The best graduate schools are very competitive. Their acceptance rates are quite low; some of these graduate schools only accept a small percentage of the applicants. However, students are still aiming to get into these highly reputable institutions to get the best possible education in their chosen field. They believe that the competitive nature of these institutions are the best training grounds for their profession.
Education
Graduate school is often directed toward a specific academic discipline. So, it is no wonder that education degree holders are keen to go for advanced degrees. People wanting to get advanced education degrees believe that they can improve their teaching techniques and pass on the love for learning to their students if they get their master’s degrees. As of 2008, the most competitive program is being offered by Teacher’s College of Columbia University. It has the toughest acceptance rate, at only 48%.
Engineering and the natural sciences
When it comes to the general sciences, the best programs are generally offered by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It has an overall 14% acceptance rate, which ranks it as the most difficult to get into in the disciplines of engineering and the natural sciences. MIT is also looking for applicants with SAT math scores above 700. This is to ensure that the students can cope with the demands of the intense science programs.
Health
As of 2008, the University of Washington is known for its excellent nursing program. However, the University of Pennsylvania, ranked number three, is more competitive, with only a 21% acceptance rate. Washington, on the other hand, accepts about 67% of its applicants.
Social science
Social sciences is a broad field. So, for each graduate program, a different university excels in it. However, some top-ranking universities are noted for their highly discriminating student selection. For example, Stanford tops the Psychology program and is recorded with an 11% acceptance rate. Harvard presents a tougher acceptance rate, at 9%. It also offers the top-ranked political science program.
Humanities
The top humanities programs can be found in Princeton, Yale, Harvard, University of California – Berkeley, and Stanford. While Harvard tops English, Yale offers the best history program according to most people. Being accepted at Yale can be quite difficult, though. The acceptance rate is at 10%.
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A college internship is not just a requirement you have to finish to graduate. It also provides substance to your graduate school application. This is because admissions committees of different graduate schools (especially the top-ranked ones) like to see candidates who have previously shown interest in the field they are applying for.
An internship gives you a glimpse of the future
When still in college, you must already display a healthy interest in a particular field for further studies. Through your college internship, the admissions committee is able to see that your interest is not triggered by an impulse or by a whim; you prove that you have been genuinely interested in the field for years and you are willing to do go beyond the confines of the school to get information and exposure to your chosen field. Having internship experience means that you are goal-oriented. It proves that you have thought of your future and have chosen to act on it.
An internship shows that you are a responsible candidate for admission
Preparing early on for your graduate school degree shows a level of responsibility. With your college internship, admissions committees will judge you as a person who knows what he or she is doing and you appear to them as someone who sets priorities. When you are able to complete requirements of the internship, this communicates a message to the admissions committees that you also have what it takes to finish the requirements of a graduate degree. These include research papers, investigative work, and field work.
An internship makes your resume stand out
A college internship also strengthens your resume, by providing a related working experience from when you were still in school. If you are looking for a part-time job to support your schooling, the college internship will prove to be even more helpful. Indirectly, your college internship supports the financial aspect of graduate school.
An internship provides you with invaluable work experience
Work experience given by college internship does not only translate to the details in your resume but also prepares you for the more practical side of your academic discipline. While theory makes you understand concepts, an internship will show you how to work in the real world – how the theory is put in practice.
So, if you are still in college, take advantage of that college internship. If you’re still not sure if an internship will be worth your while, then just think about how the internship will help you land a slot in top-ranked graduate schools. If you do decide to intern, perform your best and get all the learnings that you can absorb, for it will be a worthwhile experience.
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You may be telling the truth, but having a good back-up is always advantageous especially in your plans to enter graduate school. Even if you have submitted the most impressive graduate admission essay and transcript, somebody else has to vouch for your capability and also for your personality.
Why are recommendation letters a must?
The admissions committee does not really know what methods you were using when you got those grades. These numbers do not reflect your attitude and your interpersonal skills (how you deal with your classmates, study group members, and teachers). For example, maybe you were ruthlessly aiming for excellent grades so that you were never interested in anything else such as helping out a classmate. A good reference will be able to show the admissions committee that not only were you a good student, but you were also a good classmate or a good worker – a great person inside and out. If you’ve already written about it in your graduate admission essay, then the recommendation letter validates what you’ve stated.
People to approach
Not everyone can write your recommendation letter. When you are choosing among the professors and instructors in college, put distinguished people who know your work well on top of your list. College instructors or organization advisers will make great references. Make sure that you have a good grade with the particular college instructor you have chosen, and that you have displayed a great attitude with the adviser of your choice.
Narrowing down your list
You cannot choose every college instructor or adviser who has given you a high grade. Again, you have to choose someone who has seen you at your very best – as a realiable leader or member of a research group, as a consistent worker, and as a generally well-rounded student. Make sure that the reference knows you well enough to answer questions graduate schools may pose. The reference must also be known for being articulate – you do not want any mixed messages coming through. He or she must know your goals and must understand your motivations.
