"What Have You Learned, Dorothy?"

[Medievalmaniac]

Now that the 2009-2010 application season is safely over, and we've all had a chance to collect ourselves, what advice would you give to people just beginning the process? What would you do the same, what would you never do again, what would you do differently? What areas of your application are you proudest of, and why? How would you improve your application based on what you now know? What are the "hidden pitfalls" in the application process, in your experience? What was particularly easy, difficult, or rewarding? What should people watch out for or pay special attention to?

Let's debrief here, and maybe we can help others who come after us (or those of us who are reapplying next year).

[AwkwardPants]

My advice from this would be to draw up a list of specific requirements for each school well in advance, and make sure to mark down the precise URL where information was found. Also, where application requirements seem to ask for paper copies to be sent, I would *call* the school and ask if this is true (I found discrepancies between what a school might have listed and what the graduate office might tell me on the phone). Sending in documents electronically not only saves time and headache, but it also saves money.

Yes, I definitely agree on this confusing website/needing paper copies thing. I was almost ready to submit my online ap before I realized the program wanted paper copies of a couple of things, and it led to a ridiculous New Year's Eve trip to FedEx.

A spreadsheet with dates and dollar amounts and all the picky details for each program can be very helpful. I'd also recommend talking to people in your particular program before you apply if you can swing it. One of my friends who is already in the program I'll be joining suggested that I email professors to set up brief meetings in August of last year, and I found this to be immensely helpful in focusing my statement of purpose and in knowing exactly what I was getting myself into. (I also think that visiting professors early in the process and having them recognize me during the recruitment weekend definitely didn't hurt my application.)

Edited June 10, 2010 by AwkwardPants

[Nibor6000]

I was applying to Ph.D. programs, but I think it's still sound advice: save your money and attend the recruitment days, even if it means flying across the country, etc. You really need to do this. Really, really. Really.

[sacklunch]

I would have applied to less schools (10 total). Also, I would have liked to do better on the GRE.

[RNadine21]

1. I would have put money aside for the process. As much as I love deciding between paying my roommate back for something and paying for an application fee, I'd prefer to never have to make such a choice again *end sarcasm*.

2. Back everything up. On the computer, on a flash drive, have a damn physical copy on hand. My computer died after fall semester ended and I ended up working off of older copies of my SOP to jog my memory and write my final version for two schools. It must have been good enough, since that copy got me into the school I'm attending, but it definitely tested my nerves.

3. Don't let the process get the best of you. I was so stressed dealing with one school that I broke down and couldn't function. I ended up on my couch one night in the fetal position instead of studying for a physical oceanography test and failed miserably (luckily the class was on a point system and I ended up getting an A after working hard the rest of the semester). In retrospect, the situation was not worth all that. This piece of advice also applies to all facets of life, and I'm slowly teaching myself that before I give myself a heart attack.

4. Stick to your guns. I knew that a masters was the best route for me at this time in my life, but I started to doubt myself as schools started offering me money to switch to a PhD candidate. In the end, sticking to my gut led me to realize that one school in particular was not a good match for me (actually, the same school that sent me into the fetal position), and now I'm joining a program that really cares about me, shares my beliefs and values, and is in a city that I love to death.

I think those are my big lessons. All in all, be prepared, calm down, and trust yourself and your abilities.

[coyabean]

In addition to all of those things I would have added one or two more 'reach' programs as I got into two I thought I didn't stand a chance with. Although I'm more than happy with my choice who knows what could have happened? Now is NOT the time to save $60. Seriously. I told the group referenced in the above link to consider the ROI on everything during this process. $60 for a chance at a school where full funding is the norm versus a free app at a school where you'll have to take a loans, etc.

[American in Beijing]

I definitely second the idea of making a spreadsheet. About three weeks before I had to hand in my application I realized that I needed to do an extra essay for one school. Also, I needed to create multiple writing samples of varying lengths to meet the different application requirements. Fortunately I managed to get it all done on time (even though it meant skipping some classes and spending my free time in the fetal position), but I would not wish that kind of craziness on anyone. Granted, I only decided to apply for this application season two months before the applications were due (I was originally planning on applying this fall . . . until I realized I'm not meant to have an office job). Still, I could have gotten everything settled when I first decided. Instead, I procrastinated and it hurt me in the end. In short, be organized! Get your shit together! It would have saved me a lot of stress if I had.

