sample graduate school essays

There are universities and colleges known to be the most competitive. Their acceptance rates rank among the lowest. You will need to be the best of the best to qualify. For these schools, you need to work extra hard on your admissions essays. Use sample graduate school essays to guide you. These sample graduate school essays can show you the ideal flow of ideas. At the same time, these sample graduate school essays can give you a glimpse of what the schools are looking for in their students. Add to this, you must have all documentations and requirements ready. When you get invited to interview, be at your best. Research about the school and the degree you are applying for. Do your best to impress your interviewers.

To give you ideas which of these schools are the most stringent in its acceptance rates, here’s a short list:

*** Education
Columbia University’s Teacher’s College is said to have the most competitive program. Their admissions rate in 2008 is a low 48%. They offer educators the opportunity to improve their craft and be able to lend their love for learning to their students.

*** Engineering and the natural sciences
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has the daunting acceptance rate of only 14% for degree courses in science and engineering. It even requires its students to have SAT math scores that are above 700.

*** Social science
Stanford has the most difficult acceptance phase for Psychology, with only an 11% acceptance rate. When it comes to the political science program, Harvard ranks top as the most competitive school to get into.

*** Humanities
For the different field in Humanities, the top ranking schools include Harvard, Yale, Princeton, University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford. Yale excels in its history program; while Harvard has the most competitive English Studies program.

***Health
The University of Pennsylvania has the most competitive health studies program. It only has a 21% acceptance rate in the recent school year.

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Graduate study is one of the major investments you can decide on in your life. For one, just to apply for a slot in the university alone takes a lot out of a person. You draft your essays, get sample graduate school essays, and acquire required documentations. After which, if you are lucky to get through, armed with sample graduate school essays and your admission essay, you are invited for an interview. You go through this nerve-wracking stage alone, without help from guides like sample graduate school essays. After the time and effort you’ve invested, you await the good news of passing the selection process. And then you may wonder, “Why did I get into this in the first place?”

Like the time you spent applying to graduate school, actual graduate schooling is also an investment. Here are some of the common returns you can get when  you go to graduate school:

1. Professional advancement: An advanced degree can make you more qualified for jobs. You are likely to get more offers as soon as you earn your degree because of your improved expertise and better qualifications. You may even get promoted from your job upon earning your extra academic credentials.

2. Earning opportunities: Companies and organizations naturally pay more for better expertise and knowledge. At the same time, earning a graduate school degree can qualify you for a higher position within the company, allowing you to earn more.

3. Specialization: With graduate school degrees, you become more specialized. You get to learn more about aspects of your career that you are really interested in and can become an expert in it.

4. Networking: Graduate school is also a good place to expand your network of colleagues and like-minded individuals. This can help you in the future after graduate school work.

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Writing your graduate school thesis is very different from writing your graduate school admissions essays. For admissions essays, you have the benefit of guides like sample graduate school essays. With the thesis, there is no equivalent to the sample graduate school essays. You are left to your own devices – without the benefit of step-by-step guides. Nevertheless, you still have your thesis adviser to guide you in the process.

To begin to write, you need to thoroughly prepare for it. The graduate school thesis is probably the most crucial output you’ll need to come out with at this point in your life.

Here are steps for you to prepare to write your graduate school thesis:

1. Topic selection: Since you will be spending months on your thesis, select topics that you are interested in, and then discuss these with your advisors. With their advice and approval, you will come down to a topic that you are passionate about. This is the start of any good (if not great) thesis.

2. Research: During the thesis-writing phase, you will be spending a bulk of your time doing research. You can scour libraries, scholarly publications and reputable online sources for second hand data. You may also need to do some 1st-hand data gathering through surveys and interviews. Some national organization have data you can use. You will just need permission to access and use them for your paper.

3. Drafting an Outline: Before you sit down and write, it’s best to have an outline ready. Outlines guide you with the flow of your paper. It can give you a quick glimpse if you’ve covered everything that’s necessary to reach your conclusion. Outlines also helps with organizing your paper. It becomes more readable as ideas won’t be all over the place.

4. Doing the first draft: Expect to do several drafts of your thesis. It won’t be just a one-time writing. You will find that advisors and experts will comment on one point or another. You will need to redraft and redraft until you get it done perfectly.

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Graduate school can be a very trying time for you, particularly on the wallet. After qualifying for a slot at the university degree of your choice – through the aid of sample graduate school essays – you find that you are in for a harder time. While graduate school and sample graduate school essays are sound investments, it can also make you feel some financial pinch. Sample graduate school essays can help you get into graduate school – to financially survive it is another question.

Financial need is partly why students opt to become their professor’s research assistant. While this job may help with your financial situation, sometimes you might be better off with a part-time job outside school. It really depends on your circumstances.

Here are other reasons why people opt for research assistant jobs:

1. Try out the career path: Some research assistant work can give you an idea about what you will deal with in the future, as you pursue your career and academic track. Some people become research assistants for this reason – to try their hands on work that they will eventually do anyway.

