The Grad School Applications
Some important tips and resources for Grad School Applications
This will be a short blog since you would find most of the information in the links in the resources. All the links are in the Resources section and the following sections will mention what may be useful to look at.
Explore your paths
Before starting with the graduate school application, you should be able to make up your mind about why you want to do a Masters or a Ph.D. This is a 2-5 year commitment and it may not always be the ideal solution to your problems. Did you think about it?
You might find what you are looking for in Section 2 of the Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Computer Science from CMU as well as some QnA videos by PK.
Start Early
Researching about programs and professors takes a lot of time. Writing the first draft of your SoP may be easy but perfecting it and asking for enough reviews is time-consuming. You may want to give yourself some time to prepare for the tests and build up vocabulary, and also give your professors enough time to write and submit strong letters of recommendation on your behalf. So, plan well, start a few months ahead of the deadline.
Letters of Recommendation
Usually, 3 are needed. Must be strong! These can easily be the most important part of your application. :)
Matthew Might’s Guide, and the good old Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Computer Science from CMU might help!
Statement of Purpose
These are also very close to LoRs in terms of importance in the application. Write the best version you can! Edit multiple times. Revisit after some days. Have at least 5 people review it. Use LaTeX!
The CMU guide and Christopher Fletcher’s blog on Personal Statements are very helpful. The latter has copies of his SoPs.
Contacting Potential Advisors
If you are interested in working with a professor, you must contact them. Check their webpage if they are taking PhD students, and it may also contain some info for prospective students (regarding how to contact/apply).
Miscellaneous
Create your personal webpage and keep it updated with your presentations, talks, projects, achievements and publications. Spell-check everything! Use Grammarly for SoP! In short, don’t make a mistake that can easily be avoided (or better yet, don’t make a mistake at all).
Resources
- Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Computer Science from CMU.
- Matthew Might’s Guide.
- FAQ by PK.
- CS Grad School blog series by Jean Yang.
- Christopher Fletcher’s blog on Personal Statements.
- Grad School Resources collection of useful links.
I hope you find this blog helpful. Feel free to send me an email if you have any doubts. I understand that the Graduate School Application Process is hard and I am happy to help in making it simpler for you.
Thank you for reading. Please let me know what you think about the post. :)
