Make Your Grad School Application Stronger with 5 Tips
You’ve decided that going back to school makes sense for your future career goals. You’ve looked into programs and selected a few schools to apply to. Now you just have to get in.
The grad school application is your opportunity to present an accurate and compelling picture of who you are, why you’ve decided to go back to school, and what you want to accomplish in your future career. With application fees and the amount of time it takes to apply to schools, it’s worth your while to make sure your applications are in the best shape they can be.
Here are five tips to help you prepare a kick-butt grad school application:
1. Craft a compelling story
Before you start filling out any paperwork or online forms, sit down and answer a few questions that will help you craft an original and compelling story that you’ll eventually use in your essays.
What have you done in the past (at work, school, service activities, or even in your personal life) that you’re proud of? Do any of these experiences influence your decision to go back to school? If so, why?
What have you liked about previous work or school experience that makes you think you’d like to go back to school for a particular degree? Was there anything you disliked that has helped you switch your career focus?
What does your ideal job look like after you’ve gone through the program? What attributes must that job have, and why are those attributes important to you?
Why is now the right time for you to go back to school?
What unique thoughts, ideas, and experience can you offer other students? What do you hope to learn from professors and peers during your time at school?
Where do you see yourself in five years? Ten years?
Answer these questions as completely as possible in order to fully develop your story. Pay attention to themes that emerge as you go through this exercise. These themes are the foundation of your unique (and hopefully compelling) story that you’ll weave throughout your entire application. Personal statements and essays that convey a strong sense of purpose are much more likely to get you accepted to a program.
2. Be strategic with leadership experience and extracurricular activities
Many masters programs prefer candidates who have leadership experience. If you haven’t had the opportunity to lead very many projects at school or work, find an organization pronto where you can get leadership experience. Leadership experience ties in nicely with extracurricular activities (i.e., leadership roles within these activities), which are also important for a strong application.
Use judgment when listing your extracurricular activities on your application. It’s about quality, not quantity. Ideally, the organizations you’ve worked with and the roles you’ve held will support your application and make your story even more compelling.
Consider joining professional or civic organizations whose mission ties in nicely with your future career goals. Volunteer to put on an event or sit on the board to get leadership experience. Alternatively, there are tons of non-profit organizations that need all kinds of volunteer help. Finding an organization where you can get leadership, business, or pretty much any kind of experience you’re looking for is actually fairly easy.
Hopefully, you have some history with a few activities you’re involved in; however, some of you won’t. If this is the case, make sure you strategically select two organizations to join and get involved with ASAP.
3. Choose recommenders who know you very well
You’re not doing yourself any favors by having the big wig at your last employer write you a fluffy, five- sentence recommendation letter. Admissions staff aren’t impressed by a fancy title if it’s evident that the recommender doesn’t know you from your colleagues. Instead, ask an old boss, co-worker, client, or professor that you’ve worked with very closely and continue to have a good relationship with.
When asking someone to write a letter of recommendation, let them know them a few months before the deadline. It also helps to provide some guidelines for what you’d like the recommender to cover. Your recommendation letters are an excellent way to reinforce your compelling story, so don’t be afraid to ask the recommender to highlight key areas in which you’ve excelled. It’s also important to make sure your recommender offers specific examples, which admissions folks love!
4. Don’t take a “one size fits all” approach
If you’re applying to multiple schools or programs, make sure you tailor each application accordingly. Don’t try to cut corners and re-use an essay that answers a very similar question asked by a different school’s admissions office. It’s easy for admissions folks to tell when you’ve used an essay you wrote for another school, so please don’t use this approach. Make sure your essays answer the questions you’re asked.
5. Grades and test scores do matter!
If you have a high GPA from your undergraduate program, you’re sitting pretty. If not, you may need to re-take a course or two at a community college and get “high marks” to prove that you’re serious about going back to school. Call the admissions office and ask if they require minimum GPAs or grades in any particular classes if you’re feeling iffy about your grade history.
Nearly all grad programs require you take an entrance test as part of the application process. LSAT, GMAT, GRE, MCAT, PCAT, and the list goes on. If you‘ve taken one of these lovely exams, you know they’re not fun. However, they’re a crucial piece of your overall application so it pays to take the exam again if you haven’t hit the average score for the program you’re applying to.
And now for your bonus sixth tip.
6. Cross your t’s & dot your I’s
Review all application materials thoroughly before submitting. Ask several people to proofread your essays to make sure there are no spelling, grammar, or clarity issues. Remember, you only want to apply to each program once, so take some extra time to make it your best effort.
By: Gale Bowman
8-30-2010
After graduating from Notre Dame, Gale realized that young professionals need a source of reliable information as they face “real world” challenges. Gale manages WhatCollegeForgot.com and is pursuing an MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
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