Speaker 1: Hey, what's up? Welcome back, welcome back. All right, so we are talking about applying to graduate school. Number one, I don't want to itemize this, but maybe I should. Maybe I should, I don't know. But the first thing, the first, first thing, when you start thinking about the fact that, oh man, I think I want to go to graduate school. Hmm, I want to do more. I want to travel abroad. I want to go to England, America, you know, somewhere in Europe, Spain, whatever, Germany. What do I do? Where do I start? What do you want to study? That's the first thing I always tell anyone interested in graduate school. What do you want to study? That's where you start from. And I know this is not conventional, but a lot of times people are stuck on one subject, like, oh, I want to study public health. I want to study engineering, which is great, you know? Now, I don't advise people to only stick to one area. I always say diversify. So for example, let's say for public health, let's say you're watching this and you want to do a master's in public health, okay? Am I caught? Okay, I was too close to the camera. Okay, let's say you're watching this and you want to do a master's in public health. So here's what I want to advise you. This is your interest, public health. So instead of being stuck on, oh, I want to do public health biostatistics, you can do, you know, you can apply, you can think of, you can diversify your thinking and say, okay, public health, you know, health promotion, public health epidemiology, so that you have some diversification, I can't even say it, some diversification of your interests, okay? So you're not stuck on one area because that's going to lead into the next step. So when you've written down some areas, you know, write down areas you're interested in, areas you think you want to study, you know, what you want to do in graduate school, then make a list of all the schools you're interested in. I like to say make, you know, six, nine schools you're interested in. You want to have your dream schools, right? The Harvard and the Stanford, those are dream schools, right? I think I've told you guys before, but I applied to Harvard two times and I got rejected. I got rejected, Lord. The first time I applied, I got rejected and I was like, yeah, I'll apply again. Like, I know, you know, I'll do, I'll apply again, whatever. Then the second time I was like, I'm done, I'm done, I give up. But anyway, when you're conceiving, when you're applying, when you're putting together your application or when you're getting your mindset in the application process, right? Make a list of schools. You want your dream schools and you want your reality schools and you want your safety schools, okay? So dream schools are like the schools that you think, hmm, would I get in? I probably won't get in. I may, but I probably won't. So like, are your Ivy League schools, right? Then your ideal schools are schools that are on your level, right? Schools that you think, okay, I see, I see the requirements, I meet the requirements. Then the third group of schools, the third, like two schools, would be schools where you say, you know, like safety schools, like schools that for sure, for sure, you think you'll get in, okay? So that, so those are your three-tier schools. I call it the three-tier method. First tier, out of your league. Second tier, your league. Third tier, beneath your league, okay? So you have six total schools. And I know that sounds crazy. That sounds like, what? And six schools? But yeah, you want to give yourself range, okay? You wanna give yourself some leeway so that no matter what happens, you learn at least one school, okay? Ideally, out of your league school, tier one school, right? But if not, that's okay, right? Still okay. The second step is crucial. This is probably the most important step. For each school, get a notebook or get on your computer. For each school, write down the requirements. Write down the admission requirements. A lot of people don't do this. And in the email, I get all these emails. Doctor, what can I do? Can I send this? I'm like, it's online, okay? Okay. For each school, write down the admission requirements. Each step by step. Every school, every school, every good school has the admission requirements online. Every good school. You would see it's there. It's there. Before you email, check online, okay? You find the admission requirements. Take your pen and paper. One, two, you write down everything the school requires. This is vital. I cannot even emphasize this enough. It's very important. Write down step by step what each school requires. So you're gonna have six headlines. So remember, you have your six schools, right? Tier one, tier two, tier three. Then you write the admission requirements for each school, okay? And why it's good you write the admission requirements for each school is that it differs. Every school has their thing. Every school wants this versus that, right? Most things overlap, right? So like transcript, personnel statement, all of that, all CV, most of it overlaps. But some schools want some things. Some schools want different things. Other schools want different things. So you wanna make sure that you write down what each school wants, okay? Then, then, what I want you guys to do, when you write down what each school wants, now, take a seventh piece of paper, look through each of the six schools, and then write down the commonalities that each school wants. So the idea is that you know what your core, the core things you need are. Once you've written down requirements, you've got your seventh piece of paper, you know the core things you need. The next step is to start processing your transcripts and your references immediately. In fact, that, I know a lot of people wait till the end to start