Graduate and Professional School

• Speak with your professors about options within your field of study. They are experts in the field and can help you figure out which programs may be the best for you. 
• Ask alumni who are further along in your intended career path about their education and the reputations of graduate programs they've experienced or learned about during their own searches.
• Locate research papers that interest you and investigate the authors' institutions. 
• Peterson's Grad School Search Tool - A great resource for identifying graduate programs. 
• GradSchools.com - General information for researching different graduate programs. 
• The Princeton Review Guide to Grad Schools - Explore careers, research schools, and review practice graduate exams. 
• U.S. News and World Report Graduate School Rankings - U.S. News typically analyzes more than 2,000 programs each year to compose their rankings. (Keep in mind that a high ranking does not mean that the school is the best opportunity for you.) 
• Business Degrees Online - A comprehensive directory of both online and campus-based professional degrees and certificate programs from accredited colleges and universities across the United States. 
• Online Ph.D. Programs - A web directory of online doctorate programs in a variety of fields. 

Timelines

There is no single timeline for applying to graduate school. However, you should plan ahead so you can ensure you have selected graduate programs to apply to that are a good fit for you; that you will be able to have all your materials submitted to each school on time; and that you will have been able to apply to sources of outside funding, with their separate deadlines, if needed. The Princeton Review has an example timeline that you can use as a guide for making your own plans.  

Finances 

Graduate school can be a large financial commitment. While some programs may offer partial scholarships or paid assistantships, it is ultimately the responsibility of the graduate student themselves to secure funding. As you are considering finances, be sure to include all financial responsibilities you will have during your time in graduate study. It is also important to ask professors and alumni about typical funding situations in your field. 

Here are some questions you can ask: 

• How common and available is funding for graduate study in this field? 
• What are some hidden costs I should be aware of? 
• Does not receiving funding signal that I should not pursue this kind of degree?
• Is the debt incurred offset by salaries typical in this field? 

School/Program Funding

Your institution or program may offer full or partial funding to graduate students. As you are researching programs, be sure to inquire about institutional funding opportunities, including teaching or research assistantships. Information can typically be found on the department’s website or by contacting the school's financial aid office and/or the graduate admissions office.

Fellowships and Grants

There may be fellowships, scholarships, or grants available within your field that support graduate study. To find these opportunities it is important that you become familiar with your field. You can ask professors at Whitman about options they may be aware of, connect with visiting graduate school recruiters, and conduct online searches of your own. Visit the CCEC's Fellowships and Grants webpage to browse curated lists of some of the graduate fellowships and scholarships available for seniors and for alumni.  If you are thinking about applying to one or more of these opportunities, reach out to Dr. Jess Hernandez, Director for Fellowships and Grants, via this intake form for insight on making decisions and general assistance with your application(s).  In particular, certain opportunities require nomination by Whitman College, so you would not be able to apply without connecting with the CCEC.  Fellowship applications are intensive, involving a great deal of personal reflection and revision of drafts in order to be competitive, so plan to begin working on them at least six to twelve months in advance.

Loans

Most graduate students will take out loans to pay for their education. You can learn more about loans on the U.S. Federal Student Aid website.

Other resources for funding:

• FinAid.org - Information on financial aid for college and graduate school. 
• SimpleTuition.com - See how borrowing impacts you financially.
• FastWeb.com - A search platform connecting students to scholarships and resources.
• Grant Forward - Explore funding opportunities to support research.

Once you decide that graduate school is right for you, it is time to start connecting with potential programs. This can be done in a variety of ways.

• Talk to your professors. They all attended graduate school at some point and will have some good suggestions for you. 
• Attend a conference in your field that has a graduate school fair. This is an excellent place to get a feel for what programs are available and currently looking for students. 
• Reach out to Whitman alumni in your chosen field who are currently or were recently in graduate school. 
• Arrange a campus visit with the office of the program you are looking at. 
• Read everything you can about the programs that you are considering, and be sure to respect any timelines or stated requirements that may be unique to the process of connecting with and applying to a particular program.

After determining the program(s) in which you are interested, the next step is to make contact. This is often done via an email to a potential advisor. Contacting someone at the program can be important because your potential advisor may need to be involved in the admission decision.  

Be aware that in some cases, reaching out to potential advisors while exploring or applying to schools is an expected and important part of the process, while in other cases it is frowned upon to reach out to any specific advisor before you have been accepted into the graduate school.  Be sure to do your research and find out the appropriate approach in your field and chosen school(s) before taking any action.

