I am a college professor and the creator CFF College Fully Funded™ and GradSchool Fully Funded. We help ambitious students, find, apply, and get into U.S. colleges/universities and graduate programs with full funding in order to avoid debt. Please use the links in the Links tab to learn more about me, our programs, or to connect. You can also read a few samples of previous editions of my twice monthly newsletter via the Posts link. If you would like to receive the newsletter on all things college admissions and funding, please subscribe below. To email me: collegefullyfunded@gmail.com .
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Mapping Out Your Graduate School Admission Strategy: Build Your Graduate School List
Published 5 months ago • 3 min read
GFF GradSchool Fully Funded
October 27, 2024
Your Application Roadmap
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Welcome to the October edition of the GradSchool Fully Funded newsletter. This newsletter is my monthly conversation with you about all things graduate school admissions. If you aspire to attend graduate school in the United States to obtain a master's or PhD, and to do so with full funding, then you are in the right place. And if not but you know someone who does, please feel free to share this with them.
Every month we will discuss at least one thing that will help you along that path. As a newsletter subscriber, you will also get access to exclusive special offers and discounts.
Strategy in Graduate School Admission: Your All-Important List
In recent editions of the newsletter I discussed the importance of purpose in graduate school admissions - including figuring out your "what and why," your "then what," and understanding your prospective discipline. Purpose is one of the pillars of our framework in GradSchool Fully Funded, our grad school admissions coaching program, in which we work with our clients to secure admission into U.S. graduate programs with full funding.
Another pillar in our three-pillar framework is strategy. To succeed in securing admission into grad school with full funding, you need a well-laid out strategy. In GradSchool Fully Funded we discuss four dimensions of your strategy. Today, I will focus on one: Build your grad school application list.
GradSchool Fully Funded 3-Pillar Framework
Where do you want to attend graduate school? Do you want to be in a big city, small town, sub-urban setting or rural area? Do you want to be close to family or particular locations of cultural significance to you? Do you have a family and will that factor into where you live? Do you need to be in close proximity to a certain location because of work experience you might gain?
These are all questions to ponder as you decide to build your graduate school list. Of course deciding where to apply will be easier if you have figured out your purpose in applying to graduate school.
We believe the most important consideration is whether or not a graduate program will offer you full funding. That is our north star and we encourage students to keep that front of mind. All other values you have in selecting a graduate program follow from this foundational requirement.
While ignoring this cardinal rule might be tempting for a variety of reasons, do not be fooled. You do not need to incur massive debt to obtain a graduate degree. This is especially true for prospective PhD students. You are going to be in school for at least 5 years. This will be years of lost fulltime income.
If you plan on pursuing a PhD, you should aspire to a program that will give you full funding - a tuition scholarship and a stipend. Period. Non-negotiable. If you don't have this, don't begin the program. It is not worth it to incur this kind of debt.
We cover this extensively in GradSchool Fully Funded. You can join us, to get help marrying your purpose with a strategy that will result in admission to fully-funded programs, beginning with building your grad school list.
CFF College Fully Funded®, a 3-month intensive and comprehensive college admissions coaching program followed by a 7-month application support membership to help prospective undergraduate students find, apply, and get accepted at U.S. colleges/universities that will provide them full funding. Registration for the next cohort is underway.
GradSchool Fully Funded, a self-paced graduate school admissions coaching program and annual membership that helps prospective master's and PhD students find, apply, and secure admission with full funding into U.S. graduate programs. You can enroll at anytime. If you are interested in joining a small 2025 cohort of GFF, click here.
1-on-1 consultation service for prospective graduate students, those interested in living and working in the United States, and people with other higher education consultation needs.
The College Admission Readiness Audit (CARA) for high school sophomores and juniors. Receive a college admission readiness assessment and a personalized hour long 1-on-1 session to review your assessment results and receive recommendations on what to focus on to prepare for a successful college admission cycle. Email us to learn more.
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I am a college professor and the creator CFF College Fully Funded™ and GradSchool Fully Funded. We help ambitious students, find, apply, and get into U.S. colleges/universities and graduate programs with full funding in order to avoid debt. Please use the links in the Links tab to learn more about me, our programs, or to connect. You can also read a few samples of previous editions of my twice monthly newsletter via the Posts link. If you would like to receive the newsletter on all things college admissions and funding, please subscribe below. To email me: collegefullyfunded@gmail.com .
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