As graduation gets closer, every college student starts thinking about what they're going to do next, and most of them consider going to grad school.
Even though it's been a part of my plan since my sophomore year of college, that didn't stop me from experiencing these 11 thoughts while applying to grad school.
What even is a personal statement?
The first step for me when I applied to grad school was trying to figure out how to start a personal statement. Even though I had to apply for college once, I hadn't thought about a personal statement since then, and even then it wasn't the same thing. A trip to Google and the career services office helped me understand where to start.
I hope I'm qualified enough
When you put all of your achievements onto one page of paper, it really makes you question if you should've done something more during college to prove that you're prepared for grad school and that you deserve to attend your school of choice.
What am I going to do if they don't accept me?
Most people go to grad school so they don't have to find a job right out of college. If your plan is to go to grad school, and you don't get an acceptance, you probably don't have a backup plan.
People who take gap years have the right idea
Half the people I know who are planning on going to grad school are taking a gap year first. As I was applying for grad school, I thought about how nice it would be to have an extra year to work on my application outside of classes.
How am I supposed to care about my application AND classes?
For the longest time, I wasn't working on my personal statement because I was working on assignments for my classes. I spent a whole week just focusing on my grad application instead of classes because it had to get done. Dealing with both at the same time feels impossible.
I hope my references have good things to say about me
Asking for references is something that can be stressful enough, and then once you submit them, you have to hope that all your references have something good to say about you too.
If I don't work on my application, will it magically finish itself?
At a certain point, finishing your application seems like it's never going to happen. With everything that was going on during the semester, I felt like I would never have enough time to finish the application on top of what I already had to do.
I don't think this is my best work, but it's the best I can do
The latter stage of "I hope that I'm qualified enough" is when you've written your personal statement and CV, and even if it doesn't seem like it's perfect, it is at least done, and something to show the admissions board.
Why does the GRE exist?
Standardized testing, in general, is the worst part of college, but tests like the GRE and the MCAT are different beasts. I was so glad that my program didn't require a GRE test score, and I don't know how I would've found time for that on top of my application.
Why did I think that this was going to be easier than searching for a job?
I told myself that my final semester for college would be easier because I wouldn't be job hunting and trying to do classes at the same time. And then I remembered that my grad school application was due in November. It doesn't seem any easier to apply to grad school than applying for a job, so it was a short-lived hope.
I forgot just how awful waiting to receive an acceptance is
Just when you think you're done worrying about the application, because you've submitted it, you're worrying about it again because now you're waiting for a response to find out if you're accepted into the program.
