Graduate School
At Career Design Center, we can help you make sure you’re on track for graduate school, find the right grad school program, put together your personal statement and application.
- Master's Degree: Usually takes one or two years to complete. Often, internships or fieldwork is part of the requirements.
- Research Master's Degree: May involve writing a thesis or taking a comprehensive examination in addition to coursework.
- Professional and Doctoral Degrees: At the doctoral level there are professional degrees and research degrees. The most common professional degrees are MD for medical or the JD for law. The research doctoral degree (PhD) involves coursework and research training while the final component usually involves original research and reporting on the research through a dissertation.
Research graduate programs carefully to choose the one that will best suit your needs and talents. Consider a variety of factors such as:
- Accreditation
- Admission standards
- Career assistance
- Cost/financial aid
- Culture
- Degrees offered
- Faculty
- Location
- Diversity
- Facilities
- Reputation
- Research/academic focus
- Resources
- Size
- Residency requirements
- Surrounding community
Talk with your professors, Career Design Consultant, Academic Advisers and alumni to help identify the graduate program and university/college that best suits you.
Planning ahead is key in the graduate/professional school application process.
Use this timeline and checklist to help guide you through the application process:
Junior Year
- Start investigating available programs (visit school websites, talk with faculty, alumni, and students currently in the program).
- Start exploring financial aid resources.
- Sign up for required standardized test and take a practice test through the UB testing center.
- Set up appointment with Career Services to discuss a plan.
- Identify potential letter of recommendation writers.
- Develop your personal timeline for applying.
Senior Year (Fall Semester)
- Write the first draft of your personal statement/statement of purpose.
- Request your letters of recommendations from faculty.
- Order transcripts from all post-secondary institutions. If fall grades are expected, check with the Offiice of Registrar to see if a transcript can be sent in time to meet your deadlines.
- Write final draft of personal statement/statement of purpose.
- Investigate funding sources.
- Apply for aid available through program assistantships, fellowships, scholarships.
- Complete your applications.
Senior Year (Spring Semester)
- Complete and submit financial aid applications.
- Visit prospective campuses if possible.
- Follow-up with schools to make sure your applicant file is complete.
- After receiving acceptance from the school of your choice, send in the required deposit, and contact other schools to decline acceptances.
- Start planning for admission interviews.
- Write thank you notes to the people who helped you.
Additional planning may be required
There is an additional planning process for those entering in the following schools:
- medical schools (allopathic – MD)
- osteopathic medical schools (DO)
- dental schools
- podiatry schools
- veterinary schools
- optometry schools
- physician assistant graduate programs
Build a winning graduate school application? Possible.
Although every opportunity is different, there are some components of an application that are required for many different scholarships. Don't be surprised if you are asked to provide the following:
- Official certified transcript(s)
- Personal statement
- Test scores e.g., GRE or MAT
- Recommendation letters
- Resume/CV
- Research proposal
- The application form and application fee
- Many graduate school programs will not review your application until all components are complete and submitted. It is important to start working on all parts of the application as soon as possible.
A letter of intent is a formal cover letter that's required for some graduate school applications. It's an overview of your goals in applying to graduate school. It provides some context for your application, like why you’d be a good fit.
Hint: A letter of intent is essentially a statement of purpose addressed in a formal letter format.
Letter of Intent Sample
Helpful Resources
A statement of purpose and a personal statement have similar goals. Your statement should show you’re a good fit for the program and that you’ll be successful. Tell the story of who you are in a 2-3 double-spaced page essay that's free of grammatical errors. Explain why you’re a good applicant for the program and make them think, "I'd like to meet this person."
What's the difference
Most graduate schools require either a statement of purpose or a personal statement. Here’s the difference.
Statement of Purpose
A Statement of Purpose is a more formal essay about what you want to do with your degree and showcases:
- Your academic and professional strengths and background.
- Significant accomplishments you've had.
- Your motivation to pursue graduate study/career goals.
- Research interests.
- Why is this program is a good fit for you.
- The reason you're selecting this school (unless you are applying through a Common App).
- What sets you apart from the rest of the applicants.
Personal Statement
A Personal Statement is an essay that focuses on what’s motivating you to get this degree and highlights:
- Your goals and passions.
- Experiences in your personal life that’s specially related to your purpose.
- How you developed your interests.
- Relevant work experiences or volunteer work you've done.
- Any significant accomplishments.
- Challenges you’ve faced along the way.
- What you’ll bring to the program.
Tips for Writing Your Statements
- Follow all instructions outlined for the essay. Make sure you answer all parts of each question, including adhering to the word limit.
- Have a strong theme, discuss your achievements, and describe any research from the program's faculty that interests you.
- Be specific about experiences and examples that support applying to the program.
- Reach out to faculty mentors to review your graduate school statement. Or, contact the Center for Excellence in Writing for an additional review of your statement.
For more feedback and writing support
Reach out to the Center for Excellence in Writing for an appointment! They would love to help!