What should I tell my admissions committee about me?

You want them to know the following about you:

• you love learning and your academic record and teachers who recommend you will back you up on this;
• you are a natural leader who gets things done at your school and in your community;
• you are passionate about something that drives you and brings you great satisfaction;

What makes a good letter of recommendation for graduate school?

Recommendation letters should come from people who know you well, who respect you enough to say glowing things about you as a student and researcher, and who hold positions in school or work that are above your own. At least one letter should be submitted from a past or current professor or academic advisor.

How many applications do competitive graduate programs receive?

A competitive program that receives a large number of applications, such as a doctoral program in clinical psychology, may receive up to 500 applications. Admissions committees for competitive graduate programs break the review process into several steps.

How do faculty and graduate students evaluate applicants?

Both faculty and graduate students evaluate applicants. Faculty meet, gather evaluations, and make admissions decisions. The specific process varies depending on the size of the program and number of applicants.

What is it like to be an admissions CTE?

First, in the last few years all our applications are electronic, so the admissions cte doesn’t have to be in a little room with piles of paper any more. This also allows much more asynchronous appraisal of files, which allows not wasting time trying to figure out common meeting times.

What makes a good PhD candidate?

Documentably strong background and prior success is good, obviously, but, again, undergrad work, summer REUs, and such are a different enterprise than genuine graduate work and long-term research. Success in a highly structured environment gives very ambiguous indication about success in an unstructured environment.