program
you want to make sure that you pick a
program that's right for you not right
for somebody else so there are a few
things that you can do to make sure you
pick the program that's right for you
talk to professors at your home
institution they're full of useful
advice they know you and they can help
you they know you as a student and they
know how many of the programs that are
out there that might be appropriate and
might be of interest to you select
programs that best match your
intellectual interests and your
professional and personal needs don't
select programs that you don't really
want to be a part of because you're
wasting your time and your money as
you're applying for these programs also
if you're not a great fit they're gonna
see that and they're gonna wonder why it
is that you're applying you always want
to think about finances money always
matters there's a joke out there it's
not really a joke about students always
being poor you don't want to go down
that road if you can actually get money
for your programs to finance your life
and to finance that degree you should
try to do that finally you want to think
about where it is that you want to live
we are all different we have very
different preferences about geography
weather location all that kind of stuff
family and friends we
you want to live schools one of the
times that you actually have some choice
over where it is that you are and that's
something to think about because you'll
enjoy your program more if it is
something where you actually want to be
so one of the things that people often
ask when they're when they finally found
where does they want to go and they're
like okay now what I know where I want
to be I know what I want to do now do I
do so the first important thing that you
want to do is carefully look at all the
prerequisites you want to make sure you
understand whether or not the program
requires language testing whether it
require standardized testing or other
kinds of tests before you can even apply
if so make sure that you make
arrangements early to take those tests
and perhaps even a prep course if you
can because those scores need to be
included in your application and you
want to give yourself enough time to
actually accomplish that part of the
application first so in terms of what
your application will include if you had
to do a test then the test scores are
required but it's important to remember
that no two applications are the same so
in addition to filling in an actual
application form online or by paper
depending on the situation you'll
probably need to include a few other
things as well and it's important to
remember these things as you're
preparing yourself so often programs
require reference letters
recommendations from professors
employers things like that you will
probably need transcripts from all of
your post-secondary schools any
undergraduate work that you have done
will be required to want to see how it
is that you've done in the past whether
or not you'd be a good fit for the
program also a lot of programs will
require some kind of letter or of
interest or statement explaining what it
is that you want to do why it is that
you want to do it why is that the school
and this program is appropriate and
perfect I was a fit you may have an
application fee that you've got to pay
as well often applications will require
a CV or a resume of kind of what you've
been doing so far and a lot of
applications also require a sample of
your written work so often what this
means is it's a paper that you've
written in your third or your fourth
year of your undergraduate program this
is a lot of components and it does
require some time to compile so you
don't want to just rush it you want to
make sure that you give yourself enough
time to actually do all of these things
to make sure that you have a successful
application
so a few tips to kind of finish off here
it's important that you don't wait till
the last minute
start working on your application early
ideally two to three months before the
deadline make sure that you follow the
requirements set by the program or the
University for example if there are
required components whether it's
transcripts whether it's reference
letters whether it's a writing sample
any documents that they require make
sure you include them often your
application can be rejected on
technicalities so if you didn't include
something because you didn't notice that
it was required your application while
otherwise perhaps successful can be
rejected so make sure you pay attention
to details make sure also that you
follow up on your application it's your
responsibility to make sure all of the
required documentation is there it's not
anybody else's job to do that so you
want to make sure that you follow up and
make sure that your transcripts are in
that your recommendation letters have
arrived they've gone to the appropriate
deadline so you can watch other videos
that talk about how to ask for a
reference letter and how to write a
statement of interest and those are
really helpful but it's really important
that you think about all application
components as you move forward and
remember if you have a question look
online first see if you can find the
answer and if you can't find the answer
absolutely you should get in touch with
those who are running these programs to
give you some more information good luck
[Music]
you
