PREPARING FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL

Academic Advising Programs University of North Carolina Campus Box 3110 Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3110

November 2006

I. INTRODUCTION This handbook is intended for anyone who is contemplating attending graduate school once they have completed their undergraduate degree at UNC. It contains information about the nature of graduate education, how to prepare for graduate education, how to select a graduate program, and the graduate school application process. While this handbook hopes to answer many questions about graduate school, it is likely that youll have some that are not answered here. Please feel free to schedule an appointment with one of the pre-graduate school advisers in the Academic Advising Program. They can tell you a great deal more about graduate education and answer any remaining questions that you have.

II. WHAT IS GRADUATE SCHOOL? The term graduate school refers to all post-baccalaureate educational programs that award advanced degrees. Entrance into graduate school requires a bachelors degree. After completion of the graduate training you may have earned a Masters degree, Ph.D., graduate certificate or professional degree.

Professional and Other Graduate Degrees A distinction can be drawn between professional and other kinds of graduate degrees. Professional degrees include business (MBA), dentistry (DDS and DMD), law school (JD), medical school (MD), pharmacy (Pharm.D.) and 2

veterinary medicine (DVM),l among others. These programs are typically not administered by the Graduate School of a university. Their focus is usually less on doing research and more on providing the necessary skills to engage in a particular profession (e.g. practicing medicine or law). This handbook does not focus on professional degrees. For information on those degrees, click on the links for pre-law school advising and pre-health science advising. Of the other kinds of degrees, the Masters and Ph.D. are the most common. There is also a wide range of graduate certificates that can be earned, sometimes as a part of obtaining ones Masters or Ph.D. degree. These degrees are typically more research oriented and they are almost always administered by the Graduate School. The practical relevance of the latter piece of information is that your application may have to be sent to the Graduate School rather than to an academic department. The distinction between professional and other kinds of degrees should not be drawn too sharply, since there are now a growing number of joint degree programs. Joint DMD/PhD, DDS/PhD, JD/MBA, JD/PhD, MD/M.P.H., MD/PhD, and other programs are of interest if you would like to conduct research but would also like to practice in a profession (e.g. dentistry, medicine, or law). The downside of these programs is that they can take considerably more time to complete than a straight-out professional degree. The pre-health and pre-law advisers can help you to identify these programs and discuss the pros and cons of a joint degree.

Masters versus Ph.D. Masters degrees come in different flavor, including M.A., M.S., M.P.H., M.P.A., and others. Under normal circumstances, earning a Masters degree will take two years, with some programs requiring a little more time. During this time you will take advanced courses in a particular field. You may also be asked to take a 3

comprehensive examination in one or more sub-fields and to write a thesis or create a final project. Earning a Ph.D. degree typically requires four years. A small number of programs compress their Ph.D. requirements into three years, but this usually means that they will only admit students who already have a Masters degree. In practice, many Ph.D. students take longer than four years, especially when they are pursuing a joint degree program. The organization of the Ph.D. curriculum varies greatly by field and university, but it typically involves taking courses for the first two or three years, taking comprehensive examinations in one or more sub-fields in the second and/or third year, and writing a dissertation in the last year. Some programs will have an examination at the end of the first year, which decides if you can continue in the program. In many cases, students earn their Masters degree along the way and may be asked to write a Masters thesis as well as a dissertation. In some programs the Masters thesis is used as a benchmark to decide whether you can continue in the program. The dissertation is a major piece of original research. Although many programs allocate only one year to writing the dissertation, students often spend considerable more time on it. Just conducting the field work can take a long time, with graduate students spending countless hours in libraries and archives, or conducting experiments, surveys, and interviews. In comparison, Masters theses are smaller and more circumscribed projects that can usually be completed within the time span of one or two semesters.

III. IS GRADUATE SCHOOL FOR ME? Whether graduate school is the right choice for you depends on your academic ability, goals, and personality. Successful pursuit of a graduate degree requires

talent, extremely high motivation, persistence, unbelievably hard work, and dedication to the chosen field. Graduate education is also costly. Apart from the financial costs, which can sometimes be recovered through scholarships and stipends, there are opportunity costs. You will be spending several years of your life working extremely hard and often long hours. If youd rather be making a living or have an abundant social life, then graduate school may not be the right choice for you. Here are some things to consider when deciding if graduate school is right for you. Do I enjoy learning? Am I academically and intellectually equipped for graduate school? Do I need graduate school for the profession that I am interested in? Am I willing to make significant sacrifices of time and/or money in the foreseeable future? Am I willing to put other aspects of my life on hold? Am I passionate about the subject matter that I wish to study? Am I a self-starter who can structure his/her own time? For Ph.D. programs, in particular: Am I passionate about doing research?

