My Grad School Application Story

Hey family, 

Am I the only one who thinks April is running too fast?  Whew! 

Anyway, how is it going for you?

Today, I’m going to talk about my graduate school application process and how SHS played a very important role in that. In case you are wondering who SHS (Sweet Holy Spirit) is, find all about my love relationship with Him by clicking here. 

I know the plans I have for you

I’m a proud Ghanaian and in my country, after college, you are required to undertake a year’s National Service Scheme (NSS) as your service to the nation for a monthly allowance.

Once I started my NSS, I began thinking about what I will do with my life when it’s over. I had recently started an online natural hair coaching business and I was hoping to have a hair salon as a way of expanding and to get more clients. That was my plan but I had not asked God what His plans after NSS were. 

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)

Don’t get me wrong, starting a business is good but if it is not in the right timing of God for your life, it may not go well. In the bid to pursue my own plans, I applied for funding from about 3 sources who were sponsoring business ideas and I wasn’t successful in any of them.

That was when I started asking myself exactly what God wanted me to do at that point in time. So I went to SHS to ask Him what His plans for me were at the time and He answered by bringing back my desire to pursue graduate school abroad. I started working in this area. 

To the person who asked how I decided on grad school right after NSS, I hope you have gotten an answer. Now, I’m going to walk you through my journey and the lessons I learnt.

Confusion everywhere

I started reaching out to people I knew who were studying abroad and the response wasn’t great. I knew I had to write a Statement of Purpose but grad school is more than that. I needed guidance even on deciding on which school to attend. To be honest, the grad school application can be so overwhelming, but it’s well. 

We need to talk

It was getting so overwhelming so I went back to the one who calms the storms. I sat down with SHS and told Him we need to talk, I was getting frustrated. This was what I told Him. 

 Dear SHS, I have heard of how overwhelming grad school applications can be, it’s true because I am experiencing it now. I have also heard from people how they applied to more than 10 and all that. But here is the thing, I do not have the financial means to pay application fees for all these schools. Before you tell me you’ll give me the money to pay, hear me out. The process is stressful, after all it’s only one school that I can attend. So why don’t you tell me the school you want me to attend so that I can apply, get full scholarship and then hola I go.

He heard me but He didn’t seem to answer straight away.

Few days later

“University of California, Berkeley,” I heard a whisper. I looked around my room, but nobody was there but me. I brushed it off because I didn’t know a school like that existed. The whisper kept coming about 3 times on different occasions. SHS, is that it? I shouted, He looked at me and smiled. I got an answer. God surely has a plan and if only you’ll ask Him, He will direct you.

Your close friend

I went to Google and lo and behold it was a school. In your grad school application, Google should be your close friend, that dude sure knows most things if not everything. Lolx. I get people asking me to send them links to scholarships if I chance on them. Of course I will if I chance on them but the issue is you know what you want, make good use of Google, you can as well surf scholarship sites like After School Africa, the Baobab platform can also be of help if you are on. 

Do your investigation

After I found out it was a school, I started sleeping on their website, literally. Next thing to do when you decide on the school(s) is to really do your enquiries very well. Read about the programs they have and make a decision on which one exactly you want to apply to. Send emails to the contacts you find on the website. I know sending, receiving and checking emails is not really part of the African culture but if you want to study abroad, you need to cultivate that habit. 

Attend info sessions about the school or program you want to apply to. Some schools give application fee waivers to attendees of their info session so don’t miss out on that. You’ll get the opportunity to learn more about the program and also ask questions if you are able to attend one. Aside from info sessions, there can also be an option where you sign up for office hours of the admission committee or any of the professors in the school. Take advantage of that, mostly a one on one zoom session to get all your questions answered. Ask about possible funding opportunities, and more questions you may have after reading about the program on their website. By all means, make sure you have enough information about the school or program you are applying to so that you know the work to put in.

Starting your application

When I decided on which program to apply to, I reached out to people I knew who were studying abroad and I couldn’t reach them and the frustration started coming back. I went back to SHS, I asked Him to bring someone my way to help me and He gave me Priscilla Annan who is popularly known as Prysholy. This lady was of great help to me, she is a nurse and despite her night shifts among others, she made time for me. She reviewed my essays, guided me every step of the way, gave me tips for my interview, scholarship application, and visa appointments. She was with me all through the process and even made sure I was at the airport on time for my flight. God bless you Prysholy wherever you are (I know she will definitely read this, she has been supportive ever since). 

On this, you may get people to help you but you have to do the work. They won’t write your essays for you, you have to do that yourself, they are just there to guide you. Everybody is busy, for some of us, 24 hours is not enough lolx. So if someone makes time out of their busy schedule to help you, don’t let the person regret it, make the person’s time and effort worth it. Unfortunately for me, I’m part of the first cohort of my program so I didn’t have past or current students to talk to but God made a way. If you happen to get a current student to guide you, appreciate it and make it count because grad school is stressful enough so don’t add to it. Especially with the time zone differences, be patient when your messages are not answered promptly. The person will definitely get back when they can. 

Tips for your journey

• START EARLY. Depending on when you want to start grad school, don’t wait till you are done with school before you start your search for possible schools and programs. Decide early enough so that you have ample time to prepare.
• Track the APPLICATION  SEASON. Find out when  application season starts for the school you want to apply to. Don’t use the academic calendar in your country, it may be different. You can find out from the school’s website. It may be slightly different for each school, especially in different countries. I know people who had to wait for another year before applying because they missed out on the application season. Don’t fall into that trap.
• ASK QUESTIONS. Don’t assume, ask. Ask current students, faculty, program advisors, people who have done it before. Especially about funding, because a scholarship like the Mastercard Foundation Scholarship is administered differently in different schools. 
• Be prepared to PUT IN THE WORK. Grad school applications are not easy, even if you apply to just one school like I did, there’s still work to be done. It’s only when you are ready to do the work that someone will be kind enough to guide. It can be overwhelming but hey, it’s possible. I did it, you can do it too. 
• DON’T GIVE UP. Sometimes things don’t go as planned, but don’t give up, try again. This time, with the experience you have garnered in the first attempt. 

Summary of my journey

I’m sure you are saying I had it easy because I had heard from SHS on which school to apply to. 

Far from it, there were certain situations that made me question myself if I really heard from SHS. But one thing was certain, He spoke to me the same way He had spoken to me in the past about different things so I was sure He was the one. I love to write, in fact I write basically everything including my prayers and how they get answered, what SHS tells me and I add the dates. So that when the going gets tough, I remind SHS about what He told me. The Bible says He will watch over His word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12). I went through all the uncertainties and pressure all people go through but my added advantage was that I had heard from the Holy Spirit and He cannot go wrong. 

This experience taught me to always lean on God, enquire of Him before I make any decision. Studying abroad looks fancy but it comes with its own pros and cons. It’s a good experience. I would wish everybody at least gives it a try but ask yourself if that’s where God wants you to be at that point in your life? Some of you may do grad school, yes, but probably not this year. I don’t have the answer to your destiny but I know who does, God. Go to Him before you make any major decision, that guy/lady you are tripping for and want to start a relationship with, ask Him; the uncertainty about your career path, ask Him; I mean basically everything. 

If you are in the will of God, there will be challenges but He who called you to it, will help you out.

Thank you for staying till the end.  Lemme know in the comments if you have questions. Best of luck to y’all working on your grad school applications. The next episode is going to be about LOOOOVEEE. Are you ready for it? Comment READY if you are.