Lessons From My Mistakes: What I Wish I'd Known Before Applying

Grad school application season is here again, so today I want to share some painful experiences I came to regret. I did it all myself without a study-abroad agency, and sure enough I tripped myself up 😇 Some of these messes, I'd rather nobody else had to go through

➡️ Be a little shameless: We often don't ask for help because we feel bad bothering people, want to keep a low profile, or for all sorts of other reasons. But I've found that being a little shameless pays off more than you'd expect. Recommendation letters, sample CVs and SOPs, and lots of other hidden resources only come your way if you speak up, ask for them and ask people to help. I used to be scared of rejection, worried my questions were stupid, and too embarrassed to bother anyone. But as long as you're polite, professors, upperclassmen and even strangers online don't mind at all.

➡️ Keep track of deadlines: This is another painful one for me. Every school has a different deadline, and if you don't keep your dates organized, it's easy to mix them up. I once got a date wrong and missed the application deadlines for two schools (and I'd already paid, no refunds 😭). The best way to avoid missing deadlines is to start early, but I know everyone procrastinates, so write down every date carefully so you don't make the same dumb mistake I did :)

➡️ Start early: Starting early doesn't just keep you from missing deadlines. It also saves you from some unnecessary costs 💸 which brings me to the huge amount I spent on international shipping 🥲 When you apply, schools will ask you to mail sealed transcripts, diploma certificates and other documents, or require third-party credential verification. Requesting these documents from your university in Taiwan takes time, and so does mailing them, so it's easy to accidentally miss the deadline. International parcels by post to the US take about 10 days, and shipping isn't cheap. If you're in a rush you'll need DHL express: it arrives in 2 days, but postage will run over a thousand 🫠

➡️ Take admission results online with a grain of salt: Many people like to look at posts and admission-result analyses on the big forums. First, you need to know there's no such thing as a "standard admission score" for grad school. The common GPA, IELTS and TOEFL numbers only represent a school's "minimum requirements." These "minimum requirements" are published on the school's website. If you're below them, the school won't take you (or will admit you conditionally); if you're above them, it means you can handle the coursework there, and that's all. Grad school admissions aren't all about scores. They look at whether your overall profile matches what the school is looking for. Also, the internet only shows the good side: only the superstars with very high GPAs, GRE 320+ and impressive experience post their scores and share their experience online. There was a time when I checked the forums every day, and the more I read the more anxious I got, always feeling my profile didn't measure up. But so many factors go into an admission decision that, with the same profile, you might get rejected last year and admitted this year.