Also another thing I would have done is try my hardest to get a face-to-face meeting with my prospective advisors. I applied to three top-notch programs, and I don't think it's an accident that the only one I got into was the one where I met my PA for coffee. Make yourself available. Fly out to your top choices, if you have to! It will show the professor you're dedicated and potentially have a lot to offer to the program.

Last warning: never apply from abroad, if you can help it.

Good luck to those who are applying this year! Just remember to organize, plan, and breathe, and you'll be fine, !

[abacus123]

I think I would've broadened my horizons when it came to applying to schools. I applied to four, was accepted into three. The one I was denied is a school that is very popular in my field applies to so my chances weren't great anyway. I think I would've liked to have sent out a few more applications to different programs so that I could've had a broader range of options than one school fully funded and two schools with tuition waivers but little or no funding.

That being said, I would've stayed closer to my core interests when visiting schools. I kinda gave in to the fully funded program and let them push me into work that I don't really care for, and it has detrimentally affected my overall enthusiasm. I made the wrong decision on that one.

Arguably, I would've applied as a PhD instead of as a Master's student, to open up more funding options. A lot of my friends in my field applied as PhDs because doctorate students have a higher likelihood of funding, but truthfully they plan on dropping out once they have a Master's. I applied as a Master's student and I wonder if that caused schools to limit their funding for me. The school I went to left an option on their application that was along the lines of "Master's but considering PhD". I think that might have been a factor in why I received a full funding offer, even though I only plan on a Master's at this time.

In conclusion, I would've applied to more schools as a PhD and stayed closer to my core interests in the field. For what it's worth, one school I applied to sent me a letter from the department chair saying that if I was still looking next fall, "there is a very good chance a funded assistantship will be available for you at that time". So, if I don't like it here enough, I s'pose I could explore that option further.

[Jae B.]

I think lack of confidence was my greatest pitfall. Like abacus123, I would send out at least one more application if I went back in time and did this all over again. Not because I think it'd change things (I'm very happy with my school -- it's definitely my #1 choice now), but because there was one school I didn't apply to purely due to lack of confidence. I read the current student profiles and went, nope, nuh uh, they wouldn't pick me. But I thought the same about the school I'm going to (again due to those pesky student profiles), however in that case I just couldn't not apply because I was right there to drop off my application in-person! So maybe I wasn't so off-base for the other school, either. Knowing that I discounted myself sucks.

Honestly, lack of confidence almost made me give up on my application to the school I'll be attending in the fall, because when my life got busy, I thought to myself, why am I wasting my time applying someplace I'm not going to get in? But I hung in there with it because it's my alma mater, and as I said it was just too close to home to skip out on. Gee, I'm glad I applied!

I guess the moral of the story is, worry about being over-confident and having applied where you don't think you'll get in, rather than being unconfident and applying fewer places because of it. You may think you're wasting your time, but that's better than discounting yourself and your potential opportunities. Don't limit yourself -- only let your acceptances limit you after you've done the work. And don't let student profiles intimidate you! Just because no one seems "like" you doesn't mean there's no place for you in that program. In fact, it could mean you're just what that program needs.

Edited June 16, 2010 by Jae B.

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

What I've learned (and am implementing for 2011):

• When in doubt, ask, ask and ask again. My main problem in the 2010 app round was being woefully ignorant of the entire application process, what an SOP should look like in my field (IT IS NOT A PERSONAL STATEMENT), the language training that I need to address, the extent my writing sample needs to be a unique piece of scholarship that is publishing-worthy, and so on.
  • Approach the entire process in an organized manner. To select schools, I created a word table for each school I was interested in - including application deadline, professors of interest in the program, what my SOP should focus on research wise and fit wise, pros, cons, and personal fit on a scale of 1-10. My 28 school table has now been narrowed down to 16 PhD programs and 3 MAs, and will soon be cut down some more. Once the final choices have been made, an excel will be created with the exact requirements for each program, core SOP ideas, and a checklist of stuff that needs to be created/sent to the school, and by what deadlines.
    • Range more than the obvious choices of schools - I've found some programs that I LOVE that were far from obvious choices, both location-wise, and reputation-wise.
      • Spend a LOT of time researching schools - I chose the four I applied to for 2010 in a somewhat random manner. And although I'm applying to three of those schools again, I now know that they are good fits for my research ideas, and my SOP will reflect that (one of them I'm not applying to again - not a good fit for me).