If you find yourself answering no to most of these questions, then graduate school is probably not a wise choice for you, at least not at this point in your life. If you find yourself answering yes to most of these questions, then graduate school indeed may be a good option for you.

IV. SELECTING A FIELD Most students know what field they want to study if they decide to go to graduate school. They have discovered that they are passionate about a particular subject, perhaps because of the inspiring teaching by one of UNCs professors. Or they have discovered that an advanced degree in a particular field is required in order

to enter a profession. If you are one of these students, then feel free to skip this section. Sometimes it is less clear what the appropriate field is. Perhaps different fields all give access to a profession, or perhaps you are passionate about many things and cannot quite decide what to focus on. In this case, it is helpful to seek out more information. Potential information sources include the following.

Career Services: Career Services can help you to explore different careers and your suitability for them. Career counselors know the educational requirements for different professions. They can also perform assessments of your interests and aptitudes. The Career Services website provides a great deal of information, as well as several assessment tools online. This is a great place to explore your future. You can also set up an appointment with a counselor via the website.

Professors: The UNC faculty is a great resource for information about graduate education. They can tell you about the nature of graduate education in their field, about job prospects, and about the prevailing admissions standards. All of this can help you to decide exactly what field is appropriate given your goals.

V. SELECTING A GRADUATE PROGRAM Many things figure into the selection of a graduate program. Some of the most important criteria are the following.

(1) What is the reputation of the university and, more specifically, the graduate program? (2) What kind of student does this program typically accept? Am I this type of student? 6

(3) Is there faculty that I would like to work with? Do faculty interests match my own? (4) What is the placement record of the graduate program? (5) What facilities does the program offer? (6) Does the program offer financial assistance to its students?

It is important that you give some thought to these questions because settling on a graduate program may be one of the most important life choices that you will ever make.

Factors to Consider

Reputation The reputation of a graduate program is of great importance and affects the answers to several other questions. For example, programs with good reputations frequently have better placement records and better facilities. On the other hand, getting into these programs is usually also a lot more difficult. A good source for assessing a programs reputation is the U.S. News ranking of graduate programs. You may also wish to consult the National Research Council and sources such as phds.org to obtain a sense of program rankings and ratings. You should consult both the overall rating of a department/program and the rating of the particular subfield that interests you. For example, a chemistry program may have a solid overall reputation but it may be weak in the area of polymers. If that is the area in which you seek training, then the program may not be such a good choice after all. Keep in mind that rankings do not always reflect recent changes in a program. Perhaps the aforementioned program just hired a star polymer chemist, but this may have been too recent to affect the rankings. Also keep in mind that 7

rating or ranking a program is to a considerable extent subjective. While ratings/rankings are based on objective indicators such as research productivity of the faculty, faculty citations, and placement record, the weight that one places on these things could easily vary from one person to the next. (Some ranking engines such as phds.org allow you to manipulate these weights.) Rather than staring yourself blind on ratings and rankings, it may be better to use them as one source of information and to obtain additional information from other sources (e.g. faculty at UNC, especially more senior professors).

Who Is Accepted? Graduate school admissions are competitive. The number of slots is often small, while the number of applicants can measure in the hundreds. So what are graduate admissions committees looking for in applicants? In two words, they are looking for excellence and promise. Graduate programs want to admit those students who will become outstanding researchers, educators, and leaders in their field. In making this assessment, they rely on several pieces of information: (1) admission test results, (2) undergraduate GPA and curriculum, (3) letters of

recommendation, and (4) CV and personal statement. A detailed discussion of these can be found below. Unlike Law Schools, few graduate programs will tell you ahead of time what GPA and test score will get you in. Much will depend on the actual number of slots that are open in a particular year and on what your competition is. However, by speaking with UNC faculty you can get a pretty good sense of which programs are the most competitive in a given field. The key to your own realistic evaluation of your desirability to any graduate program is your own assessment of the match between the record you have compiled and the level of achievement that is probably expected by the institution. So ask yourself: Would I admit myself to this institution based on my credentials? 8

