Written by Carrick Clark-Cearley ’19

Major: Chemistry

What led you to consider attending graduate school? What discipline are you pursuing?

I really didn’t start to think about attending graduate school until after a professor I had told me that I was too smart not to go to grad school. My experience of research wasn’t particularly rewarding, or edged me towards pursuing another 4-6 years of this kind of work. After that interaction with my professor, I remember looking at a lot of the jobs and work you can get that use a chemistry degree. To my surprise they are pretty difficult to find, and even then most of the job/internships want particular experiences within their field. A lot of the government jobs and contracting work, is very specific on their requirements. I found my self leaning towards some sort of project manager/ group leader position. I found that in most cases that those people had masters or PhD’s in chemistry. So that’s how I got here.

When did you begin researching the application process for graduate schools?

So I was pretty late to the game, but I essentially looked at schools at any opportunity in my free time during the first section between summer and thanksgiving break. Thanksgiving came around and I checked out  a couple schools while on break. By winter break I knew what schools I wanted to apply to. Unfortunately that meant I missed the opportunity to apply to schools that had deadlines before break.

*pro tips – Always check what the department deadlines are, they usually differ significantly compared to institution*

What advice would you give to cadets about the application process?

If i were to go about it again, I would have applied during Thanksgiving break. I would have gotten everything ready to go by then and spearheaded it during that time where nothing is really going on. Make sure to keep in mind what the deadlines are for the institution and the department. Although many places have rolling admission, there are usually deadlines for financial aid.

Are there any resources that you found helpful preparing for the application process?

I found it particularly helpful to make an spreadsheet for everything I needed for each school. I can’t work on multiple applications in parallel, so I worked on them in series, so it was very helpful. Most graduate programs have an abundance of information on their website. If you have any questions, I found that talking to coordinators or secretaries very helpful. It gets your name out there and you get your question answered. Also, they usually will look out for you if any thing is missing in your application.

Do you have any advice given your experience visiting and contacting programs?

Get the most you can out of the visits. That means do some research beforehand on what professors you want to talk to and have some questions that you want answered. Unlike undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees especially doctorates, can take 4-6 years. So you may want to get a better look at you surroundings. Is a car optional? Do you need one to get around? Look at the environment and make sure it’s a place you could live for the next 6 years. Consider the cost of living, the quality of life, what kinds of attractions or stores. Make sure to be thorough, because you could be stuck there for a while.