I successfully received offers from five good Canadian universities for my master's degree. I wrote the detailed application process into this 3,000-word article.
I will also share my unique application tips, which can help you apply to a school with better hardware requirements than your own, and you may also get a scholarship.
You can save thousands of dollars by just using it. Reading for 10 minutes can earn you money for a plane ticket. Isn’t that great?
1. School Selection
1) How many schools should you apply to?
When it comes to applying to each school, you can't just use a template and change a few words to get it done.The first step in applying for studying abroad is to go to the official website of the target school and do some serious research.. Including but not limited to the university's admission requirements (such as language scores, required documents, and some universities also require answering a series of questions), the percentage of mainland students among the students admitted each year, the background of past admits, the situation of future professors, the domestic/international ranking of the major, feedback or complaints from past students, employment status, the proportion of students staying in the local area/returning to the country, etc.
These details are indispensable. If you don't take something seriously, why would the other party seriously consider admitting you?
If you do this, you'll quickly find that 5-6 schools will consume all your energy.
Through the official website information, you will know more about the school and the materials you need to prepare will be clear at a glance.
The search path for most official websites is to find "prospective student" (which can be translated as students who want to apply to this school), then find the admission requirement, enter the specific Program you want to apply for, and you can see the specific requirements including documents, language scores, etc.
2) Is an IELTS score of 6.0 enough?
Remember that the language requirement and GRE/GMATLSAT scores given on the official website are minimum requirements.This means that if you don’t reach this level, they won’t even look at your application. This doesn’t mean that this score is enough.
If you search the official website carefully, some universities will give the average IELTS scores of previous applicants (if the official website does not have it, there are also channels for inquiry, which will be mentioned later). For good universities, there are many applicants every year, and it is very likely that the "requirement" is only 6.0, but the average score of admitted students is 7.5. You will know why your application that seems to meet the requirements was ruthlessly rejected.
This is the foreign version of internal circulation.
3) What documents do I need to prepare?
This can also be found on the official website. The conventional "three-piece set" is Personal Statement (i.e. "PS", personal statement), resume/CV (i.e. resume), Reference Letter (i.e. recommendation letter), and some schools will also require a cover letter.
A good PS should explain why you are applying to this school, what aspects of yourself are in line with the school, and which professor's research direction you are interested in. Each school's PS should be customized.
Only such a document can be called a "personal statement" rather than a "popular template for passers-by."
Similarly, your resume records your personal experience, and each item needs to be carefully crafted to meet the "STAR" rule and highlight your strengths as much as possible.
As for recommendation letters, foreign teachers generally insist on writing them themselves. If the other school requires them to be sent, they will seal it personally and hand it to you, and you may not know what is written in it.
This is a pitfall, because some teachers write very confusingly, and some teachers even wrote "I do not recommend this student". Isn't this really unacceptable?
Hmm? You might be thinking, since it is sealed, how can I know what is written inside?
Here is another little trick for you.Suppose you want this professor to apply to three schools, and you tell him that you want to apply to four. Then open the fourth recommendation letter and you will know what is inside..
Studying abroad is a major event in life and cannot be taken lightly. This is how I saved my senior, the unlucky guy who received the note “I do not recommend this student”.
If the recommendation letter requires to be sent directly to the school by email, then there is nothing you can do. You can only find the professor you have the best relationship with and bet on his character.
If it is a Chinese professor, it is much easier. Usually you write the recommendation letter yourself and then ask him to sign it. The key to writing a recommendation letter is to coordinate it with your personal statement. On this basis, praise yourself as a little flower.
The rest of the essays may be a paper you wrote, or you may have to answer some questions. I remember one question from Duke University was: "What are the 25 most exciting moments in your life?"
Not only writing documents, but also in your future overseas career, you will be constantly accompanied by essays, papers, thesis, etc. It is very necessary to improve your writing skills.
2. Tips to help you apply to a higher level school
Before we start this topic, let me ask you a question that was a very controversial issue when I was applying: Should I submit my application as early as possible, or just before the deadline?
Some people say that if you submit early, the other party will take a look at it early and accept the right one. Those who submit late will have no chance.
Doesn’t it sound reasonable?
But some people also said that foreign admissions committees are very strict and will not start reviewing before the deadline. The packages received first will be directly placed in the box. In this way, those who submit applications later have an advantage because the application documents that arrive later are actually in the box.
Isn’t it...it sounds right.
Finally, someone said that the professors would take out all the documents and look at them. At this time, they would close the box and pour out all the documents. In this way, the documents of those who applied early were put back on top.
…
Which one do you think is right?
This was the most controversial question among people around me when I was applying. Whenever I was asked this question, I would just smile and not comment.
This is because all speculations are unreliable.
So what is reliable? Go ask!
Each university will provide the email address of the admissions committee secretary (commonly known as the "little secretary"). If you want to apply for graduate school, this is something you should know in your junior year..
Then you can email the secretary and ask questions about the admissions you are interested in. This is her job, and you will generally receive a positive response.
For example, I asked how many people are admitted each year and what percentage of them are Chinese students. You should know that the number of people admitted each year has nothing to do with you, and even the number of Chinese students admitted may not have anything to do with you.For most people, the question is how many students from mainland China have been admitted in the past three years..
Or if you look at the average IELTS/TOEFL/GRE/GMAT score of admitted applicants, you will find that the requirements on the official website (especially the GRE or GMAT scores) are actually not of much reference value.
After frequent email exchanges, you will become familiar with the secretary, and you can send her some holiday emails during the Chinese New Year and other holidays. As you chat more and more, you will know a lot of information that will not be on the official website.
For example, when it comes to "when is the best time to submit an application", the secretary told me that they will admit a group of applicants from the early stage, so that they can send out offers early to grab outstanding students. So what are you waiting for? Applying one day earlier is an advantage.
This depends on the individual. Communication skills are a very advantageous weapon anywhere.
This method often allows you to apply to schools with better hardware conditions than your own. Another senior of mine not only got admission in this way, but also received a scholarship later.
If you are a top student, you can even communicate directly with the professor. The official website will have the resumes and research directions of each professor, and you can directly send a letter to the professor to discuss. The professor's opinion will directly affect the admissions committee.