How I worked my grad-school applications? (Masters)
“Dude, how are you these days?” he asked and as a casual reply I affirmed that I was doing well. Then he continued for a while with informal talks, just to end up requesting, “Hey, I need your help!” “Sure! How can I help you?” “So basically, I was thinking of applying for masters this year, and just like you, I too am thinking of shifting my verticals. I wish if you can let me know, how did you work your grad-school applications?”
Grad-school is no less mysterious than blackholes, not because they are esoteric but because what really matters is too subjective. I would say, there is no better point to apply learning of Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta than your Grad-school applications, for it entails Vishadyog, followed by realizations of karmayog, gyanyog, aatman and at last brahma-gyan. I am now sounding like a spiritual guru, but no I am not, I am merely trying to portray that it is very important to sort yourself well during your grad-school application for it is a taxing and challenging job amidst rest of your life and schedule.
Basically, I see it as a 6 levelled Chakravyuh:
Aatmagyan (Knowledge thyself)
More than anything else, it is extremely necessary to get your head down, and understand who you are, how you have been, and what are you looking forward for. In fact it is the most critical step in your pursuit but its effects are so latent that most of the people tend to skip it. A typical start to this pursuit is by a conversation with a close and critical friend who shall be ready to listen to your personal and professional life story. Such a story typically ends with you talking about your future plans, vision, aim and what you want to do in life. However, those plans are not so clear, are often quite vague, and in fact lot of times they are wrong conclusion of what you are and what you shall opt for. There you need that critical friend(s) to question you, make you feel unsettled, and constantly play a devil’s advocate till you hit a right spot. The thing that you need to know is that interesting thing which will keep your passion still burning even if it turns into the boring thing that you need to do daily. Ideally, this stage takes a month or two with almost a weekly conversation of around 2–3 hours about the same. It is pain striking, brain churning, unsettling and existentially question situation, and hence it is very hard. You will tend to give up on this step and be complacent with an easy answer which most of the world is doing. However, I strongly advise you to be truthful and courageous for your own-self. You shall know that you are done with this stage when you feel utmost clarity on your current existence, a confidence to fight the future and courage to let your passion speak.
Shankyaprapti (Get your numbers right)
Once you have clarity on your direction, you need to know that it is subject to evolution too and you should be open but steadfast enough. Next important step is to make a spreadsheet of places/universities you would like to apply
Ideally, if you are changing your verticals or applying into a competitive vertical you must have 8–10 application to be safe (my belief), with 3 over ambitious, 3 ambitious, 2 moderate and 2 easy universities. It shall help you to make your portfolio of application a lot less risky and a lot less haywire. Generally we tend to load one particular ambition level while other levels are deprived which makes your application portfolio quite risk or quite unrewarding. You need to figure 4 universities of these 10 which you shall surely be applying to, I would suggest go for 2 over-ambitious, 1 ambitious and 1 moderate where you will send your complimentary GRE and TOEFL scores before exam. (Mind that you need to send TOEFL scores before you go to give exam while in GRE you are asked to write names just after your exam, so make sure you don’t miss it. )
Once you are done with your university list, you will have a rough idea about the GRE & TOEFL score you should be targeting to make it into all of them (which is ideally your aim). They are typically easy exams but sometimes you need to hone up your English to match with the usage of words. I personally recommend Magoosh’s app to grasp the meaning of words, while ETS and Barron to work on practice tests. Try bringing new words into your daily vocabulary by using them in quotidian conversations, as it shall make things a lot less painful for you. GRE is a long exam and the only challenge is your patience, so keep your head calm and composed, utilize breaks (no need to rush), and use rough-sheet as much as you want. TOEFL needs you to speak in exam and hence be loud and clear, and be self-centric in exam. A good score shall help bolster your application; however most of my acceptance letters write that they don’t particularly give any weight to GRE scores so even if you screw up a little bit, don’t worry. There are 3 objective parameters in applications and it shall be really great if you have all of them right: grades, GRE score and TOEFL score.
Guroshray (Get word with Mentors/Professors)
The most difficult part for a lot of applicants is to get good recommendations from their mentors or professors. Typically you need 3 recommendation letters per application (some might need 2 while others might need more). Ideally, it must be great if you have all outstanding recommendation letters however being a bachelor from India (typically IITs), it is not possible given the course structure we have. It must be great if you have 1 outstanding recommendation, and 2 strong recommendations. Some of my friends have worked with 2 strong and 1 weak recommendation, and have achieved success. The idea is to figure out people whom you have worked with (it will be great if you find people whom you have worked on a project with, course recommendation come secondary). Make sure that the recommenders convey different aspects of your personality which are in harmony with each other and hence let the university know about you profoundly.
