Afterthoughts on the Grad School Process?

[sphonino]

So we are reaching the end of this year's grad school app cycle. I was wondering if anybody had any big takeaways from it?

For me, I would say I was surprised how time consuming it is to even figure out what universities to apply to. Some universities' sites are out of date and it's hard to tell which professors are still working on what. In the end it's so much more helpful to email professors.

The pGRE was a pain but I also think is straightforward to improve at. I know some universities don't care too much about them, but don't give them a reason to pick someone else over you. Put in the month or so to study properly and get a good score.

I personally wasn't sure I wanted to go to grad school, so I didn't apply to safeties. My professors warned me against it but I did it anyways. It has turned out pretty well and I am really excited to go!