A Sample Path to Grad School

admin

6 years ago

So You’re Thinking about Graduate School

I got into graduate school this year, and a lot of friends in their sophomore and junior year keep asking me about the process. I figure if so many people in real life are asking me about grad school, people online would probably also benefit from hearing about the process.

This is going to be a departure from my normal linear posts where you start up top and then work your way down with each section building on the last. The next section will be about deciding if you want to go to graduate school. After that, I will try to layout a mock schedule for each academic year about what you should try to accomplish. I’ll start with freshman year and then move on until I get to submit your application in your fall semester of senior year. If you’re already in your junior year, there’s not really much reason to read through the freshman year section so feel free to skip over it.

Now, you don’t need to be thinking about and planning for grad school since your freshman year. I only seriously started thinking about grad school during your junior year. If you’re looking at going for a masters degree, you can feasibly only begin considering grad school senior year, only months before you apply. On the other hand, if you’re considering a doctorate program I would highly recommend, at latest, starting during the beginning of your junior year. Starting earlier will help make you a competitive applicant. You can also still get in if you start senior year, but you will be playing catchup with a lot of other people applying.

Note: I’m an aerospace engineer, and my advice will be geared towards other engineers/people in STEM. Every path to grad school will be different and you will have to tweak this article to tailor it to your major/personal circumstances.

Is Grad School Right for Me?

If you’re thinking about grad school but aren’t yet sure, ask yourself the question “Why do I want to go to grad school?”

It’s a very personal question and there’s no single answer. There aren’t even right or wrong answers. I can’t come up with a decision tree that answers every response but I’ll try to list some of the responses I’ve heard and whether it’s a good or bad reason to want to go to grad school.

Good Reasons to Want to go

The job I want to do requires a graduate degree
I enjoyed my time working in a lab during undergrad
I love the topic so much I think about it all the time and think about it in my spare time

Bad Reasons to Want to go

My family wants me to get a grad degree
People with PhD’s make more money than people with bachelors
I’m not really sure with what I want to do in life and doing a PhD will give me the time to think about it

A PhD is a hard degree to get, and some statistics show a 50% attrition rate. If you don’t have the right motivations for grad school you might find yourself a few years in deciding to cut your losses and leave the program with a masters if you’re lucky, or with little to show if you’re unlucky. If all your reasons to go fall into one category or the other it’s easy, but what if you have reasons in both lists? Then you need to look into your heart and see which one is greater. If your family wants you to get a grad degree and you also want a job in a field that requires a graduate degree then you might have a good reason to get one. Having multiple reasons to want to go to grad school is not a bad thing, but your family’s desires will no get you through the long days spent doing research. Be honest with yourself. It’s extremely easy to mislead yourself into thinking you have a good reason just to justify having a bad reason.

Freshman & Sophomore Year

Try out a bunch of different clubs. Stick with at least two. One engineering club that works on projects and one non-engineering club for fun. In the projects club, work on a project, don’t just go to meetings! This will also help when applying for internships.
Keep your ears open for lab research positions. A lot of professors won’t take on freshman or sophomores so don’t be discouraged.
Attend guest lectures that your department offers (Sometimes there’s free food!)
Talk to a guidance/career counselor on campus and see if you can map out your schedule for the next four years. Try to have your coursework peak in junior year
Apply to summer internships/REU’s. As a freshman or sophomore, you’re not as likely to get an internship or REU as a junior but it does happen. If you don’t apply you definitely won’t get anything.

Junior Year

First Half

Email a professor about doing research in their lab. You can also email them just to talk about their research and what the field looks like.
Rethink whether you really want to go to grad school. People change over college and you should reassess your desires.
Talk to seniors, they will have just gone through/be going through the process so they have the most up to date info.
Make sure you’re still on the right academic track for graduating when you expect.
Apply to summer internships/REU’s

Second Half

Take courses you’re interested in (at some universities you can take grad classes for free). Take a grad class from a professor you would be interested in doing research in.
Get a GRE test book and start practicing. I like question books like these. I feel doing questions is the best way for me to study, but everyone has their own study habits.
You’ll need 3 letters of recommendation, think of who you can ask. Most programs prefer professors as your letter writers. I went with 2 professors and 1 boss I had from industry to write my letters of recommendation.
Apply to summer internships/REU’s

Summer after Junior Year

Work a summer internship or REU if possible
Continue to prep for GRE
Compile a lost of at least 10 professors you would want as your grad advisor. Look at their research and see if you find it interesting.
Begin to email those professors.
Visit campuses if you can

Senior Year

September

If possible, take courses taught by professors writing you LOR’s if you don’t work for them.
Contact the schools you want to apply to, and ask about financial aid forms.
Begin writing a personal statement
Possibly take the GRE. Getting it over with early in the semester can relieve some stress and give you the time to take it again if something happens. If you aren’t going to take the GRE in September then at least sign up for it now.

October

Finalize the schools you want to apply to
Create a document where you have every one of these schools deadlines written out
Get feedback on your personal statement
Ask your LOR providers for the letters of recommendation. People forget and take extra time. You should definitely do this in person if you can.
Take the GRE if you haven’t yet

November

Complete your personal statement or essays
Fill out earliest applications (that due Dec 1st and 15th)
Have someone review your statements/essays
Gently Remind LOR writers if they haven’t submitted it yet
Have your GRE scores sent out
Have your transcript sent out

December

Complete all applications
Less gently Remind LOR writers if they haven’t submitted it yet
Have your GRE scores sent out
Have your transcript sent out

Everyone Hates the Waiting Game

Now, for the least fun part. Waiting. There’s no real way around it. At this point, the deadlines have passed and there’s not much you can do aside from obsessively reloading your email. Have you ever gone to the fridge looking for food, see nothing you want and walk away only to repeat the process 5 minutes later? It’s sort of like that. You know in your mind nothings probably changed but you just can’t stop yourself. The best way to get through this time is to occupy yourself with other things. Read a book you’ve been putting off, learn a new skill, or hang out with friends. Try to avoid people who constantly talk about waiting for results to show up. It might feel good at the moment but it’ll only make the wait feel longer.