Preparing for Grad School

The Major Decision

Published: 15 June 2011
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Academic Success, Preparing for Grad School
Tags: choose a major, choosing a major, major field of study resources

Deciding on a major is not an immediate requirement to get into college, but you will need a more specific field of study when you are preparing to apply for graduate school because graduate schools want to know what you would like to study in more detail. Additionally, you will want to choose a graduate program that fits your area of study or specialization, so you should decide what you…

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Being Part of a Research Team

Published: 15 June 2011
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Getting Involved in Research, Preparing for Grad School
Tags: student research opportunities

Being part of a research team as an undergraduate student can be very rewarding, and undergraduates should actively seek out student research opportunities. Being part of research teams can provide undergraduate students with the opportunity to apply knowledge learned in the classroom to real-world situations. Being part of research teams provides undergraduates with an excellent research foundation for graduate school and allows undergraduates to work with graduate students and post-docs…

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Student Research Opportunities

Published: 15 June 2011
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Getting Involved in Research, Preparing for Grad School
Tags: internship, student research opportunities

Experience in your prospective field is significant on applications for graduate school. Internships are a good way to gain hands-on experience and to explore your field outside of the classroom. You will need little or no prior work experience in the field to qualify for a research opportunity. In fact, the whole point of internships is to gain work experience that will be required of you in other situations.

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Importance of Research to Grad School Admission

Published: 15 June 2011
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Getting Involved in Research, Preparing for Grad School
Tags: get into graduate school, grad school admission

GRE scores, GPAs, transcripts, letters of recommendation, quality of undergrad school, admission essays, and personal statements are all important to the admission process to get into graduate school; however, research is a unique and important way to distinguish you as a qualified candidate to admissions committees. In fact, some universities even require that you have prior research experience before graduate school.   What are the key components to get into…

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Building Relationships and Making Connections

Published: 15 June 2011
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Building Professional Relationships, Preparing for Grad School
Tags: connections graduate school relationships, networking in college

Why is networking in college so important?   Students who build relationships and actively participate in networking in college have more success when they apply to graduate schools for many reasons including: professors making a call to another professor or admission department on your behalf, to writing you a glowing letter of recommendation. Students can build valuable relationships with many different people, including advisors, professors, staff, graduate students, and fellow…

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Getting Great Letters of Recommendation

Published: 15 June 2011
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Building Professional Relationships, Preparing for Grad School
Tags: graduate school letters of recommendation, recommendation letter for graduate student, reference letter for graduate school

How to Get a Great Graduate School Letter of Recommendation Students who need graduate school letters of recommendation often have questions about whom to ask, how to ask, and when is the right time to ask. Students must understand how to correctly ask for letters of recommendation because great letters of recommendation are vital to the admissions process for graduate school.   The first step to getting great graduate school…

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