Applying to Graduate School at WVU:
Erin Fields: Alright, well happy time zones to those listening, no matter where you may be!
Welcome to The Summit Ahead, a podcast for future graduate students brought to you by the West Virginia University Office of Graduate Admissions.
I am your host, Erin Fields, and I invite you to join me over the course of this show’s season as I chat with higher education professionals at West Virginia University, who will be giving their best tips, tricks, and insights on topics important to consider when applying for graduate school.
On today’s episode, I am bringing back Shelly Quance, the Director of Graduate Admissions at West Virginia University, who will be chatting a bit about the application process and what admissions reviewers are looking for in strong applicants. It’s going to be a stellar episode with tons of valuable information for you to think about while filling out your graduate school application. So without further wait, welcome back to the show, Shelly! So hyped to have you back with me once again chatting about graduate education.
The first time we talked was all about why you should go to graduate school, but on this episode, we want to focus a little bit more on the quality of the applicant and what the application reviewers are looking for. So, for those who maybe haven’t listened to our first episode, tell us a little bit about yourself. What do you do for your position in the university, and where are you from?
Shelly Quance: Well, first of all, let me say thank you, Erin, for having me back. It is a pleasure to come and chat with you and our listeners. I have been with West Virginia University in some form or fashion for a little over twenty-five years. I have served as the Director of Graduate Admissions and Recruitment since 2016.
Prior to that, I spent a number of years working with a specific graduate program here on campus at WVU recruiting students, advising students, watching them, and advising them as they went through a program until the time of completion and graduation. These various experiences that I’ve had have really helped shape me to be able to assist those who are interested in pursuing a graduate degree with some insights into what admissions committees are really looking for when you apply.
Tips for applying to graduate school:
Erin Fields: You've had quite a bit of experience in higher education and specifically graduate school. So, with that in mind, how would you describe the graduate admissions process?
Shelly Quance: I would describe it as being subjective and holistic, and it’s about more than just academic performance. So many people get wrapped up in two numbers: the GPA and a test score. And characteristics of a favorable applicant are so much more than the numbers on a transcript of a test score. Those documents don't show an admissions committee attitude, passion, drive, compassion, or resilience.
I once knew an admissions counselor for a physician’s assistant program, and I learned that he based his admission decisions on whether he would be comfortable with the person he was reviewing taking care of his grandma. That certainly is not something that you can determine from a test score or from a GPA. Those kinds of traits and characteristics are what really come through in the supplemental documents like a statement of purpose, references, a resume, an interview, and things like that.
Erin Fields: That’s very interesting, the story about the reviewer with his grandmother.
Shelly Quance: Right! And if you think about it, it makes sense, because you want to see peoples’ personalities and their characteristics. Are they going to be hard workers, are they going to be resilient when things get difficult in grad school, are they going to have compassion, are they going to work well with others? Those are not things that you can determine just from a score or just from a GPA.
Erin Fields: A lot of times people stereotypically place a lot of focus on the academics part of the application. But could you dive into how important the supplemental application materials are? Things such as the impotence of a statement of purpose or your resume, and fleshing those things out?
Shelly Quance: Every single one of those is extremely important. What I like to say is, “You’ve talked the talk, but this is where an admissions committee is going to see if you can actually walk the walk." So, your scholarly inquisitiveness should be evident in your essay, your interview, and any ongoing communications you have with the department during your admissions process. They’re looking for applicants who have very clear and perhaps unique, research directions.
So, you want to communicate your specific interests and curiosities, and you want to let them see that. They see lots of essays that talk about the desire for an advanced degree, but what really impresses them is when you can clearly articulate that you have a clear vision for how completing a specific grad program is going to get you to an established long-term goal.
Erin Fields: So, you would say that writing skills really factor a lot into the application process?
Shelly Quance: Writing skills are huge. Not just what is written, but how it is written. Most graduate programs are very writing intensive. So, graduate admissions committees are looking at not only the content but the quality of the writing. So, because of this, I really advise folks to dedicate plenty of time to writing your statement of purpose.
Make sure your grammar, spelling, your structure, and organization are all spot-on. Take the time to proof. I know we are a generation of spell-check, but there are so many things that spell-check will not catch, so don’t rely on that solely. Proof your documents, proof them again. Ask someone else, a friend, or a loved one, to read it and then read it aloud yourself. If what you’re hearing yourself saying doesn’t sound natural, if it sounds forced or artificial, or like a bunch of words that you’re using to try and impress someone, don’t submit that. You want to make sure that you’re coming across as genuine and that what you’re writing is really true from your heart.