2. Hands-on work: Research assistant work can expose you to hands-on situations where you apply what you learned in class to real life. This is a good and beneficial reason for being a research assistant.

3. Regular work: Research assistant jobs offer the convenience of earning on-campus. This small stipend can help with the financials while giving you the extra benefit of learning more outside class.

4. Access to scholarships and grants: As research assistant, you learn more about the field and contribute more. Your professors may see this as an advantage, and offer you access to grants and scholarships that can help you support your own projects.

5. Reduced tuition fees for non-residents: Out of state students sometimes pay a higher tuition fee than those from the home state. Working as a research assistant, you may be granted reduced rates, equivalent to the rates of residents.

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After everything you’ve done to get here – from sample graduate school essays to all the documentations, paper works and interviews – is going to graduate school the right decision for your? Passing everything, from the admissions essays culled from sample graduate school essays to the admissions interview, is just a start. Once in graduate school, you need to survive and ideally, survive with honors. With the sample graduate school essays, the interviews and all the effort you’ve put in this, is it really what you want to do?

There are some factors that shouldn’t be considered when thinking about graduate school. Including these factors in your decision process can mislead you. It is always best to want to be in graduate school for what it can best offer you: advanced learning. Consider other alternatives if you are thinking of graduate school for the reasons listed below:

1. Dissatisfaction at work: Understand what about your job you don’t like. Graduate school may just be an escape for you. In the end, you may still acquire a job you dislike, albeit with a graduate degree this time.

2.  Loving the student lifestyle: Who doesn’t love being a student? Of course, this does not mean you can survive the grueling demands of graduate school. And even if you do, you will eventually still have to go out there and work.

3. Unemployment: Getting a graduate degree is not always the answer to finding the job you want. Sometimes, all you have to do is gain some experience. Expand your search for suitable work first. A graduate school degree cannot do much help in a job market that also puts value on actual work experience.

4. Peer or parental pressure: A lot of parents take pride in their children’s academic achievements. And, yours might be wanting you to take further studies. Your friends might be asking the same of you too, so they still have you as constant companion as they strive for further education. Don’t let the decision for graduate school education lie in their hands. In the end, it’s up to you.

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Once you’ve made it to your favored degree course through your sample graduate school essays, you’re down to crunch time. This is very different from just drafting your admissions essay based on sample graduate school essays. This is major academic work. You need all the help you can get – sample graduate school essays were just a start.

This is primarily why study groups are formed. Study groups are supposed to aid students get through very difficult academic challenges, such as exams and papers. The combined knowledge and sharing can greatly expand the members’ know-how. If the group is well-formed, it can help each member perform better in university.

Here are some tips to creating a co-beneficial study group:

1. Keep it small: A large group can bring in uncontrollable chaos. At the same time, such size is not conducive to productive sharing. Some people may keep to themselves, while others may hug the limelight.

2. Keep the slackers off: Study groups are for sharing and discussing what you’ve learned. There should be no room for those who keep to themselves and not share. The point is that everyone contributes to everyone else’s learning.

3. Assign a leader: Group meetings function best if there is a lead. You can assign an organizer or decide for everyone to take turns leading the team.

4. Meet regularly: Try to get the group to meet regularly and maintain regular attendance. The benefits of the group will not be maximized if some members go missing.

5. Have an agenda: Like all meetings, study groups should follow an agenda every time the members get together to meet. This way, discussion flows smoothly and all necessary points can be discussed.

6. Get a group together: If you haven’t received a study group invitation yet, then take the initiative to form your own. There are also other people waiting to join study groups.

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Your sample graduate school essays can help you with your application essay. The sample graduate school essays may get you the coveted admissions interview. However, once you are in that position, you are left to your wits to impress your interviewer. In this situation – regardless of your test scores, transcript records, or any amount of sample graduate school essays – you are on your own. You need to come prepared and put your best foot forward. Here are some tips.

Before you interview:

1. Read up on how to best conduct yourself in formal interviews for a slot in graduate school. There are several online sources for this. Likewise, know the many expectations for your degree course. You need to make it know that you are capable to handle these expectations.

2. Know who’s who in the department that you are applying to get into. It is impressive to the interviewer if you seem to really know what you are getting into.

3. Reread your graduate admissions essay. What you present to your interviewer should reflect what you wrote in your essay.

4. Practice with friends. Have your friends interview you and practice your communication skills with them. Ask for their feedback and work on any flaws they’ve observed.

During the interview:

1. Look your best. Unless you’re an accomplished artist or the like, no one can get away with looking sloppy. A mess distracts. Neatness and hygiene is impressive.

2. Even when you’re tempted to take a swig at that bottle of tequila in your room for that extra confidence, don’t. This is a formal interview; where in your slot in graduate school is at stake. Don’t risk it by coming to the interview stinking of alcohol. At the same time, do not smoke prior to the interview. While some people use nicotine to calm the nerves, the smell of it stays on you and can turn off your interviewer.

