Planning your application budget

I have already discussed the necessary steps and elements to applying to graduate school, but I think it's important to go over the money involved in this process. When I started thinking about graduate schools, I didn't realize how much money would be required just to apply.

GRE costs

One of the biggest factors I underestimated when thinking about cost was how expensive it is to take the GRE. It costs $160 to take the GRE. I spent $35 on a book that helped prepare me for the test. If you send your GRE scores to more than four schools or if you don't send them while at the test center, the cost is $23 per school. Taking the GRE and preparing it cost me $195, but if I had chosen to purchase more preparation materials or send more scores, it could have easily cost much more.

Application fees

The costs to apply to a grad school can quickly add up. When I applied to undergrad schools, all of the fees were waived if I applied online. This was not the same for grad schools. It cost me $30 to apply to Kent State University, $40 to apply to The Ohio State University and $50 to apply to Ohio University. All together, I spent $120 applying to grad schools.

Transcript expenses

When applying to grad schools, I never factored in the cost of sending transcripts. I thought transcripts were free because I already pay to go to school at Mercyhurst. I was wrong. It costs $5 to send each transcript. Even though I only applied to three schools, I had to send four transcripts because Ohio State required two. Now that I have accepted Ohio State's offer, I will need to send another transcript once the year is over showing that I graduated. Once I send this last transcript, I will have spent a total of $25 just for mailing in official transcripts. This fee would be more expensive if I had credits from another college or university.

Total costs

I spent $340 applying to graduate schools. While this is a lot of money, it could have easily been more expensive. By only applying to three schools, I was able to save on transcript fees, application fees and the cost of sending my GRE scores.

How to save

In order to make the best use of your money, I suggest you thoroughly research a school before applying to it; there's no point in applying to a school that doesn't offer your program. Also, limit the number of schools you apply to. Finally, fully prepare for the GRE before you take it. You're better off buying a $35 preparation book than paying another $160 to retake the test.

Submitting materials continued

Along with sending in your application, recommendation letters, personal statement and transcript, you will likely need to submit a resume, writing samples and/or a portfolio. Your resume, writing samples and resume are the areas where you can show what experience you have and really make yourself stand out.

The New York Times posted an article yesterday titled "Do Grades Matter?"  (you have to log in to view it). The article discusses just how important grades are for getting accepted into grad school.

Sheila Curran, president of Curran Career Consulting, is quoted saying, “The more you have relevant work experience in a particular area, the less important grades are. But if you want to become a professor, then grades are absolutely essential."

I think this quote nicely sums everything up. If your transcript doesn't show what you want it to, your experiences related to your field of study can make up for poor grades. Though, the importance of grades does depend on what profession you want.

If you do have excellent grades, you need to have experience as well to show that you can excel beyond the classroom.





Grades aren't everything. To be accepted into grad school, you need a combination
of decent grades, positive recommendations and experience in your field.

   When working on your resume to submit to grad schools, you want to highlight your out-of-class experiences. Most likely, your professors who write letters of recommendation for you will boast about your work inside the classroom, and your transcript will show all of the classes you have taken.

You should construct your resume so that it explains all of the experiences you have that relate to your chosen field of study. If you worked on an important class project that relates to what you want to do in grad school, that's fine to put on your resume to send to graduate school, but don't waste space by listing your relevant coursework.

If you are required to submit a portfolio or writing samples, choose several pieces of work that relate to what you want to study at grad school. Try to select projects that are quite different from each other to show the wide-array of work you have completed. Also, choose writing samples or projects that you are proud of. If you did not receive a great grade on it or if you didn't put your full effort into it, odds are the admissions committee won't be impressed by it either.

For more tips about selecting or creating a writing sample, read the article "Producing a 'Winning' Grad School Writing Sample."

Submitting materials to grad school

Once you submit your grad school applications, it’s time to work on the rest of the required materials. All of the schools I applied to required a college transcript. I sent in my transcripts right after I applied to schools because Mercyhurst is notorious for its inept registrar’s office and slow mailroom. The transcripts have to be sent by the school, which I was extremely nervous about.

Even though I was wary, I filled out the form in the registrar’s office, turned in the required $10 for them to mail an official transcript and hoped for the best. Luckily, all of my transcripts made it to their destinations.

The transcript process was easy, but prior to sending them, I did not account for them costing money. So on top of the application fees, check with your college or university to find out how much it costs to send official transcripts.

You should also realize that some schools will require more than one transcript. I had to send two for Ohio State. I sent one to the school of communication and one to the graduate committee at Ohio State. With the application and transcripts, it cost me $80 to apply to Ohio State, and that’s not including the cost to take the GRE.

After you take care of sending in your transcripts, it’s time to work on your personal statement. This was the one part of the application process I was dreading because I had no idea what I was supposed to write.
One professor told me that I should write a paragraph about my experiences in college that have prepared me to begin studying at the graduate level, a paragraph about why I want to study in the particular program I’m applying for and a paragraph that explains what I want to do with a master’s degree.

Her directions got me off to a good start, and this website from Purdue gave helpful advice and allowed me to understand what exactly I should be writing.

Some schools will be more detailed than others in their directions for writing personal statements. Ohio University had few specifications for what they wanted to see in my personal statement. My Ohio University personal statement can be found on my online portfolio. 

Ohio State gave me certain questions to answer. For example, I had to explain what areas of research I am interested in and which faculty members I would most like to conduct research with. To be able to answer these questions, I had to read about the Ohio State communication faculty members and examine their past research projects. I then chose the ones I was most interested in.

It's okay to use a lot of the same information in your personal statements for different schools, but make sure you change all the names in the letter to match the program and school you are submitting it to. Also be honest about your goals and always have someone else read it before you send it in.

Applying to a school

Even though I have already made my grad school decision, it was not an easy one, and there were many steps involved in reaching the point where I was ready to make a decision. 

After I received my GRE scores, I started applying to schools. There are many parts to an application, and the following is a list of the items I was required to submit.

1.       Application

2.       Transcripts

3.       GRE scores

4.       Letters of recommendation

5.       Personal statement

6.       Resume

7.       Writing samples

8.       Portfolio

I’ll discuss all of these requirements at a later time, but I want to focus on the application itself for this post. Some of these requirements will be different depending on the program and school you are applying to. If you had ETS send in your GRE scores or other required test scores to the school you are applying to, that part of the application process is already done.

The applications were fairly basic and easy to complete, and all three of the applications I submitted were online. They typically focused on personal information, such as contact information, test scores and educational background.

A couple of the applications I filled out asked for the contact information of the professors I wanted to write recommendations for me. Make sure you ask your professors first before you sign them up to write letters for you. It is useful to talk to them about what program you are applying to and what you want to do with a master’s degree. I had a teacher ask if I would rather be a teaching assistant, graduate assistant or research assistant because one application had her rank in order of what job I would be best at. Communicating your goals to your professors will help them give you the best recommendation possible.

Keep in mind that most applications have fees associated with them. The three schools I applied to had fees ranging from $30-$60. There will also be more fees required later on when you submit your transcripts.

It is important to complete these applications and submit them at least one month before the application deadline. Once these are submitted, you can begin sending in the other required materials. By applying a month in advance of the deadline, this allows enough time for your professors to recommend you, and it gives you time to focus on perfecting everything else that will help you be accepted to the program you are interested in.