Erin Fields: Yeah, I’ve been there when I’ve written research papers, and you try to go through and you’re like, “does this sound okay?” And then you go and you pick so many words and replace them with something else using the thesaurus, and then it just ends up sounding like a robot or unnatural. And it honestly makes it sound worse than it would have if you were just being yourself writing it.
Shelly Quance: Right. And people want to see the true you. So, you want to come across as natural as you possibly can. So, that’s just something to keep in mind.
Erin Fields: Right. Does academic background also play into the application process? In undergrad, I would always hear people talking about taking classes outside of your major to gain some knowledge in other areas. So, do application reviewers really take that into consideration, or is that just more of a myth?
Shelly Quance: The thing to remember here is that when an application review committee is looking at a transcript, they’re looking at more than just the overall GPA. They’re also going to look at what courses you took, and if there was any stretch to challenge yourself with more difficult courses versus just what you were required to take.
Taking a challenging course that you end up with a B or C in is much more impressive than just taking the bare minimum of what you’re required and earning all A's. In fact, 4.0 students are sometimes scrutinized to see if they did challenge themselves to take some harder courses. If they didn’t, then the impression can be that they were much more about the grade earned than actually the content and what was learned in the course, and that can be a turn-off to an admissions committee.
Erin Fields: I remember the joke around undergrad was always, “you can take a class in underwater basket weaving if you want!” And I always wondered, you know at the end of the day, you’re paying for those courses, so you always ask yourself, is it really worth it?
I think it’s more of a goal-oriented thing. You have to see, “if I’m in a business program, is there something else that I can be taking that will help boost my business skills," such as public speaking, speech, or something of that nature.
Shelly Quance: By nature, we are all wired to be as successful as we possibly can, right? So, I think most of us during our undergraduate careers are very focused on that GPA number and trying to figure out the courses to take that are going to best support making that number the highest we can make it. But the truth of the matter is, by the time you get to considering graduate school, faculty are looking at what kind of interests you have and the fact that you want to learn. It’s not just about the end number, but about what you’re learning along the way. And so, they’re going to look at that transcript and see not only courses that stretched your intellectual thinking, but also courses that made them a well-rounded person.
Erin Fields: Which is very contradictory to high school and even undergrad, which is very, like you said, in that mindset. You haven’t been on the job field yet, you haven’t been out of education, so all you know is performing well in the academic setting, so you don’t really know anything else different.
So, what I’ve gathered in my job is what we’ve been talking about here today: programs aren’t just looking for smart people, they also want individual people. Do unique and individual character traits factor into the application reviews? I know we talked a little bit about that. If so, how do you showcase that as an applicant?
Shelly Quance: Again, the writing supplementals and the interview are going to be your opportunity to really showcase your distinctive qualities that can’t be seen in grades or test scores. You want to utilize that opportunity to express creativity, show your determination, your thoughts on diversity, and just your overall thoughtfulness. You want to describe what makes you different, what makes you determined, and what you, uniquely, can offer to the program.
Erin Fields: Now, here’s a follow-up question to that. Say you’re talking about sensitive topics. Do you include that kind of thing into your personal statement, or do you try and steer away and make it more generalized?
Shelly Quance: I think it depends on what the topic is and how it relates to showcasing who you are. A personal statement is not your opportunity to air dirty laundry and give an overall synopsis of struggles and hard times that you’ve had.
But certainly, if there have been different parts of your life or in your academic career where challenges have pushed you to persevere and gain greater strengths as a result, I think touching on those can be really useful.
Erin Fields: That makes sense. You want to do your best to showcase who you are as a person and what your strengths are, and even to an extent, areas that you can build upon because that shows programs the potential that lies within you.
How important are the letters of recommendation? We get a lot of questions about what recommenders should include in their letters, who to pick as a recommender, and how to know you’re picking the right person. Do you have any insights into that part of the application process?
Shelly Quance: I have a couple of tips. Letters of recommendation are used to validate an applicant’s qualifications. So, you want to be really careful in who you choose to be recommenders. A lot of times people think, “well if I can choose someone who has an impressive name, or someone who has really high credentials, that’s really going to be impressive to an admissions committee.” But if you have not worked directly with that person and they don’t know your skills and your work ethic, and they just give a generic overview, that is not going to be impressive at all.