Fit So you discovered that program A is the best program in your field of interest. That is wonderful. Even more wonderful is that you have been accepted into the program. Full of enthusiasm you start your graduate studies and then it hits you. Nobody on the faculty does exactly what you want to do. To be sure, there are many bright specialists in your subfield, but they all focus on something different from what you would like to do. So now you have a choice: find a new program or change your interests. Either way, the outcome is not quite as perfect as you had hoped. This scenario is not nearly as far-fetched as it may seem. Every year, scores of well-meaning graduate students discover that their interests are poorly suited to the program in which they have been accepted. Sadly, this situation is, for the most part, preventable. By taking a close look at the faculty, their CVs, and their teaching and research interests, an accurate mental picture emerges of whether there is anyone who does (remotely) what you are interested in. (Of course, faculty may still leave but at least there will not be a problem right at the start.) Finding this information is easy these days. Most programs have websites that provide biographical sketches of their faculty and many faculty members have websites of their own. Apart from preventing frustration, considering your interests in light of those of the faculty can help you write a better application. Graduate admissions committees often look for hints that an applicant would fit the programis there a likely adviser/mentor on the faculty? If you can link your interests to those of specific faculty members, then this will make your application stronger. While it is important to consider fit, it is equally important to keep an open mind. It is common for graduate students to change their interests or even their subfield once they have entered a graduate program. While it is inadvisable to 9

seek admission to a program where no one works on the problems that you are interested in, it is equally unwise to narrow your interests down too much. After all, that situation may make it impossible to find any graduate program that fits your interests and may also make you a less attractive applicant.

Placement Record Ultimately, graduate school is a means toward an enda job that you enjoy. Therefore, it is important to inquire about the placement record of a graduate program. What percentage of graduates finds a job right after they finish? Where are those jobs situated? Are they in good agencies, firms, offices, organizations, universities, or does the program have difficulty placing its students? How long are graduates typically on the market before they find a (permanent) job? You should keep in mind that job placement depends on many factors. Placement is inherently more difficult in some fields than in others. It is also subject to economic conditions: even the best graduate programs may find it difficult to place their students during an economic downturn. Nevertheless, holding these factors constant, some graduate programs do have a better placement record than others and this should be a major consideration in selecting a program. The best way to find out about the placement record of a graduate program is to ask the Director of Admissions, Director of Graduate Studies, or Placement Director of that program. Some departments provide information about their placement record on their websites, although this is relatively rare and is likely to happen only if a program is proud of its record. You can also talk to UNC faculty members in the field; they generally will have a good sense of how well certain programs place their students.

Research Facilities 10

Graduate students rely heavily on data centers, laboratories, libraries, and computer facilities. Such resources are more plentiful in some graduate programs than in others, often depending on the size and wealth of the university in which the program is housed. You should find out what facilities are available, either on campus or off-campus (e.g. through agreements with other universities, archives, libraries, etc.). Do not expect that your every desire will be met, but do make sure that you will be able to do your work.

Funding Graduate school can be expensive. Apart from the cost of tuition, there are living expenses and expenses for research, books, computers and other equipment. Some of these may be recovered through tuition remission and stipends. In general, there is little funding in Masters programs. Masters students almost always pay their own way, unless they entered as PhD students and choose to leave with a (terminal) Masters degree. There are exceptions to this rule, so it is worthwhile to explore funding opportunities across different graduate programs. However, you should not get your hopes up. On the positive side, it is sometimes possible to obtain your Masters degree while working full- or parttime. It may be worthwhile to find out if a program will let you do this. (Some may require it as part of practical training.) Funding opportunities in PhD programs are much more plentiful. Most programs provide for tuition remission (they pay for or reimburse you for tuition) and stipends. In return, they may ask you to serve as a research or teaching assistant for a certain number of hours per week. In the natural sciences, it is common for graduate students to be funded as part of a grant. Those students usually work in the lab as a member of a research team. Often this work will form the basis of a dissertation.

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The amount of funding varies greatly across programs. It is generally better in private than in public universities and it also varies across disciplines. It is tempting to opt for the graduate program that offers the best funding, but it is important to put funding into perspective. First, funding levels should be gauged against the cost of living. An annual stipend of $15,000 may not get you very far in New York City, whereas a stipend of $12,000 may go quite a long way in Athens, Georgia. Second, funding should take second place compared to quality of the program, fit, and placement record. A lot of money now will mean little in another four years when you find yourself struggling on the job market because you picked a poorly ranked program or one with a weak placement record. When it comes to funding, make sure that you can afford to live in a place (without having to take a job that would distract from your studies) but do not expect to live in luxury. If funding is not everythingand surely should not be the decisive factor in choosing a graduate programit is still important to evaluate and compare the financial packages that are available across the programs in which you have been accepted. Here are some things to look for.

