Part 3: The Graduate School Application
Completing graduate school applications can be a difficult task that requires managing several deadlines and application components, which we describe in greater detail in the section below. If you have followed our guidance from parts 1 and 2 of this blog post series, reflecting on what you want out of graduate school and identifying what graduate programs and university labs can support you in reaching your goals, then you are well set up to begin the formal application process!
The required graduate school application materials and associated deadlines are typically described on graduate programs' websites. For instance, the Stanford University Civil and Environmental Engineering Program's graduate application requirements can be found here. Graduate school applications are typically facilitated through university-specific online application portals where you can upload and submit required application materials, send and manage requests for letters of recommendation, and respond to application fields, essays, and short answer prompts. For instance, the Stanford University graduate school application portal is available through the Graduate Admissions page.
The deadlines, document formats, and required materials for graduate school applications can vary across universities, departments, and individual programs of study, though common application components include: official university transcripts requested through your previous academic institution, an up-to-date Curriculum Vitae (CV), letters of recommendation, a personal statement and/or statement of purpose, and various short answer responses. In addition to the documents above, some graduate programs may request additional materials such as previous scientific presentations or technical writing samples. Note that some graduate programs or potential PhD advisors may reach out to you via email later in the application review process to conduct additional candidate interviews. We describe some common graduate school application components in greater detail below and provide a general American graduate school application timeline at the end of this blog post as a preliminary recommendation for approaching the graduate school application process.
The statement of purpose and short answer prompts are designed to provide you with an opportunity to describe your personal and professional goals, your research interests, and your reasons for applying to the graduate school program of interest. If you are interested in working in a particular university lab's group, the statement of purpose provides you with an opportunity to mention potential advisors' names so that they can target and review your application. Note that the graduate school statement of purpose tends to differ from application essays utilized in the undergraduate admissions process in that it should focus on showcasing and clearly specifying your academic strengths, career goals, motivations, research interests, and fit within the target graduate program. Some target graduate school programs may require both a statement of purpose and a personal statement. The primary difference between these two types of essays is that the statement of purpose focuses on describing your professional background, goals, and research interests, while the personal statement focuses on describing your personal history and why you are interested in pursuing graduate studies. It can be useful to reach out to peers, professors, and/or university writing and career services for feedback and advice on developing and writing your statements and essay responses. The MIT Civil and Environmental Engineering Communications Lab provides a useful starting point for developing a successful statement of purpose and provides two annotated sample statements of purpose for reference.
Some graduate school applications may require you to submit test results from the General Record Examination (GRE) General Test and/or the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), which are standardized exams administered by the ETS organization. You can register to take these exams at an ETS testing location near you through the ETS website, which also provides a variety of free, official test preparation materials. In recent years, many university graduate programs, such as the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Stanford University, have relaxed or omitted their GRE General Test score reporting requirements, though it is important to check the specific requirements for your particular graduate programs of interest.
Graduate school applications and standardized tests such as the GRE often have associated application and registration fees. If application fees are a barrier to your application to graduate school, we recommend that you check whether the graduate program or university of interest offers application fee waivers. Similarly, the ETS provides the GRE Fee Reduction Program for individuals who can demonstrate financial need.
From our experience, it is beneficial to be proactive in identifying the specific application requirements and associated deadlines for your programs of interest early into the graduate school application process. This will allow you to ensure that you have sufficient time to gather and complete the required application materials, request letters of recommendation with plenty of lead time, and to clearly and thoughtfully develop your responses to essay and short answer prompts. Note that the graduate school application timeline may also overlap with graduate school fellowship application deadlines such as the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), which can serve as great opportunities to apply for funding of your future graduate studies. Applying to graduate school fellowships can make you a more competitive applicant as it reduces the grant funding an advisor needs to acquire in order to support you as a graduate student. Creating a checklist or spreadsheet to identify each application's required materials and associated deadlines can be a great way to manage the process of applying to one or more graduate programs and fellowships!
Source: ReNUWIt, “Adam’s Graduate School Application Guide”, 2019. Link.