Planning on Returning to School? Here Are Some Application Tips (Part 2)

As stated in Part 1 of this Blog post, in 2013, I applied to three schools for admission to study for a PhD and was rejected by all the three schools. However, in 2014, I applied to do a PhD in one of the world’s most prestigious schools and was admitted. Using my experience in both instances, I shared some application tips in Part 1. Here are some other tips that I hope that would-be applicants find useful.

Contact potential referees in good time

More often than not, it is a requirement that academic references or letters of recommendation are submitted on your behalf by suitably qualified persons. I am not too sure of this, but I think that in applications for graduate programmes, it is expected that at least one of the referees should be someone who taught you previously (see why you should keep in touch with some of your lecturers/teachers after you’ve left school? ). You should choose people who know you well enough to write about your academic potential, strengths and skills, and can give examples that support these. Just to clarify, it is not enough that the referees know you very well; choose people who can honestly write excellent stuff about you. There’s no sense in asking for a reference from a lecturer who remembers you as being lazy and very disruptive in class; what is s/he to write in the reference? Contact potential referees ahead of time and politely ask them if they would be willing to write a letter of recommendation for you. Even if they agree to do this, they will need time to write the reference. It is therefore important to ask them long before the deadline for submission of application. This was another flaw with my 2013 applications; I did not contact my referees in good time and one of them sent in her reference long after the application deadline.

Write a unique personal statement

Most schools will require a statement of purpose and personal essays as part of your application. Grades are important, and I assume that you have grades that are good enough for the schools you want to apply to (if not, all hope is not lost; I hope I get a chance to say more on this later). However, based on grades alone, there will be many qualified candidates for each available space. Your statement of purpose (personal statement) is your opportunity to sell yourself to the admissions officer or admissions committee and tell them why you and not the other candidates should get the space. It should say who you are, mention your achievements and experience, express your goals and passion, and your motivation for applying. Think carefully about what you put down here. A word of caution, though; as much as you want to impress the admissions officer/team, be honest and avoid the temptation to exaggerate. The admissions staff are experienced enough to know when you are exaggerating. What more, if you are lucky enough to get invited for an interview, your response to questions during the interview will likely give you away. In an interview at a very prestigious school here in the UK, an acquaintance was asked questions about stuff he had included in his personal statement; his response revealed that he knew very little about the stuff. He didn’t get an admission offer. 

Mention any extenuating circumstances

Many schools will provide you with an opportunity to write about mitigating or extenuating circumstances that may have affected your academic qualifications or significantly disrupted your education. It could be a disability, accident, illness, loss of a loved one, or some other unusual difficulty you faced. If you encountered any of these, do not be shy to write about it. In my applications, I wrote about how my mother’s battle with cancer and subsequent death affected my grades during my undergrad studies. Stating the extenuating circumstances does NOT guarantee an admission offer, but it enables the admissions officer/team judge your academic performance in the light of the circumstances.

To be continued. 

P/S This article was first published on Facebook on September 22, 2017