HOW TO START APPLYING FOR GRAD SCHOOL? | The Graduate School Application Planning Process

Summary

In this video, Ivan Valdovinos shares a detailed guide for graduate school applicants, featuring a spreadsheet system to organize and evaluate potential programs. He covers crucial aspects like personal ranking, institutional type, degree interest, faculty research alignment, funding opportunities, and application requirements. Ivan emphasizes the importance of applying to 9-12 programs, including a mix of reach, match, and safety schools, to maximize admission chances. The spreadsheet also helps in drafting compelling application documents.

Takeaways

• 📝 The speaker shares tips and strategies for graduate school applications, suggesting that viewers subscribe for more advice.
• 📊 The speaker uses a Microsoft spreadsheet to organize information about graduate school programs, emphasizing the importance of staying organized.
• 🏫 Key columns in the spreadsheet include personal ranking, institutional type, degree/program of interest, and professors to work with.
• 📚 The speaker advises applying to 9-12 programs to increase the chances of admission, especially for PhD programs.
• 🌍 Institutional details such as size, location (urban, rural), and type (public, private) are essential for decision-making.
• 👨‍🏫 Listing 1-3 professors to potentially work with, based on research alignment, is crucial for PhD applications.
• 💰 Research funding opportunities, including assistantships, fellowships, and scholarships, when applying to programs.
• ✍️ Keep track of standardized test requirements (e.g., GRE), writing sample specifications, and statement of purpose prompts for each program.
• 🎓 Consider personal, academic, and career goals when researching and selecting graduate programs, especially to craft a strong statement of purpose.
• ⏳ Tracking application deadlines and having easy access to program links and key information can greatly simplify the application process.

Q & A

What is the purpose of the video?

The purpose of the video is to provide tips, tricks, advice, and strategies for graduate school applications, with a specific focus on using a spreadsheet to organize the application process.

What specific tool does the speaker use to organize graduate school applications?

The speaker uses a Microsoft spreadsheet to collect and organize information about the graduate school programs they are applying to.

What are some key columns included in the spreadsheet for organizing graduate school applications?

Key columns include personal ranking, institutional type, degree and program of interest, list of professors, program curriculum, funding opportunities, standardized test requirements, writing sample specifications, statement of purpose requirements, other required documents, compelling aspects of the program, questions, website links, and application deadlines.

How many graduate programs does the speaker recommend applying to?

The speaker recommends applying to at least 9 to 12 programs to maximize the chances of getting admitted into at least one.

What does the speaker mean by 'personal ranking' in the spreadsheet?

Personal ranking refers to how the applicant prioritizes the schools they are applying to, with a mix of top, middle, and safety schools.

Why is it important to list the institutional type in the spreadsheet?

Listing the institutional type (e.g., large, small, public, private, urban, rural) helps applicants understand the context of the school and can assist in crafting the statement of purpose.

What should be included in the 'professors of interest' column?

Applicants should list one to three professors whose research aligns with their own. This is particularly important for PhD applications, where alignment with faculty research is a critical factor for admission.

How does the speaker suggest using information about funding opportunities in the spreadsheet?

The speaker suggests listing all available funding opportunities, such as internships, graduate assistantships, fellowships, scholarships, and whether funding is automatically provided upon admission.

What kind of details should be included for standardized test requirements?

Applicants should list what standardized tests are required for each program, such as the GRE, GRE subject tests, language tests (for international students), or Praxis (for teaching), and the institutional codes for submitting scores.

How does the speaker recommend using the spreadsheet to help with the statement of purpose?

The spreadsheet can help applicants by listing specific prompts or guidelines for the statement of purpose, as well as highlighting compelling aspects of the program that can be incorporated into the essay.

Outlines

00:00

📊 Spreadsheet Planning for Graduate School Applications

The speaker introduces the video, which focuses on the use of a spreadsheet to assist in the graduate school application process. He explains the columns of the spreadsheet, which include personal ranking, institutional type, degree and program details, and the professors of interest. He emphasizes the importance of researching program fit, funding opportunities, and application requirements to effectively manage applications and improve the chances of acceptance.

05:01

📋 Detailed Requirements and Fit for Graduate Programs

The speaker describes in more depth what each column of the spreadsheet should include, such as program-specific requirements like standardized tests, writing samples, and statement of purpose guidelines. He highlights the importance of listing compelling aspects of each program and institution, preparing questions for faculty, and ensuring easy access to program links and deadlines. This detailed research can be used to craft a well-informed application, making it easier to decide if a program is the right fit.

10:03

🏫 Examples of Researching Specific Programs

The speaker provides examples of how he used the spreadsheet for his own graduate school applications. He discusses his top program choices, including the University of Arizona and Harvard, explaining the criteria he used for evaluating each school. Factors like the type of institution, professors' research, funding options, and program requirements are considered. The examples illustrate how thorough research can help applicants determine if a program fits their goals, ultimately saving time by avoiding unsuitable programs.

