Staying Organized
I got myself a few simple folders (you know, the yellow ones that hold sheets of paper in them – no need to punch holes or anything like that), and labeled them – one for each university or fellowship I was applying to. It’s never bad to have a couple of extra ones.
Inside each folder I put a checklist with all the items that had to go in it. The idea was that once they were all there, my application package was ready to be sent. In it went, as soon as I got them:
- Transcripts
- Research Experience
- Letters of recommendation
- Photocopies of GRE scores, both general and the psychology subject test (just in case the university didn’t get them yet)
- My resume
- My personal statement
- Application forms
- Anything else that was required by the specific university
I also made sure I had the application deadline date on each one of the folders, just so I wouldn’t forget.
Transcripts
This was the easy part, although I waited too long to get them, and almost missed the time to send them in. I did not appreciate just how slow universities can be – the exact person I needed was on vacation, and nobody else could sign the copies of the transcripts… you know how it is. I needed to have mine sent from Israel, and since I didn’t trust the university to handle it for me, I just ordered a bunch and sent them myself to the universities I applied to – even those who stated they only accept transcripts from the academic institution that issued them. I did try to check with somebody in the universities I applied to (an admin handling admissions, etc.) that it would be allowed. This was not a problem with any of the universities.
Needless to say, I ordered more transcripts than I thought I would need, just in case I would suddenly discover I’m applying to 3 extra universities. And they can come in handy later on as well, whem applying for fellowships and such.
Like anything else, it’s a good idea to get this done (or at least ready to be sent out) as early as possible.
Research Experience
What For?
Early along the way, I noticed that many of the universities instructed applicants to describe their “research experience” in the applications they send in. As I mentioned before, I had absolutely no prior research experience, and very little idea about how to obtain it. But just how important was it?
Here’s an excerpt from a letter I received from Ms. Abramson, the Director of Graduate Studies in the University of Wisconsin-Madison (one of the friendliest and most service-oriented places I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with).
Dear Eran,
…Prior research counts very much in admission. It is almost necessary for admission. In some cases the prior research can compensate for mediocre grades and GREs…
Whoa. Obviously, in my case (considering my BA average) this research experience could make a big difference. And it did. All the universities and professors I’ve spoken with emphasized how important prior research experience is for them.
Why Do They Care So Much?
As one professor explained to me in a phone conversation: since most of my graduate study revolves around learning how to conduct research and then actually running studies, the university would like to know that I feel generally comfortable in a research environment, and that after some time into the program, I won’t turn around and say: “What is this? I don’t like it at all. This is not what I expected. I’m outta here!”
Not that I have a way of really knowing what the program is going to be like – but picking someone who has some sort of experience with research is obviously a somewhat safer bet for the university.
On top of that, the way I presented my research experience may have helped the admission people decide whether or not I really knew what I was doing there, and how well I understood what was happening around me. I’ll discuss this a little more in the Personal Statement section, later.
What Kind of Research?
How relevant does my research experience need to be, in regards to my research interests?
As much as possible, is what everyone told me. I believed them 🙂 Obviously, some experience is better than none, but relevant experience is better than non-relevant experience. Since I was aiming for a Social/Personality program, I tried to find a place that would provide me with this kind of experience.
Where Can I Get It?
It seems that many BA students in the US have an opportunity to conduct research while in college – honor thesis, etc. I came with no research experience, and needed to come up with some. At first I looked for jobs in my area, where “research coordinators” or “research assistants” were sought after. I was hoping to be hired, based on my BA in Behavioral Science and my “managerial” experience (I served as an operations officer in the Israeli army). I did interview for one position, but never got the job.
This turned out to be a very good thing, since I could not have ended up in a better place than I eventually did. After the usual initial period of despair (“nobody will want me, why would anyone hire me, this entire graduate school application is a fantasy” etc.) I started emailing all the professors near me whose research interests were somewhat related to my interest. Here is an example of the letters I sent out. I also decided that if the only way to get the experience will be to volunteer, I would do it – I would find some time to work in the lab for a few hours a week.
