Graduate School Application Components
Always confirm the application materials required by a program directly with that program. Required materials may vary from program to program. However, listed below are some common application components that will be required by most graduate school applications:
Writing Sample
The writing sample — usually between 12-20 pages, although be sure to confirm the expectations for each program — allows programs to evaluate your preexisting abilities as a writer and researcher, your nascent originality as a thinker, and your general knowledge of your intended field of study.
There is no one “ideal” kind of writing sample - but a compelling writing sample typically establishes your work within an existing professional conversation or in reference to existing scholarly work. Most likely, you’ll find the raw material for this sample in a paper written for an undergraduate seminar, or (even better) the thesis you would complete to receive honors in your major.
For a seminar paper, be sure to follow up with your seminar instructor to see if they can give you more detailed feedback (you could even try doing this a year or two out of undergrad, explaining that you’ve now decided to go to graduate school and lightly flattering the professor about the importance of this seminar in inspiring this decision)
The thesis will likely be a more highly polished piece of writing. Still, talk to your thesis advisor about what particular excerpt best represents your potential as a scholar.
The writing sample may be another case where it is better to wait to apply to graduate school. If you’re writing your thesis in your senior year, it may be wise to apply the following year, when that thesis has been completed, rather than deprive yourself of your strongest possible writing sample.
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Statement of Purpose
The statement of purpose is a one- to two-page explanation of why you want to go to graduate school. Effective statements of purpose demonstrate the candidate’s professional writing skills and present the candidate to the admissions committee as a unique intellectual individual. Importantly, the statement of purpose differs from the personal statement used in undergraduate applications: personal statements present you as a candidate in search of a general education; a statement of purpose presents who you are and where you want to go as a professional. The following are some questions that you should consider as you write your statement of purpose:
- Who are you and what are your goals?
- What are your intellectual interests and passions?
- What motivates you to want to take this next step?
- What were some key intellectual moments that influenced your decision to pursue graduate study in this field?
Your statement should discuss the path that led you to apply to graduate school, including your career goals and your research interests - however, it should NOT be just a summary of your resume or an autobiography. Instead, biographical details should be included simply to set the stage for your research interests, and how you plan to develop those interests in graduate school.
You should also demonstrate that you have researched the program to which you are applying, and discuss which unique aspects of the program make it a particularly good fit for you and will aid in the pursuit of your specific goals. For example, you may discuss faculty members who are doing research in your area of interest, areas of study for which the department is well-regarded, as well as any other resources available at the university that would be particularly helpful in the area you intend to study. It should offer the admissions committee new information about your professional and academic plans not available elsewhere in the application.
The Office of Global Awards has additional, and very useful, thoughts about the brainstorming process for the statement of purpose: https://www.nyu.edu/academics/awards-and-highlights/global-awards/support-and-resources/personal-statement-recommendations.html
Also see the Additional Resources page of this site for more resources about writing your personal statement
If you’d like assistance formulating your statement of purpose, you can schedule an appointment at the NYU Writing Center. There, a Writing Center consultant will help you think through your ideas, and figure out the most effective ways to express and structure your argument for your potential as a graduate student.
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Letters of Recommendation
Typically, programs will require a minimum of three letters of recommendation. If you are planning on applying to a liberal arts Master's or Ph.D. program, all three of these letters should be from an academic source. Ideally, you'll ask professors within your field of interest who know you well and can speak to your intellectual and academic achievement and potential to complete original research. If that is not possible, however, letters can also be requested from people outside of your specific field.
While it may be helpful to have letters of recommendation written by people who are well-known (at least, known by the committee reading the letter), it is more valuable to receive letters of recommendation from people who know you well and can speak to your work.
You should start early building relationships that might, eventually, lead to a letter of recommendation. If a you take a class with a professor in your junior year, for example, and you want to ask that professor for a letter of recommendation in the following year or even several years after graduation, it is important that you make a connection with the professor during the class, and maintain that connection after the course has ended. Students can make themselves known during the semester by actively participating in class, asking questions, and, most importantly, visiting office hours (see Preparing for Graduate School for more tips on how to cultivate your relationships with professors). Certainly keep in touch with the professor in future semesters; you could ask them questions about academic decision-making and research, so this professor feels like they have a stake in your academic success. You can also talk to this professor (if it makes sense) about the decision itself to go to graduate school, and see if they have any recommendations about particular programs.