Keywords

💡Graduate School Applications

Graduate school applications refer to the process of applying to master's or PhD programs. The video focuses on strategies to navigate this process efficiently by organizing research, required documents, and deadlines. The speaker emphasizes the importance of being detailed and systematic in the planning process to increase the chances of acceptance.

💡Spreadsheet

A spreadsheet is a digital tool used to organize data into rows and columns. In this video, the speaker uses a spreadsheet to track crucial information related to graduate school programs, including personal rankings, professors of interest, application deadlines, and funding opportunities. The spreadsheet helps streamline the application process by organizing essential details for multiple programs.

💡Personal Ranking

Personal ranking refers to the subjective prioritization of schools based on individual preferences and criteria such as program fit, location, and faculty alignment. In the video, the speaker recommends creating a personal ranking for each program to ensure that applicants apply to a balanced range of top, middle, and safety schools.

💡Institutional Type

Institutional type refers to the characteristics of the school, such as whether it is a public or private university, its location (urban, rural, suburban), and size. The speaker advises applicants to take these factors into account when selecting programs because they can influence the overall experience and fit of the school.

💡Professors of Interest

Professors of interest are faculty members whose research aligns with the applicant's academic and professional goals. The video emphasizes the importance of identifying one to three professors per program who could serve as mentors, especially in PhD applications, where fit with the department and faculty is crucial.

💡Funding Opportunities

Funding opportunities include financial support options like fellowships, assistantships (graduate, teaching, or research), and scholarships. The speaker stresses the importance of researching available funding for each program, as some may offer full packages that cover tuition, stipends, and health insurance, while others might require students to seek external sources.

💡Statement of Purpose

A statement of purpose (SOP) is a required document in graduate school applications that explains an applicant's academic and career goals, research interests, and reasons for applying to a specific program. The video discusses how to include program-specific details, such as faculty alignment and research opportunities, in the SOP to demonstrate a strong fit with the institution.

💡Standardized Tests

Standardized tests refer to exams such as the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) or TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) that some graduate programs require as part of the application. The video advises applicants to note which tests are required for each program and to record institutional codes in the spreadsheet to ensure proper score submission.

💡Application Deadlines

Application deadlines are the final dates by which all materials for a graduate school application must be submitted. The speaker emphasizes the importance of tracking deadlines in the spreadsheet to manage time effectively and ensure all applications are completed on time, especially when applying to multiple programs.

💡Program Curriculum

The program curriculum refers to the specific courses, tracks, or concentrations offered by a graduate program. The speaker recommends researching and noting which aspects of the curriculum are most appealing or relevant to the applicant’s academic and career goals. This information can be used to strengthen the statement of purpose and demonstrate a good fit with the program.

Highlights

Introduces the video as a resource for tips, advice, and strategies related to graduate school applications.

Shares a personal Microsoft Excel spreadsheet template used for tracking graduate school program information.

Explains the importance of categorizing programs into top, middle, and safety schools to increase the chances of admission success.

Emphasizes researching the institution's type, location, and specific program to evaluate personal fit and application suitability.

Suggests listing one to three professors whose research aligns with the applicant's interests, especially for PhD programs.

Details columns for funding opportunities, including assistantships, fellowships, and scholarships offered by the programs.

Recommends listing required standardized tests, such as the GRE, and if a writing sample is necessary.

Highlights the value of specifying Statement of Purpose requirements, including word count and specific prompts.

Suggests documenting other required documents like diversity essays or personal history statements.

Mentions the benefit of using the spreadsheet to track personal rankings, deadlines, and website links for easy reference.

Illustrates how to use the spreadsheet with an example of evaluating the University of Arizona's PhD in Higher Education program.

Discusses the value of a multi-year funding package that includes tuition, health insurance, and a stipend as a key decision factor.

Notes the importance of evaluating departmental research centers and student organizations to enhance personal research goals.

Advises using the spreadsheet to write personalized Statements of Purpose tailored to each program's unique attributes.

Concludes by sharing how this spreadsheet can help in visualizing and managing multiple graduate school applications effectively.

