Applying to grad school
May 28, 2008 9:19 AM Subscribe
Applying to grad school. Help!
1) I am applying to NYU SCPS. I have a horrible undergrad GPA (I graduated in 1998) but a good resumé (I think). I don't know if any of you have experience with NYU specifically, but in general how balanced are they when considering an old academic history versus recent professional achievements?
2) I have to submit a personal statement. They mention a minimum of 250 words, but what's the rule of thumb on what should be the maximum?
3) They also ask for a resume. In the professional world, resumes are as short as possible (I try to keep mine as a one pager). However, knowing that brevity is not necessarily appreciated in an academic setting, I am thinking that the my submitted resume should be very detailed. Am I wrong? Should I go with the short one or the long one?
1) I am applying to NYU SCPS. I have a horrible undergrad GPA (I graduated in 1998) but a good resumé (I think). I don't know if any of you have experience with NYU specifically, but in general how balanced are they when considering an old academic history versus recent professional achievements?
2) I have to submit a personal statement. They mention a minimum of 250 words, but what's the rule of thumb on what should be the maximum?
3) They also ask for a resume. In the professional world, resumes are as short as possible (I try to keep mine as a one pager). However, knowing that brevity is not necessarily appreciated in an academic setting, I am thinking that the my submitted resume should be very detailed. Am I wrong? Should I go with the short one or the long one?
I have to submit a personal statement.
Is there a topic? Or any sort of guidence?
My personal statement was supposed to be "Why I Want to Go to Grad School." If that is what they want you to write as well, be clear, concise and professional. Explain your experience to date (this is where you hand wave over your undergrad GPA), explain how this has prepared you for grad school, explain what you hope grad school will enable you to do, and why you are the right person to do it.
Don't try to be cute or esoteric. Don't go for complex sentence structure. If you want to be dramatic, save it for the concluding paragraph and keep it realistic.
Of course, that's just my opinion and the rephrasing of advice a friend (who is a lifetime academic) gave me after he read my first draft.
Also, have someone read your first draft. If you want to mefi mail me, I'll be happy to give you feedback.
posted by jeffamaphone at 9:33 AM on May 28, 2008 [1 favorite]
Is there a topic? Or any sort of guidence?
My personal statement was supposed to be "Why I Want to Go to Grad School." If that is what they want you to write as well, be clear, concise and professional. Explain your experience to date (this is where you hand wave over your undergrad GPA), explain how this has prepared you for grad school, explain what you hope grad school will enable you to do, and why you are the right person to do it.
Don't try to be cute or esoteric. Don't go for complex sentence structure. If you want to be dramatic, save it for the concluding paragraph and keep it realistic.
Of course, that's just my opinion and the rephrasing of advice a friend (who is a lifetime academic) gave me after he read my first draft.
Also, have someone read your first draft. If you want to mefi mail me, I'll be happy to give you feedback.
posted by jeffamaphone at 9:33 AM on May 28, 2008 [1 favorite]
1) try not to worry too much. GPA for me didn't matter nearly as much as my test scores and extra work/effort/internships.
2) Most of the schools I applied to asked for a maximum of 300 or 500 words. So, usually they want a quite short essay. I would limit it to one full page for visual appeal.
3) Most of the schools I applied for used the wording CV or CV and resume interchangeably. CVs are generally longer, and need to include more school-related accomplishments such as papers published, scholarships, awards, conferences presented in, etc. They may also include less jobs though, as you will only want to put relevant work.
posted by speef at 10:15 AM on May 28, 2008
2) Most of the schools I applied to asked for a maximum of 300 or 500 words. So, usually they want a quite short essay. I would limit it to one full page for visual appeal.
3) Most of the schools I applied for used the wording CV or CV and resume interchangeably. CVs are generally longer, and need to include more school-related accomplishments such as papers published, scholarships, awards, conferences presented in, etc. They may also include less jobs though, as you will only want to put relevant work.
posted by speef at 10:15 AM on May 28, 2008
For the personal statement, I'd keep it as short as you can to tell them why you're an awesome person for them to admit. One page would probably be a good goal, but if you're holding the audience's attention (that is, they're enjoying reading it and it's building their enthusiasm about admitting you) then you can keep going as long as you can keep that up.
The resume should include everything about you that will interest the professors in this particular program (and nothing that won't).
posted by winston at 11:27 AM on May 28, 2008
The resume should include everything about you that will interest the professors in this particular program (and nothing that won't).
posted by winston at 11:27 AM on May 28, 2008
1. Not sure about NYU in particular, but try to do great on the GRE or GMAT if you are going for a business thing (even if it isn't necessary for what you are applying for, another score will help you look good), get strong rec's, write a good essay, and those should help boost you despite your not-great GPA.
2. Keep your essay short (under 3 pages). It should have the same things that you usually write in a cover letter. Here is the formula that I recommend:
- Who are you, what is your story, what brings you to this point in your career
- Why you want them as opposed to other jobs/schools
- Why they should want you as opposed to other similar students, what makes you stand out
3. A longer resume is appropriate in this context, but it doesn't have to be every job you've ever had. Keep to the relevant ones and keep to around 3 bullet points of what you did in each job.
posted by rmless at 12:22 PM on May 28, 2008
2. Keep your essay short (under 3 pages). It should have the same things that you usually write in a cover letter. Here is the formula that I recommend:
- Who are you, what is your story, what brings you to this point in your career
- Why you want them as opposed to other jobs/schools
- Why they should want you as opposed to other similar students, what makes you stand out
3. A longer resume is appropriate in this context, but it doesn't have to be every job you've ever had. Keep to the relevant ones and keep to around 3 bullet points of what you did in each job.
posted by rmless at 12:22 PM on May 28, 2008
I would keep your essay as short and concise as possible. I do think you can blow out the resume a bit though. People say they want a one page resume, but in my personal experience longer ones are more successful.
posted by xammerboy at 3:12 PM on May 28, 2008
posted by xammerboy at 3:12 PM on May 28, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
Uh, for what? It does make a difference.
posted by grouse at 9:25 AM on May 28, 2008