When contacting potential advisors, keep your messages brief while demonstrating appropriate familiarity with their work (read their webpages and review a selection of their publications before reaching out) .  Showing relevant, genuine interest that respects the advisor's time and energy is key in making a good first impression.

• How to Email a Potential Supervisor - article from Academic Positions 
• Nail the Inquiry Email - article from The Contemplative Mammoth
• PhD Admissions: Emailing Potential Advisors - article from A First-Gen's Guide to Grad school
• Writing to Me - blog post by FemaleScienceProfessor
• Dear Dr. Neufeld - article from Science.org

Also called a CV or vita, in the United States the curriculum vitae is used almost exclusively for academic professions and applying to graduate school.  For in-person guidance regarding your CV, make an appointment with a CCEC staff member via Handshake. 

"The most noticeable difference between CVs and most resumes is the length. Entry-level resumes are usually limited to a page. CVs, however, often run to three or more pages. (Remember, however, that length is not the determinant of a successful CV. You should try to present your information concisely.) A more subtle but equally important distinction is that whereas the goal of a resume is to establish a professional identity, the goal of a CV is to create a scholarly one. Thus your CV will need to reflect your abilities as a teacher, researcher, and publishing scholar within your discipline."

Source: Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) (2010.10.28)

Here are some example curricula vitae to use as templates or guides:

• STEM CV
• Art/Humanities CV
• Social Sciences CV 

While every personal statement is unique in style, its purpose is the same. This document is your introduction to a selection committee, and the heart of your application. 

Most importantly, the personal statement is authentic. Because personal statements are personal, there's no one type or style of writing that is set out as a model. However, there are a number of questions that personal statements typically answer:

• Who am I?
• Who do I want to be?
• What kind of contribution do I want to make, and how?
• Why does it make sense for me to study at X school?

For more information about Personal Statements, review this Definition of a Personal Statement from the Truman Scholarship Foundation.

In your statement of purpose or research statement, you will be asked to communicate your research plans, any previous work in the field, and how you plan to use this degree. Discuss the ways in which you plan to contribute to the field.  Propose realistic research that you can accomplish in your graduate program. Questions relevant to a statement of purpose or research statement may include: Why are you interested in this particular program, faculty member(s), and their research? What are your research plans? What are your post-grad career goals? Be specific in your answers, but know that it’s okay to outline more than one idea.

Different schools require different numbers of letters; some put a limit on the number or the length of letters that can be submitted on your behalf, and some accept only academic letters, while others strongly encourage the submission of a letter from a workplace supervisor or other nontraditional writer (such as a coach, music teacher, volunteer supervisor, etc.). There may also be particular requirements surrounding the content of your letters or the manner in which they are to be submitted.  Because each school has different requirements, pay close attention to the details!

Things to avoid:

• Asking for letters from people who barely know you or who have not had the opportunity to assess your work.
• Asking for letters from high-status individuals, especially those who have a connection to your family, just to "show off."
• Asking someone to write you a letter in a short period of time (less than two weeks is a definite no-no).
• Asking someone to write a letter without providing them with information about the program / school / fellowship, etc. and without providing them with your resume or CV.

What to do instead:

• Ask for a letter from people who have had the opportunity to gauge your skills in a meaningful way over an extended period of time. The critical aspect for having selected that recommender is that person’s ability to address, in a detailed manner, the sorts of skills, qualities, and characteristics that are relevant to performance in the program and profession you are pursuing.
• Include at least one letter from an academic (classroom or research) context; this can provide particularly valuable insight for an admissions office.
• Provide each of your recommenders plenty of advance time (at least 4-6 weeks, or even better, 6-8+ weeks) in which to write the letter; ask them if they will give you a date by which they plan to have the letter done and submitted ahead of the actual deadline. 
• Make sure your recommenders are provided with all relevant submission information, including portal links, instructions from the school, deadlines, etc.  Include all of this information into one place, in an organized fashion (especially if you're asking for them to write letters for more than one school) - they will be highly appreciative!
• Include relevant information about the program / school / fellowship to which you are applying and WHY - be specific!
• Provide a resume or CV for the recommender to review, as well as a copy of your draft personal statement, if possible. These documents will help the recommender understand more about your professional and extra/co-curricular experiences and your reasons for applying to the program.

Actually making “The Ask”

First, make it really easy for them to say no.

• In most cases, if you give a potential letter-writer an out, they will not jump at it. But if they do? That tells you that in all likelihood, twisting their arm would not result in the production of a letter you would want!

