Pre-Grad Frequently Asked Questions

The Career Center provides many services and resources for those interested in applying to graduate/professional school: Counseling Service, Workshops, On-Line Statement Review, Graduate School Fairs, Letter Service Repository, Graduate School Publications, are just a sampling of what is available in the Career Center. I suggest you link to the Career Center web page at http://career.berkeley.edu to get information on additional resources and services and a description of what is available. I also suggest that you look at the Frequently Asked Questions -- Business Graduate School. Also, the Graduate Management Admissions Council will provide more information on schools, the admissions process, and the GMAT.

Application periods and deadlines will vary. Some, especially when applying for a fellowship, could come in early December. Many deadlines will be in January with some in February and even beyond. Look at Peterson's Guides to Graduate Study online or in the Career Center Info Lab. Also look at the schools/departments of interest online and see what they say. Again, you will find considerable variation.

Interviews, if held, mostly will be in March. Interviews likely will focus on your interests and research experience and how you and the department match up. In all things pertaining to grad school admissions, expect variation.

Deadlines tend to occur in December, January, and February. Schools vary, so check out the Peterson's Guide to Graduate/Professional School or the university's website and see what the deadlines are for the programs that interest you. Note that there may be different deadlines for the graduate school/department and fellowships/financial aid applications.

Many schools have application deadlines in late December, and early January. If you know what schools and programs you are interested in, you may want to check their application deadline dates and determine if you have enough time to apply. If you have to take the GRE, the absolute latest you will want to take it is a month before the application deadline. If you are required to take a subject test you will need to check out the GRE website now to find out more about registration and test dates. I am assuming you have letters of recommendation on file; however, they were for medical school, so you may want to have the letters rewritten for the graduate school programs you are considering. Also, you will want to start working on your statement ASAP. It is all going to depend on the school deadlines and whether or not you have enough time to complete the application on time. The Graduate School section of this site will give you some guidelines on what you need to do.

Graduate and professional schools usually require some sort of written statement as a part of the application. Some statements ask for rather specific information--for example, the applicant's intended area of study within a graduate field, reasons for attending, plans for the future, and how he or she is prepared to study the field. Others suggest subjects that might be addressed. Still others are quite unstructured, leaving the applicant free to address a wide range of matters. Some applications call for one statement, while others require responses to a series of six or more questions, ranging from 250 to 750 words each. The importance of the statement varies from school to school and from field to field.

Don't be afraid of the essay or statement of purpose. Writing it should help you clarify your motives and goals. Graduate school is rarely a good idea when pursued as a means of avoiding the job market. If you can't articulate your reasons for seeking an advanced degree, your mind may be telling you that perhaps it's not the most appropriate option. For more detailed info on writing the statement, see the Grad School section of this website. Once you have a draft and want some feedback, utilize the Career Center's Online Statement Review service.

You could briefly mention your high school achievements (probably in just one or two sentences). Grad schools are more interested in your recent accomplishments. Feel free to submit your statement for conceptual feedback.

If NYU says something like "no more than two," then only send two. If their instructions are more open-ended (e.g. "Two letters recommended..."), then sending three letters can't hurt you. The bottom line is follow their rules.

Have you gotten to know any of your GSIs? You can use them as letter writers as well. Admissions people tell us that recommendations from GSIs carry as much weight as those from faculty, and in some field it's common to have faculty co-sign letters written by a GSI. Letters are valuable to the extent that they come from a person who can offer meaningful information about you.

It is important for you to provide your letter writers with information about you. When you ask for a letter of recommendation, don't just leave a note in the professor's/GSI's mailbox. Go to office hours and spend some time with the letter writer, so that he/she has the chance to learn more about you, your strengths, and your goals. It's also a good idea to give them a copy/draft of your personal statement, samples of your class work or papers and a curriculum vitae or brief resume, which includes your GPA. Typically, you will need 3 letters.

It is appropriate to gently remind your letter writers of their agreement to write you letters after a few weeks (2-3). Almost everyone has to nudge their letter writers at one time or another. If done properly, your reminding will not be perceived as rude.