processing transcripts and reference letters, but no, you have to start early because those things take time. How many, gosh, how many times, and I'm culprit to this, right? I've had students email me several times, like 10, 15 times. Only one student has emailed me 15 times, but I've had students email me several times reminding me, please, Dr. Amuda, please write my reference letter, don't forget, don't forget. And of course, things are happening, right? I have kids, I have a life, I have a husband, I have a job, like, so your reference letter is at the bottom of my list, right? So that takes time. So I always tell people, if you need a reference letter, start asking me like three months in advance. That is gonna make sure I do it because if you ask me for a reference letter and say, oh, it's due next week, it's not gonna get written, I'm sorry, you know? So you wanna start collecting your reference letters early, you wanna start working on your transcripts. And if you're in a country like Nigeria or some other underdeveloped countries, getting your transcripts can be a pain in the behind. So you need to start early, you need to start early, okay? So after you've written all that stuff, all the requirements, then you start collecting all those documents, transcripts and reference letters, okay? And then, you know, you work on your personal statements. This is, honestly, I think your personal statement is the most important subjective document you submit. And a lot of people don't, a lot of people don't know that. The admissions committee is a very subjective place, okay? And I want you guys to always remember that. And that's why really nailing your statement of purpose is crucial, okay? Because, I mean, most people have A's and B's, you know? Most people have a good CV, you know? So yeah, that's an objective way to measure, but your personal statement, your statement of purpose is what is gonna set you apart from every other person because that's the subjective nature, that's the only subjective thing your application has, okay? And I'm telling you, there are times I've read a statement of purpose and I've cried, not like, hmm, but like I've had tears well up in my eyes because I thought, wow, I would love to meet this person, okay, so your statement of purpose is vital. So you start to craft your statement of purpose, start to work on it. Check out my statement of purpose video. I mean, that's really the best video, I think, on the internet. I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding. But it's a good video, it's a good video that will help you, that can guide you, okay? And even getting your reference letters, getting your reference letters, I have a video on how to get your reference letter, so check that video out as well. Getting your transcripts, I feel like, I thought about making a video on transcripts, but then I thought, you know, every country's different. I have people, some of you watching from Asia, Africa, even in the US, so I can't really say, I can't really tell you exactly how. All I can say concerning transcripts is, you wanna start early, start early, okay? All right, so your statement of purpose, like I was saying, is the only subjective part of your application, and so that's the one thing that's likely gonna make you stand out. So it has to be amazing, it has to be perfect, check out the video. Write your GRE, not all schools require GRE, but the schools, if you have schools that require, if you have schools in your list, your three-tier list of schools, if you have a school that requires a GRE, now is the time to write. If you, like, registering for the GRE, preparing for the GRE is really expensive, okay? And personally, personally, I actually worked hard to get rid of the GRE in my department. I remember, I was like, why are we requiring a GRE? Some of you don't know, but I took the GRE two times. Ha ha, twice, because the first time I didn't do well, the second time I did better, okay? And I kept thinking, when I was prepping for the GRE, like, why am I, what does this even do? Like, what does this do for me, or how does this help the admissions committee, pick, like, recommend me? Like, how is this useful, you know? And I vowed, I said if I was in a position of authority, I would do something about it. This is when I was, I remember reading for the GRE in Abuja, in Nigeria, the capital of Nigeria, thinking this. Fast forward, how many years? Six, seven years, six, seven years. I'm faculty, I'm the admissions director, I'm the graduate school director, which, you know, I oversee admissions. And I'm thinking, we gotta get rid of the GRE, we have to. What is the, what is the essence? Nothing. So, here we are, we got rid of it, we took it to a vote, and the GRE was out the door. My point with that story is that most schools, not most, let's say some schools have gotten rid of the GRE. And because of the expenditure, because of the time you used to prepare, all that crap, maybe, maybe, as you pick schools, pick a school that doesn't require a GRE. Research, right? Dig, dig, dig, dig. You guys, I'm tired, but you guys, oh. Having two kids, waking up at night is a lot. Dig deep, that's what I was trying to say. Dig deep into, there's so many, there are thousands of universities around the world. Half of those universities, what is happening today? I feel like I'm, I can't even construct my words properly. Properly. Half of those universities do not require the GRE. So, why not? So, use those universities, apply to those universities. If you are so hell-bent on a certain program, a certain university, and they require a GRE, by all means, I'm not trying to discourage you. If you have the funds, and if you have the time to prepare, by all means, but honestly, program schools that require the GRE versus schools