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Apply yourself: how to impress the admissions director.
You should always ensure that your application material is focused on a particular grad school or individual program. Admissions staff will want to read an application that makes it clear why you should be accepted at their institution and no other. To this end, the investment you have to make is considerable – if you’re applying to two or three grad schools then you need to prepare each of these applications individually. Copying material from one application to another is a sure fire way to having your application rejected. Tailor all of your material to the strengths and uniqueness of the program you are actually applying to and match your ambitions and aspirations to elements of the institution or the program. Without this your application will be weaker and open to a negative decision.
Professional ambition and experience can also make you stand out from the crowd. Gail Hupper, Director of LLM and International Programs at Boston College in the USA views these elements as important when considering international graduate applications: “We tend to look for people who have had some work experience following their basic law degree, but this is not an absolute requirement. We do insist on high academic performance in students’ previous studies, strong English skills, and a sense that the person will make a real contribution to the legal profession after graduation.”
Most importantly, knowing what a grad school wants from you comes from your initial research process. Establishing a typical profile of candidates on the Masters or PhD program of your choice will make writing your application considerably easier, matching your strengths with those that the program presents through either the current student body or recent alumni really does help you stand out.
What people don’t tell you
Although applying to grad school is not a mysterious process, there are features of the application process that few people know outside of the university or college environment. Each graduate school program has it’s own admissions standards and these tend to be administered fiercely and consistently, making it at least easier for you as an applicant to know what it expected. If you fail to meet any of the requirements a Masters or PhD program publishes then you are unlikely to get admission. That said, graduate applications tend also to be considered in the round with all of the different elements taken into account when making a final decision, making it occasionally possible for you to counter a potential weakness in your application with a strength. Excellent references that explain a poor academic transcript can make a tremendous difference to an admissions officer, as can exemplary work experience if it is relevant to the program of study. A lower than anticipated standardised test score can be balanced by a clearly expressed statement of purpose. Crucial in all of this is that you must make the admissions officer’s job as easy as possible by providing sufficient information, with appropriate detail, as to why you are the perfect candidate for the program you are applying to.
Finally, establishing a contact with your chosen graduate school before you apply can also make you stand out from the crowd. If you can meet someone in person, all the better, but well directed questions via email or over the telephone can make a tremendous impact on your application, establishing you as an applicant that is both keen and focused on achieving certain ambitions. There is, of course, an important balance to be struck here between occasional contact and daily exchanges, but the principle remains – if you establish some measure of a real person beyond the paper or online application form then you are viewed differently be an admissions officer.