Writing good recommendations is not in your hand and hence to let your recommenders convey the best of you, you must surely discuss your applications with them. Try discussing your plan, the schools and professors you are looking forward to apply, and the learning which you want to gain from there. Be in constant communication with your recommenders even before you ask them to write a recommendation for you, it shall easy out a lot of things for you and them. Finally, be a humble and soft spoken person but do keep reminding them that they need to send recommendations to certain places if they have not done so.
Shabdarth (Pen your Purpose)
Once your forms are set, you have your scores to write and recommenders ready, it’s time for you to write your mind out. State of Purpose is typically a 1000 word thing, but according to universities the format can vary. One of my universities wanted me to write a 300 words SOP, while the other one university had asked to answer certain questions instead of SOP, however most universities ask for a 2-page or 1000 words SOP. There are certain cases where you also need to submit a video SOP.
SOP is typically divided into 4 parts:
- A brief about who you are and what are your beliefs or whys
- What is your connecting the dots story which has driven you to your present
- What do you except from your future (long and short term) and How shall XYZ University be of any help
- Why are you a good student and a good asset for XYZ university to have
The most common mistake people do and the trap they fall into is to write an SOP which they think might please the university chaps. I believe it is not about fitting yourself into a box, rather finding a true match where you and box fit with each other. Write a true and honest SOP, keep it crisp, articulated and to the point. If you have life defining experiences, projects and learning which has made you what you are, do write them in a way that the other person feels it. Make sure that you always have a story to tell. Be specific as to why you are opting for a particular course and degree, how it helps you connect your dots of past with the dots of future, and how certain people or courses shall be of help to you in the journey. Finally, do not forget to tell about your skill set and knowledge base which might be of great value to university and hence how it is a mutually beneficial deal. Try to conclude SOP with one line summarizing the complete narrative.
In your SOP do not hesitate to write name of authors, books, professors, or works that have influenced you, and also it is great to write about professors whom you would like to engage with on their particular work or course. Being explicit helps. Take care of grammar and word usage. Try to adhere to writing guidelines mentioned on university page, it is a good practice. Remember, SOP is the word that you give to university and hence it is probably the most important thing from your side. It is here that your exercise in stage-1 and stage-2 of the process shall help you.
Some universities ask you to also write a critical review or a summary on a particular research work, while other universities need you to answer some mind boggling questions, hence be ready to customize your application for each university, it might take a toll on you. Frankly, this stage is the most taxing and time taking stage and you might lose enthusiasm in this stage, so it is very necessary to keep yourself motivate, and the goals clear.
Mahabharat (Aim and shoot)
Finally, once you are done with all, submit the applications as early as you can (I know it is hard but do it) Adhere to deadlines, they are typically hard deadlines. Before submitting, please review the complete application and go thoroughly through the checklist provided by the university itself, so that you don’t miss anything.
The arrow is shot, and it Is in the air, but you don’t know if it will hit the target or miss it. The wait is painful, and you always tend to open gradcafe to check if somebody else received the result or not. You might have sleepless nights, nights where you dream of acceptance or rejection and you might also pseudo-hallucinate. These all are symptoms of anxiety and they are ought to happen. So beware, keep yourself engaged with good company of friends, work and activities. Avoid checking gradcafe, you shall receive result for sure.
And then the stream of results come, some accepts some rejects, unexpected things ought to happen. Acceptance of fate is what you must do. I wish you get all success, however being realistic you might be hit by rejects too. Let results not judge how good you are, for they are very subjective and mostly you don’t know why you were not admitted or why you were. There are millions of reasons, so don’t try inferring thing, just accept the reality. It might be sad but it may happen, that you shall have no accepts. Try not to be ashamed of yourself, go out and talk to your caring close friends, and speak out the truth the very moment. It will help you lighten your heart and mind. Do not ever try to fake your admit call in front of people, it is too bad for you and your integrity.
Let’s say, you ended up having multiple acceptance. The world might believe that it is time to celebrate and party but you shall know that, it is not, for you are now more confused. What to take, where to go, how to decide? Again, remember your close, caring and critical friend who helped you through the process, find him and discuss speak your mind out. You might again end up with wrong conclusion and let him unsettle you by throwing questions. This time the questions must be both philosophical and pragmatic, and one must take in account the prospects of the course, quality of grad-school, peers, class size, fees, scholarship, opportunities for on-campus employment, weather and your gut feelings. It is a silent sorting which will slowly happen in your mind and over the period of 10–15 days you shall be all sorted. This too shall pass, and it’s time to rejoice!
Bhavishyayog (Behold the future)
And as you think that all is set, the hard work starts now, VISA process, a lot of documentation work, searching for peers who shall share apartment with you, booking flight tickets, and getting things ready for new future. This life doesn’t stop challenging you! But don’t forget to congratulate yourself, you survived! And if possible it shall be best to help others once you are done. The best knowledge is one which is transferred out of sheer love.
I wish you all the best for your grad-school applications. Feel free to write to me in-case you need any help (logistic or moral). I shall always be available!