Graduate school applications guide

David Liao

Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Graduate record examination
3. Essays
4. Task calendar

Introduction | Top

If you are foreign, there are resources at Natalia Lukina's guide at Caltech.

Dear juniors, if you would like to go to graduate school, it is necessary that you begin working on applications the spring semester of junior year. Much of the process tries to investigate the courses and research you studied in the first three years of college, and because you have already completed most of this work, it is time to focus on the second major component of graduate school applications, gamesmanship.

Everything you do relies on strategy and presentation. This goes for the GREs, personal statements, fellowship essays, etc.

Graduate Record Examination | Top

The GREs are (expensive) tests that gauge whether you have acquired appropriate skills during your undergraduate education. The general exam includes three sections. The verbal section checks your vocabulary. The quantitative section tests your ability to simple trigonometry, geometry, algebra, manipulations of sequences, etc. The analytical writing section includes two essays: one asks you to present an argument in response to a passage; another asks you to explain why an argument is logically successful or fallacious. Computer administration of the general GREs means that paper-based test skills might not be the most appropriate techniques for scoring your best. It also means that you will need to take the test at a Thomson Prometrics site. The one nearest to Claremont is in the Sylvan Learning Center complex in Rancho Cucamonga. Take the generals early. You can schedule them in any month, depending on the availability of computers at the testing center.

You can retake the tests a few times a year, provided that the sessions are not scheduled in the same month. In physics this exam is used to check that you have a pulse, so do not freak out over it (but do practice on the computer with the freely downloadable software once or twice so that you know how to use the interface). If you want to direct your focus to some exam, it should be the physics GRE (subject code P77). The physics in this exam is not hard. It tests for the material learned in freshman, sophomore, and to a much lesser extent (except for statistical mechanics) junior year. I would suggest you learn about atomic and molecular physics if you have not already taken the course Chem 052: Group Theory, Quantum Chemistry, and Spectroscopy. The art in the physics GRE lies in dealing with the test-taking process itself.

Depending on the year, there can be more problems than you can do on an exam (100 multiple-choice problems, 170 minutes). Unfortunately, it might be that you could do most of the problems if you had the time. You need to make sure that you don't waste time on long problems. If you really have psychological problems, just tell yourself it's a big game, and that you'll let yourself do the long problems as a reward if you first do the short ones. Take practice tests to get used to this kind of time-pressure and the types of questions in the test. They're not designed for rushing; they usually have some simple idea that allows the test-taker to circumvent extensive calculation.

I would recommend taking the test officially in April so that you have a score on the books at all by the time you're writing applications. Take some practice tests; ETS has released 4 tests, 3 in a test-prep book of which Professor Saeta keeps copies. Make sure you go beyond the first "easy" exam as current exams are more difficult. If you take the November exam and register for the December exam, you might try calling ETS for the scores-by-phone service ($10) the morning or evening before your December exam. The GRE website posts that the service is available shortly after the December exam is administered, but this year at least the phone service was available before the posted date. While this might not save much money, it might save a Saturday morning's worth of time.

Finally, whatever happens, remember that the GRE tests two things at once: your ability to adapt to a contrived multiple-choice test and your ability to perform a nominal curriculum of introductory physics. I say nominal because solving problems at the rate of 1.7 minutes per problem on a familiar canon of multiple choice problems (studying in coaching classes in China for 2 years or studying in an undergraduate college for 2 years endows the student with the ability to make up a standard set of multiple choice questions). A high score on the GRE is consequently good because it means you can probably perform some undergraduate-level physics, but the converse is not necessarily true, since you might be a poor tester. Applications give various opportunities to demonstrate facility with physics, and the GRE is just one. In my opinion an oral examination would be much more effective than a paper GRE, though prohibitively expensive.

Essays | Top

Basically all the questions are the same. The Harvard prompt follows.

Describe your reasons and motivations for pursuing a graduate degree in your chosen program of study at Harvard. What experiences led you to your research ambitions? Concisely state your past work in your intended field of study and in related fields. Briefly indicate your career objectives. Your statement should not exceed 1000 words.

This essay is not an undergraduate application essay. Physics departments just want to know that you will be a good PhD researcher and student. This means that the "I am like a cookie" vignette is inappropriate. It is not to your advantage to focus on how enamored you are with physics. Do not explain who your parents are or why you believe in the merit of hard-work. A brief introductory anecdote about when your interest began might be ok--check with your department faculty to see if they can catch meanings you did not intend to convey.

Depending on the school, it could be disadvantageous to talk about how you will tie physics with science policy and social issues. While these are very cool topics for investigation, your funding might not come from organizations for whom these issues are the main focus.

The personal statement briefly describes how you became interested in physics, research you have performed, and why you are a prize for the school of your choice. Your tone must be professional. As long as you have a good command of English, this should be a feasible task. Princeton University has a wealth of web pages official and unofficial for explaining the important parts of this process.

• Career Services: Writing Statements
• Straight-forward official description of graduate physics admissions at Princeton Physics
• Rec letter guidelines
• Statement of Purpose guidelines

Your National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program essays should be written in similar form. This application revolved around four questions in 2004.

1. (1 page max) Describe any personal, professional, or educational experiences or situations that have contributed to your desire to pursue advanced study in science, mathematics, or engineering.
2. (1 page max) Describe your experiences in the following or describe how you would address the following in your professional career: integrating research and education, advancing diversity in science, enhancing scientific and technical understanding, and otherwise benefiting society.
3. (2 pages max) In a clear, concise, and original statement, describe research topics you may pursue while on fellowship tenure, and include how you became interested in these topics. Your statement should reflect your own thinking and work, demosntrate your understanding of research principles necessary to pursue these interests, and explain the relationship to your previous research, if any. Present your plan with a clear hypothesis or questions to be asked by the research. If you have not yet formulated a plan of research, your statement should include a description of one question that interests you and an analysis of how you think the question may best be answered. A listing of courses alone is not sufficient. Research topics discussed in your proposed plan may be used in determining eligibility.
4. (2 pages max) Describe any scientific research activities in which you have participated, such as experience in undergraduate research programs, or resaerch experience gained through summer or part-time employment or in work-study programs, or other research activities, either academic or job-related. Explain the purpose of the research and your specific role in the research, including the extent to which you worked independently and/or as part of a team, and what you learned from your research. In your statement, distinguish between undergraduate and graduate research experience. If you have no direct research experience, describe any activities that you believe have prepared you to undertake research. At the end of your statement, list any publications and/or presentations made at national and/or regional professional meetings.

(Politely) insist that your advisor review drafts of all these essays by the summer before senior year. This means asking simple questions about some concrete aspects of the paper such as tone and relevance.

Time management | Top

Follow the plan below to avoid last-minute disasters.

Copyright © 2004 David Liao.