The Campus Visit: Six Tips

1. Dress Appropriately.  Guys - wear a dry cleaned shirt and a pair of ironed khakis.  Ladies - look professional.  If you have tattoos and piercing that you can easily cover - it might be a smart idea to cover them up.  One of us has a couple of tattoos - and they fit in just fine in the humanities - but at conferences and interviews we typically cover them up.  

2. Be ready to speak cordially about the other programs to which you've been admitted.  If you've been admitted to Harvard to work with Prof. Famous Scholar don't be afraid to tell your potential advisor at Yale if the subject comes up.  You never know when you'll hear, "Oh, I worked with Famous Scholar on a book some years ago - here are my thoughts . . ." This could lead to an incredibly useful conversation.

3. Be honest about the status of your other applications.  Most of us applied to a lot of programs and were admitted to a handful of them.  Rejection is a part of the process.  I can't repeat this enough - there is no such thing as a safety school for many graduate programs.  It is more about "fit" than your 4.0 GPA and perfect GRE scores.  Your potential advisor likes your writing sample - really wants you in the program and has some sway over the admissions committee - you're into our program.  If nobody cares about your research topic, good luck - even if you graduated from the University of Chicago with a 4.0 and have numerous publications.  A gracious way to say this would be, "I applied to seven schools, but have only had a chance to visit four - and so far I've been admitted to . . ." 

4. Research the department/program website before visiting. Who are the major scholars working in the department you'll be visiting.  Try to get some idea of who the scholars outside of your specific field are - but don't stress over memorizing names.  

5. Take a look at some maps of the area. One of us had an experience where we were taken out to eat by a group of graduate students just a couple of blocks away from campus - but became so engrossed in conversation, we had no idea how to get back to our hotel.  This isn't a huge deal, but take a quick look at a map before you visit.  If the program is in a cool region, schedule a bit of extra time to travel around if you can. 

6. Don't just speak with faculty, try to speak with a couple of graduate students.  Go out for coffee with a few graduate students and let them dish about the program.  Tell them about your interests and ask them what they are working on - pretend to be interested, even if you're not. Ask them about funding in the department and at the school itself.  Ask about how well the faculty get along.  Where do they live in the area?  

Acing the Graduate Admissions Interview

Tip #1 - Dress like a graduate student.  This sounds a bit superficial and silly, but it is important. If you show up to your interview wearing a baseball hat, ripped up jeans and a backpack - you probably won't be taken very seriously.  Wear a shoulder bag or carry a briefcase.  If you're a woman, wear nice pants and a professional shirt.  For guys, wear khakis and a pressed shirt (by that I mean recently dry cleaned fellas).  Cover up easily concealable tattoos.  

Tip #2 - Be professional, yet also enthusiastic and friendly. Don't, under any circumstances, be condescending to anyone.  If you meet with other graduate students, be friendly, and try to mimic their behavior.  If you've been invited with them out to dinner at the end of the day and they get a beer or glass of wine, that is the signal that it's alright for you to do the same.  Depending on the graduate student and advisor, we often have the ear of the faculty and are asked for our opinion on students or potential faculty.  So be nice and professional, but try not to come off as overly serious.  Ask other students and faculty about their current research and ask a friendly follow up question.  

Tip #3 - Listen.  Obviously, you want to impress whomever you meet with at Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Chicago or whatever - but make sure you listen to what they tell you about the program.  You'll want as much information as possible if you are asked to chose between more than one program.  

Tip #4 - Be ready with a few basic questions.   Nearly every interview comes to a conclusion with, "So, do you have any questions for us?"  Be ready with a few basic questions for your audience.  If you are speaking to a group of other grad students - go for the quality of life questions - "Are graduate students here happy?" or "So where do most grad students find housing?  Where do you guys live?".  With a group of faculty, you might ask basic questions about the program or "Would it be possible to speak to a couple of current graduate students?" Either way, just be ready for this question.  

Tip #5 - Prepare a 3/4 sentence description of what interests you, but be prepared to talk about it on a deeper level.  Graduate admissions committees are typically made up of faculty from a number of different subfields.  If you are put in a situation where you are meeting with someone in your general field, but in a different subfield, you'll want to provide a basic description of what you're interested in studying while in graduate school - but don't wax on for days about your topic.  Instead, save that for the people you will meet with in your specific subfield.  Often, academics ask other scholars about their research just to be friendly and make conversation - not because they are really interested in your topic.  Be polite, explain what direction you are hoping to go with your topic, but don't over do it when in mixed company.

