Many people believe that word limits are pretty flexible, and that if you go a little over, you're fine. In this video I explain why I think that's wrong, BUT more importantly, I explain why that idea is built on the incorrect assumption that "more...

When you start your Personal Statement, it can feel like you need to cram your entire life into a thousand words. You have so many things you've done, there are so many things you hope to do, and there's so much about yourself that you...

Applicants are often told that they need to begin their personal statements with a bang. Tell an over-the-top story, open with an emotional tear-jerker, or start things off with some clever turns of phrases that will make the reader remember you. This is horrible advice. In...

The single most frequent (and biggest) mistake that I see graduate school applicants make is not contacting potential advisors. In fact, I know from personal experience that when you don't do this, it can harm your application. You see, when I first applied to graduate...

Graduate school has become especially competitive, and when the Admissions Committee is looking through sometimes hundreds of application packages to find the dozen or so people to select, it places huge importance on letters of recommendation. For grad school, AdComs are usually staffed by professors...

bl Writer’s block can derail your Personal Statement before you even begin! Too often, we let ourselves feel overwhelmed by the stakes involved. We think that every word has to be perfect, and this desire for perfection paralyzes us. This is 100% the WRONG approach...

Many applications will ask you to write about your “biggest failure.” This can feel like a trap. After all, aren’t your application materials supposed to make you look like an amazing SUCCESSFUL person? If done correctly, your “Biggest Failure” essay can convey a picture of you...

As we progress toward the graduate application season, our ongoing series ‘Getting Into Graduate School’ will continue providing you insights, tips, and tricks for admission into the school of your dreams. But sometimes it’s not about the minutiae. Sometimes, it’s about getting out of your own way and...

Once you've decided to attend graduate school, your first job is selecting the schools to apply to. There are over 4,000 graduate degree-granting programs in the United States alone, so this can definitely feel daunting. Too often, applicants resort to rankings from US News &...

You shouldn’t go to graduate school! (Wait, what?) When I was a professor at Harvard University, this is the advice that I always gave students who came to me asking about grad school. It’s not that I didn’t think any of them should go, but rather...