Transcripts

what's up guys welcome back to another

video my name is ivan valdovinos on this

channel i provide tips

tricks advice

and strategies for your graduate school

applications

so if you are new here consider

subscribing

[Music]

in today's video i am going to share

with you the spreadsheet that i use

during my graduate school planning

process

this way you can adopt a similar system

to help you tackle this challenging and

demanding application process

all right you guys as you can tell here

i am using microsoft spreadsheets so i

can

you know

collect my information for the graduate

school programs that i'm applying to so

at the top here i put my name i have a

section for an email

i also have a section for your phone

number and then date

obviously you don't need all that stuff

but it can be helpful

so this right here these next topics

here are really important in terms of

you deciding where you want to go how

you're applying to just really digging

into the research of these programs and

see if they're going to be a good fit

because if you're applying to a phd

program or even a master's program you

want to make sure that you fit well with

these programs or else you might not get

admitted so

the first column here is personal

ranking then the next one is

institutional type

degree and program of interest

then we have

a list of one two three professors who

you are interested in working with and

why

a list of one aspect of the program

curriculum that you're interested in

list any funding or work opportunities

list any required standardized tests is

a writing sample required if so list

specifications list specific statement

of purpose requirements slash prompts

list any other required documents other

than sop and writing samples list at

least one other aspect of the program

slash institution that you that you find

compelling list anything you still want

to know have questions about website

links where program requirements can be

found and then application deadlines

and so

what you should be including in your

personal ranking i suggest that you

apply to at least 9 to 12 programs there

is research out there that suggests that

if you do apply between nine and 12

programs you're giving yourself the

highest odds of getting into at least

one this is true mostly for the phd

because phd programs are competitive

because they only accept a very few

number of people every year for their

cohorts and so i suggest that you choose

through three to four top schools three

to four middle schools and three to four

bottom schools so really reach schools

middle ground schools and then safety

schools then for

when you are

looking for information about

institutional type you want to make sure

that you include the name of the

university is it a large a small rural

public university is it a private

university is it in the midwest where is

it at um in relative to our nation or

wherever you're applying is it urban

rural suburban um that's information

that you do want to know because it

could help you craft your statement of

purpose but also just give you an idea

of what to expect if you do end up going

there

then degree type you want to make sure

you specify is it a phd program a

master's program are you going to

receive a credential are you going to

receive some type of license what does

it entail then you want to state three

professors or one to three professors

who whose research aligns to yours if

you are applying for the phd is going to

be very important because alignment and

fit do matter a lot when it comes to a

phd so you want to make sure you

at least have one to three professors

that you that might be

a mentor for you if you end up going to

that school

then you also want to just or do some

research on why you're selecting this

program what specific courses

concentrations program tracks

do they provide you with the masters on

the way to the phd for example what is

attractive about this program to you and

find that information on their website

and list that in this column then you

want to list any funding opportunities

or work opportunities so do they provide

internships do they provide graduate

assistantships do they provide teaching

assistantships do they provide

fellowships

resourceships or scholarships what do

they provide in terms of funding is it

an automatic when you get selected and

admitted do you get received this

funding package

then you want to list what standardized

tests they are asking you for are they

asking you for the gre general test do

they have sub do they ask you for gre

subject tests are they asking you for a

language test so if you're an

international student are they asking

you for practice

that's most mostly for teaching

what type of tests are they asking you

in terms of the admissions application

then do they ask you for a writing

sample

if so what do they

what is their specifications are they

asking you for a full-on

30-page proposal are they asking you for

a

no more than 10 page document

what is the format what are the

guidelines and what do you need to

prepare for when you are submitting a

writing sample

then they all i also want you to

jot down

what are the specific questions or

guidelines for the statement of purpose

[Music]

