How to navigate the Graduate School application/process?

Beaudreau
Tue, 04 Jun 2019 22:38:46 +0000

@MDRI . I’d ignore those telling you to back off. Every kid is different, every undergraduate college’s advising resources and availability of plugged-in, helpful professors, is different, and every grad school application process is unique. If your kid is willing to work with you, go for it.

When my son and I talked during his junior year, he planned on continuing on for a 5th year at his huge undergraduate college and getting a 4+1 masters degree in aerospace engineering. Even getting an appointment with an advisor was difficult. I asked him what his goal was and he said that he wanted to get a PhD. With that in mind, we worked together to refine his search, paid for him to visit some schools, and to complete a summer research program.

Long story short: he just finished his “5th year” as a PhD pre-candidate in aerospace engineering at Michigan. He passed all his qualifying exams, so he is now officially a PhD student. Instead of paying for a 5th year at his undergraduate university, Michigan pays him a stipend, all his tuition, and full health insurance. He thanked me for believing in him and encouraging him.

Now my son had to take the GRE, write all the essays, and get the necessary recommendations. He did all the hard work; I just encouraged him and helped him focus.

The process with my second son was different, but I still helped. He just wanted a masters degree in biomedical engineering. I helped him put together a spreadsheet of top-20 “affordable” graduate programs. This helped him focus on what he wanted to learn in a masters program and gave him confidence that he would be a strong candidate, wherever he applied. Again, he had to prep for and take the GRE, write the essays, and get the necessary recommendations. Ultimately, he was accepted by UC San Diego, Duke, and Georgia Tech, among others. He is off to Georgia Tech this fall for a one-year masters in engineering program.

Send me a message if you like and we can talk more.