Advice for Applying to Grad School

Yelnura, MA in Middle Eastern Studies '26

Although the application season is very far over, I think, applicants for the next academic year will find this useful. To be honest, the application process for jobs and universities remains a mystery for myself, but it is also something very inevitable in one’s life.

First of all, although application may seem as a very straightforward process of simply writing and submitting a cover letter and all other documents, it is a very big project that takes a long time to execute and consists of a few dozens of steps. You should prepare yourself ahead of time and give yourself at least half a year before your intended date of application.

It all starts with the search for the program. There are so many universities and so many programs, and sometimes they are similar in structure but have different names and opportunities, sometimes the same thing you want to study might be offered in a different department or that there is a particular funding available on a particular program. There are a lot of details that one would not know unless they are right there at the university. But because you might want to have several options or you might be an international student like myself you need to give yourself time to explore. Devote at least several days searching for the programs that interest you in a particular university. Look for details - for curricula, specialization of professors, the location of the university, resources available, funding, school’s positionality etc.

The location of the university is an important factor that many students overlook. Although the school might offer perfect opportunities for your intended program, you are also making a long-term commitment to live in a place where you are going to not only study, but breathe, eat, walk, have coffee-outings with new friends. When you arrive it will all affect your motivation to study and stay committed to your academic goals. To help that, you can try imagining your life there, does it feel like a good place to be living at? How is the commute? Do you like the usual weather? Do you feel like this is the place where you can achieve your goals and dreams? Are you ready to move to another city/country/continent or do you need time to make that adjustment?

One thing that helped me was to create a spreadsheet for all of my desired programs that I can go back to. Because you will be having multiple schools to look at, you would want to record all the peculiarities of each program, application requirements and deadlines that you can consult later.

Since the moment I found the CMES program at UChicago and after going through my scrupulous testing as “how is the city?,” “what is the neighborhood like?,” “what are my opportunities there?” I was feeling pure excitement. I was not sure if I would be accepted, but everything about the program felt right to myself. I think, if you have that excitement and you were scrupulous in both your assessment of the program and your own readiness to commit, when you actually come to study, the transition would pass smoothly and without surprises. So, this initial phase is important at every stage of the application process - when you apply, when you make your final decision, when you come and when you stay.

After you find a place that you feel can help you achieve your goals, try to reflect on why you want to pursue that particular path and if you have something in you already that shows evidence of interest in that particular field. As much as you are making your choices, the program is making theirs and think about it in a big picture — they want to see people who have previous knowledge, who can bring something to the program and can integrate well with the rest of the cohort. Your motivational letter is your only asset to have your voice in the application and given the limits of it, think about what is important that you want to share about you with the admissions committee?

It can be a life-event that is essential to your personality, your work that you think is relevant to the field, or your goals and plans for the future that the program can help you achieve. In a good personal statement though, in my humble opinion, it is a little bit of everything that I mentioned. Think about it as a timeline of the past, the present and the future. For example, what happened in the past that made you choose this particular direction in life, how are your current endeavors and work come into picture and show both your qualification and interest, and why is it important for your future?

Another humble opinion of mine tells me that, sometimes for the admissions committee it is not so much about the qualifications, although they are also very important, but about your vision and how the studies are relevant to your self. Although getting a degree seems like a very inevitable and necessary part of a modern life, higher education institutions are there to help you grow. And for a good personal statement you need to know for yourself how they can help you grow.

When you are certain about a place or places that you wanted to apply to, made the necessary steps of taking exams, preparing a resume and writing your motivational letter/personal statement, don’t be a stranger to show it to the people you trust. The greatest academics show their work multiple bazillion times to their fellows to get their opinion on it and to see things that can be improved. Although your personal statement is not an academic work that is to be published, opinion of people you trust - your mentor, family, other faculty - can help you see the blindspots of your statement, improve things that are unclear, and also ground you by telling you things you overlook in your story and reminding you of what kind of person you are. One needs to be careful here of not falling into the pitfall of following all of the commentary given on your statement, so keep in mind what is important for you to share with the admissions committee.

After you are done with your application — breathe out.

You might want to give yourself another week prior to submitting your application, to take a final look at your submission documents, but then, press the button and breathe out.

It will take the admissions committee several weeks or months to take a look at or rather to study your application. It is a good thing though, imagine them taking their time to get to know you. Try thinking of them as your allies — they are there to see if you are ready for their program and if it is the right place for you.

Rejection is hard. And although I can not give you full comfort in this, there are still several possible ways you can look at it if you are ready. Know yourself and your worth, is it really something that you want to pursue in life? If yes, maybe they overlooked you or maybe they thought you are not ready yet, in that case, you still have an opportunity to prepare more for the next year - get more experience and knowledge; no one can stop you from doing that. If not, maybe it is just a redirection, and you might want to spend more time getting to know what you would want to commit to, your passions and observe where your energy is naturally going.

Dear friend, whenever you are applying to school, I wish you luck and direction in life that will feel right to you. I think you are already great for being here! And don’t be afraid of trying your chances, apply to as many places as you want to! pursue what you are passionate about in life! and the world really cannot stop you from doing something that you love, especially if it is something that you want to learn more about!

With love,

Your student ambassador