Wow. I guess it’s time for me to officially announce that I will be going to grad school at Stanford University for a PhD in Material Science! Ahhh! I am beyond excited and this is honestly insane to me. Stanford University is world-renowned for being an incredible school and I feel honored to have been accepted there. However, deciding to go there was not an easy decision because I was accepted at plenty other amazing schools, namely MIT, Northwestern University, UC Santa Barbra, and UT Austin. Writing about this is so awkward considering that I don’t want to come off as braggy, however I wanted to hopefully provide some tips on how you too can be accepted to some amazing schools. So here is a quick round-up of somethings that I think contributed to my acceptances:
- Have plenty of research experience and other diverse experience
During my undergraduate career, I worked in three different research labs. While this might be overkill, I think having such diverse experience with different research areas and skills shows that you have passion for research as well as familiarity and versatility with different research areas. By working at multiple labs you also have a higher chance of having your research published. Publications are incredibly important, and most professors understand how important they are for being accepted to graduate schools. When joining a lab, inform your professor of your intention of attending graduate school so they can help put you on projects that are closer to publication.
2. Build great relationships with professors
Recommendation letters are incredibly important for applying to graduate schools. One of the great things about joining multiple research labs is that you end up building close relationships with multiple professors. Frankly, a letter coming from a professor who remembers nothing about you other than you receiving an A in his class is not impressive. However, receiving 2-3 letters from professors who know you well and can commend you on your research abilities is much more impressive and effective.
3. If you are able, be selective on who writes your recommendation letters
While not everyone can be selective with who writes their rec letters, if you are in a position where you need to make a decision, be selective. Universities want to know about your research ability and your character. When selecting a professor to write your letter, make sure they know you well, perhaps they have seen you struggle but bounce back. Select a professor who has seen you and commended you for hardwork. Select a professor who you have a personable relationship with. Select a professor that you have had long discussions with about your research. I also will admit that I factored in my professors’ h-index when making my decision. The h-index is a value that quantifies a professor’s productivity and impact in terms of publications. While I don’t think universities really care about the h-index of a professor you’re working for, I imagine working with a professor with a high h-index may increase the probability of getting a publication from their lab. This may result in a stronger recommendation letter.
4. Stress about your GRE for only a couple months
Your GRE score is important but not that important. Universities are looking way past your scores. Don’t stress too much or for too long. I recommend you to book your test date to kick off your studying, studying for a few months before your test date, and just do it. I think in September I scheduled my GRE for early November, and immediately just studied as much as I can before the date. Having a test date scheduled, however, really motivated by studying. Before studying, Google the average GRE score for the universities you want to attend so you can get an idea of what you need to work to. While practice exams are available online, I would encourage you to see if your undergraduate universities provides them for free or offers GRE courses. I took a online Princeton course provided by my university that was INSANELY helpful. These courses provided helpful tips on how to approach certain questions which minimizes how “hard” you have to work. Some other quick tips for GRE tips: Download Magoosh on your phone, look up the GRE writing prompts which are provided on their website each year, take plenty of practice tests (I think I took around 6 before my real exam), if you’re going into STEM don’t stress too much about your Reading score.
5. Make your Personal Statement unique
There are soooo many other people applying to graduate schools so make sure to be unique in your personal statements and show your personality. I was told that Stanford looks for 3 things. Exceptional academic merit, a unique personality/outlook/background, or an impressive experience. If one of these applies to you, bring attention and focus to it. I will admit that my Personal Statement was riddled with silly jokes, focused on my extensive research experience, and pointed out my stereotypically “girly” interests. Through this Personal Statement, I wanted to highlight my academics while also being fun and playful and pointing out the stereotypes of what a scientist can and cannot look like.
YADDA YADDA YANA 