3. Always maintain eye contact. At the same time, display a good degree of confidence. Do not go over-the-top with the confidence though. Also, have some humility. You are applying to graduate school to learn.

After the interview:

1. Immediately send a follow-up thank you note or email. Also promptly ask for a status on your application.

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There’s a sense of accomplishment to it, much like making it into your chosen degree, with application essays guided by sample graduate school essays. When you qualify into your favored university – armed with experience, knowledge, sample graduate school essays, and wits – it feels like you’re on top of the world. How much more if you survive through the university’s academic challenges and make it with honors? Although you probably didn’t list this down in your sample graduate school essays as one of your goals, it seems natural to become a member of honor societies.

Honor societies are not just social circles; they are celebrations of achievement. Being a member comes with a few perks:

1. Sense of achievement: Being a member of an honors society affirms your academic achievement. There is a sense of accomplishment and recognition what your expertise, as well as your hardships just to make it through university.

2. Academic and professional resources: Honor societies are made up of elite members of the academe and count several notable professionals in their league. As such, when you become a member, you immediately gain access to information about your degree and the professional paths you can take.

3. Resume booster: Apart from letting potential employers know more about you, resumes are there to impress. A note on your membership into an honors society is a surefire way to do this.

4. New network: Honor societies include those in the national network, as well as those who have moved on with their professional careers. This opens up a far bigger network of colleagues for you.

5. Publication: Honor societies are often the first resource for exemplary articles regarding the university’s different degrees. School publications turn to them for this resource, giving you the opportunity to get published.

6. Career boost: The contacts and information you gain by being a member of an honors society adds to the training and knowledge you gain from being in the university. It gives you the edge when you go after the career that you want.

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It is hard enough to qualify for the select graduate programs of the top universities in the country. You have needed ample preparation and training, sample graduate school essays, and everything else that the school required. You pass your application essay, largely based on tips culled from sample graduate school essays. You make it through and qualify for a coveted spot. But then, there is one thing all this work and sample graduate school essays did not prepare you for: politics in the academia.

Politics is everywhere. It is not just in the corporate setting, nor in political parties and organizations. Politics is also ever present in the academe. The power struggles among colleagues and co-workers remain. Alliances and antagonism foster a conflicted work setting that may not be good for the overall work environment.

Here are some ways to skirt politics in the academic setting:

1. Transparency: Politics beget hidden agendas. Hidden agendas beget fake dishonest co-workers. While these people may do their best to ruin your repute, do not join them in their deceit. Remain true to yourself and everyone else.

2. Discipline: Try your best not to give in to shallow deceitful practices. If you think people are gossiping about you, do not do the same. Discipline your tongue. Talking against people is not the best defense to the political attacks of others. If anything, it may only prove that you are like them. Refrain from talking ill about other people.

3. Flexibility: Be open to others who have differing opinion and personalities. This will not only broaden your point of view; you will also potentially encourage harmony within your work place.

4. Humility: Competition may tempt you to brag about yourself, to impress your colleagues or just to suit the ego. Whatever the case, refrain from self-promotion. Just do a great job, and people will naturally take notice.

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Graduate programs in humanities and literature are most often stringent about qualifications and requirements. For your application essay, it would be best to refer to sample graduate school essays for drafting guidance. Sample graduate school essays can give you an idea what these top humanities and literature universities are looking for in their students. At the same time, sample graduate school essays increase your chances of getting into the school and graduate degree of your choice. The competition for slots in the humanities and literature programs of these schools can be so much – you may need all the help you can get.

Here is the list of the most reputable graduate programs in Humanities and Literature:

1. Harvard University

The university offers a very diverse humanities program. Harvard’s Humanities department deals with literature of several cultures, including East Asian, Tibetan, Himalayan, Near Eastern, and of course European. It also indulges in the Classics. The humanities program deals with both literature and culture so you get education at several tiers. You likewise have degree options in comparative literature and film.

2. University of California – Berkeley

The graduate programs in humanities at the University of California, Berkeley offer a broad range of specializations. They have language programs in Italian, Spanish, Japanese and Slavic. They offer Art degrees, and contrasting degrees in History of Art and Urban Design. You can also focus on the Classics, if that’s your cup of tea.

3. Stanford University

Stanford has one of the highest-ranking academic programs worldwide. This reflects in the university’s extensive graduate programs in Fine Arts, Humanities, Languages and Literature. Stanford University’s Humanities department includes programs in Drama, History, English and Division of Literature, cultures and Languages.

4. Yale University

Yale is graduate degrees in Humanities and Literature offer a variety of programs, including those that focus on African and East Asian Studies. It likewise boasts of a mixed language and literature program, with degree courses in Slavic Languages and Literature, and Italian Languages and Literature.

5. Princeton University

Princeton University has exemplary graduate programs in humanities and literature, with the option to focus on Near Eastern studies.

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