Do you find it difficult to “sell yourself”? Most CS students do, at least in my experience. It’s a funny quirk. When you ask what they want to study in the future, too many respond with “Artificial Intelligence” or “Machine Learning”…and then they say no more. Very few respond with specific ideas …
Graduate School Applications
The 6 Most Common SOP Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)
Have you ever wondered why every graduate program, in every academic field, makes you write an application essay? Biology, Engineering, Medicine, Art - they all want to see how you write, even if you’ll NEVER write anything in your eventual career. Why? Because poor writing is a sign of poor …
How to Email Professors (and What to Say in Interviews)
Most PhD applicants know they need to contact professors long before they submit their applications. It’s not exactly a bad idea for master’s applicants either - at least those applying to research- or thesis-based master’s programs with structured lab rotations. In either case, it’s …
Writer’s Block for Students: The 3-Step Cure
Did you know that writer’s block is a myth? Yes, that’s right, a complete and utter myth. There isn’t a single professional writer anywhere in the world who experiences this phenomenon known as “writer’s block.” How would newspapers ever function if journalists were constantly worried about their …
Statement of Purpose for PhD Admission (A Universal Formula)
Formulas are beautiful, aren’t they? Whether the elegance of a binary logarithm or the universe contained within the laws of thermodynamics, it’s wondrous to see how much we can explain through gracefully arranged information. Prose writing is no different. Even with the statement of purpose for PhD …
How to Get Into Grad School with a Low GPA (With Examples)
Listen, I understand. Grad school admissions are daunting for everyone. But if your undergrad GPA was less than golden, the process can seem demoralizing. You know you have potential. You know can succeed if given the chance. But is it even possible to get into grad school with a low GPA? Yes. …
Scholarships for Master’s Students (By Academic Field)
When discussing scholarships for master’s students, people tend to sound like Sancho Panza rolling his eyes at Don Quixote’s windmills. Do these giants even exist? Everyone knows PhDs get full funding, and most assume that master’s degrees just come with a boatload of debt. (Hence the growing …
Kisses of Death in Graduate Applications: Review and Summary
If you haven’t read about the five “Kisses of Death in the Graduate School Application Process,” then please allow me to save you a boatload of trouble and anxiety. In 2006, two researchers surveyed admissions chairs from eighty-eight psychology graduate departments. They didn’t want to find out …
Diversity Statement 101: An Essay Guide for Champions
The Diversity Statement, and its close cousins the Personal History and Personal Contributions essays, might be the hardest part of graduate applications. The prompts are so vague and open-ended. They often make applicants shudder. What am I supposed to write about? What if I’m not a …
Luminous Intelligence: Why Hiring an SOP Writer Doesn’t Work
Would you believe you can hire an SOP writer on Fiverr for only $20? Or that there are over 4 million hits if you Google ghostwriting services for your essays? Really, it’s astounding how many people are willing to submit applications they didn’t write. Obviously, there’s an ethical problem with …