write things down such as word count

page length specific prompts and or

questions

then you also want to list any other

required documents like personal history

statements or personal statements

diversity essays

short answer questions what else do they

ask you

in addition to the statement of purpose

and writing sample

then you also want to list one other

aspect of the program slash institution

that that find you that you find

compelling i would say do at least two

to three just because when you're

writing your statement of purpose this

could be a good way for you to jot down

some of this information into your

statement of purpose but you want to

make sure you you obviously are a good

fit for that program for that

institution for that context so you want

to make sure you do your research and

jot down what really interests you in

terms of personal goals but also

graduate goals postgraduate goals career

goals and really just anything that

emphasizes your research and

professional career goals

then you also want to ask or have a

column where you

were able to ask specific questions what

questions might you want to ask if you

do attend a webinar or if you send an

email or if you contact the professor

what are your questions then you want to

provide the link to your website to the

program that way you're able to like you

know click on it super easy especially

if you're applying to like 9 or 12

programs it's going to be a lot of

information that you need to like

withhold so you want to make sure you

have easy access to links

then you obviously want to know the

deadlines of these applications that way

you're able to know how to best uh

manage your time in terms of meeting

these deadlines so now we went over a

couple of things that you should be

researching and thinking about let's

give you some examples so

when i was applying to graduate school

phd programs these are all phd programs

here i chose my top three school so i

chose the university of arizona

university of washington

university of california san diego so

let's go

with the university of arizona and kind

of give you an idea of how i went about

all of these categories right so

university of arizona is in tucson it's

a public university it's urban and it's

in the southwest i was applying for the

phd in higher education and i wanted to

work with either dr nolan cabrera whose

work focuses on men boys of color in

higher education or dr regina del

emen

who conducts research on men of color

i also like the idea that they offered a

terminal masters and you also got a

masters on your way to the phd um

and then also dr nolan cabrera was my

former undergraduate mentor when i did

an internship there in the summer so i

want to work with him again

the department did offer fellowship and

scholarships but mostly their applicants

and the people that went there would

have to either work as a graduate

assistant teaching and research

assistantship so that's kind of like the

fund the funding that you would be

offered or that you can

hold if you end up going there

they only required the gre the general

test and i put the institutional code

there so if i did sign up for the gre

test i would be able to know what the

code is for that school

they did not require a writing sample

and their statement of purpose was one

two two pages single spaced and here are

the questions here so they were asking

me how the applicant's professional

educational life experiences have

influenced the desire to pursue graduate

studies in higher education the

applicant's career goals and how

graduate study would contribute to the

realization and the applicant's goals

and objectives for graduate study

then

they also required three letters of

recommendations official transcripts and

cv

another reason why i wanted to choose

this program or why i chose to apply to

this program was because

they had

access to the higher education student

organization they had opportunities to

work with this program called college

academy for parents programs because i'm

also interested in family engagement and

obviously in terms of how that helps

with um college going processes and

development things like that so i wrote

about that

then

some of the questions i did have for

them though was

do first-year students have

opportunities to conduct research right

away and how do most phd students pay

for their education where can i seek

assistance because this program doesn't

give you a fully funded package they

expect you to look for your own

funding at the university but they do

say that most of their applicants most

of their admitted students do get

offered assistantships

then i put

instead of putting the link i put their

mailing address because i wanted to make

sure that i had the mailing address if i

needed it to submit documents for my

application and the deadline was january

15th

let's do one more example let's do

let's do harvard here

so for harvard it was also in my top and

it's harvard university private

institution urban east coast the program

i was applying to was the phd in

education cultures institutions and

society

the people that wanted to work with the

faculty i want to work with was dr nancy

hill whose work focuses on ethnicities

cultures and contexts in relation to

parent practices previous work on father

engagement

or dr mandy savitz romer whose work

focuses on promoting college access

readiness and support or dr karen map

whose research focuses on family family

community and school partnerships to

increase academic success

they were um

in terms of their

in terms of why i wanted to select this

program or one of the reasons was

because they required teaching

assistantship which meant that i would

be able to be trained as a teacher or

professor and that's something that i'm

considering as a career they also had

this theoretical and practical approach

to teaching and they offered a terminal

masters as you went along through your

phd journey

admitted students received a multi-year

funding package which includes tuition

health insurance and a stipend that was

really attracted to me because they

offered you a full funding package and

it was given to you right away when you

were admitted

they do require the gre to be able to

apply for the program and then they did

not require a writing sample

their statement of purpose guidelines

were

a thousand words describing the

following how you formulate research

topics how you pursue them and how you

articulate any interesting findings

emphasize how these experiences have

influenced both their decisions to

undertake graduate study and your goals

within graduate program

they also require through that as a

recommendations upload transit to to

application sub supplemental form

specifying concentration and advisors

interviews and cv

i also liked that i was able to access

courses outside of the college of

education and i was able to or and i had

access to the global family research

project formerly known as harvard family

research project which would help me

learn how to conduct research in family

engagement

then i have their website and then their

deadline was december 1st

so as you can tell i did this with all

the programs that i applied to and as

you can tell i was very specific and

detailed and i pulled a lot from their

websites and from all the research i did

on these programs on these institutions

on the mentors and i wrote that in here

this is not only going to help me with

just kind of

visualizing all the schools i'm applying

to because i did apply to 912 but also

it's going to help me write my statement

of purpose and my other documents for

the application so as you can tell i did

this for

the university of california san diego

harvard stanford michigan state boston

college rutgers university of maryland

university of maine and then university

of texas austin and these are i didn't

apply to all these programs for example

like the university of maine i didn't

apply to but and the reason why was

because this actual outline here this

spreadsheet helped me determine that

that wasn't going to be a good fit for

me and so i chose not to apply to

university of maine or boston college

because after doing my research after

writing it out it just wasn't a good fit

and i don't want to waste my time and

energy on a school that i wasn't going

to go to if i got admitted

all right you guys so that concludes my

video on how i prepared to apply to

graduate school i hope you learned

something new and i hope this

spreadsheet and just visualizing the

spreadsheet really helps you in your

planning process let me know if you have

any questions down below and i will get

to you as soon as i can thank you for

watching this video and i will see you

in the next video

[Music]

you