How to Apply to Grad School in 2020

Here's my advice.

It's that time of year again. Golden leaves are falling from the trees, a special kind of recession is affecting the markets, and the cold wind is making you contemplate the direction of your career.

It also means that universities are beginning to release their online application forms for their cycle of graduate degree admissions. This year, most programs in the US and Canada will be opening the application portal from early October to early December, during which aspiring students must collect and submit a few standard items for consideration. These usually include:

1. Three Reference Letters
2. A Statement of Purpose
3. Curriculum Vitae (CV) or Resume
4. Transcripts

In my immediate circle, this means that friends and acquaintances alike have started to knock on my doors to get feedback and advice on every word they submit for that Statement of Purpose, who should be writing their reference letters, and what to include in their CV.

As a former grad student and current university employee, I have a unique perspective into common assumptions that prospective students bring into their application prep - and what admission committee members actually want to see. Keep in mind, this is my opinion - your first source of information should be the applications FAQ for the programs you are applying to. Nevertheless, here's all the advice I've given my friends and family to make sure they're covering all their bases - and strategize for success. For this article, I'll focus on two important components of the application package: the CV/Resume, and your Statement of Purpose.

Your CV or Resume

If you're not sure about the difference between a Curriculum Vitae (CV) or Resume, just go with the form you are most familiar with. Common components of this document include your education history, professional experience, volunteer experience, and skills (including languages and software) - similar to how you would apply for a job.

If you're applying to a Masters program with less than ten years of work experience, one to two pages is the standard length of this document. Do not do an info dump - more is not merrier! Remember that the people who are evaluating your application materials may be looking at 100 to 700 other application packages while juggling a full time job, family obligations, and sleep. Make sure to tailor the content to the program you are applying for, and the career goals you mention in your statement of purpose to keep things cohesive.

In the US and Canada, it is not standard to include your photo, age, marital status, or other personal information besides your name and basic contact information on a CV or Resume.

Now for the most important point. The goal of your CV or Resume should inform the admissions committee of the following:

• What kinds of skills and experience you have - (not just to make this learning opportunity the best possible experience for you, but to make sure your fellow students will benefit from your presence in the program)
• What kinds of specializations and perspectives you can bring in to the program
• If you training and skills align with some current projects being done by faculty or research opportunities in the program
• Your work ethic, years of experience, and career trajectory - whether this lines up with the expected standard set by the admissions committee and in relative comparison to other applicants who have also applied

The Statement of Purpose

Next is to fill in the stories between the lines of your CV. The admissions committee will probably have these key questions when they approach your application:

1. What is this person's dream/goal/vision?
2. Why the shift from what you were doing before into graduate school?
3. Why does this person need this degree, in terms of career goals/skills gaps?
4. Why does this person want to get that degree here, at this specific program and at our school?

Also, in a petty sense, they want to gauge whether you will actually come to their school once you are accepted. Acceptance rates are an unspoken consideration for a school's prestige, and depending on the school versus your credentials, you may need to emphasize that this program is your priority, not your 'safety school.'

Do NOT use the limited space of your Statement of Purpose (usually 1-2 pages, or around 1000 words) to convince the admissions committee that you have the skills and experience to be successful in your program. That should already be evident from your transcripts and CV/Resume. The worst case scenario is just summarizing your CV - the admissions committee will not have the opportunity to learn more about you as a candidate.

The Statement of Purpose is to elaborate on your experience and illustrate your motivations between who you are, what you can do, and what you want to do - and how this graduate program will fit into that plan. Bonus points if you can convey your unique personality as well.

That said, your approach to the Statement of Purpose should be very different depending on whether you are applying to a Master's or PhD program. It is far more tolerable to have a personal story about resilience, exploration, and self-growth in a Master's program application, whereas a PhD application should provide a clear and no-nonsense roadmap of the research you would like to do. Contrary to popular opinion, the Statement of Purpose is not a sob story contest. It should instead draw a clear bridge between you and the aspired program.

Here are some exploratory questions to get you started:

• What intrigues and excites you about that specific program, in relation to your aspirations, personality, and previous experience?
• What are some limitations or gaps of knowledge that you find within yourself, as you seek this education to fill those gaps?

TL;DR

The resume and transcript point to the WHAT of a person (are they capable of doing well in this program) and the personal statement points more to the WHY of a person (what are their agendas and aspirations, what's their personality like, are they going to fit into our cohort and school, etc.), so it's good to focus on those objectives with the limited space you have to express yourself. 

We live in a world where it's weird and frivolous to spend $10,000 on a Birkin bag (which has almost a 1-to-1 resale rate), while it is considered an automatic investment to spend over six times that amount on a graduate degree. If you embark on graduate school applications without a firm grasp of why you want to join a program and what you want to get out of this opportunity, the admissions committee will likely get a sense of that.

At the end of the day,

Make sure to have a deep conversation with yourself and to see what grad school can do for you. Once you find that confidence within you, I hope this advice will provide some guidance on how to put your best foot forward.