Successful Applications for Graduate

School

Allan Burns, Edie Allen,

Patrick Moreton

October 25, 2016

Forward to graduate
school

1. Do I really want to get a degree?

2. How to decide where to go?
3. What are the steps to get admitted?
4. What are good letters of recommendation?
5. After I am accepted, what should I do?
6. How do I write a compelling personal
statement?
Do I want to go to graduate school? Why?

• Do I know what I want to Should

We want to

do?
change
I go to
majors to
Duke or
• Do I need a Ph.D or I miss UCLA?
anthropology!

MA/MMS/MSc? DKU!

• Am I ready to spend 4-7 Ni Hao

years?
• Can I afford it? or will
they pay me?
Applying for graduate school
Is applying for a job

You are no longer a

student

You are a colleague in

research, scholarship, and
a career
 2. How to decide where to go?
Prestige of the University or
The Quality of the Department?

Make a spreadsheet:

• Program
• Faculty
• Students
The Universities you apply for should be
excellent in your area
Don’t apply to too
many universities!
3 “top tier”
3 “Excellent places”
2 “Highly recommended”
2 “just in case”
 The Department: its reputation,
size, quality is most important
Faculty:
• Are faculty in the
department active?
• do they publish?
• are they there?
• are they working with
students?
• Would you like to work
with them?
• Did they respond to your
email?
Students We chat or email
students from the
university. They are
happy to respond!

• Do graduates go on to
successful careers?
• Is there financial support?
• Is it a large or small
department?
• Do students engage in
interesting projects?
• Do students recommend
the program?
 PH.D.

http://personalexcellence.co/files/infographic-your-plans-vs-universe-plans.png
Hey, don’t forget to fill out your application
correctly!

The application goes to the

graduate school to check for
completeness

Then it goes to the

Department to see if you fit
into their program
Getting good letters of recommendation
Make sure they can write a good letter

Did they know you?

Did you talk to them about
your interests?
Did you give them a
resume?
Did you give them a
statement of purpose?
Did you give them enough
time?
Letter of reference traps! Ha! No graduate
school forever!!
Writing your own letter Why did I
ask that
(even if the professor asks person???
you to do so!)
Choosing a person because
you think they are
important
Choosing someone outside
of a University
Not asking if they can write
you a good letter
Statements of purpose will be discussed by
Professor Edie Allen in a minute,

But first,
Professor Don
Snow would like to
say something…
 Statements of Purpose

Are they the same as Personal Statements?

Professor Edie Allen

How to Write a Statement of Purpose:
Telling Good Stories about Yourself
DKU First Year Graduate Students
 Reviewing SOP advice…

• Tell a story about where you have been and where you
are going

• Express your academic/scientific knowledge

• Show your professionalism, motivation and inspiration

• Demonstrate your program knowledge and fit

• Write with clarity

Remember what not to do??
Tailor your SOP to a specific school
Make sure to follow the directions given by the
specific school
 Advice about sections to include

• Part 1: Introduce yourself, your interests and motivations

• Part 2: Summarize your undergraduate and/or previous
graduate career
• Part 3: Discuss the relevance of your recent and current
activities
• Part 4: Elaborate on your academic interests
http://grad.berkeley.edu/admissions/apply/statement-purpose
 Expand on three areas

• Your research interests and relevant academic background

• Why the program you are applying to is a good fit for you and
what you can offer to the program
• Your career goal or overall trajectory
Generous advice from Philip Guo
 Demonstrate program knowledge
The English department of University X is prestigious for
its academic standing and constant pursuit of new
breakthroughs in the field. This is best shown in the
evolution of the curriculum: as the emphasis on
interdisciplinary study has increased, the study of literary
history has been enriched by the analysis of different
cultures and fields. By adding courses on creative non-
fiction, drama and film, creative writing has kept pace
with thriving new medias. I value the academic excellence
at University X, not only for its strong teaching of
language, but also for its dynamic curriculum.
 Demonstrate source of your interests
To understand how MC-based dose calculation is realized in
radiotherapy planning, I took the MC practicum this semester
and with Dr. X’s help，I initiated a side project associated with
my main thesis work. This project entails simulating the dose
deposition… then comparing that with the dose calculated in the
Eclipse system. This MC practice has inspired me to delve further
into this emerging technology and examine its application to
treatment planning.
 Demonstrate knowledge of the faculty
My PhD pursuit is also consistent with my career goals— first to
become a qualified medical physicist, then to join a faculty
ideally at an institute such as University X and finally to
contribute to the Chinese medical physics community.
Consequently, I hope I can continue my study and research at
University X, working with Dr. Y and striving for further academic
improvement under her guidance and intellectual
resourcefulness.
 Further reading
Your School’s website

Purdue Online Writing Lab

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/969/01
Statements of Purpose: Overview and Before your Draft

Website of Professor Philip Guo, U. of Rochester, NY

http://pgbovine.net/PhD-memoir.htm
After I am accepted, what should I do?
• Decide quickly
• Ask about financial aid
• Write to other
universities that
accepted you
• Learn policies of the
graduate program
• Write to professors
there and tell them you
are coming
Remember to thank you family and all of those
who helped you
Enjoy graduate school and your career

谢谢