Considerations for Graduate School from an Admissions Officer

As a former admissions officer, here are some things I would consider before applying to graduate school.

• Think about whether or not you need a graduate degree. Tuition fees are high, and you want to get the most for your money. Consider your field and examine the associated opportunities or career outcomes that attending graduate school would bring.

• Take space in between your masters and undergrad. Spend time working and volunteering. Figure out the non-academic parts of yourself, meet new people and invest your time into working out. Grounding your perspective in the real world will make the material more tangible and make you a more valuable student later.

• Research thoroughly before paying expensive application fees. Unfortunately, working in admissions I have seen this one too many times - an applicant does not meet core requirements. Most programs' web pages are challenging to navigate but they do make an effort to explicitly post what they require. Remember these institutions are receiving hundreds or thousands of applications and in order to manage, they will make initial cuts. Double check. Tracking your options and the details becomes easier if you create a Matrix.

• Seek advice alumni. Attend program-facilitated webinars. Former students will be one of your most valuable resources as insiders. The program-specific webinars will often provide more information than you are able to glean from the programs' websites.

• Graduate admissions tend to be more complicated than undergraduate admissions. Generally, there is more information to consider, and you are specializing. To create a unique class, most graduate admissions committees' employ a broad-based approach and look for different qualities across candidates.