Grad School Applications 101

A little house on the prairie with Old Yeller running about is the vision that fuels many of us to go to college. Marriage, children, house, car, 401K, vacations they’re all things people hope to achieve after their college career.

These hopes can be subtle reminders during senior year of the importance of graduate school and the opportunities it can offer. Given the state of the U.S economy and job market, grad school has become a popular alternative.

Dealing with grad school applications and exams can generate a lot of stress. Learning to handle stress properly will help you stay healthy now and, in a world filled with stressful situations, in the future.

The first step in coping with the process of grad school applications is acknowledging that this is a stressful time and asking for help if you need it. Not doing so can be detrimental says, Wren Fritsky a career counselor at Binghamton University.

“The ones that I am concerned about are the ones that don’t take advantage of help. Fritsky said. “Reality is acknowledging stress and seeking help.”

Fritsky, in her professional role tries to teach students to cope with the stress with tools that will help them psychologically and emotionally. These tools vary from doing research, interview practice and resume and cover letter training.

Because Grad school will be time consuming and intense, it should be more than a Plan B for people who cannot find a job after college or whose “Plan A” fell through, Fritsky said.

Foremost, grad school should be your main plan because people tend to succeed in things that are the number one priority on their list, so making grad school your number one plan can help relieve stress.

However, all is not lost if you haven’t been thinking about grad school until your senior year because there are resources out there to help students.

“Students just need to ask for help” Fritsky emphasizes.

Former Binghamton Undergraduate Alyssia Agnitti knew that she wanted to go to grad school for teaching and took the necessary steps to prepare.

“I declared myself a math major and took the classes I needed to take,” she said. “When senior year came I did my research and applied to the schools that fit me.”

Now Agnitti attends Stony Brook University where she is working toward her master’s in math education.

Lastly, students should do the necessary research on the grad school and programs that they would like to go to. Don’t just listen to others, Fritsky said.

“Do research. Listen to yourself, not your parents, friends, etc because at the end of the day you will have to live with your decisions,” she said.

If you are going to go to grad school it should be where you want to go, not where others want you to go.

“If you are true to yourself then the grad school process because much less stress- ful” Fritsky said.

So when grad school application time comes around don’t fret. Life will present you with enough situations to stress over.