The element of trust
It is important that you know your reference, and he or she also knows you well, preferably on a first-name basis. The reference must know you enough to write about you positively but honestly. You must in turn know your reference well for you to anticipate what sort of recommendation he or she will write, without you having to unfairly influence him or her. You must then be able to trust your references enough to submit their sealed letters as part of your application, partnered of course by an excellent graduate admission essay.
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To go or not to go to graduate school? For bachelor’s degree holders, this may be a very confusing question. When a student graduates from college, he usually has two options: to go straight to work or to seek advanced studies in his field of choice. If you choose the latter, you’re in for opportunities, such as the chance to be “a bigger frog in a bigger pond.”
But before you head for the GRE’s or compose that graduate admission essay, a.k.a. “statement of purpose,” here are some things that you might want to consider:
Have A Good Enough Reason For Going To Graduate School
Make sure you really want and have to go to graduate school. Ask yourself, “(why)?” Now, you may have two answers to this question: either you need it or you want it. In what circumstances will you need graduate school education such as a master’s or a doctor’s degree? Most commonly, it is needed if you want to advance to a certain enviable position in your company, such as top rank manager, scientist, or executive. But if going to a graduate school for you is just for prestige or for more kudos, you better just get a job and earn your credits by working hard. That way, you don’t only gain the esteem of your friends, you also earn the fruits of your labor every month or fortnight.
This is perhaps the reason why graduate school admission procedures require their applicants to furnish a (graduate admission essay or a statement of purpose). A graduate admission essay is a composition that lists your fields of interest, the reason why you want to go to graduate school, and your clear-cut set of goals. The graduate admission essay or statement of purpose also lists how your career advancement plans as well as your research experiences. The graduate admission essay or statement of purpose is supposed to show your prospective graduate school that you have at least one good reason to enter graduate school.
Top tip: Make sure your graduate admission essay/statement of purpose is well-written.
Bank Up On Knowledge: Prepare for the GRE’s
If you’re thinking that you’ll just encounter the GRE during the admission procedures, you may be wrong. Fact is, some graduate school courses may actually have GRE’s all throughout the semesters. This means that if you really want to hit it off in graduate school, you have to really hit the books, prepare for the GRE’s and all other exams that your graduate school course may have, and strive for good grades.
Graduate School Means Business
When you’re in graduate school, it doesn’t really mean that you’re a student again. You have to take on the mindset that you’re sort of doing business in a company, albeit in an academic manner. You won’t just be dealing with people who want master’s or doctor’s degrees, you’ll be dealing with educated and possibly seasoned professionals who desire to have more feathers on their cap. So, here’s the question: Can you own up to that challenge.
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Do You Really Need to Be a Genius to get into Graduate School?
Entry to a graduate institution is all a mix of the GRE, the graduate admission essay, and the statement of purpose. It’s also about meeting expectations, not forgetting your former professors, and being careful and extremely practical when considering entry. Yes, as you might have guessed it, this institution is called the graduate school. But to lay people, these things aren’t exactly what graduate school means. To some of you, graduate school may seem just a waste of time, money, and effort. But there are advantages that come with going to graduate school, too. For example, if you do finish graduate school with flying colors, then you get a better paying job, a more enviable position in your company, and the esteem of the people around you.
What is graduate school like?
You start off in the graduate school by taking the Graduate Record Exams or the GRE, and by writing the graduate admission essay or your statement of purpose. What is the GRE, and what is the graduate admission essay? The GRE and the graduate admission essay are defined as follows:
* Graduate Admission Essay – The graduate admission essay is a somewhat more personal writeup describing your statement of purpose. It is actually also called the statement of purpose. In a graduate admission essay or statement of purpose, you indicate what made you seek for a master’s or a doctoral degree, and all other related explanations. For a graduate admission essay or a statement of purpose to be effective, it has to be very personal and laid back, yet factual and suggestive of the applicant’s confident character. Applicants to graduate school should select a very interesting theme for the graduate admission essay.
* GRE – The GRE is a series of tests that gauge your reasoning ability. The GRE is made up of three chapters: analytical writing, verbal reasoning, and quantitative reasoning. When you take the GRE, you take the reasoning tests first, then the analytical writing test last. Scoring for the reasoning tests in GRE is on a 200 to 800 scale, whereas for analytical writing, it’s 0 to 6.
Once you received a phone call, an e-mail notification, or a letter in the mail from the graduate school you’ve applied to, you know you’ve passed the GRE and the graduate admission essay/statement of purpose.
However, this is just the beginning of all the brunt of work that is graduate school. But, is it really that hard to be in graduate school? Here are some things you’ll want to know:
* If you want to keep up with the demands of graduate school, always be prepared for the GRE. You’ll be taking the GRE once before you can get to graduate school. Starting prior to your admissions exam, bank up on valuable knowledge!
* Graduate school may imply that you’re a student once more, but don’t get that mindset. You have to think of your being a graduate student as a job position and the graduate school as your company. This will make your research papers and all other academic requirements more valuable to your field of choice.
* Lastly, graduate school may seem like all work, books, writing, and reading, but it doesn’t actually take a genius to soar high in graduate school. All you need is to be a good communicator, be sociable, easily motivated, resourceful, and take initiative.