(1) Does the financial package include tuition remission (most do) and health insurance (many do not)? These are major expenses, so make sure to take this into consideration when comparing the offers from different graduate programs. (2) Does funding cover summers? Academic salaries are usually based on nine months of work, since professors are not expected to teach during the summer. Correspondingly, stipends for PhD students often span nine months as well. Summer funding is sometimes available, although this is often on a competitive basis and may not be guaranteed. If summer

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funding is not guaranteed, then you should plan on finding a job during the summer. (3) Is funding guaranteed? Some programs guarantee funding only for the first year. Funding for subsequent years is competitive and depends on your class ranking. Other programs guarantee funding as long as you make satisfactory progress toward the degree (and as long as no financial calamities beset the program). (4) For how long is funding guaranteed? If graduate funding is guaranteed, it typically is for four years. That is the amount of time it is expected to take to complete your degree requirements. However, many PhD students find themselves still working on their dissertation in their fifth year. Some programs make fifth year funding available, others do not, and still others will do this on a competitive basis. While it is difficult to anticipate your needs five years from now, it is worthwhile to investigate if fifth year funding is even an option in the program that you are considering. After all, you may find yourself needing this funding down the line.

There is one other aspect of funding that deserves attentionreimbursement for travel expenses. PhD students, and occasionally Masters students as well, are expected to attend professional meetings and conferences. This is a major part of the graduate education experience but can also be a major expense. Some graduate programs will reimburse travel expenses, although perhaps only for one conference per year and only partially. Other programs do not reimburse travel expenses or do this on a competitive basis. You should ask about this when you are trying to decide between programs, since conferences are really of great importance and you would not want to miss them because you cannot afford to go.

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Factors Not to Consider The most important factor not to consider when applying for graduate school is location. While it may be tempting to spend your years in graduate school near a sunny beach or a nice ski resort, this does little to enhance your long-term goals. You want the best graduate education you can get, not the sunniest or snowiest, or whatever other criterion may cause you to prefer one location over another. Besides, if you take your graduate education seriously then you will not be spending too much time in the sun or snow anyway. It is better to pick a good graduate program so that your first job may be in a nice location, then to pick a poor program in a nice location that may ultimately produce no job at all or a job in a not-so-nice location.

Setting Realistic Goals While all graduate school applicants would like to get admitted to their top choice program, it is clear that not all will. You have to be realistic about your chances of getting into a program. This means you may wish to consider fall-back options programs that may not be at the top of your list but that would be acceptable and where your chances of admission are good. For the typical student, it is wise to apply to several graduate programs. Pick one to three from your wish list. You are not sure you will be admitted to these programs, but if you were they would be at the top of your list. Pick two to four programs that are acceptable. You feel you can get a fine education in these programs, even though they do not appear on all of the top 20 lists. Finally, be sure to pick one or two backup programs, i.e. programs which you feel sure you can gain admission and where you would be comfortable with your choice.

VI. THE APPLICATION PROCESS

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In most cases, graduate school applications are a one-step process: you submit a written application that is evaluated by the admissions committee. In some casesmost notably, the natural sciences and psychologythe process may be two-tiered. First, a group of interviewees is selected. Next, these interviewees are invited to campus for one-on-one meetings with the faculty. Sometimes, interviewees will also be asked to give a presentation of a research project. Once the campus visits are over, the admissions committee or department makes its final selection of students it would like to admit. Be prepared to spend some money on the application process. Graduate schools charge for processing your application, undergraduate transcripts are not free, and placement exams cost money as well. In practice, application costs will probably force you to focus on a limited number of graduate programs that you will apply to. This makes it all the more important to select those programs carefully (see above).

Components of the Application The written portion of your application consists of: (1) the results of your placement exam (submitted under separate cover), (2) your undergraduate transcript(s) (often also sent under separate cover), (3) a personal statement, (4) a CV, and (5) letters of recommendation (usually three letters of recommendation are required; they may have to be sent under separate cover). You may also have to submit a writing sample. Each of these components plays a significant role in the admissions process, so it is important to take all of them seriously.

