What Has Been Your Biggest Challenge In Applying To Grad School?

[DrKT]

When I was applying to grad school, I remember that it was kind of easy to get lost in the process. What has been the biggest challenge for you?

Finding reputable information? Getting advice from someone who's been there? Knowing *specifics* about what you need to do to strengthen your application? Knowing what to write about in your SOP? Or anything else?

What would you find helpful in going through the application process?

Air out your challenges here!

Edited April 28, 2011 by DrKT

[ImberNoctis]

Money, money, money. (And the GRE, but mostly money.) What's with the financial gateway into graduate school?  Between application fees, transcripts, and the GRE, I've so far shelled out $568 for four applications. Some of the schools I looked into are charging between 75 and 100 for domestic applicants. If they waive fees at all, it's only for applicants who were in some types of undergraduate programs. So much for financial need. 

To me, the opportunity cost -- for what amounts to a roll of the dice -- seems insane. I almost feel like a chump for letting the ETS and various educational institutions use my dearest dreams to gouge my pocketbook. That's why I sound so bitter here.

What I have noticed in this thread is that there were very few complaints about money around 2011, but this season alone has netted at least four statements about the cost of the process. Have schools raised application prices drastically in the last four years?

 

[FoggyAnhinga]

Money, money, money. (And the GRE, but mostly money.) What's with the financial gateway into graduate school?  Between application fees, transcripts, and the GRE, I've so far shelled out $568 for four applications. Some of the schools I looked into are charging between 75 and 100 for domestic applicants. If they waive fees at all, it's only for applicants who were in some types of undergraduate programs. So much for financial need. 

To me, the opportunity cost -- for what amounts to a roll of the dice -- seems insane. I almost feel like a chump for letting the ETS and various educational institutions use my dearest dreams to gouge my pocketbook. That's why I sound so bitter here.

What I have noticed in this thread is that there were very few complaints about money around 2011, but this season alone has netted at least four statements about the cost of the process. Have schools raised application prices drastically in the last four years?

 

I wouldn't be surprised if some schools have raised their application prices - when I applied for master's four years ago, I remember some of the schools (the same ones I applied this year) were at least $10 ~ $15 cheaper than the prices today. 

 

My undergrad institution uses quite an archaic setup to send transcripts. Basically, after I make my transcript request online (and pay), I then receive an authorization form, which I have to print and sign, and postal mail (or fax) it to the transcript registrar office. After they receive that, THEN they will process shipping my transcript. Furthermore, if I want to request a free transcript option, they say that it can take 3-4 weeks for it to be shipped! No way I'm risking that. But if I do a faster service, they charge me at least $25-$30 per official transcript copy. Bah...

[CFBrown]

Money, money, money. (And the GRE, but mostly money.) What's with the financial gateway into graduate school?  Between application fees, transcripts, and the GRE, I've so far shelled out $568 for four applications. Some of the schools I looked into are charging between 75 and 100 for domestic applicants. If they waive fees at all, it's only for applicants who were in some types of undergraduate programs. So much for financial need. 

To me, the opportunity cost -- for what amounts to a roll of the dice -- seems insane. I almost feel like a chump for letting the ETS and various educational institutions use my dearest dreams to gouge my pocketbook. That's why I sound so bitter here.

What I have noticed in this thread is that there were very few complaints about money around 2011, but this season alone has netted at least four statements about the cost of the process. Have schools raised application prices drastically in the last four years?

 

 

Maybe it's just me, but getting transcripts to my schools cost me no money at all. Just a few forms to fill out and email to the registrar. It was probably the easiest part of the process for me.

 

However, I did pay damn near over $700 prepping for the GRE...

[Chai_latte]

I wouldn't be surprised if some schools have raised their application prices - when I applied for master's four years ago, I remember some of the schools (the same ones I applied this year) were at least $10 ~ $15 cheaper than the prices today. 

 

My undergrad institution uses quite an archaic setup to send transcripts. Basically, after I make my transcript request online (and pay), I then receive an authorization form, which I have to print and sign, and postal mail (or fax) it to the transcript registrar office. After they receive that, THEN they will process shipping my transcript. Furthermore, if I want to request a free transcript option, they say that it can take 3-4 weeks for it to be shipped! No way I'm risking that. But if I do a faster service, they charge me at least $25-$30 per official transcript copy. Bah...

 

I think I know the school you're talking about.  I took a class there one summer in the E&EB department, actually.  I requested a transcript and had to go through those same maneuvers.  What a nuisance (especially as a visiting student without a NetID)!  Honestly, I don't think any other school uses that 'system'.

 

Anyway, I guess I'm a veteran.  I'm going for my second grad degree.  Even though this year's process was generally less stressful, the statement of purpose was a challenge.  My next degree will be in a different field, so I had to highlight transferable skills and emphasize why my academic background would be wonderfully fantastic for their program.  

As a "second-timer", I only applied to places that were a good fit (I wasn't as strict about that during my last round of apps).  As a result, I actually spent less money on application fees and had a lot less paperwork to keep up with.      

[statsgirl4]

The money has been very tough this year! The 'cheapest' application was $65 going up to $105. Thankfully, most of the programs allowed unofficial copies of the transcript to be uploaded or that would've been expensive. If you change your mind about schools after the GREs (and I sure did), that's $27 a pop. 

 

All that money to bow and scrape and wait >3 months to hear back from the department feels like a pretty raw deal. I agree that departments should be more straightforward in telling what kind of students they are looking for- it's less work for them, and less financially stressful for us. But it feels like every website has the 'we love students from different backgrounds, and offer research opportunities in [lists every major subfield]'. I'm pretty sure they're just running a random number generator to see who gets in.

[ChelceCarter]

The biggest problem I encountered in my application was stress. I was only applying to one school because of reasons, and if I didn't get in at that school, I had no idea what I was going to do. I also needed the assistantship, and wasn't sure if I was going to get that or not. On top of all of that stress, I got let go from my job of over four years (that I had hoped would last me until I needed to leave for grad school). I had originally wanted to have all of my application materials in before the new year, but ended up getting them in closer to the end of January, two weeks before the deadline. 

 

Luckily, I got in with the assistantship, and the cat we adopted really helped with the stress, but it was a lot of hard, emotional work. Writing the materials wasn't that stressful, but writing them with a looming last day of work and nothing lined up after that was.