🔺 r/gradadmissionsuhowgoody·21 days ago
Unsolicited advice to those applying this year from me (applied last year and got in): Have a reliable support system
To those who are applying this year, I wanted to say best of luck to you all! It's rough and competitive, but don't underestimate yourself! I have a piece of unsolicited advice that I wanted to share with you in hope that it will help you through the process: Having a reliable support system can make a huge difference on how you can navigate the grueling admissions process. If you surround yourself with 1) professors (whether they are writing rec letters for you or not) who genuinely care about you and 2) graduate students who have already been through this before, you will have people to rely on when things get too emotional (e.g., if you end up getting a rejection). It's a very lonely process, and you wouldn't want to go through it alone, especially if you are first-gen and don't have family members to turn to when things get tough or you need some clarification. I will always be grateful to one of my professors who immediately called me when she heard that I got rejected from one of my top programs. That phone call showed me that it truly takes a village to raise a graduate student who will be competent enough to be a professor. submitted by /u/howgoody to r/gradadmissions [link…