Applying to Grad School

Story by: Cynthia Isabel Zelaya Ordonez

by: Gerald Sastra

Meet with an adviser to go over your options. Depending on your major, you may qualify for some graduate programs right off the bat. Other programs may require you to take prerequisite classes before you can start working towards your degree.

Step 2: Prepare your application

Applying for graduate school is a little different than undergraduate, but it’s not too difficult once you have a checklist. UH is home to 16 different colleges, each of which has different requirements to admission into the graduate program. With that being said, start an application. Most colleges require the same application to be filled out. However, there are separate applications for people seeking a professional program such as law, nursing, optometry and pharmacy. Next, you need to choose your program. After you’ve chosen the program, you need to submit your transcripts. On average, most colleges require you to have graduated with at least a 3.0 in order to apply for a graduate degree. If your GPA falls below that, never fear. An outstanding life event, a noteworthy career or a great service as a student leader are just a few things you can include in your personal statement to make up for the score. After that, you must submit your GRE (or other required exam) scores. The GRE is the most common, and you can pick up a study book and ace it like it’s the SAT. You can also pay for a GRE prep course. Lastly, you need to collect all of the extra documents. These include letters of recommendation, a personal statement, a resume and whatever else your chosen college requires.

Step 3: Arrange your finances

Say good-bye to the pell grant, direct subsidized loans and all the other perks of being an undergraduate student in need. When entering a graduate program, it is expected that you already have a career underway.

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This means you should have enough money to pay as you go or keep up with subsidized loans. However, this may not always be the case, especially if you are in your early 20s.

Luckily, there are plenty of options to pay for your degree if you don’t have the immediate funds. If you qualify financially, you are eligible for an unsubsidized loan. You can take out a loan with a bank or another servicer. But, before going into debt, scour the internet for grants and scholarships. UH offers many paid fellowships available only to graduate students. But, the best resource is the scholarships tab on AccessUH. Do not fear loans. Graduate school is significantly more affordable than undergraduate school but, don’t resign yourself to debt.

Step 4: Succeed

The fact that you took your future into your own hands and applied is victory enough. Congratulations on choosing to pursue higher education. Everyone has a different reason for choosing this step, with the one commonality being a desire to better themselves.

Curriculum & instruction graduate student Salma

Yousef began her journey with a desire to change social education from it’s core. She understood that to be in the positions that allowed her that power, she’d need a higher degree.

“I wanted to provide myself with alternative career paths beyond teaching, such as being a curriculum writer, learning coach, professor or member of admin/ instructional leadership within schools. So, I may have a chance at creating positive social studies reform on a larger scale,” Yousef said.

On the other hand, although Rianne Akindele always had a passion for learning, she started working towards her masters in clinical mental health counseling more out of necessity than desire.

“With the way the world is set up, you cannot truly put your psychology Bachelor’s to use unless you also have a Master’sat least in the counseling world,” Akindele said. Every student has a different motive, but they all graduate Coogs. Good luck on your journey, and welcome to UH.