Placement Exam Practically all graduate programs require that students take the GRE (Graduate Record Examinations). If you pursue a joint degree program, you will also have to take the MCAT, LSAT, or other appropriate placement exams. The GRE has two 15

components: (1) the general test and (2) the subject test. In most cases, you will only have to take the general test. In some fields, you are also required to take the appropriate subject test. Information about these tests can be found at the Educational Testing Service (ETS) GRE website. The GRE general test measures verbal and quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and analytical writing skills that are essential for a successful graduate career. It makes this assessment in a general manner, i.e. without requiring detailed knowledge about a specific subject area. The test has three components: (1) verbal reasoning, (2) quantitative reasoning, and (3) analytical writing. Graduate programs care about the first two components in particular, but some also take a close look at the third component. Admission committees frequently start by rank-ordering applicants according to their total GRE scores. They frequently set cutoffs as to the minimal acceptable performance on each component. The weight of the components depends on the field of study. Obviously, verbal reasoning will count more when you seek a PhD in English, while quantitative reasoning becomes more central when you are seeking a degree in statistics. However, it is safe to say that all components carry some weight in considering your application. The general test is computer-administered yeararound at many different test centers around the world. The GRE subject test is offered in a small number of areas, mostly in the natural sciences. These tests gauge subject-specific knowledge in a particular field (biochemistry, cell, and molecular biology; biology; chemistry; computer science; literature in English; mathematics; physics; psychology). This is the level of knowledge graduate programs expect incoming students to have for successful completion of a PhD in the specific field. Especially when graduate course work is limited, as it often is in the natural sciences, the subject test becomes a critical yardstick for determining who has the requisite field-specific background knowledge to take advanced course work and become a productive member of a 16

research team. Subject tests are paper-based tests that are administered at a limited number of test facilities in November, December, and April. The importance of the GRE cannot be overstated. A students GRE score is a good predictor of how well they will do in the first year of graduate school, which in turn is a good predictor of whether the student will be able to complete graduate school successfully. Just as colleges are striving to improve the average SAT score of each successive class, graduate schools are looking to improve their average GRE scores. Thus, it is essential that you take this test seriously. Given the importance of the GRE, it may be wise to take a test preparation class. The UNC Learning Center offers GRE prep classes throughout the year. The GRE website also offers useful information about test preparation. You can also take a course with a commercial test preparation company such as Kaplan or Princeton Review. You should consider taking a prep course the semester before you take the GRE. If you choose not to do a prep course than at least obtain copies of past tests so that you can practice them. With the GRE, practice may not make perfect but it surely enhances your chances of obtaining a decent score. What if you perform poorly on the GRE? In this case, you can retake the GRE. However, you should keep in mind that the GRE is designed to tap your chronic aptitude, which means that test results are unlikely to fluctuate much from one test to the next. Retaking the GRE thus makes the most sense if your performance was negatively affected by unusual circumstances such as illness on the day of the test. Otherwise, you may not find much of an improvement in your test score or you may find that it actually deteriorates from the first attempt. If you retake the exam, then the new score will be sent along with the two most recent scores from the past five years.

Transcript

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You will also need to send an official transcript of your undergraduate record at UNC and any other institutions of higher education that you may have attended. The official transcript can be obtained from the Registrars Office for a nominal fee. Some graduate programs would like to see the overall GPA along with the GPA in your major(s). In this case, you will need to ask the Registrars to compute the major GPA as this is not done routinely. [Check this.] Graduate admissions committees pay considerable attention to your undergraduate GPA but they also take into consideration the institution where you earned it and the difficulty of the curriculum. UNC Chapel Hill does not have the reputation of being easy so good grades earned here will count for something. As far as your curriculum is concerned, you should of course meet the UNC general education and major requirements. However, the manner in which you meet these requirements is of some importance. Taking more advanced (as opposed to introductory) courses will show that you are a highly motivated student who can handle more complex material. Becoming engaged in a research project or writing an honors thesis can also help to strengthen your undergraduate record. Try to avoid P/D+/D/F courses since admissions committees may view these as an easy way out of a requirement. Internships and independent studies can be useful, but you will need to explain what you did in these courses since this will generally not be clear from the transcript. Try to engage in internships and independent studies that prepare you for graduate school; avoid doing them because they lead to an easy A. Graduate admission committees look for serious students who are well-rounded. Anything that could reflect negatively on this should be avoided. What should you do if your record is blemished? The first piece of advice is not to panic. To be sure, a poor undergraduate record may keep you from being accepted into graduate school. If the problem is isolated, however, then there is a good chance that youll be accepted somewhere, if perhaps not in your top choice 18

graduate program. The key is to explain the blemishes on your transcript in your cover letter. Explain why you had a bad semester or why your grades in the first couple of years were not what they should have been. Point to any improvements you have made. One bad grade will not end your ability to attend graduate school, especially not if you can explain that grade.

