So I talked to another past professor of mine today because I had heard he knows a lot about applying to grad school. He wouldn’t admit mastery of the subject, but he did say that he probably knows a hell of a lot more than I do about it right now. That fact is incontestable. Anyway, he gave me some tips that I hadn’t heard yet.
First off, he went through the process of how he looks at grad school applications at our own school. Apparently, some aid goes through and writes a summary of the entire application which goes in the front. Next he flips through the transcripts without much emphasis. He reminds me that there are hundreds of these things to read through. At a place like Stanford we’d be talking somewhere around 5,000…
Next he looks at the statement of purpose. This is one of the more important parts, since it shows that the applicant has a clear goal, and that the applicant can write well. He tells me there should be a beginning, middle, and end, much like a story. He also told me that the statement of purpose should make people at the program say “hey, this guy is cool, we should get him in here!”
Finally, he goes through the letters of recommendation. These are the closest thing to a third party that he has to make a decision on the applicant. They should really say things like “I worked with so and so on this and that, and he really impressed me.”
Unfortunately, I didn’t take the time to build the kinds of relationships to warrant those kinds of letters. The software engineering professor that I’m working with right now will be able to write something closer to that, but not this professor. All he can really say is that I was a fairly good student and that I was more willing to go up to the chalkboard than others in the same class. Though it’s not a tier 1 type of letter, I’ll still ask him since I do recall doing well in the class, and the professor is honest when he tells me he can’t write a stellar letter. At the very least, it won’t hurt (like a Dr. Bledsoe letter would).
Afterwards, we talked about the schools that I’m applying to. Apparently my undergraduate adviser went to Georgia Tech, so I should talk to him about faculty there. Apparently it helps to have a faculty at the school who would be familiar with me, so when my application pops up, they might push it harder. I’ll definitely try contacting some faculty, once I’ve turned in my applications.