Applying: Resources, Personal Statements, CVs, Letters of Recommendation
Applying to graduate school can be intense, time-consuming, and expensive. It is absolutely critical that you get started early, get organized, and seek information, advice, and support as needed throughout the process. Scroll down this page to find links to articles on how to write your personal statement and curriculum vitae and how to get good letters of recommendation.
Start with a few online resources:
- Applying to Graduate School in Psychology provides an overview of the application process.
- Applying to Graduate School -- Strategies and Time-line provides a very detailed step-by-step timeline of what you can do in your junior and senior years to maximize your chances of getting into the graduate program you most desire.
What you are really going to need is a good guidebook:
- APA's Getting In: A Step-by-Step Plan for Gaining Admission to Graduate School in Psychology, Second Edition is available at the IU Library and at the Career Development Center Resource Library.
- Patricia Keith-Spiegel and Michael W. Wiederman's The Complete Guide to Graduate School Admission: Psychology and Related Fields is available from the IU Library.
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Writing your Personal Statement. Virtually all graduate programs will ask you to submit a personal statement. Your statement should address your experience, skills, and abilities relevant to succeeding in the graduate program of your choice. It should reveal your ultimate career goals and should also address the quality of "fit" between you and the specific graduate program to which the statement is being addressed. Regarding the content of your statement:
- Writing the Personal Statement - suggestions regarding content and style.
- Writing a Compelling Statement - length, writing style, tone, research experience.
- Applications That Make the Schools You Want, Want You - consider your personal perspective and your audience for each statement you will write.
- Preparing a Personal Statement - concise, helpful suggestions.
Your personal statement may be the most important 2-3 page essay you ever write, so don't skimp on revisions! Who can help you edit your statement? Ask for comments about the content of your statement from professors and academic advisors in your department, and/or a career advisors at the Career Development Center or at the Health Professions and Prelaw Center if you applying to a health or law-oriented graduate program. Regarding structure, style, grammar & spelling -- make an appointment with Writing Tutorial Services. If you are applying to a highly competitive program, you may want to check out Essay Edge - an online essay editing service. See before & after samples here and read about Psychology Personal Statement Services here.
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Writing a Curriculum Vitae (CV). A CV is a resume of your academic successes and research experience. If your aim is to attend to a research-oriented graduate program, then you must begin participating in a research lab early enough in your college years that you will have authored or co-authored posters or given presentations - these become the key content of your CV. If you've participated in a research lab, but don't have sufficient material for a CV, you can put your research experience on your resume.
- Curriculum Vitae and Related Letters - University of North Florida
- Preparing a Curriculum Vitae - Quintessential Careers
- Writing the Curriculum Vitae - Purdue's Online Writing Lab
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Letters of Recommendation. Many graduate programs will ask you to submit 3 to 4 letters of recommendation from professors, employers, or other mentors.
- It Takes More Than Good Grades! Some Straight Talk About How to Get Strong Letters of Recommendation From Faculty addresses what you need to do throughout your college years to lay the foundation for good letters.
- Getting a Good Letter of Recommendation provides tips on how to request the letters.
- Letters of Recommendation: A Guide for Students and Professors Tongue-in-cheek!
- Information about yourself:
- A copy of your college transcript on which you indicate the particular class(es) you took from them and the grade(s) you received.
- A copy of your resume. Include volunteer positions, student & professional groups, part-time jobs or internships, scholarships or other honors you've received, and a description of any study abroad programs in which you've participated.
- A curriculum vitae if you've participated in a research lab long enough to have authored or co-authored posters or given presentations. (If you've participated in a research lab, but don't have sufficient material for a CV, you can put your lab experience on your resume.)
- A copy of the personal statement that you've written for your graduate school application.
- What else? Write the professor a brief letter letting them know -- honestly, without exaggeration -- what you've gotten from working with them as a research assistant or taking their classes. Remind them of any notable papers or projects you completed in the course and let them know what kind of a positive impact the experience had for you.
- Information / materials necessary to submit the letters:
- If the professor is to submit the letters by mail: For each school provide a stamped, addressed envelope. Paper clip the form(s) which the professor must fill out for that school (if any) to the appropriate envelope. Put all of your materials in an envelope and on the outside of the envelope write the deadline by which the letters MUST be mailed to reach each of the programs to which you are applying.
- If the professor is to submit the letters online: Type up the list of schools to which you are applying and the deadline by which the letter MUST be submitted for each program.