Personal Statement A good personal statement can make a lot of difference. Apart from explaining blemishes on your transcriptwhich should be a minor elementthe personal statement is foremost a place to convey your enthusiasm for a particular field and graduate program and a place to highlight your credentials. The cover letter should frame your application: it should draw attention to those aspects of your record that you would like to stand out for those reading your application. Another way to think of it is that the cover letter is often the first thing admissions officers see in your file. Thus, you should use this as your entryway into the evaluation process. The cover letter should stress your interest in obtaining a graduate degree in the chosen field, your credentials for seeking a degree in this field, the reason why you are applying to the particular graduate program, and any other information that is useful in framing your application (e.g. why did you have that bad semester?). In terms of conveying your interest, you should sketch out your career goals and how the degree would help you accomplish these goals. For a PhD you should also stress your passion for research. Try to be specific in stating your interests. For example, when applying to a PhD program in political science it is not all that helpful to reveal that you are interested in politics. It would be much more telling if you said that you are interested in the causes of war or electoral behavior (and do so in a way that reveals your passion for scientific research on these topics). Illustrate your interest by referring to specific things 19

you have done. For example, you can say that you realized your passion for research when writing your Honors Thesis and that it was at this time that you realized you wanted to become an academic. Try to avoid telling your lifes story; highlight only those experiences that demonstrate your passion and credentials for obtaining a graduate degree. The second component of the cover letter is to show your credentials. Here you can point to the coursework you have taken in preparation for your graduate education and your performance in those courses. You can also reference internships and independent studies in as far as they illustrate your credentials. For PhD programs it is useful to reference any research experience (working with faculty or writing an Honors Thesis) you have. PhD admissions committees will look for these kinds of experiences and the cover letter is the best place to highlight them. (Important: Note that the operant word here is highlight. Cover letters should not repeat your CV verbatim but rather focus the attention of admissions officers to certain parts of it.) A final aspect of the cover letter is to show your interest for the specific program that you are applying to. This aspect is often forgotten, in part because it requires tailoring your cover letter to each specific program you are applying to. But it is an essential component of a good letter, since admissions committees want to know if you would fit into their program. You can convey your enthusiasm for a particular program by highlighting the strengths of the program and how these strengths match your interests. Even better is to list specific faculty members that you would like to work with (and to explain why). This kind of information will show that you have given thought to the application and that your interests match those of the program.

Curriculum Vitae

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Your curriculum vitae (CV) is the place where you should list your contact information and all experiences and credentials that are relevant to your graduate school application. One section of the CV should describe your undergraduate education, i.e. all institutions you have attended, including UNC, your major(s) and (if applicable) minor(s), the degree(s) you are pursuing (e.g. AB, BS, BFA, BMus), the anticipated completion date, the overall GPA, and (if relevant) the major GPA (make sure these match the transcript). You may also wish to briefly summarize relevant coursework, but do not provide too much detail as this can be found on the official transcript. Another section of the CV should highlight relevant experiences. This can include internships, independent studies, participation in faculty research projects, an Honors Thesis, if you are writing onein sum a lot of the things that UNC recognizes as experiential learning. The focus does not have to be exclusively on academic experiences. You can also list other experiences such as those working on campus or in the community if they provide information about you as a person and/or your fit to the chosen field. Do not go overboard listing these other experiences, however. If you create the impression that you are spending more time on extra-curricular activities than on your academic pursuits, then admissions committees might draw the mistaken conclusion that you are not a very serious student. It may also be useful to add a skills section to the CV where you can list your proficiency in computer software and/or foreign languages. At the beginning of your CV you should list relevant contact information. Gender, date of birth, nationality, and marital status generally need not be listed on the CV. This kind of information is often solicited through other means, for example through queries by equal opportunity officers and international student centers at the university where you are applying.