Here, like before, the responses were mostly kind. I received a couple of positive answers, and at the end chose to go to a laboratory in Columbia University, hoping the professor I would work for would also write me a recommendation at the end – which actually happened, more than 6 months later. This was probably the most long-term plan I’ve ever accomplished 🙂
I put in a couple of sessions every week, a few hours at a time. I worked mostly with an extremely friendly and helpful post-doc who was working for that professor. I made sure I understood what the studies I was helping to run were really about, and tried playing a little with the statistical software, sitting with the post-doc who was running the studies and talking about them. The idea was to get involved in the data analysis, and not just get stuck as somebody who was running subjects mindlessly. This proved valuable later on, when I had to write about my research experience in my personal statement – it just helped me sound like I had a clue. And by then, I actually did 🙂
Recommendations
Most universities require 3 recommendations, and prefer them to come from faculty members who know you to some extent. Some mention that they’d accept recommendations from people who worked with you for a long enough while. They prefer not to hear from family members – which is a shame, since I bet my mom would’ve written me a knockout recommendation 😉
One professor who was kind enough to explain the entire application process to me (over the phone) told me that recommendations are important, but that I really just needed one very enthusiastic/impressive recommendation, and two others that basically wouldn’t object to my joining a PhD program 🙂 This was, probably, a slight exaggeration, but made me much calmer: I had only one contact in the academic world – the professor at whose lab I was volunteering.
It wasn’t easy to get a recommendation out of him. I just didn’t realize that at the same time, he was besieged by about a zillion other applicants who were hoping for his recommendation as well. I had to badger him a little – sometimes through the post-doc I was working with in reality, who was extremely helpful and kind.
I decided to also ask for a recommendation letter from a senior officer who worked with me for a few years in the Israeli army. The next letter I got was from a co-worker (clinical supervisor) with whom I’ve worked for about 6 months – he had a MA in psychology, so I was hoping his recommendation would help.
The universities allow you to either waive your right to see the recommendation, or not. Obviously, waiving it means you trust the recommendation writer to write something nice. This means that the recommendations need to be either sent to the universities by the writer, or be given to you in a sealed & signed envelope, which you will send in with your application. I chose to do it the second way, just to avoid having to worry about whether or not they sent out the letters.
I printed out the recommendation forms that the universities provided and filled out all the parts that I could, and then printed envelopes for the recommendation writers. I put little post-it notes on the forms and on the envelopes, so they would know where to put each letter, and I would know where to send the envelopes 🙂
Generally, each writer printed out a separate recommendation letter (identical for each university) that was attached to the university form, which was also filled out. Both of those sheets were returned to me in a sealed envelope, signed across the seal. Having the printed details of the writer and myself on the envelope just made everything look nice and official.
I estimated it would take me about one week to get the envelopes back. I was right, which was a good thing – it was getting really close to the deadline date. If possible, I would suggest doing it a little bit in advance, but not too far in advance.
The most important thing is not to be embarrassed when asking for a recommendation. Just ask if they’d be willing to write you a recommendation – and try to ask this of people who you know appreciate you and can write good things about you. It doesn’t hurt if you can attach some sort of title after their name (“PhD”, “Lieutenant-General” and “MA” seems to have worked for me).
GRE: General
The GRE (Graduate Record Examination) is a test that virtually all the universities require applicants to take in order to apply. It’s comprised of three areas – Verbal, Math and Analytical – that are tested over a period of around 4 hours. The score for each subject is between 200 and 800, and what really counts is what percentile you’re in (what percent of everybody who take the test got a lower score).
It can be done.
First off, don’t wait with registering for a test. Register enough time in advance, and you’ll get to take the test where you prefer, when you prefer. Why make things harder for yourself? I registered a little while after I started studying, when I could estimate that I’d be prepared in about 3 months.
I hate math. Or at least I used to. This was the one part of the application process I dreaded – and I knew I had to get incredible scores on the GRE, to compensate for my BA average. This was probably the single most important thing I did regarding the GRE – I decided I will get the best score I can possibly get, since I knew that without it I simply would not have made it into a good program.
And so I sat down to study.
I chose not to go with a course, since they were too expensive and were very poor value – a huge cost for very few meetings. I studied by myself with two books and one computer program.
