Graduate School.

These two words can (and sometimes will) make an aspiring graduate student tremble with anxiety and fear. In many majors, mine including, you generally have to go to graduate school to do anything related to your field of study, but getting accepted can be a daunting task. With GPA's, letters of recommendations, a CV, taking the GRE, and gathering enough money for application fees, many students become overwhelmed with the amount of work required just to beg a college to let you in. I am one of those people. I lay awake at night, just like everyone else, wondering if my grades are good enough, what Plan B is if I don't get in, and about just taking the GRE. I am preparing for grad school like many others, and this is a list of things I am doing to help myself and hopefully my chances of getting in.

1. Making Good Grades

I know that the advice of "just make good grades" is not very good, but I will explain. Graduate school is competitive. Hundreds of people could apply but they may only accept ten, so being the best that you can be is important. Making A's in those easy classes is important because you don't want to have to rely on making an A in Statistics II to keep your GPA up. Go to class, do your homework, study when you know you need to, work hard and play hard, take school seriously; these are key in order to raise or maintain your GPA.

2. Buy GRE Prep Books

Buying GRE prep books is certainly not necessary but it is extremely helpful. I bought Kaplan's GRE Premier 2017 on Amazon for $25 and it comes with sections on each part of the test, thousands of practice problems, and six online practice tests, which includes a diagnostic exam to see where you are. I'm not going to lie, when I took the diagnostic test, I received a 144 on the quantitative and a 154 on verbal. This book and these tests help build your knowledge on the test and also your stamina. The GRE is 4 hours long. Who outright has the mental stamina to keep that up? No one. I am a junior this summer and bought my book a few weeks ago, but it is never too late to get one. And if you can't afford one, go to the library, they will probably have GRE resources that can help you. You can even go online and find GRE prep study guides. There is a wealth of knowledge that you just have to tap into.

3. Meet Your Teachers

Most graduate programs require three letters of recommendations to send in with your application. These are normally from professors that personally know you and can write about how awesome you are and why they should accept you. If you don't have two or three teachers you know on a personal level, who's going to write those letters? Dr. Smith, who you had freshman year in a three-hundred person lecture? Or how about Mrs. Johnson, the teacher you had for Biology I? They don't know you. They cannot write to your dream college about how awesome you are because they don't know it themselves. You should have two to three teachers who know your goals, what you're good at, and things like that. I am giving you this advice because I haven't taken it myself. I don't have these teachers, so this coming fall, I plan on making an effort to kiss up and meet some professors, but don't wait like I did. The earlier you start, the better.

4. Join Some Extracurriculars

The biggest question to ask yourself is "how will I be different from everyone else applying?" Everyone will have taken the same classes as you and probably scored about the same on the GRE so how will you set yourself apart to the acceptance committee? For example, I want to be an abnormal child psychologist and I worked at a girl scout camp for a few years, so I have experience working with children. I have recently joined the Odyssey for my school which shows I know how to write well, am creative, and I can meet a deadline. Get experience, volunteer, join a club or organization, do something. Obviously, try to do things close to your major but you can do other things. Do stuff that makes you sound interesting, that way, you stand out to the committee and you have something to talk about if you get an interview.

I am not perfect and I am not giving perfect advice; I know that. No one can tell you exactly how to prepare for graduate school because it is different for everyone. The best advice that I can give you is to never give up. You can do it.