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Letters of Recommendation Letters of recommendation are another key component of a graduate school application. These letters reflect the professional judgment of faculty and others about your qualifications for graduate school. As such, they provide invaluable information to graduate admissions committees. Most graduate programs require three letters of recommendation. Many ask for these to be sent under separate cover (e.g. in a sealed envelope), assuming you have waived your right to view your recommendation letters. (A waiver pledge is usually printed at the top of the recommendation sheet.) The key to a helpful letter of recommendation is that it should provide detailed information. Vague letters that are full of boilerplate language but short on specifics will not be very helpful to admissions officers and will therefore carry less weight. This means that you should select your recommendation writers carefully. They should be people who know you at more than a superficial level, so that they can write something specific about you. Hence, there is little point in going to the faculty member who had you in a 400-student class four years ago; unless you have cultivated a personal relationship with this person, he or she is unlikely to remember you. On the other hand, asking your thesis adviser to write a recommendation makes a great deal of sense. Considerations other than familiarity may enter your selection of recommenders. If you are applying to a research-oriented PhD program you probably want to have your recommenders be all faculty members (professors, not graduate students), since they are in the best position to comment on your scholarly potential. If you are seeking a degree in social work or clinical psychology, then you may seek some recommendations from practitioners with whom you have done internships and who could comment on your suitability to your chosen field. The important thing is that you should put some thought into soliciting recommendations. Seek them from people who know you and whose 22

judgment will mean something to those in charge of evaluating your application. Getting these kinds of recommendations can really help your chances of getting into graduate school.

Writing Sample Many graduate programs require that you submit a writing sample. The writing sample will tell admissions committees whether you can communicate effectively, whether you can analyze a question logically and thoughtfully, and whether you can bring relevant data to bear on that question. Especially in PhD programs, you will be doing a lot of research and writing. The writing sample is a way to see if you have an aptitude for these endeavors. Given the role that the writing sample plays, it is again of the utmost importance that you put some thought into selecting a particular sample. Short assignments written in introductory classes will generally not make for good writing samples, since these assignments typically do not require in-depth research. Papers written for advanced classes may be a better choice, if they involve extensive research. Particularly good writing samples are Honors Theses or reports written while conducting research with a faculty member (provided you did the writing). These kinds of samples will give admissions officers a good sense of your ability to conduct research and to communicate its results. In selecting a writing sample you may do some tailoring to the graduate programs you are applying to. For example, if one program in sociology values quantitative research, than you may select a paper that uses statistical analysis as your writing sample. However, if another program is more qualitatively focused, then you may do better by sending a paper that is based on archival research or indepth interviews. Of course, this assumes that you have sufficient writing samples lying around to make these kinds of adjustments. If not, then you should just send the best research paper that you feel you have ever written. 23

Graduate School Interviews In a number of disciplines, it is conventional to ask potential graduate students to come in for an interview before the final decision about admissions is made. This is true, for example, in certain natural science and psychology programs. These interviews are extremely important, so it is essential to properly prepare for them. The first thing you should find out about the interview is the programs expectations. What sort of attire do they expect? (In many cases, the program will want to see formal attire, but there are exceptions.) Is there the expectation that you will give a talk? Who will you meet during the interview and how long do these meetings last? By asking these questions you can plan for a successful interview experience. Second, it is essential that you inform yourself about the program. You probably did this when you applied, but it never hurts to re-acquaint yourself with a program. In addition, you should familiarize with the people whom youll meet. Look up their bios, look through their CVs, and read some of their research. Nothing is more painful than meeting faculty and not knowing anything about them. It will certainly leave a positive impression if you have read their work and can carry on an intelligent conversation about it. Finding faculty bios and CVs is easy in this electronic age and with JSTOR and other electronic journal databases, getting access to a persons research is not all that difficult either. Third, realize that interviews are a two-way street. Of course, program faculty will want to find out about you. But there is an equal expectation that you have some questions about the program and its faculty. Do not ask questions that have already been answered in written materials that the program sent you; after all, that would not make a good impression. But any other questions are fair game. To make sure that those questions have been answered, it may be useful to write them out and check them off during the interview. Sometimes it is useful to 24