Give them plenty of time

• Well in advance of when you need the letter (more than 6-8 weeks out), draft an email and tell them your plan of applying to X school; if this information will be news to them, consider including some supporting documentation (your resume/CV or a draft personal statement).

Provide a "recollection refresher"

• If you’re writing to a professor or employer with whom you have not kept in regular touch, it is helpful to include something that will refresh their recollection of you, like a paper you wrote, a reminder of interactions you had, or even just a prompt such as, “I sat on the right side of the class in the front row in your Fall 2021 American History class.”

Ask if they would feel able to write a strong letter of recommendation

• If possible, explain what made you want to approach them — what do they know about you that others may not be able to speak to? Offer to provide them with any additional information they would find useful, and let them know you would be happy to come in (or call) to discuss any questions.

Communicate a clear timeline...

• ... and then explain that you know the person is busy, and that you’ll certainly understand if they are unable to write a letter for you. Assure them that your prospects are not ruined if they do not feel capable of writing a letter for you.

Source: Snagging that Perfect Letter of Recommendation, from the University of Michigan (2019.02.04)

Preparing for entrance exams through the review of practice questions allows you to become familiar with the testing format and have a greater ability to focus on the content, rather than the presentation, of the exam on your testing day.

Graduate Record Examinations (GRE)

Graduate programs and business schools use GRE scores to evaluate your readiness for graduate-level work. The GRE General Test measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and analytical writing skills that are not related to any specific field of study.

• Verbal Reasoning — Measures reading comprehension skills and verbal and analogical reasoning skills, focusing on the test taker's ability to analyze and evaluate written material
• Quantitative Reasoning — Measures problem-solving ability, focusing on basic concepts of arithmetic, algebra, geometry and data analysis
• Analytical Writing — Measures critical thinking and analytical writing skills, specifically the test taker's ability to articulate complex ideas clearly and effectively

Visit the official GRE homepage for more information.

Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) 

The GMAT is a standardized assessment that helps business schools assess applicants. Schools use the test as one predictor of academic performance in an MBA or other graduate management program.

Three parts comprise the GMAT exam: 

• Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) - The AWA consists of two separate writing tasks—Analysis of an Issue and Analysis of an Argument. You are allowed 30 minutes to complete each one.
• Quantitative Reasoning - This section contains 37 multiple-choice questions of two question types—Data Sufficiency and Problem Solving. You are allowed a maximum of 75 minutes.
• Verbal Reasoning - This section contains 41 multiple choice questions of three question types—Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning, and Sentence Correction. You are allowed up to 75 minutes for this section.
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The latest version of the GMAT no longer includes the Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA).

Law School Admission Test (LSAT)

The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is a half-day, standardized test administered four times each year, typically on a Saturday. All American Bar Association-approved law schools, most Canadian law schools, and many other law schools require applicants to take the LSAT as part of their admission process.

Many law schools require that the LSAT be taken by December for admission the following fall. However, taking the test earlier—in June or September—is often advised.

The test consists of five 35-minute sections of multiple-choice questions. Four of the five sections contribute to the test taker’s score. The unscored section, commonly referred to as the variable section, typically is used to pretest new test questions or to prepare new test forms. The placement of this section will vary. A 35-minute writing sample is administered at the end of the test. LSAT does not score the writing sample, but copies of the writing sample are sent to all law schools to which you apply.

The LSAT is designed to measure reading comprehension of complex texts, the ability to draw reasonable inferences, critical thinking, and evaluation of the reasoning and arguments of others.

The three multiple-choice question types in the LSAT are:

• Reading Comprehension - This section contains four sets of reading questions, each consisting of a selection of passages followed by five to eight questions that test reading and reasoning abilities.
• Analytical Reasoning - These questions measure the ability to understand a structure of relationships and to draw logical conclusions about that structure. You are asked to reason deductively from a set of statements and rules or principles that describe relationships among persons, things, or events.
• Logical Reasoning - Each of these questions requires the test taker to read and comprehend a short passage and respond using skills such as drawing well-supported conclusions, reasoning by analogy, determining how additional evidence affects an argument, applying principles or rules, and identifying argument flaws.

Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) 

The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is a standardized, multiple-choice examination designed to assess the examinee's problem solving, critical thinking, writing, and knowledge of science concepts and principles prerequisite to the study of medicine. Scores are reported in Verbal Reasoning, Physical Sciences, Writing Sample, and Biological Sciences.

Almost all U.S. medical schools require applicants to submit MCAT exam scores. Many schools do not accept MCAT exam scores that are more than three years old.