Tips to Increase Your Chances of Graduate School Admission
Here are a few tips on how you can set yourself apart from your competition:
Visit some of the schools to which you’ve applied, if you can. Before your visit, schedule appointments to speak with the chairperson of the department, and any professors with interests similar to yours. Networking for graduate school admission is as effective a tool as it is in the job search.
Talk to current graduate students if you visit a campus. They have a great deal of influence on the admissions process. They also can tell you if the program is one that will suit you, and who is a good professor to work with.
Request additional information from schools and programs (press releases, biography sheets on professors, and any promotional materials published by the school that might give you a better sense of the program). Refer to any important information you find when writing your personal statement.
Read articles written by professors at each university doing research in areas that interest you. Mention these professors and their work briefly in your personal statement. Also, write these professors letters introducing yourself, explaining your interest in their field, telling them what interested you about their work, and mentioning that you will be applying to their program.
Send extra materials with your application--projects you have completed, presentations, a thesis abstract, or any publications. (Send copies, not originals!)
Be courteous and polite to all staff at every school--whether you talk to them on the phone or in person. Receptionists and secretaries can be useful resources, and may also pass along any good or bad impressions they have of you to members of a selection committee.