ask the same question of multiple faculty members, just to get different perspectives. If a talk is required, then it is important to establish what the expectations are. Should this be a research talk or a more general talk? Who will be the audience? Will it be specialists in the area of the talk, in which case you may be able to skip over certain well-known ideas, or is it a more general audience? How long should your talk be? Will there be a question-and-answer period and how long will it be? Is the expectation that you use Powerpoint or other presentation software? Should you prepare a handout? It is also important that you practice the talk. Practice will allow you to make sure that you can deliver your message in the allotted time without speaking too quickly, that the content makes sense to an audience, and that slides come over clearly. You should try to anticipate questions and develop responses. There will almost certainly be unexpected questions, but some questions can be anticipated and it is useful to have a response formulated in your head. For those unanticipated questions, it is OK to take a moment and to try to formulate a response. Appearing to be thoughtful will leave a good impression and is better than dismissing a question with the clich that it is a really interesting point and that youll have to think about it. The general rule about interviews is that preparation will make the whole experience less anxiety provoking. This, in turn, will make the experience more enjoyable and productive. You will leave a positive impression and will get your questions answered, which can only help your chances of being admitted to the program that is right for you.

VII. PREPARING FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL AT UNC

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You can do a lot to prepare for graduate school and to strengthen your application while you are at UNC. Among the many opportunities that UNC offers you should definitely attempt to pick an appropriate major, choose challenging courses, cultivate relationships with faculty, and engage in research. Starting with majors, it is important that you put considerable thought into them. Unlike Law School and Medical School, which generally do not care much about your major, Masters and Ph.D. programs often expect that you have been trained in a particular field as an undergraduate. This is not true of all graduate programs but it is true of a good number of them. For example, do not expect to enter a Ph.D. program in chemistry if you majored in music and took no chemistry beyond a few introductory courses. Choosing a major thus takes on extra importance when you have graduate school in the back of your mind. It is just one more reason to see your academic advisor frequently. In terms of course selection, opting for challenging courses is a definite pre. It helps to strengthen your application, demonstrating that you do not shun difficult courses and can excel in them. It also helps to prepare you for graduate school, since the level of advanced courses is a lot closer to what you will encounter in graduate school than the level of introductory courses. Exceptional undergraduate students may even consider enrolling into a graduate level class at UNC, although this requires permission from the instructor. This will give the best sense of what it will be like to be a graduate student, in terms of reading load, difficulty of the material, and expectations. Academic and departmental advisors will be able to help you with selecting courses. It is essential that you cultivate relationships with faculty. This will make it much easier to find letter-writers when it comes to applying for graduate school. Moreover, the UNC faculty is an excellent source of information about graduate education and careers in the field that you are interested in. To cultivate these relationships, it is generally best to enroll in smaller classes where faculty will get 26

to know their students better. First-year seminars, Honors and advanced courses, and capstone seminars are an excellent place for you to get to know some faculty and for faculty to get to know you. Finally, graduate work involves a strong research component, especially in Ph.D. programs. To see if research is for you, it would be very useful if you could get involved in it while at UNC. Some options include:

Writing an Honors thesis: The Honors thesis is a piece of research that you conduct yourself under the supervision of a member of the faculty. You will also have to defend your research in front of a committee of 2-3 faculty members who will ask questions about your theory, research design, and findings.

Engaging in faculty research: In this case, you will be working on a faculty members project, taking charge of a small piece of it. Solicitations for student participants in faculty research are generally channeled through the Office of Undergraduate Research, which also provides other research opportunities for undergraduate students.

These kinds of research experience will look great on a CV and they are also excellent opportunities to cultivate relationships with faculty. In addition to acquiring research experience, you may also think about appropriate internships and independent studies that can help to strengthen your CV. A study abroad experience can also help to strengthen your application, as can Burch field research seminars. With all of these, it will be important to describe the experience in your personal statement and to explain how it helped you to prepare for graduate school.

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VIII. WHAT IF YOU DO NOT GET INTO GRADUATE SCHOOL?

There is a possibility that you will not be admitted to any of the graduate programs you applied to or that you are admitted to a program about which you have grave reservations. While this surely is a disappointment, do not get too discouraged. Ask yourself if there is anything you can do that will enhance your chances of getting into a (better) graduate program. Here are some things that can enhance your chances.

If you did not get into any program, reassess your selection of programs. Were you aiming too high? Are there other feasible programs that you chose not to apply for? Going back to UNC faculty members to ask for advice may be a good option at this point.

Take a break for one or two years and acquire relevant practical experience. This will strengthen your CV and will also show that you are serious about your desire to attend graduate school.

If you got into a less desirable program, consider completing a Masters degree in that program. Once you have the Masters, you can always apply elsewhere. The Masters is another credential on your CV that may make you a more competitive candidate for programs that you deem more desirable.

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