So, you want to choose people who know you and can really speak specifically about your skill set, your strengths, and what is unique about you that you can bring. Obviously, you want to be sure that the people you pick are going to write positive letters. I know that sounds really crazy, but believe it or not, in my years working in higher education, more than once I have seen letters of recommendation from people who did not advise that this person would be a suitable candidate for our graduate program. So, really think through and make sure that these are people who know you well and are going to be positive.
Erin Fields: That’s a fact that you don’t like to think about, that you would take the time to ask someone to be your recommender and that they’ll be honest, and if it’s someone that doesn't think highly of you, they’re going to put that in their recommendation. So, make sure that you are picking wisely.
Shelly Quance: And the other thing with that is to make sure that you ask in plenty of time to give them time to get their thoughts together. Nothing is more frustrating than someone asking you for a letter of recommendation that they need in the next 48 hours. When you put someone in a stressful situation, positivity is not going to shine through in that letter. So, be courteous and respect other peoples’ timelines.
Erin Fields: Especially if someone is working full-time because filling out the recommendation isn’t something that takes five minutes. It’s something that should take a lot of time. So, definitely do not put these people on the spot. If they are kind enough and willing enough to even give you the recommendation in the first place, you need to give them a little heads up.
We’ve been talking so much about what application reviewers are looking for, but I think you also need to take into consideration what you are looking for as an applicant to a program. How do you know if an institution, or more specifically, if a program is a good fit? What does that mean? Is the definition of “a good fit” different for an application reviewer and an applicant?
Shelly Quance: Programs are looking for applicants who are self-motivated and are going to push to create their own opportunities. In your essay and in your interview, talk about experiences that you've created to enhance your knowledge in a particular area. You want to demonstrate that you understand the value that’s associated with earning a degree. Faculty take great pride in the attainment of education and showing respect for that will really bode well. While it’s important to have an end goal, don’t just focus on hitting that goal, but also acknowledge the growth that you're going to experience as an individual along the way.
Erin Fields: You have to think about the potential that you have. And talking about a good fit, not just academically, but also what the area has to offer to you, more on an institutional level as a whole, not just on the program level. But also, what potential lies ahead of you? What benefits to this school are there, and what benefits to this program? What is the classification of the institution? Because WVU is R1 and the only R1 institution in West Virginia, that really stands out when you are out and about after graduate school.
Shelly Quance: I think the main thing that I advise people to look at when they’re trying to determine if a particular program or institution is the right fit for them is the reputation of the institution. Obviously, something like an R1 status is really beneficial in the graduate world, especially if you’re looking to pursue a career in academics. Also, the type of financial assistance that you're going to get is huge so that obviously weighs in. I think the support services, not just medical or mental health support services, but things like labs and libraries are really important. Are you going to have up-to-date resources that will make you the best student that you can possibly be?
Finally, the area where you’re going to be living. If you’re going to be working on a master's degree or a Ph.D. degree, you’re going to be in that community anywhere from two to seven years. Take a look at the community, weather, housing options, all of that, because being a graduate student is hard, and you need to make sure it’s someplace that you’re going to be happy. You want to give yourself the best chance of success.
Erin Fields: I might be biased when I say this because I’ve lived here for a few years now, but I think Morgantown is an absolutely stellar community. The people here would give the shirt off their backs for you and the whole community just lives and breathes WVU, and there is not another atmosphere I have found that is like that.
Shelly Quance: I would agree.
Erin Fields: Well, that is all the questions that we have for today. Thank you once again, Shelly, for sharing with us all the insight and knowledge that you have on how to become a stronger applicant and some of the tips regarding what application reviewers are looking for.
Today’s episode was brought to you by the West Virginia University office of graduate admissions. For more information on graduate education at West Virginia University, please visit our website at www.graduateadmissions.wvu.edu. If you enjoyed or found value in anything you heard today, we recommend you leave a review on your favorite listening platform, follow us on social media, and subscribe to be notified of our new episodes coming out once a month.
You can also start your online application if you're ready to jumpstart your graduate school journey at West Virginia University!
Thanks for listening, and until next time, let’s go Mountaineers!
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