US grad school app tips from Jon Frank -P7--TEST SCORES VS. ESSAY–WHICH IS MORE

JonFrank · 发表于 2012-6-5 16:51:17

HOW MANY GRAD SCHOOLS SHOULD I APPLY TO?

Sorry to deliver the news, but there is no one right answer to this question. However, there are a few guiding questions that can help you decide how many is the right number for YOU:

How many schools can I AFFORD to apply to?

Grad school applications can run you anywhere from $0 to over $100. Plus there are test score fees, transcript fees, and postage, so it can get pricey. HOWEVER, the application fee is going to be a drop in the bucket once you get your degree. Don’t pinch pennies here and try to save money and apply to five rather than ten schools. Spend the money and make sure you get in somewhere.

How many schools do I have TIME to apply to?

Consider your current schedule, the demands of your job, family, schoolwork, and how much time you can set aside to work on your applications: getting the recommendation letters, taking the standardized tests, assembling materials, writing personal statements, fixing up your resume, following up with schools to make sure your materials arrived. Think about how much time each of these tasks may take you (be conservative and give yourself extra time). With the time that you have, you could do an okay job on twenty applications, or a fantastic job on fifteen. Remember, the most important thing is to GET IN SOMEWHERE GREAT. To do that, you’re going to need a great application.

How many schools do I WANT to apply to?

Don’t waste your time applying to schools that don’t fit your criteria, but just like you did for college, give yourself a good range of safeties, reaches, and middle-of-the-road schools. But don’t be so picky that you only apply to just one school. No matter how perfect you believe your application to be, it’s always important to have backups.

How DIFFERENT are the programs I’m applying for?

This is important to consider when asking for recommendation letters, as you won’t be able to just reuse letters for different programs. Think about how much time your recommenders will need to get those letters written, and be realistic about your demands.

Am I good at making decisions? What if I have too many choices?

You won’t have too many choices, unless you apply to all crappy schools (why would you do that, silly?!) You WANT to have choices. You want everybody to want you. So go for more rather than less, if you have the time and energy to make them all shine. Once the rejections and acceptances come in, you’ll at least have a choice if one or more is an acceptance. So even if it’s not the greatest program, at least get in and be able to MAKE that choice, rather than apply to only three schools and get rejected by all of them.

The long and short of it: you should probably apply to 10-15 programs you are well qualified for, and 3-5 others that are a mix of safeties and reaches, plus or minus a couple.

Now go get it!

Jon Frank
HBS 2005

Serena0710 · 发表于 2012-6-5 16:56:31

thx！！！

tata9055 · 发表于 2012-6-5 17:16:29

So Jon Frank finally comes here!!!???

梦离ouzi · 发表于 2012-6-5 19:08:49

thanks

zjrelax1989 · 发表于 2012-6-5 21:03:18

JonFrank · 发表于 2012-6-6 09:14:59

Hey guys, thanks for the kind words, here you go again--- today we are going to talk about ENGINEERS !

SOOO....
HOW MUCH MONEY DO ENGINEERS MAKE?

*NEED TO FIGURE OUT A CATEGORY FOR THIS!**

That’s like asking how much a painter makes. There are house painters, set painters, emerging artists just getting their first gallery showings, newly popular artists, and Picassos. Painters make money depending on their skill level, and how long they’ve been working on their craft.

Similarly, your years of experience and your specific area of practice impact what your salary will be as an engineer. (Luckily there’s much more stability in the field of engineering than in painting, so the figures for annual salary aren’t quite as disparate.)

As of October 2011, the median salary for engineers with:

Two or fewer years of experience = $56,061
2-4 years of experience = $66,714
4-6 years of experience = $80,120
6-8 years of experience = $94,344
8-10 years of experience = $108,339
But the specific field within engineering makes a difference, too. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics the median annual salaries for specific fields were:

Aerospace engineers: $97,480
Chemical engineers: $90,300
Electrical engineers: $84,540
Biomedical engineers: $81,540
Environmental engineers: $78,740
Mechanical engineers: $78,160
Civil engineers: $77,560
And finally agricultural engineers: $71,090
There’s also software engineering, nuclear engineering, petroleum engineering, and a myriad of other specializations.

Not a bad range, even at the lowest end of the spectrum. And, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that between 2008 and 2018 there will be an average job growth of 11%, with rapid development in environmental and biomedical engineering. Environmental engineering jobs are projected to increase by 31% from 2008-2018, while biomedical engineering positions are expected to grow 72%.