that don't, there is absolutely no difference in the quality of the program, okay? So, if you see a school requiring the GRE, don't feel like, oh, they're better because they require it. No, not necessarily, at all. And I know that for a fact, okay? So, just saying, just keep that in mind. But, so prepare for the GRE. If you're gonna take it, that's vital. Take it in advance. I remember I had to, so I wrote TOEFL. I never told you guys this, but I wrote TOEFL twice. So, thank God, I started prepping in advance. So, the first time I wrote TOEFL, I got a 92 out of 120, and I needed a 98. So, I had to write it again in Abuja. I do very poorly with standardized tests. Like, if I have a time limit and I'm in an exam, I don't really do well, right? So, with TOEFL, I took it again, then I got a 102, and so. So, but I had enough time to take it twice before the deadline. So, some graduate schools will require that you have a writing sample. So, a writing sample is very tricky because many of you applying to graduate school, you've never really written anything, okay? So, here's what I'll advise. My advice to you is, and this is what I did as well. When I was applying for my MPH, for my master's, I needed to submit a writing sample. So, what I did was, I wrote something. I found out a topic. I wrote about NGOs in Nigeria, the pros and cons of non-governmental organizations in Nigeria. So, find a topic that you wanna write about, preferably something related to your course of study, and write about it. Make it about three to five pages. That's enough. Have somebody edit the heck out of it so it flows well, so it reads well. Because, believe it or not, the admissions committee reads writing samples, okay? So, it's not the most important document for admissions. It's definitely not the document that's gonna determine your admission, right? But, if they ask you for it, submit something good, okay? So, my advice to you is that you write, if you do not have a writing sample, you write something. Edit it and submit it, okay? Because most times, people think, oh, my writing sample has to be publication, it has to be this, it has to be this fancy thing. No, no, no, no, no, it doesn't. We just wanna see how you write and how you think, okay? And so, if your writing sample is more of an objective paper that you write, like a literature review kind of paper, your statement of purpose is more personal. That's why it's also called personal statement. And in terms of funding, I'm sure, of course, of course, I cannot make a video about applying to graduate school without talking about funding. That is crucial. And I always tell you guys, check out my video on how to fund your graduate schools right there. I'm not gonna talk about funding in this video, but check out the video. It's all videos related to this video I'm making are gonna be linked in the description box. How to write your statement of purpose, how to get references, how to fund your graduate school. It's all gonna be listed under, and that will help you. So I don't keep repeating myself in the videos. But of course, of course, of course, you have, when you're picking your schools, in step two, when you're picking your schools, you must, you have to look at funding opportunities for schools. So you can even, when you're making your three-tier school, tier one, tier two, tier three, instead of it being like your dream school, you know, like your Harvard's and whatever, it could be schools that for sure will get you funded, tier one, schools that probably, you don't know if you'll get funded, tier two, schools that definitely not gonna fund you, tier three. So really, the tiers I'm talking about really depends on how you, how do you wanna tier them, how do you wanna rank them, okay? And then you can go from there, okay? But I always tell people, especially those of you who wanna do a PhD, if you are watching this video and you wanna do a PhD, I'm telling you, do not pay for your PhD. If you wanna do your PhD full-time, there, you need to get funded. You need to get funded to do your PhD, especially if you're gonna come to the US, to Canada, there's so much research money, right, for doing your PhD, for research. So never, never, please pay to do your PhD, don't do that. For master's, it's a little bit tricky. So, you know, for me, my first semester, I paid for my master's, for my second semester, I got a scholarship, right? So for your master's, you may or may not, but for your PhD, you absolutely should not pay, okay? All right, so my next video, I am gonna talk about actually going online. You won't even see, I don't think you'll see my face in the next video, but I'm gonna show you guys how to look for professors who have funding and then how to email them. And okay, all right, all right, all right. And so I will see you guys in my next video. Thank you for sticking around. Please subscribe. We are almost at 20,000. What, what? Subscribe, let's hit that 20,000 mark before the year is over. All right, love you guys. Hope you learned something from this video. I will be posting my next video very soon. I can't give you guys dates because you guys, mom life, wife life, work life, it's a lot. It's a lot, it's a lot. But I'm trying, I'm trying my best to stay committed to this channel. And I will, I'm not going anywhere. So, and I'll be helping you guys ask questions under this video, give this video a thumbs up so more people see it. That's why, do you guys ever wonder when people, when YouTubers say, oh, like this video, it's because the more likes this video gets, the more people get to watch the video, the more, you know, the more it's recommended to people. And so, yeah, so, okay. Well, have a great rest of your day and rest of your week whenever you're watching this. And I will see you in my next video. Ciao.