On applying
to graduate school
So many students have come to ask me my advice
about how to apply to graduate schools that I decided to write down my suggestions
in one handy-dandy page. In looking around
on the internet, I found that there are lots of websites that have basic
information about graduate school, but most do not have the really specific
tips that I think make a big difference in putting together your application. So, long story short, here are my
thoughts!
First, before I get started, if you are just in the
beginning stages of thinking about graduate school, I recommend that you carefully
read some of the helpful websites on about.com. The following are particularly useful.
·
Graduate
School Admissions 101
·
Should You Go to
Graduate School?
·
Timetable
for Applying to Graduate School
·
What Do Graduate
Schools Want? ß This essay is REALLY useful!
·
Choosing
Among Graduate Programs
·
Trouble Starting
Your Admissions Essay?
·
Personal
Statement Dos and Don’ts ß Follow EVERY SINGLE suggestion!
In addition to the advice that you will find on
these websites, I have some advice that will make all the difference about whether
or not you are accepted, and perhaps even more importantly, whether or not the school
you apply to gives you a position as a TA (teaching assistant) or RA (research
assistant) to pay for your education.
Before I give you my advice, however, let me say, a
TA or RA position pays both your school and a modest living stipend, so you want
to do everything you can to get one! A
TA in a Department of East Asian Studies might assist in a Japanese literature
course, might teach Basic Japanese I, or might just be a grader for a large
lecture class. Each TA has different
experiences, but these are valuable experiences and they help pay the bills! The possibility of getting a TAship or RAship alone is plenty
of reason why you should heed the advice I have listed below.
The most important advice I have is this: give yourself lots of time to prepare for graduate school. Just the essay along may take at least a
month – more likely even two. The biggest
mistake that applicants make is not to spend enough time working on their essays.
Too many people fail to get into
graduate school because they made the colossal mistake of rushing to get an
application essay done in the week before the deadline.
Each admissions essay must be tailored very
specifically to whatever school you are applying to. That means a couple of things.
First of all, before you apply, you should figure out exactly what you want to study. For instance, do not just thinking along these
lines: “I want to study Japanese linguistics” or “I want to study modern Japanese
literature.” That may seem very specific
to you, but that is NOT specific enough!
Here are some examples of statements describing more
specific fields of study.
-
“I am interested in the ways that contemporary
Japanese novelists write about the student movements in
-
“I want to study pedagogical methods pertaining to
the teaching of advanced Japanese, especially reading, to students from
non-kanji countries.”
-
“I want to study Japanese pragmatics as it pertains
to the use of the ko- so- a- series in contemporary Japanese.”
As you might guess, you need to do your homework in
advance to develop a good, solid foundation in whatever field you want to
pursue. By expressing a specific
interest and showing potential grad schools that you already have some
knowledge, you will set yourself aside from the crowd as serious and thoughtful
student. Grad schools want students who
will succeed and become leaders in their field, not just people who are trying
to learn a little more. A specific
expression of interest will also let the professors at that university know whether
or not they can help you.
That does not mean, however, that you are absolutely
wedded to that subject once you get into grad school. Most M.A. programs in Japanese, for instance, have
you take general courses on Japanese literature, linguistics, and pedagogy. In the process of taking those courses, many students
end up shifting their focus somewhat, as they learn more about the subject and
the kinds of research and work that have been done in their field. Still, it is important to show the school in your
application that you are serious, thoughtful, smart, and already know the
basics of the field you want to enter.
Each year, grad schools gets
DOZENS of applications that just say, “I want to study Japanese in order to
become a bridge between
It HUGELY important to do your homework about the department you are applying to. Use the internet to find out the names of people in the department, and even better,
figure out what they work on. If possible,
use the internet or the university library to read some of their
articles or books. Professors
like nothing better than to hear things like the following: “I am interested in
coming to
In short, be thoroughly familiar
with what is happening at a school before you apply, then use that knowledge in your essay. You will set yourself apart from the crowds
of applicants that way.
If you have the time, I also encourage you (after
reading the work of particular professors) to contact the
Graduate Advisor in the department that you are applying to and
tell him or her that you are interested in applying specifically to work with
Dr. So-and-so. The Graduate Advisor can do
a couple of things for you.
-
The Graduate Advisor put you in contact with the
professor whose work you have read.
-
The Graduate Advisor can give you information about
whether or not a particular professor is accepting graduate students in the
upcoming cycle. (Sometimes professors go
away on sabbatical, or leave a university temporarily to conduct their own research,
or perhaps even retire altogether.)
-
The Graduate Advisor can answer questions, for
instance, what sorts of students they are looking for, the numbers of TA
positions they have available, and so on.
-
If you make a good impression on the Graduate
Advisor, he or she could perhaps even give advice about what the acceptance
committee likes to see in applications.
The most important reason to contact Graduate
Advisor ahead of time is that when you send in your application to the
department, you will not just be some no-name person applying out of the blue. The Graduate Advisor will recognize who you
are and know that you are someone who would fit well with their program.
Start this process months
in advance! Be aware that it takes time to
make a connection with a particular professor or a Graduate Advisor. Do not expect an overnight answer. (Very famous professors who are busy with
their own lectures and research often do not have much time to correspond to
people they do not know.) Start the
process of contacting them well in advance, and do not necessarily be
discouraged if you do not get an extremely personal answer.
Do not send out the same application
essay to all potential graduate schools! If you do NOT follow the advice I have given
you above and tailor your essay carefully to a specific school and its program,
the acceptance committee will be able to tell immediately, and your application
is more likely to end up on the back burner. All graduate school acceptance committees want
students that are specifically interested in their school.
As for the GRE, be sure to get GRE preparation materials, such as those from The Princeton Review in order to study
for the test. A high GRE
score is not the only thing that qualifies you for graduate school, but it sure
helps. Spending a month or two studying flashcards
of unfamiliar vocabulary from the English portion of portion of the GRE can
raise your score dozens, perhaps even a hundred points. The more time you
spend preparing for the GRE, the better your score will be. Remember, the GRE is difficult. Otherwise, it would not be the standardized
test for graduate school!
Finally, apply to multiple
graduate schools. The more applications
you send you out, the more likely one acceptance committee somewhere is to
select you to receive a TAship or RAship
at their university. Of course, make sure that every application
you send out is carefully tailored to that school and their program. That means doing all of the above things –
research about the professors, contacting the Graduate Advisor, and so on – for
each school. (That might naturally limit
the number of graduate programs you can apply to.)
All of this probably sounds rather discouraging,
but my purpose in giving you this information is to help you do well with your
applications process. The more you think
about it and the more you prepare, the more likely you will succeed in finding
the right program and putting together a successful application! Good luck!
Back to the homepage of Jeffrey
Angles
Suggest other useful webpages
and resources about graduate school applications
Last updated September 2, 2008