    • Apply widely: despite being much more confident in my overall application for 2011 than I was last year, I'm still applying to a wide selection of schools that have a good fit to support my research interests - the competition is tough, and as the economy continues to tank, more and more people are applying to grad school.
      
    • Prepare emotionally: the application process is draining, exhausting, and can be frazzling beyond belief. I hope I'm better prepared for it this time (without Prozac LOL).
      
    • Thinking long and hard about research interests and be creative while thinking about them: All I can say is - thank god I didn't get in this year. I've focused my research interests and have come up with some really interesting new ideas in the meantime - which in turn has opened up many schools that weren't such a good match with my previous research ideas. My current (very broad) topic came to me after watching the end of "Kingdom of Heaven" with Orlando Bloom, and then having a discussion about the crusades at work. You never know where that absolutely great idea will come from!
      

[Infinite Monkeys]

What I think I did right:

• I had a master spreadsheet with everything: deadlines, addresses, contact information, the program's SPECIFIC name (every school had an ever-so-slightly different name for essentially the same thing), and which faculty members had committed to writing LoRs for that school
• I put my strongest LoR writers on my top choice schools--I love my faculty members here, but some are a little... flighty at times, and I didn't want to risk them having a flighty moment when the LoR needed to go in for the schools I really, really wanted to be at.
• I kept my class load light during application season--this year's season, I was finished with my required classes; I just needed some "polishing" courses, so I could take a lighter load, which made me a much more sane person than I was during my first attempt (full load of MA courses + applications + thesis proposal & preliminary research + MA exams = near breakdown).
• I applied to three tiers of schools: the "I don't stand a chance in hell" schools (low odds, but great schools), the "I really want to be here and I have a fair shot" schools (good fit, better odds, less likely to end up in debt to my eyeballs), and the "sure, I'm good with that" (not as great a fit or likely to be miserably expensive, but places I'd be okay with). As it turns out, I got accepted by a school in each category, so if you don't diversify your applications, you'll never know what you can do.
• I made contact with someone from almost every school on my list, even if it was just an email. In one case, I got to meet the entire department, and I think that's a big reason I ended up where I did; meeting everyone helped me make a good impression ("Hey! Let's give the hyper short kid from CSU Fullerton a shot!") and helped me make my final decision (school where everyone made me feel like I belonged and gave me food vs. school that sent a letter saying "We'll let you in, but we have NO clue how we're going to handle someone in your subfield).
  What I think know I did wrong:
  
  
  • I didn't budget as much as I should have for the applications. It was brutal, and I knew it would be, but I didn't think it'd be as bad as it was. Goodbye, six months of freelance writing earnings.
  • I didn't start early enough. I had my schools narrowed down by August, but I should have started sooner, because that would have let me get a better start on things.
  • I didn't ask for enough input on my personal statements--I had some problems with my earlier drafts that made it into final editions, and it wasn't until after I got the first app out that an LoR writer pointed them out.
  • I got information overload--I had too many people around me weighing in and giving me conflicting advice (not all of it good). It slowed me down and made life far harder than it should have been. My best advice is to listen to the people you know you can trust, and tune the rest of them out, or the mass of words will just heap more stress down upon your shoulders.Good luck to any poor souls taking this on in the coming year! It's a very stressful, very introspective process... if you don't know who you are and what you're doing before you start, you're going to be pretty close to there by the time you finish (or at least be able to fake an answer). And it's a brutal, gut-wrenching (not so) little look at yourself.