Many schools do not specify from whom the letters should come. Your letters should come from people who know you well and can write a strong, informative and effective letter. So, it would probably be a good idea to get a letter from the Humanities professor, and two from the engineering area. Having three to 5 letters in your file is a good idea, therefore, you may pick and choose among your letters depending on the schools request. Also, letters from GSIs carry as much weight as those from professors. If you have GSIs that can write strong letters, you may want to consider that alternative.

The Letter Service is a good idea if you are planning on applying to more than 3 schools. Also, if your letter writers prefer to write confidential letters, then the letter Service is a good alternative. The Letter Service can make "official" copies of your letters to send to individual schools (if you were to send your own copies, they would not appear to be official.) In addition, using the Letter Service is like having an insurance policy--your letters will not be lost and they will be mailed promptly.

If you look at the Letter Service section, you will find suggestions for letter writers. You may print those out and give them to your letter writers. The letter writer should make it clear how he or she knows you and how well. The writer should be as specific as possible about your academic skills and personal traits, if relevant. The writer should also put you in perspective with other students he or she has recommended. "I have taught at Cal for X years and during that time have recommended X# for grad school. I put this student in the top X percent."

The more detailed a letter, the more it reflects the writer's direct knowledge of your work and potential; the more credible it will appear to members of the admissions committee.

Confidential letters are more common, and admissions folks tend to give them more weight. If you're not sure whether someone will write an effective letter, you can ask for an open letter and look it over before deciding whether or not to have it included in your dossier. It is rare that someone will write a bad letter.

A more common outcome is a letter that offers little more than vague generalities or lukewarm praise. If you ask a given faculty member or GSI to write you a letter, they may not feel comfortable saying "no" even if they don't feel able to write a strong endorsement. Give them another option. Rather than asking if they'd write you a letter, ask if they feel they know you and your work well enough to write a good letter. This allows them a graceful out and saves you from having a letter that appears to damn by faint praise.

Yes, the letter writer can mention things you have done outside their class especially if they impacted your experience with them. We highly recommend that you provide your letter writers with a "kit" that will help them write good, insightful letters about you. Your "kit" may include a resume, samples of your work, a draft of your graduate statement, and some things/characteristics about you that you would like emphasized in your letter.

You can print out these Guidelines for Letter Writers to assist the letter writers. Also, check out information on letters of recommendation found in the Grad School section.

Since you plan to work several years before attending an MBA program, your faculty letters might serve a secondary use while letters from more recent employers and managers will be primary. As a safeguard, you might get letters from faculty, just in case an opportunity to attend an MBA school comes early. A word to the wise: Keep in contact with your faculty even when you’re working.

Like almost everything else, opinion on using a grid varies. However, some people really like to get them as it gives (rightly or wrongly) a quick, snap shot of the applicant. I think my advice would be to use them for this reason. It certainly is not critical that you do use them if the letter writers are very specific as to how they rate you as compared to others the letter writer has evaluated. You must remember that the graduate side of the admissions process is used to getting letters regarding grad school wherein letter writers' comments and evaluations are very important. While you are correct that this is a smaller group of applicants, the competition at the major schools will be very tough. The classes are very small at many places. So, work hard on those letters from experienced people who know your potential for scholarship; that is what it is all about.

Be sure to look at the Career Center's Chapter 1 in the reference book Medical School Admissions Requirements, USA and Canada (MSAR), published annually by the Association of American Medical Colleges, has a table that lists schools with joint MD/MPH programs. This can be viewed in our Info Lab at 2111 Bancroft, purchased at AAMC or in large bookstores. A new version is published each June. Get the one that applies to your application year. In the Career Center Info Lab, you can also look at the overview volume of Peterson's Guides to Graduate Study and find a list there. Many schools are looking for people who want to spend most of their career in research and/or teaching. Interviews will probe this as well as the applicant's interests and the potential for a scholarly career.

Since you are alum, I am assuming that you need to go back to someone from a class you took. Clearly, you want someone who knows you well and who can say good things about you. Email that person and see if you can set up an appointment to see him or her. Go with a resume, a transcript, your old exams, papers, from the class etc.-- anything that will give the person information. Give them your statement of purpose telling why you want to go into graduate school and how you have explored the field. In other words, you want to give the potential letter writer all the information you can so that a useful letter can be written. If there was a GSI you knew well ask him or her to give the professor comments. Be prepared to help the writer demonstrate why are you a good candidate.