Michelle Faust by: McNair Scholar Blog
On the McNair Scholar blog, Michelle Faust shares her experience of applying to a Ph.D. program after CSUEB. She was accepted to the UC Davis Chemistry doctoral program.
I recommend that every student start the graduate application process early! I waited until my senior year to think about graduate school, I didn’t have two full years to think about where I would like to go and what I needed to do to prepare myself. Instead, I was taking the GRE at the latest possible date, rushing to gather transcripts and finish essays for the application, taking classes and working!…not a good combination. The best lesson of the McNair Program is DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE. The application deadlines sneak up so quickly and will ruin your whole winter break if you do not prepare.
Moral of the story: start early, research schools that interest you, and contact a professor in your research field directly to get the inside scoop on the university. Did I mention you should start early?