Quick Tips: GRE

Between the two of us one did very well on the GRE and the other did . . . well, let's just remember that at least one of us did quite well.  The GRE, or Graduate Record Examination, is a standardized test that a large number of graduate programs use as a criteria for admission.  

Learn from both our success and our failure by following these tips.  

Tip 1: Don't let the GRE take away from other, significant application building experiences - but spend some time studying.  In other words, if you have to choose between an extra opportunity to work in a lab or taking a GRE course, go with the lab experience.  Most graduate programs will care much more about a unique experience than a GRE score that nearly any intelligent person can replicate.

Tip 2: Take it early.  Or take it late.  Depends on your schedule.  Think about when the added burden of taking a timed exam will add the least amount of stress in your life.  All things being equal, however, we'd suggest taking it early because you can always take it again.

Tip 3: Study.  Buy a book or take a class.  Classes are more time consuming and cost more money, but they absolutely will help your score.  If you have the dedication to buy a book, brush up on your math and memorize some vocabulary words on your own - then take that route instead.  

Tip 4: Take practice exams.  Lots of them.  The best way to learn how to take the GRE is to practice.  Take a practice exam when you sign up for the exam (the GRE website gives you access to several) and take one later after you've spent some time studying.

Tip 5: Finally, on the day of the exam, don't psych yourself out.  Be sure to take your time and get the first few questions of each section correct, and from there - simply relax and do your best.

Pondering Grad School?

Thinking about going to graduate school?  At least one faculty member wants you to think again.  

Questions to Ponder - Quality of Life

Part of the benefit of running an anonymous blog is that we can give potential grad students advice that others might normally be embarrassed to mention.  One piece of advice I wish someone had mentioned to me would be to consider the quality of life of graduate students attending the institutions where you are considering applying.  

Ask yourself, will I be able to keep my sanity for the next several years on my life in the geographic locations of the schools where I am applying?  

Typically, most academic advisors will encourage you to consider only issues related to "the life of the mind".  In other words, will the program be able to do for you intellectually what you need to become a high quality scholar.  And while you'll be giving up a large chunk of your life to your graduate program - you will have some free time.  Many potential graduate fail to consider beforehand that they will, in fact, be spending some of their time doing something outside of school.  Potential students should be able to enjoy the area around where they go to school. 

When you visit a potential graduate program, be sure to talk to graduate students away from faculty about what their life is like at their school.  Do they enjoy the other graduate students? What do they do when they aren't working?  What is the weather like during other times of year? 

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Filling out Graduate School Applications

In this *very* brief post, I hope to give you some tips for filling out graduate school applications. 

Tip #1 - Ask your friend, advisor, parent, sister, and whoever else is willing, to double check your materials for typos and errors.  A silly typo or mistake probably won't eliminate you from contention, but you want to do what it takes to look professional and put together.  But don't let anyone write your application for you.  If your family is anything like mine, they will have a lot of experience applying for undergraduate programs, but won't have a whole lot of experience applying to graduate school.  

Tip #2 - A Statement of Purpose is NOT a Personal Statement.  Graduate school applications are different from applications for undergraduate schools.  A graduate program committee really doesn't give a shit about your sob story about losing a pinky finger shortly after your family came to the United States.  They don't care about your battle to lose weight and what it taught you about the meaning of life.  Unless you're applying to a program related to saving the whales - they don't really give a crap about your quest to save whales last summer in the Pacific Northwest.  What they care about are your research interests and goals.  Why have you chosen this program?  Kisseyface University has an outstanding group of scholars whose research interests coincide with yours.  Explain in some detail what you're interested in and how it relates to their work.  

Tip #3 - Do your best on the GRE.  Take a class if you need to.  At the very least, purchase a study book and take practice tests.  The GRE is weighted differently by different fields and programs.  But nearly across the board, GRE scores are used when weighing applications for university wide fellowships.  How else are committees supposed to weigh applications from different departments and fields?  Nearly every field (not including professional programs and medical schools of course) utilizes the GRE in admissions, so university administrations often find themselves using the standardized test to determine who should win competitive fellowships.   

Tip #4 - Be humble and modest.  For every graduate student admitted to certain programs, there are as many as 14 capable students who get turned down.  Odds are that you will get rejected at one or more programs to which you apply.  Don't refer to a school or program as a "safety".  

Tip #5 - Talk to other people you may know who have either attended graduate school or those who are applying about their experiences.