Applying to Graduate School


There are a lot of "applying to graduate school" websites out there, but I didn't feel like they were that thorough. Many offer advice about how to ask for letters of recommendation and how to write your personal statement. What these sites do not prepare you for is the organizational nightmare that is applying to graduate school. I decided to make a website that offers advice on how to deal with this process, as well as the process of choosing a graduate program. I'm sure it will also not be thorough, but hopefully it will be useful.

I am currently a student at the University of Michigan, earning my PhD in Psychology. Because I got married over the summer before graduate school and I had to coordinate with my then fiance, I applied to 19 graduate programs. Also, I took two years off between college and graduate school to get research experience. Keep in mind that the advice is coming from someone who applied a lot of places, is in the field of psychology, and did not go straight from college to graduate school. My advice may not fully apply to you. However, I am very experienced in the process and I hope this website will be of help to you.

I am also an NSF graduate fellow. See below for more information.
My advice pages
Preparation -- suggestions for preparing for graduate study while an undergraduate.
Application Timeline -- takes you from late August to mid-April, suggesting when to accomplish goals.
GRE -- advice for when to take it, how to study, how to send scores, and its importance.
Personal Statement -- advice on writing the personal statement.
Letters of Recommendation -- who to ask, how to ask, and when to ask.
Notifications -- how to handle the process once you start hearing back from schools.
Downloads -- visit this page to download some useful files!
The Two Body Problem -- this page gives lots of advice from start to finish regarding how to manage applying with a boyfriend/girlfriend/fiance(e)/husband/wife/partner.
NEW: Advice on applying for the National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship
Visit this page for general advice on applying to the NSF GRF, a fellowship program that offers a tuition reward plus $30,000 stipend to graduate students in the sciences.
Links
Applying to Graduate School forum
Psychology Graduate Applicant's Portal
Graduate Application Advice from About.com
Grad school application blog
Graduate school forum, including notifications of who has been admitted