Episode 3: My experience in applying to graduate schools in the USA.
Pursuing graduate education in the USA is a dream for many students. Submitting a successful application would definitely increase the chances of securing a graduate student position among thousands of applicants worldwide who apply to the USA universities each year. Thus, I thought of sharing my own experience in applying to graduate schools in the USA, hoping that this would be a motivation and a support to anyone out there dreaming of starting graduate studies in the USA.
Application Timeline
Generally, US admissions take place in three seasons; Fall, Spring and Summer, where summer intake is limited only to the universities that offer programs during that season. Fall intake is the usual major intake in most USA universities, which is considered as the preferred admission season for international students. The application opening for Fall admission, starts around late August or early September in each year and spans till around December to early January.
Fall marks the beginning of an academic year, and thus allows the admission of a relatively higher number of students to universities. During the fall intake, universities offer not only a wide spectrum of graduate programs, but also a lot of opportunities related to scholarships and financial aids. Thus, I decided to start applying to USA universities, targeting the Fall application opening.
Selecting universities of interest
My first step was prioritizing a list of universities based on my academic background, research interests and experience. I used the USNews.com website to get an idea on the university rankings related to my fields of research interests.
When prioritizing universities, I considered universities included under several ranking categories such as; universities with the rank below 50, 50–100, 100–200, 200–400, 400–600 and above 600. The areas of research interests also can be adjusted according to our choice when using the search tool on the website.
Once I was done with extracting a list of universities, I started exploring their websites around early September. It’s good to start this task early, since it’s a very time consuming process. I visited each and every university website included in my interested list of universities and gathered details required for the application process.
Exploring the university websites
All university websites are generally well structured, highly detailed and easily accessible. Information on the application process and admission requirements usually can be found in the “Admission” section for prospective graduate students. Details on available graduate programs are usually given under the “Academic” sections.
We can directly visit the graduate program section to access the list of all graduate programs available for current applicants. Graduate programs are generally listed according to the relevant department or school. Department or school websites show further specific details about the available degree programs, their course contents and most importantly if there are any department/school specific admission requirements that need to be satisfied when applying to that specific graduate program. This structure can vary to a certain degree depending on the university, but more or less it is the same in almost all universities.
Compiling all the collected information into a single excel sheet with several subsections is an efficient way to compare and understand the requirements specific to each university. Subsections in the excel sheet can include the university name, rank (or subject rank), potential/interested graduate programs, English language requirement (IELTS/TOEFL and their minimum scores required), GRE (required or not required, minimum score if required), application fee, and other application requirements (SOP, CV, official/unofficial transcripts etc.). Further, we can reach out to graduate coordinators if we require any specific details which are not included in websites. Sometimes depending on the information availability, I contacted graduate coordinators and requested details on the acceptance rate of students, funding opportunities available for international students and the number of students generally admitted to each graduate program for Fall intake. This helped me to select the most suitable program to apply when there were multiple programs for which I was eligible and interested.
The department/program websites will also show their available research areas along with the relevant faculty members. By referring to the profiles of faculty members in a particular department/graduate program, we can easily get a clear idea on the scope of research available in that department. It is always good to read through the research areas of faculty members to identify the faculty members who are engaged in research which correlates with our interested research areas. I came up with a list of faculty members who are related to my academic background, research interests and experiences for each graduate program which appealed to my interest in each university.
Contacting potential supervisors; required or not?
According to my experience, it depended on the university policies and requirements of the specific graduate program to which we are applying for.
Some graduate programs might essentially require to contact a potential supervisor prior to applying, whereas, in some programs it is not required, but still they welcome students to reach out to faculty members if interested. This information can be found in the department or graduate program website, or otherwise, as I did in my case, I got confirmed by the graduate coordinator whether I need to have prior contact with a potential supervisor or not.
But, as I feel it is always good to have an idea of the research scope of faculty members within the department and identify how well their research is correlated with our research interests. This allows to identify the labs that make us excited to do a rotation in (once accepted to the graduate program), and these labs can be included in the SOP as well. This will show that we have done our homework and we are serious about joining the particular program!
Starting the application…
Once I finished collecting a considerable amount of details on each graduate program in each university, I started narrowing down my list to decide the specific universities to apply for. This happened around late September, and by that time, I had spent a whole month exploring university websites! My excel sheet looked like a mini database. I used a colour code to prioritize universities that matched my preferences and credentials.
Some university websites had mentioned that they have a rolling application review system, and I gave priority to such universities when starting to apply. For my convenience, I maintained a separate document for each selected university including all the admission requirements, specific information in a more detailed context.
Once you are ready with all the required documents including, the SOP, an updated CV, transcripts, recommendations and details on other credentials you are ready to go! Make sure to re-read the general and specific application requirements, additional requirements for international students so as not to miss anything.
Please consider that this article is solely based on my experience and the process and details may be subjected to changes depending on specific graduate programs. Therefore, please thoroughly refer to the websites of prospective universities to get a good understanding of the admission process, scholarships/ financial aids and the available postgraduate study programs.
Last but not least, I would like to give a big round of applause to ScholarX for selecting me as a mentee and providing me with a valuable opportunity to be mentored by a world class Sri Lankan scientist, Dr. Iromi Wanigasuriya. SchorlarX is definitely a positive turning point in my life that added a remarkable value to my profile as a prospective graduate student. I am forever thankful to the ScholarX team and my lovely mentor Dr. Iromi Wanigasuriya for all the support, guidance and knowledge shared with me throughout this exciting period of six months.
Finally, I would like to add a few words;
Fall in love with your journey and enjoy the process! Be consistent with the process and continue to move towards your dreams!
