Graduate School Advice

So you want to go to grad school. Great! But stop and take a look at these resources first.

You don't have the best grades but want to go to grad school.

Should I go to graduate school?

7 Things I wish I knew before going to graduate school

100 Reasons NOT to go to graduate school

Some modest advice for graduate students

This is Your Mind on Grad School

Why do so many people continue to pursue doctorates?

Timeline

Sophomore Year

If you have an inkling that you want to go to grad school and especially if you are thinking about going right after you graduate, you should take your statistics and research methods courses. Also if you have the chance, volunteer to work in a lab. You'll likely not be doing anything glamorous, but you'll start to get into the research environment and understand the quirks of academic research

Junior Year

You should now begin work in earnest in a lab, going through all of the steps of the research process. You'll make a lot of mistakes and you'll likely not find much in your research. But, don't focus on the results, focus on getting the process right. You'll be able to publish with good science, and having a publication is great for an application.

Summer before Senior Year

Begin taking GRE practice tests. You can find free courses online. Make sure to actually do the tests in a situation like you'll be taking the test.

Research the schools that you want to apply to. Contact the labs that interest you (often times contacting graduate students and post-docs may be more fruitful early, and then contacting PIs once you have more information.)

Being gathering and preparing your materials (CV, cover letter, statement of purpose)

Senior Year

Revise your materials, get feedback from others and continue a new research project. You'll look to get letters of recommendation starting in August/September and then submitting applications in October/November.

Secret Timeline

The timeline above is pretty general. However, if you are applying to a competitive field or a highly ranked program you will need a close to 4.0GPA, 90+ percentile on all sections of the GRE and if you are applying to a PhD program at least 2 years of research, likely with multiple skills (e.g., programming, statistical analysis, and for biological programs-multiple wetlab techniques), and multiple presentations (and perhaps a paper - or more for top programs). So a more accurate time line follows the above until your senior year when you apply to work as an RA at a top ranked school or program. Then you'll spend 2 - 3 years in that lab gaining skills and making connections before you can either matriculate into the program of your advisor or into the program of a collaborator of your advisor at another top ranked school.

Guides to applying

A Primer On Getting into Graduate School

Great guide from Eric Walters from Old Dominion. Although written with biology in mind, still applicable across fields. Bonus, he also provides advice on mistakes to avoid making

Tips on Getting into Grad School

A presentation from Matt Welsh of Harvard. This gives you a look into a top tier school and what they advise.

Getting a great recommendation letter

Recommendation letters are a very important part of the application process, especially if any of the quantitative aspects of your application are lacking.

Helping Students Get into Graduate School

Geared towards programs and professors, but still helpful.

Mitch's Graduate School Advice

Helpful advice for clinical psychology graduate school which is one of the most difficult programs to be accepted to

How not to apply to grad school

Adam Ruben who wrote, Surviving your Stupid, Stupid Decision to go to Grad School, gives an account of all the things he did wrong when applying to school.

Kisses of death in the graduate school application process

Survey of psychology graduate admissions committee chairs revealed 5 categories of mistakes.

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References

Appleby, D.C. & Applebe, K.M. (2006). Kisses of death in the graduate school application process. Teaching of Psychology, 33(1), 19-24.

Burke, T. Should I go to graduate school? Retrieved from http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/tburke1/gradschool.html

Djokic, D. & Lounis, S. (April 27, 2014). This is your mind on grad school. Berkeley Science Review. Retrieved from http://berkeleysciencereview.com/article/mind-grad-school/

Fischer, B.A., & Zigmond, M.J. (2004). Helping students get into graduate school. The Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education, 3(1), A4-8.

Henry, A. (July 23, 2014). Seven things I wish I knew before going to graduate school. Retrieved from http://lifehacker.com/seven-things-i-wish-i-knew-before-going-to-graduate-sch-1609488711

Oppenheimer, D. (2016). Getting a recommendation letter. Retrieved from http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2016/06/getting-great-recommendation-letter

Prinstein, M. (2012). Mitch's uncensored advice for applying to graduate school in clinical psychology. Retrieved from http://www.unc.edu/~mjp1970/Mitch's%20Grad%20School%20Advice.pdf

Ruben, A. (2015). How not to apply to grad school. Retrieved from http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2015/04/how-not-apply-grad-school?utm_source=sciencemagazine&utm_medium=facebook-text&utm_campaign=hownottoapply-14199

Sterns, S. (2016). Some modest advice for graduate students. Retrieved from http://stearnslab.yale.edu/some-modest-advice-graduate-students

Seliger, J. (2016). Why do so many people continue to pursue doctorates? Retrieved from https://jakeseliger.com/2016/07/05/why-do-so-many-people-continue-to-pursue-doctorates/

Walters, E. (2014). A primer on getting into graduate school. Retrieved from http://www.ericlwalters.org/gradschool.htm

Welsh, M. (2006). Tips on getting into grad school. Retrieved from http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~mdw/talks/gradschooltips.pdf

100 Reasons. 100 Reasons NOT to go to graduate school. Retrieved from http://100rsns.blogspot.com/