The book I studied with was “GRE – Practicing to Take the GRE General Test.” I got the most recent edition that was available at the time. The book is published by ETS, which is the organization that actually develops and administers the GRE – and they really do teach you what you need to know. It also comes with a CD that has some simulated tests on it. I think the tutorials there were excellent – as long as I made sure to dedicate the necessary time to study them. I also took the practice tests seriously. I’d generally recommend to take this entire process pretty seriously – I’m sure my scores made a big difference in my application, if only by compensating for the BA average.
The software I used was one that I downloaded from the website: http://www.800score.com. The software prepared me VERY well for the math section (which was the one I feared the most), especially because it uses the same interface as the test – you get to work with the computer, subjected to the same time restraints etc. The program actually teaches you how to work with the time you’re given, which is probably the best thing about it. The solutions do have a few mistakes in them (meaning, they sometimes mark your answers as wrong when they’re actually right), and the company never answered the Emails I sent to ask them about it – but it’s generally a good product, and worth the $26 or so.
The other book I studied with was “Word Smart” (by Princeton Review), which actually did help me improve my vocabulary – although that’s probably the hardest thing to improve.
I scored better than I had expected:
- Math: 89th percentile
- Analytical: 97th percentile
- Verbal: 78th percentile
STOP! Don’t even start to tell yourself “Oh man, I’ll never get anything like…” You CAN do it. I promise you, it’s not that complicated. Put yourself to work, study hard (2-3 hours every day for a couple of months) until you feel that you’re starting to solve exercises easily. Go over the review sections in the book, and take them seriously – they really do contain EVERYTHING you need to know. Or take a course, if you’re into that, just remember – your success is determined by YOUR EFFORTS, and nothing else, and nobody else’s. It can be done. It’s been done before – and YOU can do it.
Okay, let me take my pompoms off, it’s getting hard to type 🙂
GRE: Psychology Subject Test
Also known as the GRE Subject test in Psychology, it basically covers all the material anyone could ever hope to go over while studying for a BA in psychology. Not all universities asked that I take it – in fact, Stanford was the only one that required it, and two others recommended it. For a long while, since I wasn’t planning on applying to Stanford (“I’d never be accepted” etc) I thought I shouldn’t burden myself unnecessarily with this test. At some point I just decided I’m going to apply to Stanford anyway, and since the GRE Psych is also necessary for applying to some fellowships, I decided to go for it.
It’s a lot of material. The good news is that there’s none of that logic or math stuff in the test. Just regurgitation.
The better news is that if you have some psychology-related education, a lot of the stuff will look very familiar – and you could figure a lot of the answers out (always multiple answers) just using your common sense.
Following the advice I found on a now defunct website, I got the “Arco GRE Psychology” book as my main study book. What can I say, the guy (gal?) was right. The book contained almost everything I needed to know. I put a good couple of months into it, till I felt I was pretty much on top of the material. Then I started reading “Barron’s GRE Psychology,” just to fill some gaps in. I didn’t really have any material from my BA time to study with, which was just as well.
My only piece of advice regarding this test is this: Answering questions incorrectly in the test actually lowers your score – if you have no clue, it’s better to just leave them unanswered. This is different than the regular (“general”) GRE, where you cannot proceed without answering all the questions. My score would’ve been much higher had I not guessed when I was clueless. It was still high enough, but there was a time when I thought it would prevent me from getting into the better programs – which is just another example of how easy it was for me to doubt myself in the process.
I ended up getting 690 (88th percentile), which I wasn’t quite sure was good enough. But at this point I was feeling good about my General GRE scores, and was trying to be done with self-doubt. I figured I’ll either make it, or I won’t, and why worry about it. I was already deep into the application process, and starting to develop some serenity about it 🙂
DON’T FORGET to register in time to take the test. You would not believe how long the waiting list is – and they all came there on the test day, and made me feel bad for showing up and not allowing a waiting-list person to take the test.
Resume
I applied to graduate school 5 years after completing my BA, and so had some life experience to talk about. In my resume, I tried to emphasize, well, anything that would make me look good 🙂 So I spoke about my “managerial” experience, about my educational background, about the research experience, about my computer skills… just about anything that could help.