Engineering is clearly an exciting, varied, and lucrative field to be going into today. And luckily there are many fantastic programs in the United States geared towards training the next generation of brilliant, successful engineers. Maybe you’re one of them!

Keep the ball rolling my friend and goood luck

Jon Frank

sosad369 · 发表于 2012-6-6 15:09:31

原來美国的civil竟然是engine中混得差的...

中国的civil这几年超级威阿..

Karmalot · 发表于 2012-6-6 15:13:40

工科技术男拯救世界啊，Elon Musk那种逆天的genius/businessman/entrepreneur/engineer/billionaire/...(Iron Man in real life..)
扯远了。。。

JonFrank · 发表于 2012-6-7 16:13:35

Well, it’s not quite that simple, of course, but grants are a great way to finance your education, or to fund research or other special projects. The good news is that there are a ton of organizations (both private and public) that want to give money to students with promise. Awards are given in the form of a check, or deposited into your student account or your bank account. Grants can cover tuition, lab fees, other school fees, or can be used to fund specific research projects. Great, right?

The not-so-good news is that there are also tons of people applying for the money, so grants aren’t easy to get.

Start early. Don’t wait until the last minute to plan your application. Grant applications can be very long and involved, and if you wait until a week or even a month before it’s due, your application will be sloppy and will not be considered. Start gathering materials, data, information, whatever you need early on.

Start small and close to home. Begin with smaller financial awards, from within your state or university. That way you start building up your credibility and your project’s credibility, and when you decide to apply for larger grants, you already have a small grant under your belt to show the committee – hey look, someone else likes my project! You should like it, too!

Be realistic. Don’t put a project together that’s not doable or that is too complicated or challenging to get done. Organizations and institutions don’t want to see their money go down the drain, so they won’t fund anything that doesn’t sound at least somewhat secure. And even if your project seems so obviously awesome in your mind, you still must do everything you can in your application to make it seem as awesome and fool-proof as you can.

Be creative when searching for grants. Are you a minority? An international student? A woman? A certain religion? A single parent? Are you from (insert state here)? Do you have (insert obscure nationality here) ancestry? Do you or does someone in your family suffer from (insert disease here)? It may seem strange, but many organizations give grants to very specific groups of people, so this may help your chances at finding a receptive audience for your application.

Get help on your grant. Your university most likely has a career center or student funding center that can help you edit and organize your grant materials, and may even be able to help you search for grants for your project. Put the care and attention that you put into your college and grad school applications into your grant applications, and you’ll have a better chance.

Now go get that money!

Good luck everyone

Jon Frank
HBS 2005

JonFrank · 发表于 2012-6-11 14:25:02

You’ve thought long and hard about who will tell the admissions officers at (insert Ivy League school here) that you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread. Now it’s time to ask them to write those glowing letters for you.

But I’m nervous!

Don’t be nervous about asking! Most of the time people are happy to write a recommendation letter. Teachers also know to expect it during application season, since they’ve been writing recommendation letters for students probably every year they’ve been teaching.

But I feel bad about taking up their time!

Don’t feel guilty about it! At some point someone wrote THEM a letter of recommendation, and someday maybe YOU’LL be asked to write one for someone else!

Approach your recommenders

Ask your recommender in person if you can. This shows that you’re serious and responsible.

Don’t put it off! Give them plenty of time to get the letter written. Asking for a letter a week before the application is due is a BAD idea. It’s best ask someone to write your letter a month in advance (or more) so that they a) have the time to do it and b) have the time to do a good job on it.

Make it easy for them! Provide your recommender with all the information you can about the school and the programs you’re applying to. Be sure to give them all the application deadlines, your contact information, copies of forms they need to fill out, the colleges’ addresses, a stamped and addressed envelope for their letter, and a copy of your resume.

Thank your recommenders. Gifts aren’t necessary, but write your recommender a nice thank you note. It will make them feel appreciated.

Now go get those recommendations!

Jon Frank

US grad school app tips from Jon Frank -P7--TEST SCORES VS. ESSAY–WHICH IS MORE

HOW MUCH MONEY DO ENGINEERS MAKE?

FREE MONEY?! SIGN ME UP! – HOW TO APPLY FOR ACADEMIC GRANTS

HOW TO ASK FOR A RECOMMENDATION LETTER

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