{"id":76365,"date":"2023-12-04T11:18:14","date_gmt":"2023-12-04T16:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/?p=76365"},"modified":"2023-12-04T13:27:31","modified_gmt":"2023-12-04T18:27:31","slug":"advice-for-your-graduate-school-application","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/advice-for-your-graduate-school-application\/","title":{"rendered":"Advice for Your Graduate School Application"},"content":{"rendered":"

Director of Marketing and Enrollment at Boston University Graduate Schools of Arts and Sciences, Mr. Mark Khan, provides current graduate school application trends and tips to prospective students.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What makes student applications exceptional<\/b><\/p>\n

There are key factors in creating an outstanding student application. The first criterion is academic preparation, as a strong academic record and high achievement are essential. Secondly, in choosing applicants, faculty boards look for students\u2019 alignment with their chosen program\u2014to see that the potential student has done thorough research on the program and the faculty related to their interests. Lastly, faculty boards want to ensure these students would match the culture of the school and community by seeing what the student is going to bring to the table. This factor is \u201ccommunicated through the student\u2019s essay, the way their evaluators talk about them, their passion during the application\/interview process, the research they\u2019ve done, their extracurriculars, the papers they\u2019ve chosen to be a part of, and other similar factors.\u201d\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

What makes faculty boards steer away from student applications<\/b><\/p>\n

Along with key factors that create an outstanding student application, there are potential red flags in these applications. First is a poor academic record seen through multiple repeated courses and lower grades. Faculty boards view this as students having less time to tackle difficult material that graduate school gives them. The second warning sign is a clear lack of authenticity, effort, and interest. When proving one\u2019s interest, many include obvious facts about the university which doesn\u2019t provide actual effort. Instead, universities want you to \u201cfocus on explaining why you\u2019re the right fit for the university, and why the university is the right fit for what you\u2019re trying to accomplish with your studies.\u201d Universities are also turned away from students who copy resumes and cover letters word-for-word rather than using examples as templates. Lastly, a red flag is not researching the resume standards in the country the student wants to study in. This may give the wrong impression that the student is careless and is giving less effort to this application.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Do:<\/strong><\/td>\nDont:<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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  • Maintain a good academic record<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
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  • Repeating multiple courses if you can<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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  • Research the institution thoroughly (name-drop faculty me<\/strong>mbers!)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
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  • Copy-pasting information from the university\u2019s website<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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  • Outline why you\u2019d be a good fit for the specific program you want to attend<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
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  • Skipping on the university\/program\/faculty research<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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  • Show genuine passion and authenticity in your cover letter<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
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  • Copying document templates verbatim<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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  • Get involved in extracurriculars related to the program you wish to study<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
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