Here is a copy of the resume I sent out.
Personal Statement
Here is my personal statement, just as an idea of what one can look like. This probably isn’t a standard format, but that’s how I wrote it and it was good enough to get me in. When I was writing it, I tried to convery the following points:
- I’m a thinking person with original thoughts.
- I’m motivated and spent time and energy to educate myself on my topic of interest.
- I have research experience and understand the research I was involved in.
- I want to join the specific program I’m applying to because of specific faculty members there – whose research interests match my own strongly.
It took me a while to decide whether or not to use my statement to explain/justify/make excuses for the less than great parts of my application (my BA average, my General GRE Verbal score). After consulting some friends, as well as a kind professor over the phone, I decided not to justify anything. This is who I am, here are my strong points, I am hiding nothing – let me know when you’d like me to start school. 🙂 That was the approach I was trying to adopt.
I had a few friends go over my statements, for both grammatical and content-related advice. I didn’t automatically accept all the advice I received. I thought about it, very hard, and at the end decided by myself. It took me a LONG time to write my statement, and it started out very different than how it ended. In order to evaluate it, I needed to have a couple of days without looking at it, so I could read it with “fresh eyes” – I would just advise that you give yourself PLENTY of time for this, since this is a crucial part of the application.
Every statement was tailored for the program I sent it to, generally in the concluding part, where I mention the specific faculty members I’d be interested in working with. Here’s an example of another statement prepared for a different program.
I would really recommend writing your own statement, and not using some pre-prepared format. Just give yourself enough time to do it 🙂
Application Forms
Each university has different forms. It took me longer than I thought to fill those out. I was doing it in a somewhat rushed manner toward the end, and didn’t enjoy it. Just make sure to give yourself enough time to do it, if you can. It’s important to be organized about it, since each university has a few forms to fill out, and it can get pretty ugly, pretty fast. I kept a separate folder-thingy for each university, which is also where I stored the recommendation letters that I collected, transcripts, etc. This way, when I was done with everything, I just stuffed the contents into an envelope and sent it off.
There’s nothing really tricky about those forms – try to be as anal as the guy who’ll be reading them. Follow instructions. I did whatever I could on-line – saves time, postage, paper… why not?
And the Winner Is…
Once I mailed all of my applications, met with all the professors I intended to, did everything I could… The time has come for me to just relax and let time pass. I knew I had a couple of months to wait before I hear from anyone. All the universities I applied to promised to give an answer back by mid-April – and the application deadline was either December or January.
I tried my hardest not to think about it once my part was done. It was just about waiting for answers, and I don’t like driving myself crazy with maybe’s and who-know’s. When the answers will come, I will know.
The first answer I received was from Stanford, thankfully. You can probably imagine how good that felt, how excited I was.
Two days later, I got a very thin envelope from the University of Eugene, Oregon. They were sorry to inform me. I was able to let that one go almost without any kind of negative feelings, since I already heard back from Stanford. I’m really glad I heard from Stanford first, but even if the order were reversed, I still would’ve heard from them eventually. It’s not over until it’s over.
I waited until I had some sort of formal letter from Stanford saying that I was admitted, and that I don’t need to worry about money. Only after receiving this confirmation I Emailed the other universities and let them know that I won’t be joining their program. I also made sure to Email the specific professors I was in touch with (and not just the administrative coordinators) and thank them again for all their help. As usual, the responses I received were very kind, wishing me luck and encouraging to stay in touch in future years (here’s an example).
In case you’re interested, I applied to 5 universities: Stanford, UC San-Diego, University of Oregon-Eugene, University of Wisconsin-Madison and NYU.
I was accepted to Stanford and UC San-Diego. It seemed like I was about to accepted to Wisconsin, but I Emailed them to drop me from the applicants’ list before they sent a reply.
I was not accepted to the University of Oregon-Eugene and to NYU (the latter taking its sweet time to inform me of the decision – sending the response long after April was a distant memory).
Which just goes to show that even if I’m not accepted to one program, it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be accepted to another program that’s just as good. There are strange random considerations and constraints at play – it’s never worth it to be shy about aiming high.
Realistic – but high. 🙂
Next: The Added Touch