Asking for a Letter of Recommendation:
- If you are not planning on entering graduate school directly after undergrad, but might instead apply a few years after completing your undergraduate education, let your recommenders know. They may not care, but those that do may want to prepare a letter now, while your relationship is fresh, and then update it when you actually apply
- If you are reaching out to a professor a few years after undergrad, don't be shy! Send an email re-introducing yourself, and offer to meet with the professor to update them on what's been going on since you last spoke.
- Try to give your recommender at least 2 months’ notice (from your application due date) that you will need a letter
- After a professor or other recommender has confirmed that they will write a letter, you should send in one email a list of programs to which you are applying, as well the due dates of all letters and forms.
- Try to give your professor a sense of how you will present yourself in your application. After the professor has agreed to write for you, send them drafts of the material that you’re going to supply with your application (personal statement, resume, and writing sample). They may be interested in this, or maybe not - but, at least, give them all the materials upfront, so they don’t have to ask for it themselves.
- Send your recommenders a reminder about 2 weeks before your application due date
- In a perfect world, every recommender will submit their recommendations by the application due date - our world, however, is not perfect. So, keep in mind that application due dates are really more for you than for your recommenders. All your materials must be in on time - but, if your recommenders submit your recommendations a little after the due date, it will not be held against you. Graduate programs understand that professors are very busy, and sometimes can’t always make due dates. If, two weeks after the deadline, some recommenders are still delinquent (most application systems allow you to track this), reach out to give them a gentle reminder.
- Send a thank-you email to your recommender about a week after they submit your recommendation — they may not respond, but it will be appreciated.
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Resume/CV
Some programs require a professional resume or CV. This is especially pertinent for programs that require work experience prior to admission. Students should include any relevant work experience, research endeavors, and any scholarly or academic honors. For aid in drafting a professional resume, students can visit the Wasserman Center.
GRE and Other Standardized Tests
Standardized testing requirements vary from program to program. A few of the most commonly required tests are described below — however, be sure to confirm what standardized testing your programs of interest expect you to complete.
GRE
Many Master’s and PhD programs require GRE (Graduate Record Examination) scores as a component of an applicant’s overall profile. Most commonly, the GRE General Exam is required — some programs may also expect a specific GRE Subject Test. GRE scores are valid for 5 years.
Depending on the program, your GRE score can play a variety of different roles in the evaluation of your application. For some, the strength of the cumulative score is important, where others evaluate only on the verbal or quantitative sections (of the General Test). The strength of the GRE is key for some programs, and in others, a poor score won’t keep out an otherwise outstanding applicant. It is important to research how your programs of interest interpret and evaluate scores.
You can refer to the GRE website for more information about taking the test, scheduling a test, and for test prep materials.
GMAT
GMAT scores are typically required by public policy programs, business schools, and other professional programs. You can find more information about the GMAT exam at MBA.com
Test Preparation
We do not endorse any formal test preparation program — and, you shouldn’t feel that you “need” to take a test prep course in order to do well on an exam. Most of the websites linked to above provide free test preparation materials, as well as practice tests. Take a look at some these free materials to gauge whether or not you need additional preparation to feel comfortable taking these tests.
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Transcripts
All liberal arts graduate programs require that an applicant has a bachelor’s degree from an accredited United States institution or proof of equivalent training at an institution outside of the U.S. Depending on the program, a certain number of undergraduate credits or upper-division credits must be earned in the specific field. Successful candidates applying directly from undergrad typically have a high GPA, at least in the field of their program of interest. The longer an applicant has been out of college, however, the less influential their transcript is upon admissions decisions. Finally, applicants are unlikely to be negatively affected by poor starts to their collegiate careers if there is a visible upward trend in academic performance throughout the duration of their career.
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