#1 Find Out What Really Interests You

Finding the right graduate school is about finding a good match. Before you start looking, you’ve got to know what you would be passionate about studying for the next 8-10 years. It may be something you study for the rest of your life! On Thursday I will devote an entire post why it’s important to choose something you feel passion for and how to choose such a topic, so stay tuned. Only when you know what are some things you would love to do research on can you really begin the process of discovering what your dream grad program is.

#2 Get Research Experience

1. It is a good test to see if you would actually really like doing research and whether you belong in graduate school to begin with.

2. It can help you figure out what you are most interested in studying (or it can eliminate some topics) by exposing you to the actual research process on potential topics.

3. It will set your application apart from the rest because you will have real world experience in doing research and as a result you are a step ahead of most applicants on what matters most to the professors who will hire you as their apprentice.

To find a research opportunity keep your ear open, check bulletin boards, ask department secretaries, and talk to fellow students. Look up all the professors in your department and seeing who is doing research you may be interested in. Email the professor and let her know how interested you are in her topic. Volunteer your time to help in any way on any of her projects that she could use help with. Also, suggest that if she isn’t taking students, you would love to know if she is aware of any other professor who might be looking for some extra help because you are interested in getting experience for graduate school. When you get a research position, make sure that you do a rocking job so that you can learn everything you can and so that you can get a killer recommendation from the professor.

#3 Select Classes that Will Best Prepare You

It’s sometimes easy to focus on classes you may have heard are easy, but select your undergrad classes with graduate school in mind and don’t just take the easy route. Take the classes that could help you learn about what is your passion, but also make sure to take as many of the research methods and statistics type of classes as you can as these will be the best preparation for graduate school you could get.

#4 Keep your Grades Strong

When selecting research assistants, I’ve found that grades are the most important predictor of a good research assistant. I think this is because grades are the mark of not only having a high degree of , but of being responsible and dependable. You may want to retake classes you did poorly in and definitely make the extra effort to get your GPA as high as possible, because this will be a huge factor in whether you get admitted to your dream program. If you had some hiccups along the way, you can briefly explain this in the cover letter of your application. If you think research methods/stats classes aren’t your best subject and could hurt your GPA, you could also consider taking them the semester after your applications have been submitted when your grades no longer really matter.

#5 Rock the GRE (Or Major Test in Your Field)

#6 Find Someone with a Current Track Record of

Now that you know what you are interested in and have prepared yourself for success, it's time to find someone good who matches your research interests. If you were a carpenter looking for someone to teach you how to build good tables, would you choose someone who was constantly building several good tables all the time or someone who hadn’t really built many tables at all? OK, so that’s a stupid, obvious choice, right? This is why it’s crucial to examine the curriculum vitae (that includes a list of publications and most always can be found online) of potential graduate advisors. Some professors may have previously been productive but are now coasting, sailing off into the sunset as it were, and not doing much research anymore. You don’t want to work with these people, so their recent record should be the most important to you. If you want to be productive, you need to learn from someone who is productive.

#7 Contact the Professor & Talk to His Students

I give many more details about finding good research experience, important suggestions about figuring out who would be a good research match and contacting this professor, and other things to consider in deciding on a graduate program in my book Publish and Prosper, check it out. Also, to receive regular updates from this blog, please like my Facebook page.

Take Action!

I encourage you to take action to prepare for your dream grad program now by completing some "Wrap Up Exercises" that will help you apply the important principles I've discussed here. Simply go to my website and then click on "Book Exercise Downloads" and then click on the free download of "Chapter 13 Wrap up Exercises." This will be very helpful for you to begin to actually take the needed steps to accomplish your dream! On Thursday I will blog about some ideas for finding a topic that you feel passionate about. Until then, happy writing!