Applying to graduate school may seem overwhelming at first. There are personal statements, GRE scores, references, and sometimes even essays that can be considerably time consuming to do. Here are some tips and tricks to help with your graduate school application process! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I was applying for graduate school, there were dozens of schools to choose from just in Virginia. However, each of the applications were at least forty dollars, and some were even eighty dollars! Applying can be expensive, so it\u2019s a good idea to do your research about the programs available to you. Some of they key factors I considered when applying were <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your list might look a little different than my list, but it\u2019s important to sit and consider what is important to you in a school. Otherwise you might look back and wish you made a more informed decision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
2) Make sure your confident in your personal statement <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your personal statement is one of the most important pieces to your graduate school application. It is your way of telling admissions who you are, where you\u2019re going, and what your values are. Even if you have a hefty resume, it\u2019s not going to do you much good if you can\u2019t articulate why these experiences put you above the rest of the applicants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some resources you could use to make sure your personal resume is solid are your professors and your campus writing center. You could send your personal statement to a few different professors you have worked closely with during your time as an undergraduate to make sure you are submitting the best possible statement to the admissions committee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
3) Carefully choose your references <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My rule of thumb is if a professor\/ supervisor cannot ethusicatically agree to write you a letter of recommendation, do not submit one from that professor. The professor you choose should know you well, and feel comfortable writing on behalf of your skills. In some cases you only get to submit two or three references, so you have to make them count!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When asking for recommendations, it is important to let the professor know what program you are applying for and your reasons for wanting to go. If you are asking for multiple recommendations from professors, make sure to convey this information in an organized way. One of my teachers made us fill out a chart with all of the information he needed to write a letter when submitting a request. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is an example of this kind of chart: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many professors will also ask for your personal statement so that they know why you are applying and can base their letter off of what you stated in that letter. I often sent my CV with this since not all of my professors knew everything single thing I did in undergraduate, so they could have it to reference and make my letter stronger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4) Make personal connections <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are applying to a program, it is a good idea to research the faculty and staff in the program and reach out to them. Making this personal connection sets your name apart from others who apply, and can help professors see your interest in the program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 5) Don\u2019t be afraid to brag about yourself <\/p>\n\n\n\n The last place you should be humble is your graduate application. You worked hard to get through your undergraduate and make the best of your time, you should showcase that. You should never embellish or lie on your resumes or personal statements, but don\u2019t be afraid to be proud and let the admission committee know what you\u2019ve accomplished. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Peighton)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Applying to graduate school may seem overwhelming at first. There are personal statements, GRE scores, references, and sometimes even essays that can be considerably time consuming to do. Here are some tips and tricks to help with your graduate school application process! Do your research about where you\u2019re applying When I was applying for graduate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14912,"featured_media":1150,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[9,11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1149"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14912"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1149"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1151,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1149\/revisions\/1151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/loop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Institution <\/strong><\/td> Program title<\/strong><\/td> Degree sought<\/strong><\/td> Deadline<\/strong><\/td> Additional forms?<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> ODU<\/td> Clinical Mental Health Counseling<\/td> M.S.Ed<\/td> December 1 <\/td> N\/A<\/td><\/tr> VCU<\/td> Couples and Family Counseling<\/td> M.Ed.<\/td> January 15 <\/td> N\/A<\/td><\/tr> GMU <\/td> Clinical Psychology <\/td> Ph.D.<\/td> January 1 <\/td> N\/A<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n