Planning on Returning to School? Here Are Some Application Tips (Part 1)

In December 2013, I applied to three different schools for admission to study for a PhD. I didn’t get into any of the schools, or more aptly put, I got a rejection letter from all the three schools. In 2014, I applied to do a PhD in just one school – and I should add, one of the world’s most prestigious and competitive schools – and my application was successful. Using my experiences in 2013 and 2014, I will share in this and subsequent posts, some application tips that hopefully should help anyone who seeks admission for further studies.

Choose a course you’re interested in

First things first, decide on the course or subject that you would like to study; this should be something that you are genuinely interested in. When you have decided on the course of study, look for the schools that offer this course or something similar. In 2013, I did anything but this! My daughter was in Canada and I wanted to be in the same location, or at least in the same country, so the first thing I did was to select three schools in Canada. After I chose the schools, I looked through their websites to see what courses they offered. None of the schools had what I really wanted, so I applied to each school for what course it had that I liked. Needless to say, each application was for a totally different course than the others . More often than not, admission officers can tell when you are not the right fit for the course and/or school. You already know the outcome of my 2013 applications. In 2014, I searched for the schools that offered the course I wanted. A university in the UK repeatedly popped up in the top two links that my search threw up, and this happened even when I ended my search with the words ‘in Canada’. In the end, I applied only to the University of Cambridge and my application was successful.

Research to know the admission requirements

Carefully read the website of the schools that you are interested in and see the requirements for admission, the deadlines, costs, funding and everything else you need to know. Don’t make assumptions; research and know the requirements and everything else you need to know regarding admissions. Different schools have different admission requirements. For example, some schools may require you to search for and contact a potential supervisor if you seek to do a doctoral programme, whereas, other schools may not require this. For certain courses or schools, you may need to take tests like the GRE and GMAT. You need to know this ahead of time to prepare for and take the needed test, and to have your scores available in time for your application. If you cannot fund your programme, you should search for what scholarships are available and the eligibility of these scholarships. I cannot emphasize this enough: research, research, research! Know the requirements, deadlines, costs, funding etc. for the course and school(s) you are interested in.

Start early on the application process

Another major flaw with my 2013 applications was that they were incredibly rushed. I started three different PhD applications on December 2, and the deadline for one of the applications was December 12! Of my rushed applications, my sister, Esen, said to me, “So, you woke up one day and thought, ‘Where can I throw away money in this season?’, and it clicked, ‘School applications!’” Her words made me laugh, but they hold so much truth. The point is, it is a waste of money and time to send in hurriedly done applications. You are not likely to get in, no matter how much you fast and pray about it! I should know .

P/S This piece was first posted on Facebook on September 19, 2017.