Grad Life in Focus

When I got an official letter of acceptance from my university, I was over the moon. The uncertainty was no more, and all I had to take care of was some additional school paperwork, visa, and housing. The latter proved to be quite a wild…

As an undergrad, I mostly managed to get by without writing down my commitments and assignments. In my first year of grad school, I started experimenting with different methods to organize my time because I wanted to do lots of things and my brain couldn’t…

American email etiquette 101 A big part of the application process is communication with school officials. You will have questions - about transcripts, test scores, translations, funding - anything you can think of. If you aren’t used to email communication in English, writing emails may…

You decided to apply to a graduate program in the US. Congratulations! This is an important step. You then start looking for information. Website after website, it all blends together. Admissions, academics, funding, programs, requirements, test scores, transcripts, contacts, ratings, reviews, applications, acceptance rates, financial…

How long does it take to apply to graduate school in the US and what are the essential application steps?If you happen to have a US-based undergraduate degree under your belt, the timeline of the graduate application process is likely nothing new to you. As…

When I was applying to doctorate programs, I had two goals in mind. First, the program must have been in the US. Second, I had to get funding for the entire length of the program: loans have never been an option for me. The reason…

If you’re interested in applying to a graduate program in the US, you probably already have at least a Bachelor’s degree or are finishing it up. Think back to your undergrad. What type of university did you attend? How was your education funded? These questions…

It was an ordinary day sometime in mid-June of 2014 when I sat down to tackle a non-ordinary task: choosing a graduate program in the US. I was staring at my computer monitor trying to collect my thoughts when a vivid flashback kicked in: me…

The first time I had to write a conference presentation proposal, I sat down, stared at the blank Word document and felt my thoughts crawling away in a million different directions. Damn, how hard can it be to write 5 pages? I mean, all you…

Graduate classes can be fun. With less of a focus on factual knowledge and more emphasis on discussions and critical thinking, they are a sandbox where you can experiment with ideas and learn from others. And yet at some point I felt like I was…