Edited June 20, 2010 by Infinite Monkeys

[diehtc0ke]

• I wish I had been more organized. With this being said, I was actually worlds more organized than I usually am (ie, I had a piece of paper in a notebook where I scribbled down all of the different deadlines and requirements whereas during the semester I usually rely on my memory for when papers/projects are due). This ultimately didn't end up hurting me too much but I do think I got rejected from two schools because I wasn't as put together as I could have been.
• I wish I had started this process earlier. I came off of a really difficult last semester of undergrad and used that as an excuse to completely take the summer off. This left me with about a month to study for the GRE and two or three weeks to study for the subject GRE in my field. I did well enough on the former and crashed and burned on the latter and in both cases I know I could have performed better. What was worse was that I didn't even end up sending a full draft of my writing sample to my advisers until two weeks before the first deadlines.
• I REALLY wish I hadn't limited myself to applying only to schools in the Northeast. I was born and raised in New York City and though I love the city I'll be leaving for in three weeks (!!!) and the department I'm entering is one of the best, it would have been nice to experience a totally different kind of life. I guess I'll have to wait until the job search.
• This, of course, has only come up in hindsight but I wish I had applied to more reach schools. As others have already said, I was almost plagued by a certain level of skepticism about the quality of my work and how it would be received. Now that I know that there are at least a few people who are excited about it, I kind of wish I had applied to the Yales and the Harvards to see how it would have been received. But, then again, I applied to eleven schools and pretty much wiped out my savings account so maybe this would be more appropriate in a "perfect world" scenario.

With all that being said, the fact that I was able to tell my best friend "You know what? This writing sample is a damn good piece of work" before I sent out my applications made all the stress and sleepless nights kind of worth it.

Edited June 21, 2010 by diehtc0ke

[alexis]

Well, 3 of the 5 PhD programs I applied to were a complete waste of time. I realize that now; at the time, I wasn't 100% sure what I wanted to study--I was pretty open to similar areas of study, which had some overlap--but realized that with my background, I was limited to one field, and should have stuck with that. But since I was only applying to one geographic area, I was pretty terrified of not getting in anywhere, and I thought "why not?" It worked out though, since I was accepted into 1 of those 2 awesome programs in my field, but looking back I would have just applied to those 2 programs. (Yes, ideally it's best not to be geographically limited, but such is life sometimes.)

I also learned how much work it is to research a PhD program. Finding out about their areas of research, all the intricacies of the application--it takes a lot of time. You'd be surprised, too, how many "hidden" webpages exist that aren't linked to the main pages. I learned through a random google search that one of my programs I was applying to was "going in a different direction" the next year--and not in my research direction. This way, of course, after I submitted my application (it was one of those 3 programs that were a waste of time and money). This page was not at all linked to any of the PhD application pages.

I would say, though, that if you put the work and effort in--and start early--that makes a big difference.

[psycholinguist]

• If you only get a single acceptance, panicking and jumping on it can be a worse choice than turning it down and waiting for the next application-season. If the school and department are a poor match for you, nothing's going to remedy the situation.

• Have an extremely good idea of what you would love to do research in. Demonstrate your enthusiasm by describing the sorts of projects you'd like to be a part of.

• Don't be shy about emailing a supervisor or two that you would absolutely love to work with. Face-to-face meetings are valuable, too.

• Being waitlisted can be good news.

[Tall Chai Latte]

I would say: make sure that all of your LORs are reliable!!! And identify potential backup references too, it never hurts to have more than three reference writers if once of them fails to send your letter in. Another thing was I should have applied to at least 10 - 12 schools to have a better spectrum of choices, I was stuck with only two choices and it was agonizing to choose!

[theregalrenegade]

1) Talk to everyone at the school you're applying to... professors, advisors, administrative assistants, program directors, current students, former students, etc. They all have something to say that can help. I wish I would have found a way to contact more of them during the application process.

2) Give yourself plenty of time. This ties in with number one for me. If I would have talked to the professors in my department before I began the application process, I would have known that applying for a PhD prior to receiving a Masters at my school was almost unheard of with someone who had been out of academia for almost 10 years! Also, I would have known that even if your application date for the Masters fall term is in July, if you wanted to be in consideration for a graduate assistantship you had to apply by February.

3) Use a kick ass writing sample. A sophomore paper with one source isn't going to cut it. Get a professor to read it and give you some insight. Polish. Polish.

4) Your SOP should be brilliant.

5) Have people who support you on your side.

6) Be organized, keep records, and try not to let it all overwhelm you.

7) Take breaks to read and post on the GradCafe forum.